Kanaan Takes Center Stage

The pole and the crowd might have belonged to Danica Patrick. The trophy -- and the last word -- went to Tony Kanaan.

“You guys wanted Danica to win? Sorry,” Kanaan said after his Indy Racing League victory Sunday at Kansas Speedway. “You got to wait until next time.”

A 1-2-3 qualifying effort by Patrick and Rahal Letterman Racing teammates Buddy Rice and Vitor Meira led some to believe the team might dominate the Argent Mortgage Indy 300 -- as it did last year, when Rice edged Meira in the second-closest IRL finish in history.

Instead, the first pole of Patrick’s career proved to be the highlight of her day. The 23-year-old rookie, only the second woman in league history to start from the pole, struggled with mechanical problems all day and finished ninth on the 1 1/2 -mile tri-oval in Kansas City, Kan.

Kanaan edged Andretti Green teammate Dan Wheldon by .012 of a second -- the sixth-closest finish in league history -- for his first victory of the season and the fifth of his career.

“I don’t hear anybody talking about Rahal Letterman now, so who cares? They can talk all they want,” said Kanaan, the defending series champion.

“The race is finished when the checkered flag drops, and now they’re going to have to talk about us.”

Patrick said she did everything she could to win.

“It would have been nice to finish up front, where I think the car was fast enough to finish, but I worked so hard today,” she said. “I basically raced side by side for 200 laps. I did all that I could.”

With only three cautions and the last 61 laps of the 200-lap race under green, Wheldon’s strategy of pitting earlier than the rest of the field appeared to have him headed to his fifth victory in eight races this season.

The points leader and Indianapolis 500 winner took the lead with three laps to go, when Rice had to pit.

But Kanaan, who pitted in the 190th lap, went ahead on the next lap and then held on to deny Weldon, who needed a win to tie Sam Hornish Jr.’s record for most victories in a season.

“I love Tony to bits. I’m glad he beat me instead of somebody else, but losing like this is difficult to take,” said Wheldon, who started 11th and led 111 laps after struggling to find speed all week.

“I don’t know that we found any more speed,” said Wheldon, whose points lead over Kanaan shrank from 83 points to 75. “I think other people lost some speed today.”

Meira, running just behind the leaders, made a last-second move to the inside, crossing below the white line, but still came in third.

“If I could keep my foot down and on the inside, it’s a little downhill, so that was my only shot,” Meira said. “I tried outside on Wheldon when it was only me and him, but I couldn’t make it.”

Dario Franchitti, another Andretti Green racer, was fourth, followed by Tomas Scheckter, Scott Sharp, Darren Manning, Helio Castroneves, Patrick and Rice.

Patrick, who joined Sarah Fisher as the second woman to win a pole after qualifying first Saturday, lost the lead to Rice on the opening lap and dropped to fifth in the second.

She got as high as fourth late in the race, after falling as low as 15th, but never challenged for the lead.

“On the start, there’s nothing I could have done,” Patrick said. “It was foot to the floor. I couldn’t run fourth gear, and fifth gear was so long that everyone passed me.”

Patrick’s engine also cut out on her once, and she had problems getting away from pit stops because her crew had her traction control turned off.

*

Fernando Alonso wanted to savor the moment. The Renault driver had such a commanding lead at the French Grand Prix in Magny Cours, he slowed at the finish line and waved to his fans in the stands. As he passed them, he held up five fingers -- one for each of his victories this season.

“From three or four laps to the end I was expecting this moment

In a dominant display from the pole position, Alonso won for the fifth time in 10 races, beating Kimi Raikkonen of McLaren-Mercedes and seven-time champion Michael Schumacher of Ferrari to widen his lead in the Formula One point standings.

Alonso has 69 points, followed by Raikkonen with 45 and Schumacher with 40.

Alonso was one of 14 drivers who boycotted the U.S. Grand Prix on June 19 over concerns about tire safety by Michelin.

All the teams were back on the track Sunday, and Michelin officials probably liked what they saw. It was the ninth time in 10 races that a team using Michelin tires had won. The exception was Schumacher’s win over the depleted field at Indianapolis.

Raikkonen, who started 13th, finished 11.8 seconds behind Alonso. Schumacher was almost a lap behind.

Although he had the third-fastest qualifying time, Raikkonen was penalized 10 spots for changing the engine in his car following its failure during Friday’s practice.

“Without the penalty I think we could have won the race, or be in a possible position to fight for it,” Raikkonen said. “It is a bit disappointing. What happened on Friday really destroyed our weekend.”

*

Ricky Carmichael won his fifth consecutive AMA 250cc Motocross Championship of the season to stay unbeaten this year.

The Suzuki rider’s victory at Buchanan, Mich., was the 54th of his career in the series and doubles the 27 wins earned by Motorcycle Hall of Famer Bob Hannah, who is second on the all-time list.

“I wasn’t even aware of doubling Hannah’s win record,” Carmichael said.

“It’s an awesome feeling to be honest. The wins just keep coming. I can’t say enough about my team and the people around me who’ve helped me get to this point.”

Kevin Windham finished second on a Honda for his best result this year. Kawasaki’s James Stewart was third.