Hunter-Reay survives at wild Iowa race

* INDYCAR

Championship contenders and big-name stars were dropping left and right and on a wacky Saturday night at the Iowa Corn 250 in Newton, Iowa.

Ryan Hunter-Reay kept his car clean, made a late move and not so quietly forced himself into the championship discussion.

Hunter-Reay passed Scott Dixon with 12 laps to go and held on to win for the second straight week in a race that ended under caution.

The winner last week at another short oval, the Milwaukee Mile, Hunter-Reay moved to second in the season standings with his seventh career IndyCar victory - the most among active U.S. drivers.

The victory was Andrettti Autosport's fourth in six races in Iowa.

"I wish we had some more 1-mile ovals coming up. Those are fun. The racing that we've had on them, it seemed like it was pretty exciting. This is so cool. This is a difference maker for sure," Hunter-Reay said.

At Iowa Speedway

Newton, Iowa

Lap length: .875 miles

(Starting position in parentheses)

1. (7) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Dallara-Chevrolet, 250, Running.

2. (3) Marco Andretti, Dallara-Chevrolet, 250, Running.

3. (19) Tony Kanaan, Dallara-Chevrolet, 250, Running.

4. (8) Scott Dixon, Dallara-Honda, 250, Running.

5. (25) Simon Pagenaud, Dallara-Honda, 250, Running.

6. (2) Helio Castroneves, Dallara-Chevrolet, 250, Running.

7. (11) Rubens Barrichello, Dallara-Chevrolet, 250, Running.

8. (21) Ed Carpenter, Dallara-Chevrolet, 250, Running.

9. (20) Graham Rahal, Dallara-Honda, 250, Running.

10. (13) Justin Wilson, Dallara-Honda, 249, Running.

11. (14) Charlie Kimball, Dallara-Honda, 248, Running.

12. (23) Takuma Sato, Dallara-Honda, 247, Running.

13. (18) James Jakes, Dallara-Honda, 245, Running.

14. (22) Simona de Silvestro, Dallara-Lotus, 244, Running.

15. (16) Katherine Legge, Dallara-Chevrolet, 243, Contact.

16. (9) Alex Tagliani, Dallara-Honda, 207, Mechanical.

17. (4) James Hinchcliffe, Dallara-Chevrolet, 195, Contact.

18. (5) Ryan Briscoe, Dallara-Chevrolet, 178, Contact.

19. (10) Josef Newgarden, Dallara-Honda, 178, Contact.

20. (17) Mike Conway, Dallara-Honda, 123, Mechanical.

21. (15) Oriol Servia, Dallara-Chevrolet, 98, Mechanical.

22. (12) J.R. Hildebrand, Dallara-Chevrolet, 95, Contact.

23. (6) Will Power, Dallara-Chevrolet, 67, Contact.

24. (24) E.J. Viso, Dallara-Chevrolet, 67, Contact.

25. (1) Dario Franchitti, Dallara-Honda, 0, Mechanical.

Points: Power 286, Hunter-Reay 283, Dixon 271, Castroneves 261, Hinchcliffe 256, Pagenaud 246, Kanaan 235, Franchitti 216, Briscoe 205, Rahal 193.

* SPRINT CUP

It used to be that short tracks were the guaranteed place for the bumping, banging and blown tempers. It's now shifted to road courses, specifically Sonoma, where more than a few drivers will likely be raging mad by the end of today's Toyota/Save Mart 350 (noon, TNT).

"I think this has turned into the most no-holds-barred, crazy, people-running-into-each-other race, more so than any of the short tracks we go to now," said Sprint Cup Series points leader Matt Kenseth.

NASCAR's last two visits to the winding road course in Northern California wine country have been demolition derbies. Jeff Gordon was the bad guy in 2010, when he tangled on track with at least four drivers in a race he deemed a "disaster - just one of those terrible days where I made a lot of mistakes, no doubt made a lot of people unhappy."

At Sonoma

Sonoma, Calif.

Lap length: 1.99 miles

(Car number in parentheses)

1. (9) Marcos Ambrose, Ford, 95.262 mph.

2. (24) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 95.067.

3. (48) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 94.795.

4. (16) Greg Biffle, Ford, 94.722.

5. (56) Martin Truex Jr., Toyota, 94.686.

6. (15) Clint Bowyer, Toyota, 94.679.

7. (18) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 94.632.

8. (51) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, 94.557.

9. (17) Matt Kenseth, Ford, 94.524.

10. (39) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 94.509.

11. (99) Carl Edwards, Ford, 94.503.

12. (42) Juan Pablo Montoya, Chev., 94.319.

13. (2) Brad Keselowski, Dodge, 94.269.

14. (20) Joey Logano, Toyota, 94.209.

15. (5) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, 94.206.

16. (11) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 94.199.

17. (22) A J Allmendinger, Dodge, 94.184.

18. (47) Bobby Labonte, Toyota, 94.103.

19. (88) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chev., 94.026.

20. (13) Casey Mears, Ford, 93.991.

21. (55) Brian Vickers, Toyota, 93.949.

22. (95) Scott Speed, Ford, 93.913.

23. (27) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 93.84.

24. (14) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 93.824.

25. (1) Jamie McMurray, Chev., 93.732.

26. (29) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 93.728.

27. (38) David Gilliland, Ford, 93.524.

28. (32) Boris Said, Ford, 93.268.

29. (34) David Ragan, Ford, 93.166.

30. (43) Aric Almirola, Ford, 93.153.

31. (78) Regan Smith, Chevrolet, 93.064.

32. (36) Dave Blaney, Chevrolet, 92.964.

33. (98) David Mayhew, Ford, 92.833.

