FRANCHITTI CREDITS STRATEGY FOR WIN AT LONG BEACH GP
LONG BEACH, Calif. — Dario Franchitti used fuel strategy and a very fast car Sunday to win the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach.
Franchitti said he believed the downtown seaside circuit owed him after he finished second to Alex Zanardi and Juan Pablo Montoya during his days in the now-defunct CART series. But he dominated this time, beating runner-up Will Power, the pole-sitter, by 3.318 seconds — half of the final straightaway.
Helio Castroneves, who got back in his Team Penske car Saturday after being acquitted of federal tax evasion charges, started eighth and finished seventh.
Franchitti said his team gave him the win with a near-perfect pit strategy, starting the race on the softer and faster optional Firestone tires and bringing his No. 10 Dallara in for his first pit stop before any of the other contenders.
• After multiple rain delays, Morgan Lucas beat Spencer Massey in the top fuel final at the Summit Racing NHRA Summer Nationals in Commerce, Ga.
Jack Beckman (funny car) and Eddie Krawiec (pro stock motorcycle) also won their divisions. The pro stock final was postponed, with Jeg Coughlin and Mike Edwards scheduled to race today.
• Sebastian Vettel gave Red Bull its first Formula One victory, leading throughout a soggy Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai to end the team’s drought in its fifth season and 74th race.
Red Bull also celebrated a one- two finish with Mark Webber notching his best-ever finish.
Brawn GP’s Jenson Button was third, stretching his championship lead to six points over teammate Rubens Barrichello, who was fourth.
Nadal master of Monte Carlo
MONACO — Rafael Nadal became the first player to win five straight Monte Carlo Masters titles by beating Novak Djokovic 6-3, 2-6, 6-1.
The top-ranked Spaniard, however, lost a set at the clay-court tournament for the first time since the 2006 final against Roger Federer.
• Sabine Lisicki of Germany beat Caroline Wozniacki 6-2, 6-4 to win the Family Circle Cup in Charleston, S.C.
• Roberta Vinci won the Barcelona Open in Spain, beating defending champ Maria Kirilenko 6-0, 6-4.
Footnotes.
Felix”Doc”Blanchard, the 1945 Heisman Trophy winner and Army’s “Mr. Inside” in one of college football’s most famous backfields, died at the age of 84 of pneumonia at his home in Bulverde, Texas.
• Boston Bruins left winger Milan Lucic was suspended for a game by the NHL for a blow to the head of the Montreal Canadiens’ Maxim Lapierre on Saturday.
• Kenny Cooper scored twice to lift FC Dallas to its first MLS win of the season, 3-2 over Toronto FC.
• Reigning Olympic gold beach volleyball medalists and top-seeded Phil Dalhausser and Todd Rogers won the AVP Crocs Tour Riverside (Calif.) Open.
• The FBI is investigating the estranged wife of the Louisville men’s basketball equipment manager regarding extortion allegations leveled by coach Rick Pitino, her attorney said.
