LEXINGTON, Ohio - Ryan Briscoe took advantage of a surprising pit strategy yesterday on the way to a victory in the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

Team owner Roger Penske made the call to put Briscoe out of sequence with the other contenders, and it paid off with the Australian driver's second victory of the season and a 1-2 sweep for the team as Helio Castroneves finished second.

The race began about one hour after rain soaked the 2.25-mile, 13-turn road circuit. IndyCar officials ruled it a wet start, and the cars had to begin the race on grooved rain tires.

But with the sun shining and the track drying fast as the 26-car field took the green flag, cars quickly began heading for pit road to change to racing slicks. The Penske team waited to bring Briscoe onto pit lane until Lap 6, dropping him all the way to 16th.

Penske brought Briscoe back into the pits again on Lap 23, ahead of most of the other contenders, putting him completely out of sequence but eventually working to his advantage.

FORMULA ONE

Hamilton triumphs in German Grand Prix

HOCKENHEIM, Germany - Lewis Hamilton won the German Grand Prix, solidifying his lead in the Formula One standings with two dramatic passes that made up for a strategic blunder by his McLaren team.

Hamilton overtook Ferrari's Felipe Massa and then runner-up Nelson Piquet Jr. of Renault at the same hairpin after a crash involving Timo Glock had brought out a safety car that nearly cost the McLaren driver his fourth victory of the season.

Most teams chose to pit when the safety car was out, but McLaren left its star driver out only to see him fall to fifth place when he pitted with 17 laps to race.

But Hamilton, who now leads Massa by four points in the overall standings, worked his way through the field before nudging past the Ferrari driver from the inside at Turn 6 and then holding off Massa's outside challenge soon after.

NATIONWIDE

Edwards prevails at Gateway

MADISON, Ill. - Carl Edwards passed Jason Leffler with 48 laps remaining Saturday night and cruised to victory at the Missouri-Illinois Dodge Dealers 250.

It was Edwards' second win at Gateway International Raceway in three years. Joey Logano, 18, in just his fifth race, finished second after starting fourth. Jason Keller took third.

CRAFTSMAN TRUCK

Busch comes up short; Benson claims victory

SPARTA, Ky. - Kyle Busch came up five spots short in his bid to make NASCAR history Saturday night, and Johnny Benson took advantage, holding off Michael Annett to win the Built Ford Tough 225 at Kentucky Speedway.

Busch was attempting to become the first driver to win in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Nationwide Series and Craftsman Truck Series in successive starts.

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