Keselowski's win marred by wrecks
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Brad Keselowski won his first Sprint Cup Series race yesterday after a dramatic final lap at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway during which Carl Edwards's airborne car sailed into the fence near the finish line.
Edwards later warned that restrictor-plate racing is eventually going to kill someone.
Keselowski, racing in just his fifth career Cup race, hooked onto the rear of Edwards's bumper on the last lap to push him past Ryan Newman and Dale Earnhardt Jr. Once clear of them, Keselowski peeked around Edwards to make a move for the lead.
Edwards tried to block the move by darting low, but Keselowski was too close to his bumper and the contact sent Edwards sailing up the track. His spinning car shot over Newman's hood and into the safety fence near the front stretch.
The fence swelled toward race fans but held, and Edwards's car landed back on the track. He climbed from the crumpled metal and ran across the finish line.
Seven fans were injured by debris from Edwards's car. None of the injuries was life-threatening but two women were airlifted to hospitals because of traffic, not the severity of the injuries.
"We'll race like this until we kill somebody," Edwards said. "Then they will change it."
Edwards was referring to the high speeds at NASCAR's fastest track, which are combated by horsepower-sapping restrictor plates. The plates typically keep the field bunched tightly together, and one wrong move by a driver can cause a massive accident.
In addition to Edwards's frightening flight into the fence, the race was also marred by a 13-car crash on the seventh lap and another 10-car accident with nine laps to go.
"Talladega is short for 'We're going to crash, we just don't know when,' " said Newman, the third-place finisher.
IRL - 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 at Kansas City, Kan.
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 1/2-mile oval at Kansas Speedway.
Formula One - Brawn GP's Jenson Button won the Bahrain Grand Prix at Sakhir, giving the Briton his third win in four races this year.
Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel was second, and 
