Hamlin stymies Gordon for a Sprint Cup victory

HAMPTON, Ga. - Denny Hamlin won his second straight Sprint Cup race, holding off Jeff Gordon in a green-white-checkered finish at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Sunday night.

Martin Truex Jr. appeared to be positioned for his first win since 2007 until Jamie McMurray smashed the wall on the front straightaway, bringing out a caution with three laps to go. The leaders went to pit road, and Hamlin's crew got him back on the track first, just ahead of Truex.

While Truex struggled to get up to speed on the restart, Hamlin pulled away with Gordon right on his bumper. The four-time Cup champion desperately needed a win to improve his chances of getting into the Chase, but couldn't get by Hamlin on the final lap.

Hamlin took the series victory lead with four, putting him in position to top the standings when the 12-drive Chase starts.

BALTIMORE - Ryan Hunter-Reay won the Grand Prix of Baltimore, a victory that keeps alive his hopes of winning the IZOD IndyCar Series championship.

Will Power could have clinched the overall title with a win, but the pole sitter finished sixth in a race that drew nine caution flags and was marred by rain.

Power will take a 17-point lead over Hunter-Reay into the year's final race, on the oval in Fontana, Calif., on Sept. 15.

Ryan Briscoe took second, rookie Simon Pagenaud finished third, and Scott Dixon came in fourth.

The race was marked by controversy, with Power and Briscoe questioning Hunter-Reay's timing on a restart near the end of the race. Officials said a replay showed Hunter-Reay acted appropriately.

Power fell out of the lead around the 20th lap to make a pit stop for a change to rain tires. The other top three cars opted to stay on slick tires, so Hunter-Reay moved in front.

The rain quickly subsided, so Power pitted on Lap 28 to change back to slicks. That pushed Power back to 17th, and around that time Takuma Sato opened a six-second lead.

Power worked his way back in front and got two points for leading for the most laps. But the ending could not have been much more heartbreaking for the Australian.

SPA, Belgium - Jenson Button coasted to a win at the Belgian Grand Prix, while Romain Grosjean's reckless driving sent championship leader Fernando Alonso flying off the track.

Button led from start to finish, oblivious to the mayhem behind him.

Grosjean went for a small gap and clipped Lewis Hamilton's McLaren. That sent both cars spinning and led to Grosjean's Lotus flying over Alonso's Ferrari, which then took out Sergio Perez's Sauber. All four drivers escaped injury.

Grosjean received a one-race ban for dangerous driving and will miss the Sept. 9 stop in Monza, Italy.

CLERMONT, Ind. - Remnants of Hurricane Isaac reached Indiana, with steady rain and standing water forcing officials to cancel the final two qualifying sessions for the U.S. Nationals.

The fields for the final eliminations on Monday were established by qualifying sessions on Friday and Saturday.

Courtney Force in Funny Car, Spencer Massey in Top Fuel, Erica Enders in Pro Stock, and Andrew Hines in Pro Stock Motorcycle will begin the eliminations in the No. 1 positions.

Force, a Funny Car rookie and youngest daughter of 15-time champion John Force, took the top spot with a Saturday-night pass of 4.049 seconds at a track-record 317.27 m.p.h.