Busch Surges Past Wallace to Win Pennsylvania 500

Kurt Busch dominated at the beginning, surged back to the lead late and raced to his second victory of the season Sunday in the Pennsylvania 500 at Pocono Raceway in Long Pond.

Busch, the defending NASCAR Nextel Cup champion, led 110 of the first 150 laps on the 2.5-mile triangle and kept his fifth-place spot in the points standings with six races left to decide the 10 drivers who will contend for the title.

All drivers within 400 points of the lead also are eligible, though no driver outside the top 10 meets that requirement.

The “Chase for the Cup” begins at New Hampshire International Speedway on Sept. 18.

Jeff Gordon finished 13th and Dale Earnhardt Jr. was two laps off the leader in 32nd place as two of NASCAR’s most successful drivers are running out of time to crack the top 10.

Busch passed second-place finisher Rusty Wallace coming out of Turn 3 with 17 laps left and held on to the lead even as four cautions came out before the end, which forced three extra laps and the green-white checkered flag.

Mark Martin finished third in a Ford. Carl Edwards, also in a Ford, was fourth.

The result was particularly impressive for Edwards, who had to start at the back of the field because he skipped qualifying to compete in Saturday’s Busch Series race in Fountain, Colo.

Jimmie Johnson maintained his overall points lead with a 12th-place finish. Tony Stewart moved to second in the standings with a seventh-place finish, Greg Biffle (17th) is third followed by Wallace.

Busch took the lead from pole-sitter Jamie McMurray on the first turn of the first lap. Busch, who started second in his Ford, needed only 113 laps to clinch the five bonus points awarded for leading the most laps.

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Fernando Alonso won the German Grand Prix at Hockenheim and extended his lead in the Formula One standings when Kimi Raikkonen couldn’t finish because of a hydraulic failure.

Raikkonen started from the pole and led comfortably until the 36th lap of the 67-lap race, when his McLaren-Mercedes suddenly stopped on the track.

McLaren-Mercedes teammate Juan Pablo Montoya, who rallied from the back of the grid, charged back to finish second, with Jenson Button third in a BAR-Honda. Montoya started last after crashing during Saturday qualifying.

Giancarlo Fisichella, Alonso’s Renault teammate, came in fourth ahead of defending series champion Michael Schumacher in a Ferrari. Schumacher surged ahead to third at the start but could not hold on and dropped back to fifth -- his starting spot on the grid.

Alonso covered the 67 laps on the 2.842-mile Hockenheim circuit in 1 hour 26 minutes 28.599 seconds, at an average speed of 132.13 mph. Montoya was 22.5 seconds behind.

By earning 10 points for his sixth victory of the season, the 23-year-old Alonso is on course to become the sport’s youngest champion. With seven races remaining, he has 87 points. He’s followed by Raikkonen (51) and seven-time champion Schumacher (47).

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Sam Hornish Jr. had to pass Dario Franchitti twice in the waning laps before pulling away in his Toyota-powered Dallara for a hard-earned victory in the A.J. Foyt 225 at the Milwaukee Mile in West Allis, Wis.

Hornish, a two-time Indy Racing League champion, dominated early in the race, but slipped back on a hot, slippery track before coming on strong at the end for his second win of the season and the 14th of his career.

During the caution period after Buddy Rice crashed on Lap 167, Andretti Green Racing chose to keep Franchitti and Tony Kanaan on the track while the rest of the leaders pitted -- hoping one of them would win by conserving fuel to the end.

It appeared the strategy might work for Franchitti when Hornish touched wheels with Team Penske teammate Helio Castroneves, sending him into the wall and bringing out another caution flag on Lap 186.

Hornish restarted fourth when the green flag waved again on Lap 196, but he quickly passed series points leader Dan Wheldon for third place, chased down and passed Kanaan for second on Lap 201 and bore down on Franchitti.

With Franchitti still trying desperately to conserve fuel, Hornish easily charged past on Lap 217 and pulled away to win by 0.384 of a second -- about three car lengths.

Tomas Scheckter was third, followed by Kanaan, Wheldon and Bryan Herta, the last driver on the lead lap.

Rookie Danica Patrick escaped injury after crashing into the wall on the second turn. She was running sixth on the 126th of 225 laps when it appeared the rear of her Rahal Letterman Racing Honda slid out from under her, sending her car back end first into the wall.

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Brandon Bernstein won the top fuel division for the second time in three events, speeding past Tony Schumacher at the NHRA CarQuest Auto Parts Nationals at Kent, Wash.

Bernstein improved to 8-1 in championship races with a 4.527-second pass at 329.99 mph, easily beating Schumacher’s 6.021 seconds. Eric Medlen won the funny car division and Kurt Johnson won the pro stock event.

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Ricky Carmichael won his 22nd consecutive 250cc race with a victory in the AMA Motocross Championship at Lakewood, Colo. The Suzuki rider is unbeaten since July 2003. Kevin Windham, who led Carmichael for more than half of the second moto, was second on a Honda.