Motor Sports Roundup : Michael Andretti Backs Up to Win

Michael Andretti drove his backup car to a track record in winning the Fiesta Bowl 200 at the Phoenix International Raceway.

Andretti, 24, of Nazareth, Pa., trying to win his first CART-PPG title, picked up 21 points to tighten the Indy-car point race with leader Bobby Rahal. Rahal leads, 174-171, with only the season finale on Nov. 9 in Miami, Fla., remaining.

Danny Sullivan, who got back on the lead lap on a restart just 11 laps from the finish, was second, a distant 20.24 seconds behind Andretti. He was followed by Rahal in third, Mario Andretti in fourth and Emerson Fittipaldi of Brazil in fifth.

Andretti set a track record by averaging 134.681 m.p.h., breaking the mark of 120.345 m.p.h. set by Kevin Cogan last April.

Michael Andretti started the 200-mile race fourth in the 23-car field.

Rahal, who was on the pole, led for the first 29-laps on the fast one-mile oval before Andretti took the lead for good between Turns 1 and 2.

At the NASCAR Nationwise 500 at Rockingham, N.C., Neil Bonnett broke a 46-race winless streak with a 2.53 second victory over Ricky Rudd.

It was the first Winston Cup victory for Bonnett since he won the Northwestern Bank 400 at North Wilkesboro Speedway in April, 1985.

Darrell Waltrip finished third and Harry Gant was fourth, both in Chevrolets. Buddy Baker was fifth in an Oldsmobile.

Bonnett’s victory on the 1.017-mile track made him the 13th different winner this season, a modern-day record on the NASCAR circuit.

Bonnett, who collected $47,000, averaged a record 126.381 m.p.h. in the race, which was slowed by six caution flags for 30 laps. The record was 122.931 m.p.h. set by Bobby Allison in 1984.

In the race for the national Winston Cup points championship, Waltrip picked up 15 points on Dale Earnhardt with his third place finish. With two races left, Earnhardt leads Waltrip by 144 points.

Actor-driver Paul Newman, driving a Nissan 300ZX turbo, won his fourth Sports Club of America national championship at Road Atlanta in Bralston, Ga.

It was Newman’s second SCCA title in GT-1 competition and he beat teammate Jim Fitzgerald to the finish line by 16/100ths of a second. Jerry Hanson of Orono, Minn., was third.

Scott Sharp, a Newman teammate, became the youngest driver to win an SCCA championship when he took the GT-2 title in a Datsun 280Z.

Doug Polen and Ottis Lance of Team Texas beat 66 other teams in the Paul Revere 250 American Motorcyclist Assn. U.S. Endurance championship final at Daytona International Speedway.

Polen of Denton, Tex., has won 41 of 48 Suzuki GSXR Series races. Lance of San Antonio, Tex., raced in the AMA Camel Pro Superbike Championship this season. They finished the 250 miles in 2:29:21.769 with an average speed of 97.88 m.p.h.

Team Texas, which took the led on lap 31 and led the final 40 laps, beat USEC GTO class champion Team Lockhart of Paramount by 55.38 seconds. Taylor Road racing of Pittsburg, Kan., was third.