Gordon stops his skid

Gordon won for the first time in 48 races yesterday at the 1 1/2-mile, high-banked Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, one of only two active tracks where the four-time NASCAR Sprint Cup champion had never won a race.

It was the 17th Cup race at Texas, the track where Gordon has the only two last-place finishes in his 552 career starts. One of the 43d-place finishes came last spring before he was the runner-up to Carl Edwards in the fall race after winning the pole.

"How ironic is this that when we go into this streak and we end it here in Texas, a place that's just eluded us for so long," Gordon said. "Incredible team effort. This whole year has been amazing. What a great car."

Gordon, already the season points leader with four top-five finishes the first six races, did a few burnouts on the frontstretch before grabbing the checkered flag and taking his No. 24 Chevrolet for a long-awaited victory lap - his first since October 2007 at Lowe's Motor Speedway.

On Victory Lane, Gordon had to sneak a peek at the logos on his car to remind himself whom he needed to thank. It had been a long time, especially by his standards.

Gordon won by 542-thousandths of a second over Johnson for his 82d career victory, one behind Cale Yarborough for fifth all time.

Edwards, going for his third consecutive Cup victory at Texas, was leading when the final caution came out because David Stremme got loose and spun coming out of the third turn.

But Edwards's crew had problems changing tires and he dropped 10 spots to 11th coming off pit row. Gordon had a flawless stop, moving from third to first and staying ahead the rest of the race.

Greg Biffle finished third, followed by Stewart and Matt Kenseth. Edwards finished 10th, a spot ahead of polesitter David Reutimann.

IndyCar - Ryan Briscoe held off Ryan Hunter-Reay to win the season opener on the streets of St. Petersburg, Fla.

Briscoe, driving for Team Penske, passed Justin Wilson for the lead on a restart 14 laps from the end of the crash-filled Honda Grand Prix. The Aussie then stayed out front as Hunter-Reay, driving on the new softer alternate tires that provide more grip, also got past Wilson and tried to chase the him down.

There was one last restart on the slick 1.8-mile, 14-turn circuit, but Briscoe was able to fend off a strong move by Hunter-Reay, who only got his ride with Vision Racing last Monday.

Formula One - A torrential downpour delivered the shortest race in 18 years and back-to-back victories for Brawn GP's Jenson Button at the Malaysian Grand Prix in Kuala Lumpur.

The race suspended when the red flag came out after 32 laps as a tropical storm lashed the Sepang track and make conditions impossible for drivers. A restart was considered for 50 minutes, but with the rain and darkness descending after the twilight start, the race director elected not to attempt a restart.

Because three-quarters of the scheduled 56 laps were not completed, only half the usual points were awarded to drivers and teams. It was the first time that had happened in F1 since the Australian GP at Adelaide in 1991.