MOTOR SPORTS Raikkonen wins Chinese GP Kimi Raikkonen of Ferrari won the Chinese Grand Prix on Sunday in Shanghai, China, as McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton missed his chance to clinch the drivers’ title by running off the track while entering the pits. Fernando Alonso of McLaren was second with Felipe Massa of Ferrari third. The championship will go down to the final race in Brazil on Oct. 21 with three drivers capable of winning the title. Hamilton has 107 points, Alonso has 103 and Raikkonen 100. A victory is worth 10 points, second 8 and third 6. Seemingly hampered by tire problems, Hamilton ran off the track and into a gravel trap while entering pit lane after 31 laps. “Just unfortunate,” Hamilton said. “We still have got one more race to go. We’re still ahead.” Hamilton started from the pole knowing he only needed to finish ahead of Alonso to become the first rookie to win the drivers’ title, but rain began to fall just as the drivers began the warmup formation lap. By the 28 th lap, Raikonnen and Hamilton were wheel-to-wheel. Hamilton fended off two passing attempts, but Raikkonen got by on the third. Just three laps later, Hamilton’s race was finished. Behind the placegetters, 20-year-old Sebastian Vettel of Toro Rosso finished fourth, Jenson Button of Honda was fifth and Vitantoni Liuzzi of Toro Rosso sixth.
Four-time series champion Gary Scelzi earned one of four berths in the two-race championship, beating teammate Ron Capps in the Funny Car final Sunday in the Torco Racing Fuels NHRA Nationals at Virginia Motorsports Park in Dinwidddie, Va. Scelzi, who jumped from sixth to second place, was joined in the winner’s circle by Top Fuel’s Doug Kalitta and Pro Stock’s Dave Connolly, who has won five consecutive races overall to take the No. 1 seed in the Countdown to 1. Capps secured the fourth and final berth in Funny Car with his semifinal victory over Tim Wilkerson. Tony Pedregon and Robert Hight, first and third, respectively, will be the other two finalists in the Funny Car Countdown to 1. The drama in Top Fuel played out in the first round when fourth-place Brandon Bernstein ousted fifth-place Bob Vandergriff to cement his position in Top Fuel’s final four. Larry Dixon, Rod Fuller (Rogers ) and Tony Schumacher are the other three finalists. In Pro Stock, Greg Anderson will be the No. 2 seed and the Pro Stock final four was filled out by No. 3 Jeg Coughlin, who drove his way in with a first-round victory Sunday, and Allen Johnson, who clinched the fourth and final Pro Stock berth when his teammate eliminated fifth-place Kurt Johnson in the second round.
RUNNING Runner dies in Chicago In a race run in scorching heat that left one man dead, Kenya’s Patrick Ivuti won the Chicago Marathon by a fraction of a second Sunday. Another 250 runners were taken to hospitals because of heat-related ailments. The 88-degree heat and sweltering humidity were so draining that organizers shut down the second half of the course four hours after the start. Ivuti leaned at the finish line to edge Jaouad Gharib of Morocco by 0. 05 seconds. Ethiopia’s Berhane Adere rallied to successfully defend her women’s title. Chad Schieber of Midland, Mich., 35, collapsed while running on the South Side and was pronounced dead shortly before 1 p. m. at a Veteran’s Affairs hospital, the Cook County medical examiner’s office. An autopsy was scheduled for today. These were record temperatures for the Chicago Marathon, topping the mark of 84 degrees in 1979. Shortages of water and energy drinks were reported along the 26. 2-mile route. At first, organizers hoped those who passed the halfway mark could complete the run. But eventually even those recreational runners were told to turn back. Ivuti, competing in only his second major marathon, was timed in 2 hours, 11 minutes, 11 seconds in the closest finish in the race’s history. He was the fifth consecutive Kenyan to win the race.
