MONTREAL — Boris Said came back from an early spin and won the Nationwide race at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve on Sunday, edging Max Papis by a nose on a green-white-checkered finish to a crash-filled race.
Papis passed Said entering the final chicane for a split second, but Said never lost momentum and sped back by and outraced Papis to the finish line. The margin of victory was 0.012 seconds, fifth-lowest all time and closest since 1998 at Homestead.
It was the first Nationwide victory for Said and his second in NASCAR. He also won a truck race at Sonoma in 1998, his only triumph in 127 previous starts across NASCAR’s top three series.
Jacques Villeneuve was third, followed by series points leader Brad Keselowski and Paul Menard.
Robby Gordon had the lead when the race restarted for the final time, but he ran out of fuel and finished 14th.
• Lewis Hamilton overcame a late scare to win the Belgian Grand Prix in Spa-Francorchamps, and regain the overall lead of the Formula One championship.
Hamilton ran off the track with nine laps to race but recovered to keep the lead and edge second- place Mark Webber of Red Bull.
Rachel Alexandra finishes second
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. — Rachel Alexandra, the reigning horse of the year, was run down in the final strides by 21-1 longshot Persistently in the $300,000 Personal Ensign at Saratoga Race Course, the star filly’s third loss in five races this year.
With Rachel Alexandra trying to hang onto the lead in the stretch under jockey Calvin Borel, Persistently kept gaining with every stride, took the lead three jumps from the wire and won by a length.
After an ambitious 8-0 campaign last year that included victories over boys in the Preakness, the Haskell Invitational and the Woodward, the 4-year-old filly has two wins and three runner-up finishes this year against less than stellar competition.
Fever forces deciding game
INDIANAPOLIS — Tamika Catchings had 17 points and 13 rebounds to help the Indiana Fever beat the New York Liberty 75-67 to tie their best-of-three WNBA Eastern Conference semifinal series.
Catchings, who was selected the league’s defensive player of the year earlier in the day, helped the Fever fight off elimination and earn one more chance to defend its Eastern Conference crown. Game 3 is Wednesday at New York, with the winner advancing to face Atlanta in the conference finals.
Footnotes.
Yauheni Hutarovich surged ahead of Mark Cavendish and Tyler Farrar of the Boulder- based Team Garmin-Transitions to win the second stage of the Spanish Vuelta cycling race, taking the sprint finish in Marbella, Spain, in 4 hours, 35 minutes and 41 seconds.
• Justin Braun scored in the 13th minute to give host Chivas USA a 1-0 MLS victory over D.C. United.
• Kenya’s David Rudisha set a world record in the 800 meters (1:41.01) for the second time in a week at the Rieti (Italy) Grand Prix.
The Associated Press
