Auto Racing Capsules: Martin's long wait ends with Indianapolis pole

INDIANAPOLIS — So excited for last year’s race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Mark Martin predicted victory six weeks before the event.

His ability to forecast the future ultimately fell flat, as Martin finished 11th in a race that was ruined by a Goodyear debacle and dictated by the cautions NASCAR had to call every 10-to-12 laps to prevent dangerous tire failures.

Martin has a chance at redemption Sunday, when the 50-year-old racer will become the oldest driver in Indianapolis’ 100-year history to start from the pole. But he refused to make another Babe Ruth-style statement about his prospects.

"I’m not even thinking about it," Martin said after posting a lap at 182.054 mph in Saturday’s qualifying.

"I prefer not to think about what possible result could be tomorrow," he said. "I can tell you I think it’s gonna be a dogfight for this race. I really do. I’d like to be in the fray. That’s about as far as I’ll go thinking about it."

Martin blew away Juan Pablo Montoya, winner of the 2000 Indianapolis 500, for the pole. Running a retro Target paint scheme that duplicates his Indy 500 car, Montoya qualified second with a lap at 180.803.

Montoya has always been good at Indy — he also raced on the track in Formula One — and many competitors have predicted he’ll contend for his first win of the season on Sunday. But he’s also clinging to a spot in the Chase for the championship, and Montoya has raced cautiously all season in an effort to earn one of the 12 berths.

He’d rather settle for a strong points showing than do something stupid in pursuit of a victory, and insisted that won’t change with a win on the line Sunday.

"I think here, the way the track is, I think overtaking is really hard," he said. "So we’ll see. We’ll do what we can, pick our winning and losing. If we have a good stop, clean track ahead of us, we’ll go. If we’re in traffic, be smart about it, take our time."

Dale Earnhardt Jr. battled back from a brutal stomach virus to qualify third — his best effort since Lance McGrew took over as crew chief seven races ago.

Earnhardt was plagued with a high fever and vomiting when he arrived in Indianapolis, and he wanted Brad Keselowski on standby in case he needs a relief driver on Sunday. But rain delayed qualifying Saturday, and Keselowski ran out of time to get a required practice lap in Earnhardt’s car before he had to be at nearby O’Reilly Raceway Park to prepare for the Nationwide Series race.

"He’s not going to be able to come out here, so we’re going to have to man up and not have a backup plan. That’s all right," Earnhardt said. "We’ll see how it goes. It was a 24-hour stomach bug. I guess I lost a bunch of fluids during that whole deal. I feel fine now. I just got to get fluids back in me."

Bill Elliott, the 2002 winner at The Brickyard, qualified fourth and was followed by David Reutimann, Brian Vickers, two-time Indianapolis winner Tony Stewart and Kasey Kahne. Reed Sorenson and Clint Bowyer rounded out the top 10.

Sterling Marlin, Max Papis and Derrike Cope failed to qualify.

Martin, who has nine top-10 finishes in 15 previous starts at Indianapolis, has his eye on the coveted trophy. He was coaxed back into a full schedule this season by Rick Hendrick, who has given Martin an incredibly strong race team that’s capable of winning the Sprint Cup championship.

Martin heads into Sunday’s event with a series-best four victories this season — most recently the last race out, two weeks ago in Chicago — and four poles. Now he wants a win at the prestigious Brickyard.

"It would be a great accomplishment. It is really the number two crown jewel of stock car racing, I think," Martin said. "But, like I’ve always said, you don’t get to choose where you win. If you’re lucky, you get to win.

"It would be a big win for my race team and it would be a big win for me, for my career, especially at this point in time."

But he’ll have his hands full with Stewart and Jimmie Johnson, Martin’s teammate at Hendrick Motorsports. Stewart and Johnson have combined to win the last four races at Indy, and Sunday could be a showdown between the two NASCAR champions.