34. (7) Robby Gordon, Dodge, 92.563.

35. (31) Jeff Burton, Chevrolet, 92.459.

36. (87) Joe Nemechek, Toyota, 92.14.

37. (19) Chris Cook, Toyota, 92.076.

38. (49) J.J. Yeley, Toyota, 91.927.

39. (93) Travis Kvapil, Toyota, 91.836.

40. (26) Josh Wise, Ford, 91.729.

41. (10) Tomy Drissi, Chevrolet, Owner Points.

42. (83) Landon Cassill, Toyota, Owner Pts.

43. (33) Stephen Leicht, Chev., 91.686.

n Failed to Qualify

44. (30) Brian Simo, Toyota, 78.658.

* NATIONWIDE

Nelson Piquet Jr. held the lead on a late restart, then pulled away from the rest of the field to win the NASCAR Nationwide Series Sargento 200 at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wis.

The Brazilian, a former Formula One driver and the son of three-time F1 champion Nelson Sr., became a winner in his third career Nationwide start after starting the race from pole position. Piquet's extensive road racing experience paid off at the four-mile, 14-turn road course that winds through the hills of central Wisconsin.

Michael McDowell was second, followed by Ron Fellows, Max Papis and Sam Hornish Jr.

At Road America

Elkhart Lake, Wis.

Lap length: 4.048 miles

(Start position in parentheses)

1. (1) Nelson Piquet Jr., Chevrolet, 50 laps, 142.6 rating, 0 points, $55,393.

2. (2) Michael McDowell, Toyota, 50, 116.2, 0, $38,968.

3. (3) Ron Fellows, Chevrolet, 50, 126.7, 42, $25,300.

4. (5) Max Papis, Chevrolet, 50, 107.6, 41, $27,943.

5. (8) Sam Hornish Jr., Dodge, 50, 94.8, 40, $23,893.

6. (4) Jacques Villeneuve, Dodge, 50, 113.7, 39, $22,093.

7. (6) Brian Scott, Toyota, 50, 110, 38, $21,368.

8. (22) Kurt Busch, Toyota, 50, 96.5, 0, $13,275.

9. (14) Cole Whitt, Chevrolet, 50, 101.5, 35, $20,468.

10. (7) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 50, 97, 34, $20,418.

11. (11) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ford, 50, 85.3, 33, $22,718.

12. (10) Danica Patrick, Chevrolet, 50, 104.6, 32, $19,043.

13. (19) Mike Bliss, Toyota, 50, 82.7, 31, $18,943.

14. (15) Jason Bowles, Toyota, 50, 86.5, 30, $18,843.

15. (13) Elliott Sadler, Chevrolet, 50, 81, 29, $19,943.

16. (20) Kenny Habul, Toyota, 50, 72.7, 28, $12,225.

17. (17) Victor Gonzalez Jr., Toyota, 50, 83.7, 27, $18,593.

18. (23) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 50, 68.9, 26, $18,493.

19. (28) Mike Wallace, Chevrolet, 50, 70.6, 25, $18,418.

20. (16) Brad Sweet, Chevrolet, 50, 77.5, 24, $19,043.

21. (29) Eric McClure, Toyota, 50, 52.8, 23, $18,293.

22. (25) Timmy Hill, Ford, 50, 52.2, 22, $18,253.

23. (33) Erik Darnell, Chevrolet, 50, 53.7, 21, $18,218.

24. (37) Tony Raines, Dodge, 50, 43.6, 0, $11,690.

25. (26) Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, 50, 53.6, 19, $18,563.

26. (12) Michael Annett, Ford, 48, 60.6, 18, $18,053.

27. (36) Bill Prietzel, Chevrolet, 48, 38.6, 17, $11,550.

28. (27) John Young, Dodge, out of fuel, 47, 69, 16, $11,520.

29. (9) Miguel Paludo, Chevrolet, 47, 70.4, 0, $11,485.

30. (24) Tayler Malsam, Toyota, 46, 48.7, 14, $18,208.

31. (32) Josh Richards, Ford, 41, 50.6, 13, $11,395.

32. (34) Casey Roderick, Chevrolet, 40, 37, 12, $11,350.

33. (18) Alex Kennedy, Toyota, 38, 62.1, 11, $17,788.

34. (42) Matthew Bell, Chevrolet, 36, 46.1, 10, $17,768.

35. (21) Kyle Kelley, Chevrolet, engine, 29, 55.4, 9, $11,275.

36. (41) Morgan Shepherd, Chevrolet, handling, 26, 36.2, 8, $11,255.

37. (43) T.J. Bell, Chevrolet, rear end, 24, 41.8, 7, $11,235.

38. (40) Matt Frahm, Ford, brakes, 14, 33.6, 6, $11,216.

39. (35) Ryan Ellis, Chevrolet, ignition, 4, 38.5, 5, $11,075.

40. (39) Chase Miller, Chevrolet, brakes, 4, 33.4, 4, $10,975.

41. (31) Matt DiBenedetto, Chevrolet, overheating, 3, 36.4, 3, $10,930.

42. (38) Tim Schendel, Chevrolet, vibration, 3, 33.8, 2, $10,895.

43. (30) Jeff Green, Toyota, vibration, 2, 34.5, 1, $10,823.

Top 10 in Points: 1. E.Sadler, 517; 2. A.Dillon, 506; 3. R.Stenhouse Jr., 494; 4. S.Hornish Jr., 483; 5. C.Whitt, 442; 6. J.Allgaier, 441; 7. M.Annett, 414; 8. M.Bliss, 364; 9. B.Scott, 339; 10. D.Patrick, 337.