Controversy in Stewart Win

Tony Stewart’s first NASCAR Nextel Cup Series victory of the year didn’t have much drama. His crew took care of that in the pits.

Stewart ran away with the Tropicana 400 on Sunday at Joliet, Ill., but the win was marred by a wreck with rookie Kasey Kahne that touched off a fight in the pits between the two teams’ crews and led Ray Evernham, owner of Kahne’s team, to call for the 2002 series champion to be suspended.

Stewart dominated the race, leading 160 of 267 laps on the 1 1/2-mile oval. He took the lead for good on Lap 241 and beat points leader Jimmie Johnson by 2.925 seconds.

It was Stewart’s first victory since last October. But in typical Stewart fashion, it was marked by controversy. He even was booed as he got out of his car in victory lane.

Kahne was leading with Sterling Marlin second and Stewart third as the field bunched up for the green flag on Lap 127. There were several cars not on the lead lap in front of Kahne.

After the restart, Stewart passed Marlin on the outside, but his Chevrolet got too close to Kahne’s Dodge and tapped the back end. Kahne started spinning, sliding headfirst into the wall while Stewart darted out of harm’s way and into the lead.

“Obviously the 20 [car] was in the back of me and put us up in the wall,” Kahne said. “I don’t know why he would do that. He had the car to beat all day. All he had to do was go through a couple more turns and he probably would have passed us.”

But Stewart, who is on probation until Aug. 18 for a previous postrace fight with Brian Vickers, said he didn’t intend any harm. NASCAR spokesman Herb Branham said after the race that officials determined the collision was simply a racing accident and there would be no penalties.

“I was right on his butt, but all of the sudden he checked up and I don’t know what happened,” Stewart said. “That was a bad deal. We could have gotten taken out just as easily. [Kasey’s] the last guy I’d want to hurt.”

A few seconds after the wreck, Kahne’s crew chief Tommy Baldwin charged into Stewart’s pit. Baldwin and Greg Zipadelli, Stewart’s crew chief, shouted at each other, and then members of the crews began fighting.

“I was just talking to Zippy and telling him his driver is a moron,” Baldwin said. “They started pushing me and then the official grabbed me. I don’t know what happened after that.”

The pit crews mixed it up for a few minutes before order was restored. The shirt of one crew member was ripped open. Kahne’s crew went back to their garage to try and repair the car, which was severely damaged in the front.

Stewart was forced to use his backup car after a hard crash during Friday morning’s practice session at the Chicagoland Speedway.

Johnson increased his lead in the series to 105 points over Dale Earnhardt Jr., who finished 22nd. Jeff Gordon is third, 242 points behind teammate Johnson. Stewart is 302 points back in fourth place.

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Michael Schumacher was tested at the British Grand Prix in Silverstone -- if only for the final 15 laps.

Schumacher won for the 10th time in 11 races this season, but not before holding off last-ditch challenges from McLaren’s Kimi Raikkonen and Ferrari teammate Rubens Barrichello.

A crash on the 40th lap resulted in a safety car, reducing Schumacher’s seemingly comfortable lead and setting up an intense 15-lap race to the finish.

Schumacher prevailed again, however, for the 80th Formula One victory of his career. Raikkonen finished 2.1 seconds behind with Barrichello another second back.

“It’s just unbelievable what’s happening to me and the team this year,” said Schumacher, whose winning time was 1 hour 24 minutes 42.700 seconds.

Things got interesting when Jarno Trulli crashed his Renault with 20 laps to go. He walked away after the car had spun several times and flipped over, eventually landing in a gravel run-off area.

The crash and safety care allowed Raikkonen a third pit stop. Schumacher, who was safely in the lead, had already made two and didn’t need another, and was anticipating pulling away when Raikkonen stopped again.

When the safety car pulled off after the 45th lap, Schumacher held a narrow 0.2-second lead over Raikkonen.

The last 15 laps featured some of the best racing of the season, with Schumacher slowly pulling away from Raikkonen and Barrichello.

“I got close to him,” Raikkonen said. “But I couldn’t get by him.”

Schumacher’s 10 victories is one short of his season record of 11 set in 2002.

With seven races remaining in the 18-race season, the six-time series champion leads the points standings with 100. Barrichello is second with 74.

Jenson Button of BAR-Honda, who finished fourth, is third with 53 points.

Ferrari also leads the team standings with 174 points, 95 ahead of Renault.

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Sebastien Bourdais avoided trouble in a chaotic race and won the Toronto Molson Indy, his third Champ Car World Series victory in a row.

Bourdais started from the pole and was virtually assured of his fourth win of the season and taking over the season point lead from Bruno Junqueira when his Newman/Haas Racing teammate crashed on the first turn of the race.

Bourdais was in charge throughout the caution-filled race that was ended at 84 laps -- 11 laps early -- because of a 1-hour 45-minute time limit.

Bourdais’ fourth victory in the last five races gave him a 28-point (164-136) lead over Junqueira.