Johnson, the defending three-time champion, has struggled at Indianapolis and has a tendency to either win or wreck. Stewart, a two-time NASCAR champion, is an Indiana native who treasures the speedway and makes running well at home a priority.

"Man, I hope so," said Johnson, who qualified 16th, of a potential two-man race.

"It would be a blast. I know coming to this track that Tony always finds more, and I know he’s giving 100 percent at every track, but he just seems to step it up a notch here each time we come," Johnson said. "I know it’s going to be a great battle and I assume there’s going to be other cars in there, as well. It’s going to be a great race."

Johnson and Busch patch things up following tiff

INDIANAPOLIS — So much for that Jimmie Johnson-Kurt Busch feud.

For now anyway.

The two NASCAR stars have cleared the air — finally — following their latest run-in at Chicago two weeks ago and don’t expect any carry-over in Sunday’s race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Johnson said Busch walked over smiling in the garage area before practice on Friday and the two had little trouble sorting things out.

"It was nothing," Johnson said. "He walked over smiling."

The three-time defending series champion stressed to Busch their recent trouble wasn’t personal.

"There’s been a couple of periods in my career where no matter where I go on the track I end up driving into somebody and it’s the same dang guy," Johnson said. "It ended up being Kurt the last few weeks and I assured him that it was nothing that I’m searching him out for, it’s just been circumstances."

Both times, those circumstances cost Busch valuable track position late in the race.

At Sonoma in June, an error by Johnson knocked Busch out of the Top 10. Three weeks later in Chicago, Johnson got a little nudge from teammate Jeff Gordon and ended up banging into Busch, who retaliated by "bodyslamming" Johnson. While Johnson held on for eighth, Busch slipped back to 17th.

Afterward, a decidedly upset Busch questioned Johnson’s ability as a champion.

Johnson sent a text message after the race offering to meet and explain things. Busch never hit reply, something he blamed on a busy schedule and poor cell phone service.

During their brief chat, Johnson said he didn’t ask Busch if he needed to change phone companies.

"When I didn’t see anything back or hear anything back I didn’t take it any way because I’ve had to track people down for two, three days just to touch base with them," Johnson said.

Johnson took the blame for the incident at Sonoma, but feels he didn’t do anything wrong in Chicago and doesn’t expect to race Busch differently if the two end up in close quarters on Sunday.

"I’m not going to change anything," Johnson said. "I certainly don’t want to run into people, that’s my motive."

Busch will have some work to do if he wants to get in the same crowd with Johnson at the Brickyard.

Though he acknowledged meeting with Johnson, he declined to comment further before ducking into his trailer after qualifying 41st. Johnson, who is third in the points race — one spot ahead of Busch — will start 16th as he searches for his third win at the Brickyard in four years.

-- Will Graves

Harvick noncommittal on future with RCR

INDIANAPOLIS — Kevin Harvick did not discuss his future with Richard Childress Racing, instead he answered questions about his status by shifting focus to his preparation at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

"We’re focused on this weekend," was a version of his standard response when pressed Saturday about his long-term options at RCR.

A disappointing season has thrown Harvick’s name into the rumor mill, with some speculation he is trying to work his way out of a contract that runs through 2010. The speculation reached a fevered pitch last week, and Childress issued a sharply worded statement that Harvick will be driving the No. 29 Chevrolet next season.

"Right now, we’re here to race and do what we need to do from a driver’s standpoint and everybody is working well together," he said when asked if he wanted to be with Childress beyond next year.

"We all want to make things the best that we can, and right now we’re working on Indy."

But Harvick was otherwise candid in discussing his frustration with what he’s classified as the worst season of his career at any level. He’s winless since the 2007 season-opening Daytona 500 and is currently 25th in the points standings.

Harvick, who has led just nine laps all season, will start 19th in Sunday’s race. He is the 2003 Indianapolis winner.

