Hunter-Reay wins at Loudon

LOUDON, N.H. - Ryan Hunter-Reay raced to his first IndyCar victory of the year on Sunday after a slippery, crash-marred finish that left drivers upset that it was restarted in rain with about 10 laps left.

Moments after the race resumed on an overcast afternoon, Danica Patrick's car slid sideways, starting a chain reaction that knocked out the cars of Will Power and Takuma Sato.

Officials reverted to the race order that existed before the final restart, leaving Oriol Servia in second place and Scott Dixon in third in the 225-mile race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, the first IndyCar competition at the track since 1998.

Power, second in the series point standings, was irate as he left his car and flashed an obscene gesture that was caught on camera. But he cut Dario Franchitti's lead from 63 points to 47 with five races left. Franchitti led for 115 of the 225 laps before being hit from behind by Sato, ending his race on the 119th.

Hunter-Reay then took the lead and held it most of the way for his fifth win in 113 IndyCar races. He came in third in two of his three previous races and now has five consecutive top 10 finishes after managing just one in his other eight.

The driver for Andretti Autosport wished his win "was in a little bit different way, but we'll absolutely take it after the year we've had," he said. "It was a strange day, but sometimes racing is strange."

MoveThatBlock.com Indy 225

Sunday

At New Hampshire Motor Speedway

Loudon, N.H.

Lap length: 1.058 miles

(Starting position in parentheses)

1. (5) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Dallara-Honda, 215, Running.

2. (2) Oriol Servia, Dallara-Honda, 215, Running.

3. (7) Scott Dixon, Dallara-Honda, 215, Running.

4. (4) James Hinchcliffe, Dallara-Honda, 215, Running.

5. (13) Will Power, Dallara-Honda, 215, Running.

6. (15) Danica Patrick, Dallara-Honda, 215, Running.

7. (8) Takuma Sato, Dallara-Honda, 215, Running.

8. (6) Ryan Briscoe, Dallara-Honda, 214, Running.

9. (10) Charlie Kimball, Dallara-Honda, 213, Running.

10. (19) Vitor Meira, Dallara-Honda, 212, Running.

11. (25) Ed Carpenter, Dallara-Honda, 212, Running.

12. (17) E.J. Viso, Dallara-Honda, 212, Running.

13. (14) Alex Lloyd, Dallara-Honda, 211, Running.

14. (21) Ana Beatriz, Dallara-Honda, 210, Running.

15. (24) Sebastian Saavedra, Dallara-Honda, 210, Running.

16. (26) Simona de Silvestro, Dallara-Honda, 209, Running.

17. (9) Helio Castroneves, Dallara-Honda, 202, Running.

18. (20) James Jakes, Dallara-Honda, 176, Mechanical.

19. (16) Alex Tagliani, Dallara-Honda, 137, Mechanical.

20. (1) Dario Franchitti, Dallara-Honda, 118, Contact.

21. (11) J.R. Hildebrand, Dallara-Honda, 118, Contact.

22. (3) Tony Kanaan, Dallara-Honda, 109, Contact.

23. (18) Tomas Scheckter, Dallara-Honda, 109, Contact.

24. (22) Marco Andretti, Dallara-Honda, 109, Contact.

25. (12) Mike Conway, Dallara-Honda, 0, Contact.

26. (23) Graham Rahal, Dallara-Honda, 0, Contact.

27. (27) Pippa Mann, Dallara-Honda, 0, Did Not Start.

• NASCAR

Sprint Cup race postponed

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. - Marcos Ambrose should be on pins and needles. He says he's not.

"No, not at all," Ambrose said Sunday after NASCAR postponed the Sprint Cup race at Watkins Glen International because of rain. "It keeps me relaxed. You can't fight the weather, so I just worry about stuff you can control. I've got the kids here with me, so I'm going to play with them a little bit and chill out."

Steady rain that began just when the race was scheduled to start did not abate in time for track crews to dry the 2.45-mile racing surface. The race is now scheduled for today (7 a.m., ESPN), but rain also is in the forecast in the Finger Lakes region of upstate New York.

Goodyear brought rain tires to Watkins Glen because of the forecast. Saturday's Zippo 200 won by Kurt Busch would have been run in the rain, if necessary, and the tires were still in the garage on Sunday. They were scheduled to be shipped on Tuesday to Montreal for next Saturday's Nationwide race.

Though the Sprint Cup series has used rain tires in practice at Watkins Glen, King said there are still no plans to use them in a race.