For Raikkonen, This Win Is Easy

Midway through the Hungarian Grand Prix at Budapest, where temperatures approached 113 degrees, Kimi Raikkonen pulled his mercurial McLaren race car into pit row.

A concerning sight, considering Raikkonen’s string of mechanical troubles. There hadn’t been a quicker car in Formula One the previous three races -- or a more frustrating one. Two blown engines and a hydraulic failure probably cost the Finn a shot at the season points title.

But there would be no breakdown Sunday. Raikkonen raced away from Michael Schumacher for his fourth victory of the season.

Raikkonen finished 35.5 seconds ahead of Schumacher, a pole-sitter for the first time this season. Ralf Schumacher was third, 36.1 seconds back.

“It was really the pit stops that decided it,” Michael Schumacher said.

The turning point came after the second pit stop. Separated by less than a second, Schumacher pitted on Lap 36 and Raikkonen a lap later.

Raikkonen opted to add only a little fuel, and the strategy worked. He came out of the pits just ahead of Schumacher and immediately started padding the lead by nearly two seconds a lap.

Raikkonen’s sixth career victory gave him 61 points this season, still second to Fernando Alonso, who has an 87-point lead.

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Bryan Herta won his first Indy Racing League race of the season, beating Andretti Green Racing teammate Dan Wheldon by less than a car length in the Firestone Indy 400 at Michigan International Speedway.

Herta, in a Honda-powered Dallara, led for 159 of 200 laps and finished with an average speed of 167.197 mph, with Wheldon, the series points leader, second. Tomas Scheckter was third.

Rookie Danica Patrick finished 20th after her engine blew on the 164th lap, quickly pulling off the track and avoiding pit row. She started eighth but quickly fell back in the pack because of handling problems.

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Sebastien Bourdais drove an almost perfect race on an imperfect track, pulling away to win the San Jose Grand Prix. The combination of a bumpy track and concrete walls on the narrow downtown street circuit took out half of the 18-car field during the 75-minute, timed race.

Bourdais, the reigning Champ Car World Series champion, avoided the pitfalls and led 63 of the 93 laps. Paul Tracy, trailing Bourdais in the season standings, finished second, 3.724 seconds -- nearly the entire pit straightaway -- behind.

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Doug Kalitta took over the NHRA top-fuel division points lead with his fourth victory of the season at the FRAM Autolite Nationals at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma. Kalitta had a 4.665-second run at 319.90 mph to beat Doug Herbert’s 4.603 at 319.98. He moved 16 points ahead of Tony Schumacher in the standings.

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Ricky Carmichael extended his AMA Motocross winning streak to two years, winning the 250cc championship at Washougal, Wash. The Suzuki rider last lost on July 27, 2003.