He has spent his entire NASCAR career with Childress, who promoted him to the Cup Series a year early following Dale Earnhardt’s death in 2001. He has won 11 races for RCR and made the Chase for the championship the last three seasons, but has little chance of making his way back into the 12-driver field this year.

"As a team, we’ve been off in everything," Harvick said. "Everybody is kind of stale right now. Everything is not fast enough. Everything isn’t run good enough to be where everybody wants to be. I don’t really have anything to look at or look forward to.

"I don’t have anything cooking or anything different. Right now I’m the driver of the No. 29 Shell Pennzoil RCR Chevrolet. That’s my job. That’s what I intend to focus on. Everything else will take care of itself."

Although Harvick isn’t talking about his status with RCR, his decision is partly related to a maturity level he has reached since starting his own race team. His 2006 contract negotiations were rather public, as well as much of Harvick’s frustrations over both on- and off-track issues.

This time, he said he wants to keep issues out of the press.

"A lot of the things that happen away from the race track are things that need to be kept within the walls of our companies or our homes," Harvick said. "The biggest thing that happened when everybody got in an uproar last time was it all went public. And that’s not going to happen.

"No matter what happens, in the end, Richard and I will always be friends. We will always have gone through a lot of good times together and hopefully we will go through a lot of great times together as we go forward. We’re not going to drag this thing — all of us drivers and the crew chiefs, we’re not going to drag this thing through the mud. We’re going to put our heads down and try to make it the best that we can."

Not all the performance is down for Harvick, who celebrated as car owner for Ron Hornaday’s record-setting fourth consecutive Truck Series victory on Friday night. It’s been an overall outstanding year for Kevin Harvick Inc., which has won seven races in the Nationwide and Truck Series. Hornaday is the current Trucks points leader.

"Everything away from the Cup side of it is probably the best year that we’ve had," Harvick said. "But in the end, the Cup car is what everything is built around. And when you come home on Monday, that’s the last thing (race) you’ve done and we could shut the doors on everything else, and (Cup) is still all that matters. This is what makes it all go around."

-- Jenna Fryer

Gordon won’t have second procedure on back

INDIANAPOLIS — Jeff Gordon says he has decided not to have a second procedure to deal with an achy back and instead will try to deal with the pain.

The NASCAR star said Saturday during qualifying for Sunday’s race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway that the first procedure didn’t help much and he doesn’t see the point in having another injection of anti-inflammatory medication.

The four-time series champion has been dealing with a sore back for several months but ruled out surgery because it was too invasive.

Instead he will continue to focus on a series of stretching exercises and physical training in hopes the condition will improve.

Gordon is second in the points race behind Tony Stewart and will be looking for his record fifth victory at the Brickyard.

Notebook: Earnhardt’s Indy backup plan falls through

INDIANAPOLIS — Dale Earnhardt Jr. had no trouble qualifying Saturday at Indianapolis.

Finishing 400 miles in Sunday’s race may be a different matter.

Earnhardt fought off a stomach virus that sapped his energy and forced him to take intravenous fluids this weekend to qualify third at 180.567 mph.

But a carefully scripted backup plan fell apart because of a rain delay that lasted about four hours.

Junior’s team wanted Hendrick Motorsports developmental driver Brad Keselowski to run laps in the No. 88 car later Saturday, just in case Earnhardt needed a relief driver Sunday. Instead, the 25-year-old Nationwide Series regular had to get to O’Reilly Raceway Park for the start of his own race, leaving Earnhardt likely on his own.

"I don’t think Brad is going to be able to come out and run it today. So we’re not going to have a backup plan, but that’s all right. We’ll see how it goes," Earnhardt said. "It was a 24-hour stomach bug and I guess I lost a bunch of fluids during that whole deal. I feel real good right now, I’ve just got to get a lot more fluids back in me."

Earnhardt’s biggest concern: Dehydration.

He had a fever Thursday night and was vomiting Friday morning. The illness limited Junior to only 19 laps in practice Friday, and the fever returned Friday night.

