FOUNTAIN, Colo. -- Dan Wheldon won the Indianapolis 500 and is on the verge of winning his first Indy Racing League title. But Wheldon still has one more goal: six wins this season.
Wheldon moved a step closer to accomplishing that unprecedented trio, taking the lead with 60 laps left and running away with the Honda Indy 225 on Sunday for his record-tying fifth win of the season.
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"That statistic of most race wins in a season is something pretty special to me," Wheldon said. "I love the Indianapolis 500 and that's always going to be my favorite race in the world, and it's going to be one of the fondest memories of my life, but that statistic somewhat means as much to a championship for me."
Wheldon started 11th and gradually worked his way to the front on the mile tri-oval at Pikes Peak International Raceway, taking the lead when he whipped past defending champion Dario Franchitti on lap 153. Franchitti took the lead back on lap 159 when Wheldon went to the pits, but the Englishman had the lead back six laps later on Franchitti's final pit.
Wheldon led by as much as 14 seconds after that and cruised to his first win since the Indy 500 on May 29, beating Sam Hornish Jr. by 12.4763 seconds and averaging 153.79 mph for his eighth career victory.
j FORMULA ONE -- At Istanbul, Turkey, Kimi Raikkonen won the inaugural Turkish Grand Prix from the pole Sunday to increase the pressure on Formula One points leader and second-place finisher Fernando Alonso.
The Finn's fifth victory of the season and seventh of his career left him 24 points behind Alonso in the season standings.
Seven-time cup champion Michael Schumacher, went off the track after 16 laps following a minor collision with Mark Webber of Williams-BMW. The Ferrari star sat out 19 laps while mechanics fixed his damaged steering.
j SPECTATORS KILLED -- At Mount Vernon, Ill., a race car crashed into the stands, killing two spectators and injuring six other people, officials said. The driver also was hurt.
State police were trying to determine what caused the car to shoot off the quarter-mile dirt oval track Saturday night at Mount Vernon Raceway. It was the only vehicle on the track at the time. The driver was doing a qualification run.
j AMA -- At Center Lisle, N.Y., Ricky Carmichael overcame a challenge from James Stewart to win his 25th consecutive AMA 250cc Motocross Championship race.
j SPORTS CARS -- Las Vegan Patrick Long drove the Petersen Motorsports/ White Lightning Racing entry to first place the GT2 class of the American Le Mans Series race Sunday at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wis.
Las Vegas resident Rod Fuller can add Top Fuel champion to his impressive drag racing resume.
Fuller, 34, defeated two-time reigning NHRA season champion Tony Schumacher Sunday in Memphis, Tenn., to win his first professional title driving for Powers Motorsports of Houston. Fuller, a native of Boise, Idaho, had won 13 NHRA Sportsman national titles but this is his first pro title.
Fuller and the Powers team are competing part-time this year but have advanced to three championship rounds and are 11th in the season standings.
Fuller raced flawlessly all day in his first event with crew chief Lee Beard. They received a break in the final race when Schumacher smoked his tires near mid-track. Fuller completed the quarter-mile run in 4.61 seconds at 313 mph to become the seventh different driver to win in Top Fuel this year.
In other pro divisions, Eric Medlen defeated Ron Capps for his third Funny Car title of the year and second straight; Greg Anderson driving for Las Vegan Ken Black won in Pro Stock; and Andrew Hines won Pro Stock Motorcycle.
