Auto Racing | Fuel gamble aids Carl Edwards

FORT WORTH, Texas — Taking risks is easier when you believe you don't have much to lose.

Carl Edwards squeezed a victory out of his last tank of gas, racing the last 69 laps of Sunday's Dickies 500 at Texas Motor Speedway without pitting.

And, this time, Jimmie Johnson — the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series leader — ran out of magic.

The combination of Edwards' successful gamble and Johnson's 15th-place finish chopped a big chunk off what had been a daunting 183-point lead for Johnson heading into the Texas race. Edwards, who won the Oct. 26 Pep Boys Auto 500 in Georgia, is 106 points behind Johnson with two races remaining.

Greg Biffle of Vancouver, Wash., was fifth in the Dickies 500 and is third in the standings, 143 points behind Johnson. Kasey Kahne of Enumclaw finished 24th of 43.

Edwards led 199 of the first 264 laps on the 1.5-mile track. A daring call by crew chief Bob Osborne got his driver this victory after several other competitors had used two-tire strategies to get ahead of Edwards.

"I thought Bob made a mistake on the four-tire change," Edwards said. "But Bob came up with a way to win that thing anyway."

Edwards, who inherited the lead when Biffle pitted with 13 laps left, beat runner-up Jeff Gordon by more than eight seconds — and had enough fuel left to do a couple of victory doughnuts.

Johnson said, "Not the day we wanted. It's frustrating."

Hamilton rules F1

SÃO PAULO, Brazil — Lewis Hamilton of Britain became Formula One's youngest champion, making a last-lap pass to finish fifth in the Brazilian Grand Prix and win the title by one point over Felipe Massa.

Ferrari driver Massa won the race in front of his home crowd, but it wasn't enough to erase the seven-point lead McLaren driver Hamilton held entering the season-ending race.

Hamilton, 23, said he crossed the finish line not knowing whether he had won the championship.

"I was shouting, 'Did I win? Did I win?' " Hamilton recalled. "Then they told me when I was on the corner and I was ecstatic. It's a dream."

Fernando Alonso of Spain was 24 when he won the title for Renault in 2005.

Last year, Hamilton lost the F1 title by a point after entering the final race with a seven-point lead over eventual champion Kimi Raikkonen. Hamilton is the first Formula One champion from Britain since Damon Hill in 1996.

Massa, who also was seeking his first F1 title, wept on the podium.

Note

• Cruz Pedregon leads the Funny Car standings after winning the ACDelco Las Vegas NHRA Nationals. Other winners were Jeg Coughlin (Pro Stock), Chris Rivas (Pro Stock Motorcycle) and Tony Schumacher (Top Fuel).

Schumacher secured the Top Fuel season title merely by qualifying Saturday.