Sunday’s auto racing roundup

Dario Franchitti (bottom) leads Ryan Briscoe through a turn in the Sonoma Grand Prix. Franchitti claimed his first win in Sonoma.

SONOMA, Calif. -- Dario Franchitti finally won at Infineon Raceway as he never trailed in capturing his first Sonoma Grand Prix yesterday in the final road course race of the year.

Franchitti took the pole and led all 75 laps of the IRL event, topping runner-up and new points leader Ryan Briscoe on the way to his fourth victory of the year.

Franchitti and Briscoe avoided a multiple-car crash early in Lap 1 on the tough 12-turn, 2.303-mile road course. Scott Dixon, the points leader coming in and Franchitti's teammate with Target Chip Ganassi Racing, finished 13th after stalling in the wreck. He fell into third place in the points race.

At least seven cars crashed in an accident heading into Turn 2 of the race, including '07 Sonoma champion Dixon after he started 10th.

There's a quick 104-foot elevation gain from the starting line to Turn 2. Debris was strewn all over the track.

Franchitti, the Scot who moved into second in points at 493 and four points behind Briscoe, became the first flag-to-flag winner in an IndyCar race since Dixon did so in 2003 for 206 laps in a rain-shortened event at Richmond.

In other IndyCar news:

• Will Power of Team Penske was still being evaluated at a Sonoma hospital a day after breaking two vertebrae in his lower back and sustaining a concussion during a crash in practice.

Power collided with Nelson Philippe of Conquest Racing during practice Saturday. Philippe also suffered a concussion along with an open fracture to his left foot that required surgery.

Team Penske said it's too early to say whether Power will miss the rest of the season.

FORMULA ONE

Barrichello reigns as Hamilton's team falters

VALENCIA, Spain -- Brawn GP's Rubens Barrichello won the European Grand Prix to claim his first Formula One victory in five years.

The 37-year-old Brazilian took advantage of a costly pit-stop error by Lewis Hamilton's McLaren team to record his 10th career win -- and his first since 2004.

Hamilton finished second after having started the Valencia street race from the pole position.

Jenson Button finished seventh and saw his championship lead cut to 18 points over teammate Barrichello.

Hamilton, who also finished second at last year's race, looked set for a second straight win after having taken the Hungarian GP.

But McLaren's mechanics fumbled when removing tire warmers during his final pit stop, which lasted 13.4 seconds, and the chance was gone. SHORT TRACKS

LANGLEY SPEEDWAY: Brandon Ward of Winston-Salem, N.C., moved out front on Lap 206 and sped to his second consecutive win in yesterday's Hampton Virginia/Honor Flight 250 in Hampton. Woody Howard finished second.