This Time Rudd Holds Off Gordon

Ricky Rudd figured because he was winning the race, something bad was bound to happen.

And with Jeff Gordon closing at the end Sunday, the script seemed perfect for another defeat. But Rudd outlasted Gordon, had enough fuel to finish and broke an 88-race drought to win the Pocono 500 at Long Pond, Pa., for his first win since 1998.

“Earlier, I thought I was going to finish third, then I realized, ‘Hey, this thing is sticking in the corners,’ “he said.

It was Rudd’s first victory in nearly 1 1/2 seasons since selling his team to drive for Robert Yates Racing. It was the first win in four years for the No. 28 car--long a favorite of NASCAR fans because many hall of famers have driven it.

“There’s no way I can describe it,” said Michael “Fatback” McSwain, who got his first victory as a crew chief.

Gordon, who finished second, had passed Rudd on the last lap a week earlier in Brooklyn, Mich., to win for the second time in a row.

It was McSwain who decided Rudd had enough gas to make it to the end.

“We had to watch it, but they were pretty confident,” Rudd said. “I was running 95% most of the time, but when I saw Jeff coming I stepped it up a bit.”

Rudd’s Ford led 39 of 200 laps to defeat Gordon’s Chevrolet by 1.119 seconds.

Buddy Lazier stalked Sam Hornish Jr. for 156 laps, finally overtaking him on a restart after a caution flag to win the Radisson 200 at Fountain, Colo.

Lazier, the defending Indy Racing League season champion who had not led a lap in any race this season, led the final 44 laps at Pikes Peak International Raceway to win an event he has coveted as a Colorado native.

Lazier defeated Hornish by 10.1 seconds.

Hornish, the IRL season points leader, looked to make it a runaway until a bad set of tires on his third pit stop made his car run loose.

Lazier, who blew his engine on the first lap of last year’s race here, moved past Robbie Buhl into second place on Lap 35 but trailed Hornish by as much as 14 seconds.

Halfway through the 200-lap event, Hornish still had a lead of 11.5 seconds. But caution flags on the 115th and 147th laps reduced Hornish’s lead--the latter caused by Lazier’s brother, Jaques, who blew an engine.

When Hornish pitted and returned to the track with the ill-handling tires, Lazier caught him.

“This is our backyard,” Lazier said. “This is our home track. What a great place to do it.”

If Helio Castroneves of Brazil has his way, the fence-climbing has just begun.

Spiderman made yet another appearance after Castroneves won the Detroit Grand Prix for the second consecutive year.

Pumping his arms into the air, the excited driver knew just what to do after winning his third race of the season, including the Indianapolis 500.

He scrambled from the cockpit of his Honda-powered Marlboro Team Penske Reynard and loped to the nearest wall, leaping atop the three-foot concrete barrier and climbing nearly to the top of the wire mesh fence above.

It is a victory tradition that began at Detroit last June and has continued after each race that Castroneves has won.

“We started here and we’re going to continue here,” said Castroneves, who started from the pole and never relinquished the lead in the 72-lap race on Belle Isle’s 2.346-mile street circuit.

More important than the fifth win of his CART career, a sweep of the maximum 22 points for the weekend moved Castroneves within five points of series leader Kenny Brack, who finished ninth.

Dario Franchitti made a daring pass on Patrick Carpentier on a restart with seven laps remaining to grab second place--0.702 seconds, about eight car-lengths, behind the winner.

Robert Moreno held onto third.

Frank Biela, Tom Kristensen and Emanuele Pirro won the Le Mans 24 Hours race at Le Mans, France, in an Audi for the second consecutive year, finishing the grueling endurance race with a one-lap advantage.

Pirro completing the last of the 321 laps on the 8.456-mile circuit.

He was followed by Audi teammates Laurent Aiello, Rinaldo Capello and Christian Pescatori, and the Bentley trio of Andy Wallace, Butch Leitzinger and Eric Van De Poele. The Bentley was 15 laps behind the leader.

Valentino Rossi won motorcycling’s Catalonia 500cc Grand Prix at Barcelona, Spain, then scuffled with rival and runner-up Max Biaggi.

Rossi leads the standings with 116 points, 26 ahead of Biaggi.

The two Italian riders arrived at the news conference after the race with red marks on their faces only a minute or so after they had been celebrating on the podium.

“I got hit by a mosquito,” Biaggi said when asked what had happened.

Eyewitnesses confirmed the scuffle started when Rossi tried to push past one of Biaggi’s associates.

Rossi averaged 98.003 mph in the 73.4-mile race. Biaggi, riding a Yamaha, finished more than two seconds behind.

John Force earned his third NHRA Funny Car victory of the season at the Pontiac Excitement Nationals at Hebron, Ohio.

The victory was the 95th of Force’s career and his first at National Trail Raceway in more than a decade.

Larry Dixon (Top Fuel), Warren Johnson (Pro Stock), Angelle Savoie (Pro Stock Motorcycle) and Bob Panella (Pro Stock Truck) also won their categories in the $2-million race.

Super Late Model driver Charles Utts, injured Saturday night in a crash during a race at Irwindale Speedway, was transferred to Ventura Community Hospital Sunday morning with two broken vertebrae and heavy bruising to his chest. Utts is expected to be sidelined for at least six weeks.