Ukrainian Mykola Antonenko won the men’s race and Russian Svetlana Ponomarenko was the women’s champion at Sunday’s Twin Cities Marathon in St. Paul, Minn. Antonenko pulled away around the 7-mile mark and was never challenged. His time of 2 hours, 13 minutes, 54 seconds was more than 6 minutes faster than second-place Joseph Mutinda. Augustus Kavutu Mbusya was third. Ponomarenko won in her first marathon after running neck and neck with Sharon Cherop for much of the 26. 2-mile route. Her winning time was 2: 34: 09. An unidentified runner from Virginia died Sunday during the Army Ten-Miler race in Arlington, Va., collapsing near the finish line at the Pentagon. The runner collapsed about 200 yards from the finish line, said Col. Jim Yonts. Arlington County medics took the runner to George Washington University Hospital. The cause of death was not known. The runner was a civilian, not a member of the military, Yonts said. The race started in 70-degree heat and high humidity. Race officials said there was plenty of water and first aid stations along the course. Tom Nyariki of Kenya won his first Boston half marathon and set a course record, edging Samuel Ndereba on Sunday. Nyariki won in 1 hour, 2 minutes, 19. 4 seconds, outdueling Ndereba down the stretch. Ndereba finished less than a second later. They beat Luke Metto’s 2004 record of 1: 02: 57. Martin Fagan of Ireland, a 2006 graduate of nearby Providence College, finished third in 1: 03: 04. 35. In the women’s race, Edna Kiplagat of Kenya held off countrywoman Caroline Chepkorir, winning in 1: 13: 35. 65. Kathy Newberry of Williamsburg, Va., finished third in 1: 16: 43. 30.
TENNIS Henin wins Porsche GP Top-ranked Justine Henin rallied to beat Tatiana Golovin 2-6, 6-2, 6-1 Sunday and win the Porsche Grand Prix in Stuttgart, Germany, her eighth title of the year. Golovin lost the Porsche Grand Prix final for the second consecutive year, after beating No. 2 Svetlana Kuznetsova in Saturday’s semifinal. Henin has 37 career titles. She also won the French Open and is 54-4 for the year. Top-seeded Tommy Robredo rallied to beat Andy Murray 0-6, 6-2, 6-3 on Sunday in the final of the Moselle Open in Metz, France. It was the Spaniard’s sixth career title. Fifth-seeded Juan Monaco beat wild card Ervin Eleskovic 6-3, 6-3 Sunday in the first-round match at the Stockholm Open in Stockholm, Sweden. James Blake, the two-time defending champion, will face Swedish veteran Jonas Bjorkman in the first round today or Tuesday.
HORSE RACING Out of Control wins Oak Tree Out of Control beat 10-1 long shot Zann by a nose to win Sunday’s $ 250, 000 Oak Tree Mile at Santa Anita in Arcadia, Calif., on Sunday, earning a berth in this year’s Breeders’ Cup Mile. Meanwhile, Idiot Proof claimed a spot in the Breeder’s Cup Sprint and Tough Tiz’s Sis in the Distaff. Out of Control had Michael Baze aboard and finished the mile, Grade II turf course in 1: 34. 16, paying $ 9. 80, $ 5 and $ 4. 20. Zann returned $ 7. 20 and $ 5. 40, and Courtnall paid $ 8 to show. Lava Man, racing’s leading active money winner and most successful ex-claimer, placed last. Idiot Proof ran the six-furlong $ 300, 000 Ancient Title Handicap in 1: 07. 57 with David Flores aboard, winning by threequarters of a length and returning $ 6. 80, $ 2. 60 and $ 2. 40. Greg’s Gold paid $ 2. 10 and $ 2. 10, while Barbecue Eddie paid $ 3. 40 to show. Earlier, Tough Tiz’s Sis surged to beat favorite Hystericalady in the Grade I, $ 196, 500 Lady’s Secret. She finished the 1 1 / 16-mile distance in 1: 41. 64. Panty Raid earned an automatic bid to the BC Distaff Sunday by winning the $ 500, 000 Juddmonte Spinster Stakes on Sunday at Keeneland in Lexington, Ky. Panty Raid, the 3-1 second choice, won for the fourth time in her past five starts, including the Black-Eyed Susan in May at Pimlico. In eight lifetime starts, she has won five times and placed once. Panty Raid paid $ 8. 20, $ 4. 40 and $ 3. 40. Lady Joanne was $ 3. 60 and $ 2. 80. Teammate was $ 6. 80 to show. Dylan Thomas beat Youmzain by a nose Sunday to give trainer Aidan O’Brien his first victory at the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe in Paris, Europe’s most prestigious horse race. Dylan Thomas won in 2 minutes, 28. 50 seconds on good to soft ground, prevailing in a 12-horse field at the 86 th edition of the Arc to earn $ 1. 5 million. Sagara, a 3-year-old colt, finished third, a length behind.
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