Power move settles soggy Indy opener
SAO PAULO, Brazil -- Will Power made a late move to take the lead from Ryan Hunter-Reay and win the rain-shortened IndyCar season opener on the streets of Sao Paulo on Sunday.
The Australian passed the American with three laps to go, clinching the inaugural Sao Paulo Indy 300 for his second career victory.
Power crossed the line 1.858 seconds ahead of Hunter-Reay when the race ended at the two-hour time limit with only 61 of the 75 scheduled laps completed.
The race had to be red-flagged near its halfway point after heavy rains made track conditions unsafe, marking another setback for the track, which was initially being hailed as one of the highlights of the season but faced problems throughout the weekend.
Home crowd favorite Vitor Meira was third, followed by compatriot Raphael Matos at the 2.6-mile, 11-turn Anhembi temporary circuit in South America's biggest city.
Danica Patrick lost control of her car as it started raining, finishing 15th.
Marco Andretti escaped injury after being in a scary accident at the start of the race. The car of Brazil's Mario Moraes spun and crashed into the back of Andretti's slowing car as they approached the first chicane.
Moraes' car finished on top of Andretti's, and they slid for several yards. The bottom of Moraes' car appeared to be touching Andretti's helmet.
It took more than five minutes for officials to remove Moraes' car so the medical team could attend to Andretti, who eventually was able to walk away from the scene.
■ NHRA -- At Gainesville, Fla., six-time defending series champion Tony Schumacher won the Top Fuel class at the NHRA Gatornationals.
Schumacher beat teammate Antron Brown in the final. It was Brown's first event since his deadly crash at Phoenix three weeks ago, when a tire spun off his dragster, bounced into the grandstands and killed a Wisconsin woman.
Tim Wilkerson (Funny Car), Jason Line (Pro Stock) and Eddie Krawiec (Pro Stock Motorcycle) won their respective categories.
Boulder City's Duane Shields won the Top Alcohol Dragster title for the second consecutive year at the event.
■ FORMULA ONE -- At Sakhir, Bahrain, Fernando Alonso won the Bahrain Grand Prix in his debut for Ferrari, leading the team to a 1-2 finish in Formula One's season-opening race.
Alonso passed teammate Felipe Massa at the second corner after the start. He then overtook pole-sitter Sebastian Vettel on the 34th lap for a lead he never relinquished. Massa went on to take second.
Kurt Busch bows out Early in NHRA debut
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- NASCAR driver Kurt Busch lost his drag racing debut.
The Las Vegas native was ousted Sunday in the opening round of eliminations at the NHRA Gatornationals. Busch raced in the Super Gas division of the Sportsman class.
His 1970 Dodge Challenger sputtered shortly after takeoff and covered the 1,000-foot drag strip in 10.10 seconds, a bumper behind Wes Neely's 1967 Chevrolet Camaro. Busch raced in the 9.90-second division, meaning he was a bit off the projected pace.
Busch, taking advantage of an off week in NASCAR's Sprint Cup Series, was the event's star attraction. He spent much of the four-day event shaking hands, signing autographs and posing for pictures.
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
