LONG BEACH, Calif. — Mike Conway made a late pass on Ryan Briscoe to win the Grand Prix of Long Beach on Sunday, earning his first career IndyCar victory in just his third race since a horrific crash last year in the Indianapolis 500.
Conway sustained multiple leg fractures and a compression fracture in his back in the Indy 500 crash, knocking him out for the remainder of the season. He went through a grueling rehab and signed with Andretti Autosport before this season, finishing 23rd and 22nd his first two races.
Conway started third and hung around the leaders on the 11-turn, 1.968-mile circuit. After a series of late crashes, he finally took the lead with 14 laps left.
• Del Worsham edged teammate Larry Dixon by 0.0048 seconds — about 6 inches — in the top fuel final at the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals in Concord, N.C.
Jack Beckman (funny car) and Greg Anderson (pro stock) also won in the event featuring racing in four lanes instead of the traditional two. A center wall separated the second and third lanes.
• McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton overcame a pre-race mechanical drama to win the Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai, passing Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel for the lead with five laps remaining.
Nadal is master of Monaco
MONACO — Rafael Nadal won his seventh straight Monte Carlo Masters title by beating David Ferrer 6-4, 7-5 in an all-Spanish final.
It was his first tournament victory since October, ending a run of three consecutive defeats in title matches.
It was the 44th career title for the top-ranked Nadal — but first since the Japan Open — and 19th at a Masters event.
• Unable to draw on the strength of the Williams sisters, the United States failed to win a single match against Germany in Stuttgart and was knocked from the top tier of the Fed Cup for the first time.
The Americans were blanked 5-0 in the playoff and will no longer be among the top eight nations in the World Group, a big letdown for a country that has won the Fed Cup a record 17 times.
Timbers win second straight
PORTLAND, Ore. — Kenny Cooper scored against his former club and the expansion Portland Timbers won their second straight MLS match with a 3-2 victory over FC Dallas.
• Chad Barrett and Omar Gonzalez scored their first goals of the season, leading the visiting Los Angeles Galaxy to a 2-1 victory over the Chicago Fire.
• Hunter Freeman scored in the 86th minute as the Houston Dynamo beat the visiting New England Revolution 1-0 for its second straight win.
Footnotes.
Xavier Tondo of Spain won the Vuelta de Castilla and Leon in Medina del Campo, Spain, protecting his overnight lead to finish nine seconds ahead of Bauke Mollema.
• Victor Ortiz (29-2-2) rode three knockdowns to an upset victory over previously unbeaten Andre Berto (27-1) in a World Boxing Council welterweight title fight in Ledyard, Conn., on Saturday night.
The Associated Press
