Truex Is a Winner in Mexico

Defending Busch Series champion Martin Truex Jr. held on after an early pit stop Sunday to win the first NASCAR points race outside the United States.

Truex, in a Chevrolet, made his pit stop on the 46th lap, moments before a caution flag came out, and finished more than six seconds ahead of Kevin Harvick in the Telcel-Motorola 200 at Mexico City.

Harvick, driving a Chevrolet, passed Carl Edwards on the 78th of 80 laps on the 2.518-mile road course. Edwards finished third in a Ford.

The race was a boost for NASCAR’s effort to build a fan base in Mexico, where open-wheel racing has been dominant. Promoters said 94,229 people turned out on race day after 38,319 attended Saturday’s qualifying.

Fans hoping for a hometown surprise had to be satisfied with Jorge Goeters’ pole position and his driving early in the race.

Goeters led for the first 24 laps in a Ford, but his first NASCAR pit stop was a disaster -- coming in under the green flag and stopping initially at a neighboring pit. He rallied to 10th, but pulled off the track on the 66th lap with his car spewing smoke.

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Dan Wheldon, part of the powerful four-car Andretti Green Racing team, won the season-opening Indy Racing League Toyota Indy 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Wheldon, who led 158 of the 200 laps, appeared headed to a runaway victory when the race was interrupted by an eight-car crash on Lap 159.

The wreck -- the last of seven cautions -- began moments after a restart when Kosuke Matsuura, trying to pass pole winner Tomas Scheckter on the outside, slid sideways and hit Scheckter.

Before all the crashing ended, the accident also took out Scott Sharp, Bryan Herta, Scott Dixon, Roger Yasukawa, Ed Carpenter and 22-year-old rookie Danica Patrick, making her first IRL start.

Patrick, the only woman in the field, walked into the infield care center but was sent by ambulance to a hospital for observation after being diagnosed with a concussion.

The race ended with Wheldon’s Honda-powered Dallara 3.7 seconds -- virtually an entire straightaway on the 1 1/2 -mile oval -- ahead of a three-wide battle for second, which was barely won by Sam Hornish Jr.

Winter Sports

Hermann Maier of Austria won a super-giant slalom on the Olympic course at Lillehammer, Norway, for his 50th World Cup victory, tying Alberto Tomba of Italy for second place on the career list.

Maier, who won Saturday’s downhill on the same slope, was timed in 1 minute 32.98 seconds. He beat Didier Defago of Switzerland by 0.83 of a second. Daron Rahlves of Sugar Bowl, Calif., was third, 0.88 back.

Benjamin Raich of Austria finished fourth, just ahead of Bode Miller, and drew closer to the American in their race for the overall title.

Miller, of Franconia, N.H., is trying to become the first American since Phil Mahre in 1983 to win the men’s overall. He leads Raich 1,348 points to 1,296 with four races left.

Maier, the four-time and defending World Cup overall champion, joined Tomba in second place on the career victory list behind Ingemar Stenmark. The Swedish great leads with 86, all in slalom and giant slalom.

Matti Hautamaki of Finland won a World Cup ski jump event in front of his home fans at the Lahti Ski Games.

Hautamaki beat Roar Ljokelsoy of Norway by one point. Thomas Morgenstern of Austria finished third.

Hautamaki jumped 127.5 meters to lead after the first round and 124.5 in the second for 270 points. Ljokelsoy had jumps of 123.5 and 128.5 meters for 269 points. Morgenstern had 266.1 points with jumps of 126 and 125.5 meters.

Janne Ahonen of Finland was fourth with 264.9 points but virtually clinched the overall Cup title. With five events left, he has 1,576 points to Ljokelsoy’s 1,158. Each victory is worth 100 points.

Ole Einar Bjoerndalen of Norway won his second gold medal in 24 hours in the biathlon world championships at Hochfilzen, Austria.

Bjoerndalen won the 12.5-kilometer pursuit, finishing in 36:41.1 to beat Sergei Tchepikov of Russia by 39.2 seconds. Bjoerndalen had won the 10-kilometer sprint Saturday.

Uschi Disl of Germany won the gold in the women’s 10K pursuit after winning the 7.5K sprint the previous day. She finished in 33:32.5. Xianying Liu of China was second, 17.9 seconds behind.

Oskar Svard of Sweden won the 56-mile Vasaloppet cross-country race by one second. About 15,000 skiers started the 81st edition of the race at Salen, near the Norwegian border. It is the world’s oldest, longest and biggest ski event.

Svard out-kicked 10 skiers on the final straightaway at Mora, Sweden. He finished the classic-style competition in 3 hours 51 minutes 47 seconds. Martin Larsson of Sweden was second. Jorgen Aukland of Norway was third, two seconds back.

Soccer

With help from U.S. goalkeeper Brad Friedel, Blackburn beat Everton, 1-0, in the English Premier League.

Friedel caught an early attempt by Tim Cahill, stopped a shot from Marcus Bent just before halftime and blocked another by Leon Osman with two minutes left.

Jonathan Stead scored the goal. Blackburn moved up two places to 14th.

Miscellany

Yelena Isinbayeva of Russia set another world record in the pole vault, jumping 16 feet 3/4 in the European Indoor Championships at Madrid.

Isinbayeva, 22, set a world record for the 13th time. She set the previous indoor mark last month with a height of 16- 1/2 .

Isinbayeva has set four indoor world records this season. She set the outdoor record of 16-1 1/4 at the Athens Olympics, then raised it to 16-1 3/4 in September.

Olympic high jump and world indoor champion Stefan Holm of Sweden won the gold medal, clearing 7-10 1/2 on his second attempt. It is the best mark in the world this year.

Stephanie Gilmore, a 17-year-old high school senior, won the season-opening Roxy pro surfing event on Australia’s Gold Coast.

Gilmore, a Gold Coast local, upset defending world champion Sofia Mulanovich, No. 9 Samantha Cornish and six-time world champion Layne Beachley to reach the final. She then beat veteran Megan Abubo in the final to claim the $10,000 winner’s check.

Stanford won its 24th consecutive Pacific 10 Conference men’s swimming and diving championship Saturday night in Belmont Plaza in Long Beach. The Cardinal finished with 932.5 points. California (882) was second and USC (579) third.

Passings

Hall of Fame broadcaster Chuck Thompson, whose enthusiasm for the job entertained Baltimore sports fans for more than 50 years, died at Greater Baltimore Medical Center in Towson, Md. He was 83. Story in Section B.