FORT WORTH, Texas – On a day when the weather was more suitable for ducks than racing, the Sprint Cup Series at Texas Motor Speedway became NASCAR’s first rainout of the season.
The Robertson family from “Duck Dynasty” had prominent roles at Sunday’s race, called the Duck Commander 500, but Uncle Si never got to give the command to start engines. NASCAR pulled the plug after a delay of about four hours.
The race will be run Monday at noon, nine hours before the start of the NCAA national championship game in nearby Arlington. Tony Stewart, making a comeback this season after missing the final four months of last year with a broken leg, will start on the pole.
It’s the third time in seven Sprint Cup Series races this season that rain has hampered the event. The season-opening Daytona 500 was stopped for more than six hours, and the race at Bristol Motor Speedway had two delays totaling more than five hours.
Hamilton edges Rosberg in Bahrain
SAKHIR, Bahrain – Lewis Hamilton edged Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg after an intense race-long duel to take victory by just one second at the Bahrain Grand Prix on Sunday.
The two Mercedes were predictably in a different league to their rivals and recorded their second one-two finish in eight days after Hamilton’s victory last weekend in Malaysia.
With no team orders, the two were allowed to race for the lead and there were several close calls when the pair came inches away from colliding, providing a thrilling spectacle under the lights at the Bahrain International Circuit.
“It was very, very fair and it was very hard to keep him behind,” Hamilton said. “He was very fast on the option tires and I was on the knife-edge the whole time. … Me and Nico haven’t had a race like that since back in our karting days. In our first [karting] race, he led all day and I overtook him on the last lap and won, and I thought for sure he is going to do that to me today.”
Force India’s Sergio Perez was third in his first podium finish since 2012 and his teammate Nico Hulkenberg fifth.
Daniel Ricciardo finished fourth, getting the better of his Red Bull teammate and defending four-time F1 champion Sebastian Vettel, who finished sixth. Vettel suffered the ignominy of being ordered by his team to let the quicker Ricciardo pass when they were fighting for position early in the race.
Williams drivers Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas had looked poised to challenge for a podium place but they were hurt by the timing of a late safety car and finished seventh and eighth, with the Ferraris of Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen filling the final two points positions in ninth and 10th.
US team among new entrants for F1
SAKHIR, Bahrain – Formula One commercial chief Bernie Ecclestone says a U.S.-backed team headed by NASCAR’s Gene Haas is among two new teams the sport is likely to admit in 2015.
Speaking at Sunday’s Bahrain Grand Prix, Ecclestone said he had held discussions with FIA, the sport’s governing body, and there was agreement about expanding the grid next season.
“They will be accepted, and we’ve also accepted another team as well, although whether they’ll make it or not is another story,” Ecclestone said, when asked about a possible Haas entry.
“I’ve spoken to [FIA President] Jean Todt and we agreed yesterday.”
Todt confirmed the applications were being considered and said “in coming days we will make a final announcement.”
Those applying to join F1 will need approval from both FIA and the commercial rights holder, headed by Ecclestone.