Schumacher Makes His Point

Michael Schumacher finished eighth in the season-ending Japanese Grand Prix on Sunday to pick up a valuable single point and clinch his record sixth Formula One title.

Schumacher of Ferrari came into the season-ending race at Suzuka with a nine-point lead over Kimi Raikkonen of McLaren-Mercedes in the standings.

The only way Schumacher could lose the title was if Raikkonen won the race and Schumacher failed to score a point either by not finishing or finishing worse than eighth. The race winner earned 10 points.

Raikkonen finished second behind Schumacher’s Ferrari teammate, Rubens Barrichello. Schumacher finished with 93 points to Raikkonen’s 91.

A sudden shower near the end of Saturday’s qualifying left Schumacher in the seventh row and Raikkonen in the fourth, giving the McLaren driver a glimmer of hope. For Schumacher, it was his fourth consecutive title at Ferrari and he paid tribute to the entire team, which also won the Constructors’ championship.

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Kenny Brack was seriously injured when his Dallara-Chevrolet was hit from behind and pinwheeled down the track before breaking apart, marring Gil de Ferran’s victory and Scott Dixon’s Indy Racing League championship.

The crash, with 12 laps left at the IRL season-ending Chevy 500 in Fort Worth, sent Brack’s car sailing high in the air before it smashed off a steel guardrail near the end of the back straightaway on the 1 1/2-mile Texas Motor Speedway oval.

The race proceeded under a caution for seven laps and ended five laps early.

Track officials said Brack was airlifted to Parkland Memorial Hospital after being removed from the cockpit of his car, which was hit by Tomas Scheckter. Brack was in serious but stable condition with multiple fractures. Scheckter was uninjured.

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Paul Tracy dominated the Telmex Gigante Gran Premio in Mexico City from start to finish in his Ford-Cosworth/Lola, and increased his lead over Bruno Junqueira in the Championship Auto Racing Teams standings with only two races remaining.

Tracy has 227 points. Junqueira, who finished eighth in a Ford-Cosworth, has 197. Rookie Sebastian Bourdais, also in a Ford-Cosworth/Lola, finished second.

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Larry Dixon clinched the Top Fuel division championship and Greg Anderson earned the Pro Stock title at the NHRA O’Reilly Fall Nationals in Dallas. John Force won the Funny Car event.