By Saturday afternoon, Earnhardt was feeling better.

"I feel about 90 percent today," he said. "It was real frustrating yesterday because we didn’t come in till Friday morning and I felt so terrible before we flew out."

The illness didn’t hurt Earnhardt’s performance.

If Junior can build on his qualifying performance Sunday, he could end his 40-race winless drought, which dates to June 2006 at Michigan.

"I feel tons better," he said Saturday. "I used to think a sore throat was the worst thing, but I’m not a very big fan of stomach viruses now."

WILD BILL RETURNS

Indy pole-winner Mark Martin wasn’t the only "old guy" making some noise Saturday.

Former points champion Bill Elliott qualified fourth, not bad for a 53-year-old who didn’t get much of a chance to practice on Friday and instead had to rely on information garnered from tire testing at Indy earlier this year to put together his best run of the season.

"We felt like we had a pretty good race car if we just kept working at it," Elliott said. "I’m just kind of dumbfounded that we’re at where we’re at today."

Indy will be Elliott’s seventh start of the season, and a little of the old magic has returned in recent weeks. He qualified 10th and finished 15th at Charlotte in May and followed with a 16th-place finish in Michigan. Two weeks ago in Chicago, he made the grid in eighth before fading to 29th.

"We just keep getting better, better and better," said Elliott, who won at the Brickyard in 2002.

STILL NO DEAL FOR VICKERS

Brian Vickers declared himself a free agent on Saturday because he’s yet to receive a formal contract from Red Bull Racing.

Vickers and Red Bull have an oral agreement for him to sign a new deal, but the actual contract has yet to be presented to the driver.

"As far as I’m aware, they want to keep me," Vickers said. "We’ve agreed to everything verbally. They’ve stressed to me time and time again that they want me to stay."

But with no firm deal, Vickers said he has no choice but to look at every available option.

"All options are on the table, and the ball is in their court," he said.

Vickers was the first driver signed by Red Bull when it entered NASCAR in 2007. Although he’s winless, he’s come close and led laps. He’s 16th in the standings right now, has won five poles this season and has eight top-10 finishes.

CHANGING COLORS

Former Cup champion Matt Kenseth understands racing is a business, and that’s why Dewalt Power Tools chose not to renew its sponsorship for his No. 17 car next season.

To Kenseth, it was all about the economy.

"The tool business is obviously very weak," he said. "When construction is that weak, the tool business is going to be weak and we just couldn’t make it happen."

The announcement was not a surprise to Kenseth or his Roush Fenway Racing team, though Kenseth thought they were going to work out a deal two or three months ago.

But the ramifications for Kenseth, who is now in the market for a new sponsor, will take a little longer to sink in.

"We’ve been together for a long time and it’s going to be weird not to be in a yellow and black car with Dewalt on the side," Kenseth said Friday. "Whenever you lose a sponsor from the sport — from what I hear they’re not going to a different team or something like that — that always concerns me, whether it’s on our team or somebody else’s team."

STAYING ON POINT

Juan Pablo Montoya learned plenty in his first two full seasons on the Cup circuit.

Now he’s trying to put those lessons to use.

The Colombian is ninth in points, but only 36 points ahead of 13th-place Greg Biffle in the race to make the chase, meaning it has become more critical at each race to stay out of trouble and earn points.

"You’ve got to be smart," he said. "It’s all about the championship right now, and to be able to be part of it and compete for it. You’ve got to be smart. You don’t have to win the race to get in the chase, we have to finish every race."

BACK IT UP

NASCAR officials will move the starting line for Sunday’s double-file restarts back from Indy’s flag-stand, which sits on the yard of bricks, closer to the fourth turn.

The primary reason for the change: To avoid accidents.

