McMurray Gets It Right and Wins

Jamie McMurray, driving in only his second Winston Cup race, shocked the NASCAR world Sunday with a victory in the UAW-GM 500 at Concord, N.C.

McMurray, scheduled to move up from the Busch Series next year, was pressed into service early by team owners Chip Ganassi and Felix Sabates when veteran Sterling Marlin, who led the series point standings much of the season, was knocked out for the final seven races of the season because of a fractured vertebra.

McMurray, 26, has never won a Busch race. He drove to a 26th-place finish in his Winston Cup debut last week at Talladega, Ala.

After taking the lead for the final time on Lap 304 of the 334-lap event, McMurray appeared on the way to an easy win. But a slight bobble in the fourth turn four laps from the end allowed Bobby Labonte to cut into most of the lead.

But McMurray was able to hold off Labonte and actually pulling pulled away on the final lap to win by 0.35 seconds -- about five car lengths.

“I don’t believe it,” McMurray said in the victory circle. “This was a really hard situation with Sterling being hurt, but what an opportunity.”

Series leader Tony Stewart, Labonte’s teammate, finished third and increased his lead over Jimmie Johnson in the point standings, 4,128 to 4,031. Johnson finished sixth.

McMurray led four times for a race-high total of 96 laps as he broke Kevin Harvick’s 1-year-old record as the quickest winner in NASCAR’s modern era. Harvick won in his third race after replacing the late Dale Earnhardt in the second race of 2001.

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Michael Schumacher delivered a perfect ending to a near-perfect season.

Schumacher, who finished among the top three in every race this season, won his third consecutive Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka, his 11th win this season in 17 races.

The Ferrari driver finished second five times and third once. His run comes a few days after Formula One officials recommended a plan to handicap a car by adding extra weight if its team builds an early points lead next season.

The five-time world champion led a 1-2 finish for Ferrari, with Rubens Barrichello in second. Schumacher was assured the title three months ago with six races remaining. His previous best season was nine wins, which he did three times.

Schumacher started from the pole and covered 53 laps of the 3.6-mile circuit in 1 hour 26 minutes 59.698 seconds. Barrichello was half a second behind. Ferrari finished 1-2 for the ninth time this season, and the drivers finished 1-2 in the standings.

McLaren’s Kimi Raikkonen was third and Juan Pablo Montoya was fourth in a Williams, clinching third place in the standings.

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David Starr ended a 65-race winless streak as he beat NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series points leader Mike Bliss in the Las Vegas 350. Starr and Bliss, who also drove a Chevrolet, circled the 1.5-mile Las Vegas Motor Speedway just feet apart over the final four laps. Starr held a lead of about a truck length beginning the final lap and beat Bliss by 0.492 seconds -- two lengths.... Doug Kalitta raced to his third top fuel victory in four events, winning the NHRA O’Reilly Fall Nationals in Ennis, Texas. Kalitta drove his Mac Tools Dragster to a 4.582-second run at 322.58 mph to beat Cory McClenathan (6.565 at 130.62). Del Worsham beat Bruce Sarver in the funny car event and Jeg Coughlin won the pro stock division.

Tennis

Roger Federer defeated Jiri Novak, 6-4, 6-1, 3-6, 6-4, to win the CA Trophy indoor tournament at Vienna. Federer, 21, is eligible to play in the Tennis Masters at the end of the season. Federer pulled off the victory in 2:09 and earned $120,000.... Paul-Henri Mathieu defeated three-time French Open champion Gustavo Kuerten, 4-6, 6-3, 6-1, to win the Lyon Grand Prix in France.... Kim Clijsters rallied to defeat Daniela Hantuchova, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, to win the Porsche Grand Prix at Filderstadt, Germany.

Sailing

OneWorld of Seattle finished the first round of the America’s Cup challenger series unbeaten, defeating Oracle of San Francisco by 40 seconds today in a makeup race in Auckland, New Zealand. It was the third consecutive loss for Oracle.

OneWorld was the only team with eight wins from eight races in the round-robin competition, but finished even with Switzerland’s Team Alinghi, which had seven wins in eight starts.

The winner of the four-month Louis Vuitton Cup will face defender New Zealand in the America’s Cup final in February.