Doornbos rallies at San Jose

Robert Doornbos survived a mishap on the first lap that dropped him into last place, recovering to win the San Jose Grand Prix on Sunday and close in on points leader Sebastien Bourdais.

Doornbos, in his first season in the Champ Car series, finished 6.145 seconds ahead of runner-up Neel Jani. Oriol Servia, who led for 42 laps on the 1.443-mile street course, was third.

Bourdais finished fifth and his lead over Doornbos in the championship race dwindled to 10 points (216 to 206).

On Turn 1 of the first lap, Doornbos came in contact with the car of Jan Heylen, and Doornbos’ car lost its front wing. He was forced into the pits and re-emerged in last place.

“When you are far back, whether it’s 15th or 17th it doesn’t make a big difference,” Doornbos said. “It was very easy to pass people and save fuel.”

Bourdais was never a factor. He started second, but his fate was sealed when his car conked out early. He got it going but could never recover.

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John Force earned a victory at the NHRA Nationals at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma.

Force dedicated his funny car victory to Eric Medlen, the defending event winner who died earlier this year in a testing accident. Force presented the winner’s trophy to Medlen’s father, John, who serves as a roving crew chief for his three remaining teams.

Greg Anderson earned his 50th pro stock victory. He became the sixth professional and the 10th driver in history to win 50 NHRA races. He is the second quickest to the mark, winning No. 50 in his 189th career start. Bob Glidden won 50 times in his first 139 races.

Top fuel ace Tony Schumacher dropped Bob Vandergriff to 0-10 lifetime in final rounds. Pro stock motorcycle winner Matt Smith padded his series lead with his third victory of the season, beating first-time finalist Eddie Krawiec.