Four-time Cup champion Jeff Gordon noted the change was under consideration, and veteran Jeff Burton said Friday that with everyone starting in the straight it’s difficult to see through the cars. Burton said that if the second-place driver were to "check up," the car behind him could react but others may not. NASCAR spokesman Kerry Tharp confirmed the decision to move the restart line back during Saturday’s practice.

-- Michael Marot

Edwards beats Busch for Nationwide win

CLERMONT, Ind. — Carl Edwards has an idea that would revolutionize racing.

He’d be in favor of starting the fastest cars in the back so the fans could enjoy watching them blow past their competition while trying to get to the front.

Edwards explained his unique idea after giving a good example of why such a plan might work. He came from the back of the pack Saturday to win the Nationwide Series race at O’Reilly Raceway Park.

Edwards started 42nd out of 43 drivers because he spent the day at Brickyard 400 qualifying and got into the Saturday night race on owner points. He moved up 15 spots by the end of the fourth lap, and took the lead for good in lap 179.

"I definitely like starting in the back," he said. "It would be fine with me if we qualified for points and inverted the field every week. I think that would be a lot more exciting racing. It’s fun when you’ve got fast cars starting in the back. I know the crowd likes it, especially for these short races."

Kyle Busch, who started 41st and qualified because of owner points, finished second.

Busch leads Edwards by 192 points in the Nationwide standings. Edwards knows he can’t make many mistakes if he is to catch up. Busch has finished in first or second in every race since a June 6 victory in Nashville.

"I believe that 18 team has run first or second for the last couple months," Edwards said. "They have not slipped. For us to be able to beat them, we have to pretty much run first every week."

Busch felt lucky to finish second. He got away with some unusual mistakes late in the race.

"We didn’t deserve to get second because when we bounced it off the wall twice at the end of the race, we should have fell back to about fifth or sixth," he said.

Matt Kenseth, who drove at ORP for the first time in 10 years, finished third.

Trevor Bayne, an 18-year-old who earned the pole, finished seventh. He led the first 34 laps before making contact with Steve Wallace and falling out of contention. The accident moved Ron Hornaday, Jr., Friday’s trucks winner, into the lead.

Scott Wimmer passed Hornaday to take the lead in lap 54. Edwards moved into third and challenged Hornaday for second.

Wimmer led until a yellow in lap 92, and most of the leaders went to the pits. Jason Keller is one of the few racers who didn’t stop, so he was in front when the other drivers returned to the track.

Edwards took the lead in lap 121, but lost it to Busch after a caution in lap 170.

"The last pit stop, I was searching for gears and Kyle Busch got ahead of us," Edwards said. "The 18 car had a good stop and then, the race was on. It was a pretty good battle. It was a lot of fun. That was just hard, hard racing."

Edwards regained the lead in lap 179 and began pulling away.

"At this track, it’s all about your race car," he said. "I’ve been here with cars that are not fast, and it sure is easier when you’ve got a car like the one we had tonight."

-- Cliff Brunt

IndyCars

Power takes poll in Edmonton IndyCar

EDMONTON, Alberta — Will Power will start on the pole after winning a Saturday qualifying session for the Rexall Edmonton IndyCar race dominated by Team Penske.

The Australian ran a fast lap of 61.013 seconds in the final session of qualifying on the 14-turn, 1.96 mile City Centre Airport course.

"Great job for the team — Penske one, two, three — and hopefully we can finish that tomorrow," Power said.

His teammate, Ryan Briscoe, who started on pole last year in Edmonton, will join Power on the front row Sunday.

Helio Castroneves will be third for the Penske team, which also dominated Friday’s practice session.

"All the Penske cars are really fast here," said Briscoe, who sits in third place, just 13 points back of Dario Franchitti, in the overall IndyCar driver standings.

"Since we took the cars off the truck we’ve felt really good."

Scott Dixon of Target Chip Ganassi will start fourth, while teammate Franchitti, the current IndyCar series leader, will be sixth.

