Dominant Power rules Baltimore street course

BALTIMORE -- Will Power wrapped his hand around a big bottle of champagne, shook it up, let the bubbly fly and took a long drink.

What better way to celebrate a perfect weekend?

Power put on a masterful performance Sunday over a difficult street course to win the inaugural Baltimore Grand Prix. The Australian deftly negotiated hairpin turns and confidently gripped the wheel over bumpy roads to earn his second straight win and career-high sixth of the season.

Power had the best time in Friday's practice session, captured the pole Saturday, then led 70 of the 75 laps to earn the $35,000 top prize.

"I'm just exhausted," Power said, "but that was a championship run."

Spain's Oriol Servia finished second, 10.2096 seconds back, and Tony Kanaan of Brazil was third. Kanaan lost his brakes during a practice run Sunday, soared over Helio Castroneves' car and had to drive a backup.

Power lost the lead early in the race to Graham Rahal, quickly regained it and trailed only briefly thereafter after making a pit stop.

"It feels like one of my best wins," said Power.

The victory moved him within five points of Izod IndyCar leader Dino Franchitti, who took fourth.

Scott Dixon was fifth and Danica Patrick sixth. Patrick has three IndyCar races remaining before dedicating her entire efforts toward stock-car racing.

■ NHRA -- At Clermont, Ind., Cruz Pedregon took advantage of cool, cloudy weather to set a Lucas Oil Raceway record of 4.026 seconds and bump Melanie Troxel from the top Funny Car qualifying spot in the U.S. Nationals.

The engine in Troxel's car broke on the day's final run, relegating her to second with her Saturday run of 4.068 seconds. The final eliminations are today.

Antron Brown's car misfired on its final pass, but he remained fastest in Top Fuel with his Saturday run of 3.818 seconds at 322.96 mph. Del Worsham took the No. 2 spot with a final-round run of 3.836, with Brandon Bernstein third at 3.846, Spencer Massey fourth at 3.848, defending champion Larry Dixon fifth at 3.850 and Tony Schumacher sixth at 3.856.

Jason Line took over first in Pro Stock with his Sunday run of 6.603 at 209.01. Andrew Hines bumped previous leader Matt Smith (6.936) to second in Pro Stock Motorcycle with a final-round pass of 6.909 at 193.90.

■ NASCAR K&N PRO SERIES WEST -- Dylan Kwasniewski, 16, of Las Vegas finished second in the NASCAR developmental series race at Spokane County Raceway in Airway Heights, Wash., on Saturday.

Kwasniewski started on the pole for the 200-lap, 100-mile rac and finished behind Eric Holmes, of Escalon, Calif.