Auto Racing Roundup : Mansell Wins Austrian Grand Prix

Nigel Mansell celebrated his 100th Formula One race by winning the Austrian Grand Prix Sunday in record time.

The Englishman moved past Williams-Honda teammate Nelson Piquet on the 21st lap with a daring move in traffic for his 11th career win and fourth of the year.

At the finish, Mansell had a 55.7-second margin over Piquet, who drove conservatively to hold onto second. Piquet retained his lead in the driver standings with 54 points. Mansell moved into third with 39.

Teo Fabi and Thierry Boutsen were third and fourth, respectively, with Benetton-Fords, although both were more than a lap behind Mansell at the finish.

Mansell was timed in a record 1 hour 18 minutes 23.898 seconds, averaging 147.138 m.p.h. His time was better than the 1:20:12.583 by Alain Prost of France in winning the 1985 race over the 52 laps of the 3.692-mile Oesterreichring.

At Long Pond, Pa., Rick Mears snapped a 27-race winless streak by beating Geoff Brabham by 17.52 seconds in the Quaker State 500 at Pocono International Raceway.

Robert Guerrero finished third, followed by Arie Luyendyk and Bobby Rahal. Defending champion Mario Andretti, who won the pole position in Saturday’s qualifying, was knocked out of the race when he hit a wall on his 88th lap.

Andretti, who suffered a separated shoulder in the accident, held the lead on two different occasions and was among the top five throughout the early part of the race.

It was Mears’ third victory at Pocono and it gave him five top-three finishes in his last six events at the track. Mears had not won since the 1985 Pocono 500.

Guerrero took the lead from Mears on a caution flag on lap 174 of the 200-lap race and remained in front for 10 laps, until Mears passed him on turn 1.

Bill Elliott swept past Dale Earnhardt with two laps remaining and held on to win the Champion Spark Plug 400, the sixth victory in his last eight starts at Michigan International Speedway.

It was Elliott’s 20th career victory.

Elliott, driving a Ford Thunderbird, beat Earnhardt’s Chevrolet Monte Carlo by .76 of a second in a race that took 2 hours 53 minutes 6 seconds. Elliott’s average speed around the two-mile, high-banked oval was 138.648 m.p.h.

Kenny Bernstein of Newport Beach won the Funny Car championship of the $736,300 NHRA Quaker State NorthStar Nationals at Brainerd, Minn.

Darrell Gwynn of Miami, Fla., won Top Fuel and Bruce Allen of Arlington, Tex., won Pro Stock.