Michael Andretti Shows He Has Edge

Michael Andretti still knows how to win.

The second-generation champ car star won for the first time since the 1998 season opener in Homestead, Fla., outdueling second-year driver Helio Castro-Neves over the final 34 laps of Saturday’s Motorola 300 at Madison, Ill.

“I was driving the hardest I’ve ever driven, right on the edge,” the emotional Andretti said.

A crowd of about 40,000 roared its approval as Andretti’s Swift-Ford raced across the finish line at Gateway International Raceway only 0.329 seconds--about 1 1/2 car lengths--ahead of Castro-Neves.

Andretti, the leading active driver in the CART FedEx Championship Series with 38 victories, took the lead for the final time with a lightning pit stop on Lap 190 of the 236-lap race.

He went into the pits in fifth place, took only fuel and drove back onto the 1.27-mile oval in first place.

“My guys called a perfect race with their strategy,” the 36-year-old driver said, choking up a bit. “We didn’t take tires on that last stop. We had to take a gamble to get track position, and my Firestones hung in there.”

Andretti drove the final 94 laps on his last set of tires, while Castro-Neves, who overcame a messed-up pit stop early in the race, kept the pressure on.

The Brazilian probably lost his best shot at winning when he was blocked by another car and forced to drive past his pit during the leaders’ stops on Lap 36.

There were nine cautions in all, with several crashes.

Tarso Marques, a rookie, came away woozy from a crash on Lap 33 and was taken to a St. Louis hospital for precautionary X-rays. During the pit stops that followed that accident, David Stephens, a crewman for Gil de Ferran, was hit by an air gun and was taken to the same hospital for a CT scan and further evaluation.

Later in the race, Patrick Carpentier and Bryan Herta crashed, with Carpentier complaining of neck pain. He was driven to the hospital after the race for precautionary X-rays.

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Mark Martin won his NASCAR Busch Grand National series-leading fourth race in eight starts this year, holding off Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the Carquest Auto Parts 300 at Concord, N.C.

Martin led 108 of the 200 laps, including the final 38 around Lowe’s Motor Speedway. He wound up about six car-lengths ahead of Earnhardt after the two staged a tight duel over the last 30 laps.

Kevin Schwantz, the 1995 Grand Prix world motorcycle champion, had to be cut out of his car after he crashed on the 71st lap. He was flown by helicopter to Carolinas Medical Center in nearby Charlotte where he was listed in serious but stable condition with a broken pelvis and a brain bruise. Authorities said Schwantz was awake and alert, and would be held overnight for observation.

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Mika Hakkinen of Finland made it five for five this Formula One season, winning his fifth pole position in a row by posting the quickest time in qualifying for today’s Spanish Grand Prix at Barcelona.

Hakkinen’s time of 1 minute 22.088 seconds in his McLaren-Mercedes on the 2.94-mile Circuit de Catalunya was good enough for his 15th career pole position.

Eddie Irvine in a Ferrari was second in 1:22.219, with Hakkinen’s teammate, David Coulthard, third in 1:22.244. Michael Schumacher, also in a Ferrari, was fourth at 1:22.277.