Penske and the Target Chip drivers Franchitti and Dixon have been in a tight race for supremacy in the series this year. The teams have combined to win nine of 10 races: three each for Dixon and Franchitti, two for Castroneves and one for Briscoe.

Dixon won in Edmonton last year in the inaugural race in the Alberta capital following the merger of the IndyCar and Champ Car circuits.

Franchitti, who is two up on Dixon in the points race, said Ganassi struggled with the setup of the cars all week — when the front end was balanced, the back was out of whack and vice versa, said the 36-year-old Scotsman.

"We couldn’t get both working well together, but we made some changes for qualifying and that seemed to work."

Graham Rahal of Newman/Haas/Lanigan will start fifth. Toronto’s Paul Tracy will start ninth in the 23-car field.

Tracy ran well in practice and just missed being one of the six contenders in the final stint of the three-round knockout qualifying session. He didn’t help his cause by spinning backward into the grass in the second session.

"We missed it by just a tenth of a second," said Tracy, a part-time driver for KV Racing Technology in what will likely be his final IndyCar race of the season.

"It’s super-competitive out there, but I know we’ve got a good race car (for Sunday)."

Tracy has 31 open-wheel wins under his belt, and Franchitti said the man dubbed "The Thrill from West Hill" is always a threat.

"Give him a sniff of a win and look out," he said. "He looks good. He looks like he’s quick. If he can get amongst it tomorrow he’ll be difficult to beat."

Formula 1

Massa satisfactory after life-threatening accident

BUDAPEST, Hungary — Ferrari driver Felipe Massa underwent surgery on life-threatening skull injuries Saturday from a high-speed crash during Hungarian Grand Prix qualifying. He was in stable condition in the intensive care unit of a military hospital.

The accident happened when a loose part from another car hit Massa in the helmet, causing him to veer into a tire-lined barrier at about 120 mph. The front of his car was shredded, with both tires gone and the front nose open.

The 28-year-old Brazilian also sustained a concussion but was conscious when airlifted to AEK hospital, his team said.

"At the time he was admitted to hospital his condition was stable and he was breathing and blood circulation was normal," the Hungarian defense department said in a statement.

"During the course of his examination they established that he suffered a serious, life-threatening injuries, including loss of consciousness and a fracture of the forehead on the left side and a fracture on the base of the skull."

Massa underwent surgery about an hour after arriving at the hospital. Hospital doctors subsequently said his condition was "serious, life threatening but stable" at a news conference, but ultimately ruled the Formula One driver was in "stable, satisfactory condition."

A spring that had fallen off Rubens Barrichello’s car flew up and struck Massa in the helmet. An apparently dazed Massa continued over a curb and across the track. He went through the gravel area along the circuit before slamming into the tire barrier.

The impact of the rear suspension part — a standard component that Brawn GP team principal Ross Brawn believed was made of steel — damaged the left side of Massa’s helmet, ripping out the visor and leaving a long dent on its side. Blood was seen above Massa’s left brow.

Barrichello, a fellow Brazilian, went to the medical center to check on Massa. He said Massa appeared to be doing fine despite the cut above his left eye.

"He was in shock," Barrichello told The Associated Press. "Considering the gravity of the accident, I think he’s in OK shape."

Massa appeared to regain consciousness just before the crash at turn No. 4 because his front brakes seemed to lock ahead of the violent impact.

He remained in the car awhile and was assisted out before being taken to the medical center. He was then taken to the helicopter on a stretcher, wearing a neck brace.

The crash came less than a week after Henry Surtees, the son of former F1 champion John Surtees, died in an F2 race last Sunday. Surtees was struck in the head by a tire from another car, causing him to lose consciousness and drive into a barrier.

"It is not a coincidence that something happened right now," Barrichello told reporters. "Something needs to be done. Yes, absolutely."

No F1 driver has died on the track since three-time champion Ayrton Senna’s crash at Imola 15 years ago.

