Johnson Holds Off Busch at Dover

Jimmie Johnson barely hung on to beat teammate Kyle Busch, then credited the rookie for helping him win the Nextel Cup MBNA 400 on Sunday at Dover International Speedway in Delaware. The victory vaulted Johnson into the lead in the chase for the championship.

“I’ve got to thank Kyle for being such a good teammate and racing me clean at the end,” said Johnson, who held off Busch by about the length of his Chevrolet.

Tony Stewart, the Cup points leader for the last seven races, fought an ill-handling Chevrolet en route to an 18th-place finish. The outcome ended his streak of 13 top-10 finishes that included five victories.

*

Fernando Alonso, a 24-year-old Spaniard who drives for Renault, became Formula One’s youngest champion by finishing third in the Brazilian Grand Prix at Sao Paulo, having already been the series’ youngest race winner and pole winner.

Alonso needed only a top-three finish in a race won by Juan Pablo Montoya of McLaren-Mercedes. Kimi Raikkonen, Montoya’s teammate and the only other driver in contention for the title, finished second on the 2.6-mile Interlagos circuit.

Michael Schumacher, whose five-year reign as Formula One champion ended, was fourth.

In 2003, Alonso became the youngest, at 21, to take a pole position in Formula One and followed with a race victory a few months later at 22.

*

Scott Dixon gained the lead with 12 laps to go at Watkins Glen International in New York and won the inaugural IRL Indy Grand Prix for his first victory since he won at Richmond in 2003 en route to the series championship, a span of 40 races.

Dixon started fourth after Helio Castroneves bumped him off the pole in Saturday’s six-car qualifying shootout. He led Tony Kanaan and Dario Franchitti when Alex Barron went off course, prompting a full-course caution with seven laps left.

It was the fourth win of Dixon’s career and the 27th road course/street win for Ganassi Racing. Dario Franchitti finished third, followed by Giorgio Pantano and Dan Wheldon, who secured the IRL title when the race became official at the halfway point, the start of Lap 31.

Danica Patrick finished 16th, enough to give her rookie-of-the-year honors over Tomas Enge.

*

Sebastien Bourdais, the reigning series champion, overcame a crash with Paul Tracy and a brush with a teammate to win the Champ Car Hurricane Relief 400 late Saturday in Las Vegas and extend his points lead with three races left.

Tracy came from a 14th-place start to pass pole-sitter Bourdais on the seventh lap and held the lead under pressure from Bourdais until the French driver tapped him from behind as Tracy braked to pit on Lap 123, sending the leader hard into the wall.

Bourdais and Newman/Haas Racing teammate Oriol Servia touched wheels on the 141st of 166 laps, but both continued. Bourdais averaged 172.962 mph to win by three car lengths.