Auto Racing Notes: Bourdais extends streak to 3

MONTERREY, Mexico — Sebastien Bourdais continues to be the only driver to win this Champ Car World Series season.

The 27-year-old Frenchman is 3 for 3 after overcoming a slow early pit stop Sunday to beat Justin Wilson by 3.065 seconds in the Grand Prix of Monterrey.

Bourdais and Wilson went at each other all afternoon during a virtually crash-free race despite slippery conditions on the asphalt. The 2.104-mile Parque Fundidora road course curves around a rusty, long-closed steel mill.

"I think we really gave each other a run for our money," Bourdais said. "Nobody could lay back or anything. It was running flat out the whole time."

The heat was a factor during the 76-lap race, with the temperature at 97 degrees at the start. On the track, the temperature climbed to 125 degrees. Wilson headed to the medical tent after the checkered flag, suffering from mild dehydration.

Bourdais, who won races in Long Beach, Calif., and Houston earlier this season, started first and held his lead for the first 23 laps. But Wilson's crew was quicker when both cars pitted during a caution because of debris on the course, and the Briton moved into first place by 3 car-lengths.

"I really thought we had things under control. But then we got out of our box and I saw we were second and from there on I knew it was going to be a tough race," Bourdais said.

Hornish crashes at Indy

INDIANAPOLIS — Sam Hornish Jr., pole-sitter for Sunday's Indianapolis 500, had a bit of a scare on a relatively uneventful Bump Day at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

On the day the 33-car field was set for the Indy 500, Hornish was practicing in his backup car when he lost control and slid into one of the safety barriers lining the 2.5-mile oval.

Hornish, a two-time IRL IndyCar Series champion, was not injured and the car he qualified Saturday with a four-lap average of 228.985 mph was sitting safely in the Marlboro Team Penske garage.

The day began with one spot open in the lineup. Rookie Thiago Medeiros ran four steady laps at an average of 215.729 to complete the lineup.

"We got a lot of help from other teams," Medeiros said. "We have at least 10 different parts from different cars."

Notes

• Pole-sitter Graham Rahal, 17, led all the way in the Atlantic Championship's Grand Prix of Monterrey in Mexico. He is the youngest winner in Atlantic's 33 years. Rahal is the son of Bobby Rahal, who won the Indy 500 in 1986.

• Brandon Bernstein improved to 10-1 in Top Fuel finals, beating Cory McClenathan with a quarter-mile run of 4.531 seconds at 329.58 mph in the Pontiac Performance NHRA Nationals in Kirkersville, Ohio.

Tony Pedregon (Funny Car), Jim Yates (Pro Stock) and Angelle Sampey (Pro Stock Motorcycles) won their categories.