The accident was also reminiscent of Heikki Kovalainen’s high-speed crash at last year’s Spanish GP, when the McLaren driver sped into a wall. Kovalainen spent the night in a hospital with a concussion.

"What happened to me in Barcelona was a very nasty accident. But I think it was a pretty freak accident and I don’t know how to prevent that," Kovalainen said. "It was very unfortunate. But I think we should discuss it."

Surtees’ death prompted drivers to discuss at length the issue of debris and head safety during their usual pre-race meeting Friday.

Renault’s Fernando Alonso won the pole position for Sunday’s race after qualifying was delayed for nearly 30 minutes because of Massa’s accident.

-- Paul Logothetis

Massa crash leads to calls to re-examine F1 safety

BUDAPEST, Hungary — Racing figures called on Formula One to re-examine safety procedures after Felipe Massa sustained life-threatening skull injuries in a high-speed accident during Hungarian Grand Prix qualifying.

The 28-year-old Ferrari driver was in stable condition in the intensive care unit of a military hospital following surgery on Saturday.

Massa slammed into the protective tire barriers at Hungaroring at a speed of about 120 mph after being struck in the helmet by a loose spring. The common car part had fallen out of the rear suspension of Rubens Barrichello’s Brawn GP car.

It was the second accident in six days where track debris struck a driver in the helmet to cause an accident. F2 driver Henry Surtees died in an incident last Sunday.

"Things happen for a reason and I think this is the second message. Imola was a message," said Barrichello in reference to 1994’s San Marino GP, where three-time champion Ayrton Senna died from a nearly identical accident as fellow Brazilian Massa.

Barrichello was knocked unconscious at that race after a dramatic crash that flipped his Jordan car.

"It is not a coincidence that something happened right now. In the (drivers’ meeting) we talked quite a lot about it (on Friday) and something needs to be done," the 37-year-old Brazilian said. "Yes, absolutely."

Surtees, the son of former F1 champion John Surtees, died after being struck in the head by a tire from another car, causing him to lose consciousness and drive into a barrier.

"From what’s been seen last weekend and this weekend we need to have a proper study. There’s a need to do something," Brawn GP team principal Ross Brawn said. "We need to digest what’s happened and understand it properly."

A worrying concern for F1 medical staff will be that Massa suffered a fracture to the base of his skull as well as the front. The impact ripped out the visor, and left a long dent on its side, while blood was seen above Massa’s left brow.

Since 2003, F1 has made it mandatory for drivers to wear the Head and Neck Support system (HANS), a carbon fiber device that is supposed to keep drivers from suffering skull fractures in high speed crashes like Massa’s.

For former F1 driver Juan Pablo Montoya, the medical response time was "shocking."

"It was incredible. We always complained when I was there," Montoya told The Associated Press at Indianapolis. "It was kind of shocking."

Criticism emerged last year after the FIA needed nearly 10 minutes to pry Heikki Kovalainen from his McLaren car after it slammed into a tire wall at about 80 mph.

Massa’s incident also came while several drivers were critical of Toro Rosso’s promotion of Jaime Alguersuari to a race seat for the Hungarian GP, even though the 19-year-old Spaniard had never driven an F1 car before.

Brawn said calm should rule since F1 has always taken safety issues seriously, even as the ban on in-season testing means that more inexperienced drivers would likely be coming into the series in the future.

"If there’s a need to react, Formula One will react very promptly. Let’s just make sure we don’t do something to make the situation worse," Brawn said. "We need to understand what happened and then we can react accordingly tomorrow."

-- Paul Logothetis

Elsewhere

Family continues tradition at Ohio Soap Box Derby

AKRON, Ohio — Sarah Whitaker overcame rain and wind to make her family proud by racing to victory at the 72nd All-American Soap Box Derby.

The 10-year-old, the 15th member of her family to race in the national finals, was one of four girls to claim championships in the six divisions Saturday.

