Dixon’s good fortune leads to IRL victory

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Scott Dixon took advantage of Ryan Briscoe’s tough-luck pit stop with 47 laps left, then held off Helio Castroneves down the stretch to win the Road Runner Turbo Indy 500 on Sunday.

Briscoe led for 54 laps when he decided to go into the pits for tires and fuel. Just as he crossed into the pits, Dario Franchitti slammed into the wall, sending up the caution flag. Track officials didn’t allow Briscoe to stop, and he lost position, returning to the track in fourth after pitting with the rest of the field.

Dixon took advantage of Briscoe’s bad break, using a quick stop to beat Castroneves out of the pits for the lead. The Target Chip Ganassi Racing driver kept up the momentum, cruising to his 17th career IndyCar victory and first at the 1.5-mile oval at Kansas Speedway.

Tony Kanaan finished third and Briscoe ended up fourth.

• FORMULA ONE — At Sakhir, Bahrain, Brawn GP’s Jenson Button won the Bahrain Grand Prix, giving the Briton his third win in the four Formula One races this year.

Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel was second, 7.1 seconds behind Button, and Toyota’s Jarno Trulli, the pole-sitter, took third at the Sakhir circuit.

The result gives Button a 12-point lead in the drivers’ championship, with a two-week break before the series heads to Europe.

• SUPERCROSS — At Salt Lake City, James Stewart raced to his 11th Monster Energy AMA Supercross victory of the year Saturday night, beating Chad Reed in front of 40,612 fans at Rice-Eccles Stadium.

Stewart, the San Manual Yamaha star from Haines City, Fla., has a six-point lead over Reed in the season standings with one race left, set for Saturday at Sam Boyd Stadium.