Franchitti captures Indy race in Toronto

Posted: July 13, 2009

Dario Franchitti won the IndyRacing Series' Honda Indy race on a Toronto street course yesterday, easily holding off Penske drivers Ryan Briscoe and Will Power on a late restart for his third triumph of the season.

"It's 10 years since my first one here and it feels good," said Franchitti, who won a Champ Car race in Toronto in 1999. "I guess we timed it right with strategy."

Franchiti regained the IRL series lead by two points over Target Chip Ganassi teammate Scott Dixon, who finished fourth. Justin Wilson of Dale Coyne Racing finished fifth and Danica Patrick took sixth.

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Mark Webber won his first Formula One race after overcoming a penalty to take the German Grand Prix in Nuerburgring, giving his Red Bull team momentum in its bid to catch Jenson Button in the drivers' championship.

The Australian beat teammate Sebastian Vettel by 9.2 seconds despite a drive-through penalty for bumping Brawn GP's Rubens Barrichello out of the start while defending his pole position.

Mark Martin, 50, won the LifeLock.com 400 on Saturday night at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Ill., capturing his series-leading fourth Sprint Cup race of the season.

Pro football

ESPN.com reported that Darrell Bevell, the Minnesota Vikings' offensive coordinator, traveled to Hattiesburg, Miss., to evaluate Brett Favre, who is recovering from shoulder surgery. The former Wisconsin Badgers quarterback watched the retired quarterback throw about 100 passes, sources said.

Tennis

The United States was eliminated by host Croatia in the Davis Cup quarterfinals when Marin Cilic beat James Blake, 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 6-2, to clinch the victory in Porec.

Cilic won on indoor clay to give Croatia its first semifinal berth since winning the competition in 2005. Croatia won, 3-2, after American Bob Bryan beat Roko Karanusic, 5-7, 6-3, 7-6 (4), in the final match.

The Croats will take on the Czech Republic at home in September. The Czechs beat Argentina, 3-2.

In other quarterfinals, Spain advanced, 3-2, at home against Germany and Israel beat visiting Russia, 4-1.

The Freedoms defeated the host Boston Lobsters, 23-19, in World Team Tennis. Lisa Raymond and Nathan Haley beat Raquel Kops-Jones and James Auckland, 5-4, in mixed doubles to clinch the win.

The Freedoms' Madison Keys beat Stephanie Foretz, 5-2, in women's singles.

Elsewhere. Rajeev Ram beat third-seeded Sam Querrey, 6-7 (3), 7-5, 6-3, in the Hall of Fame Tennis championships in Newport, R.I., for his first ATP title.

Basketball

Miami guard Dwyane Wade, the reigning NBA scoring champion, said he received a text from Heat president Pat Riley early yesterday morning regarding a contract extension on the first day the team could make such an offer.

Wade said he would have more formal talks with the team later this summer.

The United States broke an 18-year gold-medal drought by beating Greece, 88-80, to win the FIBA under-19 world basketball championships in Auckland, New Zealand.

Kansas' Tyshawn Taylor had 18 points and five steals to lead the Americans.

Noteworthy

Brock Lesnar, a former WWE pro wrestling star, stopped Frank Mir with a merciless flurry of punches Saturday night, defending his title in the final mixed martial arts bout of UFC 100 in Las Vegas.

He then taunted his fallen opponent, made a two-handed obscene gesture at the booing crowd and insulted a UFC sponsor, bringing an unflattering end to what the league planned as a sparkling celebration of the sport.

Luis Tejada scored two goals in the second half to send Panama through to the CONCACAF Gold Cup quarterfinals with a 4-0 victory over Nicaragua in Glendale, Ariz.

Gerardo Torrado and Miguel Sabah scored to lift and Mexico past Guadeloupe, 2-0, in the second game.

Lisa Norris threw a three-hit shutout to give the Akron Racers an 8-0 win over the Philadelphia Force (3-16) in a National Pro Fastpitch softball game in Allentown.

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