Clermont, Ind. – Defending top fuel champion Tony Schumacher took the NHRA playoff lead Monday with his sixth Mac Tools U.S. Nationals victory in eight years.
Schumacher drove away from Larry Dixon in the final, finishing in 4.575 seconds at 331.94 mph, to earn a spot in the winner’s circle with funny car victor Mike Ashley, pro stock points leader Dave Connolly and pro stock motorcycle winner Craig Treble.
The three-time defending world champion leads the points standings for the first time this season. He is 31 points ahead of second-place Dixon and 102 in front of fifth-place Bob Vandergriff, with the top four drivers after the four-race playoff advancing to the championship round.
“I guess we’re a really good pressure team,” Schumacher said. “The guys know they can rely on each other and it all comes together so well.”
HORSE RACING
Heartswideopen wins N.M. thriller
Heavily favored Heartswideopen, breaking from the outside post, drifted toward the inside rail but recovered to edge SF Royal Bank by a nose in the $1.9 million All American Futurity in Ruidoso Downs, N.M.
The Texas-bred Heartswideopen, with Oscar Hernandez aboard, put 68-year-old trainer Carl Draper back in the winner’s circle in the richest event in quarter horse racing. Draper also won in 2004 with hard-charging DM Shicago.
Heartswideopen, owned by brothers Javier and Manny Rodriguez of Las Vegas, drew the No. 8 post and left the gate as a 4-5 favorite.
She briefly seemed to be veering wide but her strength quickly showed and any trouble didn’t last. The brown filly responded to the crowd’s cheers and straightened out to win the 440-yard sprint.
Heartswideopen won in 20.99 seconds and likely would have threatened the track record of 20.73 had she not swept wide at the break. After SF Royal Bank came Captain Courage and Greatful Heart.
Timber Reserve swept past the leaders on the far turn, fought off a tough challenge from Xchanger and won the $1 million Pennsylvania Derby at Philadelphia Park.
The 3-year-old horse won in his first race of the year. Cable Boy, the pacesetter in the Haskell Invitational last month at Monmouth Park, grabbed the lead out of the gate. Timber Reserve and jockey Javier Castellano took charge of the 1 1/8-mile race around the far turn.
As the field of 11 came down the stretch, Timber Reserve enjoyed a half-length lead. Xchanger, a 22-to-1 longshot with Luis Garcia aboard, ran on the outside. Passing the eighth pole, Timber Reserve took his rival to the middle of the track with him.
Timber Reserve reached the wire a long neck ahead of Xchanger. Zanjero, the winner of last month’s West Virginia Derby at Mountaineer Park, ran up from ninth to finish third.
Majestic Warrior went from last to first to win the $250,000 Hopeful Stakes at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.
Under Garrett Gomez, the 2-year-old son of A.P. Indy trailed the field at the start but made a huge run in mid-stretch to win by 2 1/4 lengths in 1:23.04 for Kinsman Stable and trainer Bill Mott.
Edgar Prado, who rode Barbaro to a Kentucky Derby victory in 2006, will be sidelined at least six weeks after breaking his right ankle at Saratoga Race Course.
WNBA
Dominant Detroit returning to Finals
Deanna Nolan scored 20 of her franchise playoff-record 30 points in the first half to help the defending champion Detroit Shock advance to the WNBA Finals with an 81-65 victory over the Indiana Fever in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals in Auburn Hills, Mich.
The Shock will play Phoenix starting Wednesday night, going for its second straight title and third in five years. Detroit has won both postseason series this year 2-1 after losing Game 1 on the road, and is now 7-0 when facing elimination the past two seasons.
FOOTNOTES
Bettini, Freire shine in Spanish Vuelta
Italian cyclist Paolo Bettini won the third stage of the Spanish Vuelta in Luarca, Spain, and Oscar Freire held on to the overall leader’s gold jersey.
The Quick Step-Innergetic team worked hard over the final quarter of the 95-mile course to lead the pack before the world champion sprinted to the finish, crossing in 4 hours, 8 minutes, 42 seconds.
Bettini protected the inside track to hold off a late surge from Freire, who finished second in the same time.
Defending world high bar champion Philippe Rizzo and vault and floor champion Marian Dragulescu withdrew from the world gymnastics championships in Stuttgart, Germany, because of injuries.
Australia’s Rizzo ruptured his Achilles tendon last week during training, and Dragulescu of Romania hurt his back.
