Castroneves ends slump, gains ground

Helio Castroneves finally broke through for a victory yesterday at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif., winning for the first time in 30 IndyCar Series races. More important, the Team Penske star, frustrated until now with seven runner-up finishes this season, kept alive his hopes for a championship as points leader Scott Dixon had one of his worst days of the season, finishing 12th. Dixon saw his lead over Castroneves shrink from a seemingly comfortable 78 points to 43 heading into next week's race at Detroit's Belle Isle, the penultimate race of the season. Castroneves and teammate Ryan Briscoe started 1-2 and finished the same way, completing a great weekend after losing their primary cars in a transporter fire Wednesday and racing in the Grand Prix of Sonoma in hastily prepared backup cars.

Ferrari's Felipe Massa won the European Grand Prix in Valencia, Spain, for his fourth Formula One victory of the season, leading wire-to-wire to finish comfortably ahead of championship leader Lewis Hamilton. Massa easily held on to his lead after starting from the pole position and finished 5.6 seconds ahead of McLaren's Hamilton on the 3.4-mile street circuit. BMW Sauber's Robert Kubica was third. After the race, stewards investigated an incident in the pit lane where Massa nearly collided with Force India's Adrian Sutil as the two were leaving after their second stop. Ferrari was fined $14,800 for not releasing their driver safely, but Massa was not punished. Hamilton kept the lead of the overall standings with 70 points, while Massa moved into second place with 64 with a win in his 100th GP. Defending champion Kimi Raikkonen of Ferrari retired from the race on the 45th lap after smoke started coming from the back of his car. He sits third in the standings with 57 points.

Miami suspended seven players for Thursday's season opener against Charleston Southern, including quarterback Robert Marve, a redshirt freshman who was expected to start. Freshman Jacory Harris will start at QB. Marve was arrested in October for smashing a car mirror and initially was charged with two misdemeanors. The charges were later lifted but Marve is being punished by the school now. Of the other suspended players, defensive end Adewale Ojomo had the best chance to start. Miami officials would not say why the other six players were suspended.

Many of Alabama's highly regarded freshmen will be pressed into action immediately. Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban expects to play close to 10 freshmen in the opener against No. 9 Clemson Saturday. The 24th-ranked Crimson Tide have too many depth issues to let members of that top-rated recruiting class ease into their first season. Saban said Julio Jones has been one of the team's two most consistent receivers in practice, along with veteran Mike McCoy. Freshman receiver B.J. Scott is also a candidate for playing time.

Royals pitcher Luke Hochevar, the No. 1 pick in the 2006 draft, is out for the season with a bruised right rib cage. Hochevar was transferred yesterday from the 15-day disabled list to the 60-day DL. The righthander ended his season 6-12 with a 5.51 ERA. Kansas City also purchased Brandon Duckworth's contract from Triple A Omaha. To make room on the 25-man roster, the Royals optioned lefthander Josh Newman to Omaha . . . The Pawtucket Red Sox, who earned an International League postseason berth for the first time since 2003 when Toledo fell to Richmond Saturday, snapped a two-game losing streak with an 8-5 victory over the host Lehigh Valley IronPigs. Charlie Zink gave up four earned runs in seven innings to improve to 14-5.

The New York Red Bulls beat visiting Houston, 3-0, ending the Dynamo's seven-game unbeaten run and becoming the hottest team in Major League Soccer. Mike Magee had a goal and an assist and Juan Pablo Angel scored his sixth goal in as many games as New York (8-6-7) won its third straight and extended its unbeaten streak to five games. Jon Conway had four saves for his second straight shutout and sixth of the season as the Red Bulls snapped a four-game winning streak for Houston (8-5-8) . . . Chelsea stayed atop the Premier League standings after Deco scored with a free kick to give the London club a 1-0 victory at Wigan. Chelsea has six points after two games and leads Liverpool on goal difference.

Go Between prevailed in a long stretch battle with Well Armed to win the $1 million Pacific Classic at Del Mar racetrack. Go Between was ridden by Garrett Gomez and won by a neck. The 5-year-old horse ran 1 1/4 miles in 2:01.18. The victory gave Go Between an automatic spot in the Breeders' Cup Classic Oct. 25. Other BC qualifiers at Del Mar were Whatsthescript (Mile), Dearest Tricksi (Filly & Mare Sprint), and Lewis Michael (Sprint) . . . Intangaroo won the $250,000 Ballerina Handicap for fillies and mares by 2 3/4 lengths over Miraculous Miss at Saratoga Race Course. Ridden by Alonso Quinonez, Intangaroo took advantage of a hotly contested pace set by Mistical Plan and Sugar Swirl, ran past the tiring leaders in the stretch, and outpaced Miraculous Miss . . . Scorpion Moon and Stiletto won $17,500 eliminations at Rockingham Park to advance to next week's final of the Joseph Carney Memorial Trot . . . The International Cricket Council postponed the Champions Trophy tournament in Pakistan, scheduled for Sept. 12-28, for one year after teams expressed security concerns and threatened to pull out.