"It’s beyond words, but I can say I just love it," said Whitaker, from the Akron suburb of Norton, who jumped into her uncle’s arms after climbing out of her race car at the finish line.

Other girls to win were Megan Thornton, of Cleveland, in the Masters Division; Maija Liimatainen, of Madison, Wis., in Super Stock; and Megan Hydutsky, of Pottstown, Pa., in the Rally Masters.

Two 12-year-old boys also won championships. Tyler Fleck, of Perkasie, Pa., won the Rally Stock competition, and Alex Seither, of Mason, Ohio, claimed the Rally Super Stock title.

Whitaker’s uncle Jon Underwood, who competed in the finals in 1976 and 1978, said his niece had "made us all very, very proud." His dad, John Underwood, was an All-American champion in 1946.

Whitaker said a steady drizzle during the finals caused her car to swerve slightly.

"I don’t know if the track was wet, it was from the wind or just being in Lane 3," the fifth-grader said. "I always like Lane 1. There’s nothing like being No. 1."

A near-record 599 finalists, seven fewer than in 2008, competed for a total of $29,000 in college scholarships.

Liimatainen, the first All-American champion from Wisconsin, said she intends to use her $3,000 scholarship to study to become an engineer — but first has plans to return to Akron to try to win another title.

"My sister Clarissa finished third one year, and my brother Aaron was second, so this is a great feeling," said the 11-year-old. "It’s a family thing. We just love the Derby."

Hydutsky, a 17-year-old high school senior, won in her final year of eligibility.

She was far from the oldest racer to coast down the venerable track. Three former drivers totaling 262 years old opened the day by driving in the ceremonial Oil Can Derby.

Mike Politz, 89, who never made it out of his local heats in the 1934 race in Akron, beat 91-year-old John Frasier and 82-year-old Claude Smith, the 1941 All-American champ.

"My biggest thrill today was being called the kid in our race," Smith said.

Politz finally found the thrill of victory 75 years after he first competed.

"It was worth the wait," he said.

Track officials worked hard throughout the afternoon to put the program back on schedule after a one-hour rain delay in the midmorning. A light drizzle fell for the final hour of races.

Race general manager Jeff Iula said there’s never been a rainout.

"It’s the 17th time we’ve had a rain delay at the finals, not counting the little 5-minute sprinkle we had a year ago," Iula said.

Iula estimated attendance at 16,000, up about 1,000 from a year ago, but admitted this year’s event was affected by the national economy.

"We could use some more sponsors," Iula said. "The interest is as great as ever from kids all over the world. Hopefully, some corporations will recognize that these boys and girls are our future."

Edwards gets Atlantic Championship victory

JOLIET, Ill. — Eighteen-year-old driver John Edwards picked up the second victory of his Atlantic Championship career in the first race of a doubleheader race weekend at Autobahn Country Club in suburban Chicago.

Edwards started the race from the pole position in the No. 36 Newman Wachs Racing car and led every lap en route to a victory by 6.486 seconds over his teammate, Jonathan Summerton in the No. 34.

It was the first 1-2 finish in 3½ years of Atlantic competition for Newman Wachs Racing, which was founded by actor Paul Newman and Chicago-area businessman Eddie Wachs in 2006.

"It’s never easy, but I definitely had a handle today," Edwards said. "Once my tires came up to temperature, the car was great and I just kept pulling away and gapping the field up to four or five seconds. Once I got the gap, I just kind of cruised trying to maintain the same lap time.

"Anytime I heard someone was faster than me, I was able to go even faster the next lap. I’m really happy for Eddie Wachs and the whole Newman Wachs team. It’s their first 1-2. I couldn’t say enough about the team. It just shows through in the results, how good a job they’re doing."

Simona De Silvestro, the only female driver in the field, finished third and continues to lead the championship standings halfway through the 12-race season. She leads Edwards by 10 points, with Summerton trailing Edwards by four points.