RACING ROUNDUP Rookie Dixon captures IRL pole; Raikkonen tops in Formula One

Scott Dixon managed to nudge Sarah Fisher to the outside of the front row.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
RICHMOND, Va. -- Scott Dixon's inconsistent rookie season in the IRL took an upward turn when he won the pole Friday night at Richmond International Raceway.
Dixon turned a lap at 168.138 mph on the three-quarter-mile oval -- the shortest on the circuit. He nudged Sarah Fisher and her lap of 167.004 to the outside of the front row for tonight's SunTrust Indy Challenge.
Fisher also started second two years ago in the inaugural Richmond IRL race.
Dixon, second in the points race and only 49 behind leader Tony Kanaan, turned his top speed on his first lap. He thought he had a batter trip going the second time around, but ran out of fuel between the third and fourth turns.
For a change, Dixon said, the misfortune didn't cost him.
"It seems like everything that can go wrong with our car or with the G-force in general has happened to our team," he said. "I think we've had speed everywhere we've gone, and that's normally the hardest thing to find, so at least we have that. We just need to get some consistency."
Formula One
NUERBURGING, Germany -- Kimi Raikkonen took the first step toward regaining the lead in the Formula One standings by posting the fastest time in pre-qualifying Friday for the European Grand Prix.
Rain affected the session, but it was cloudy when Raikkonen blitzed the course in the opening minutes. Raikkonen was timed in 1 minute, 29.989 seconds on the 3.199-mile circuit in his Mercedes-powered McLaren.
"We haven't been Friday qualifying specialists so far this year, which makes the fact that Kimi was fastest today and the only one who achieved a time under 1 minute, 30 seconds very pleasing," said Norbert Haug, Mercedes' technical director.
Five-time series champion Michael Schumacher, who took the points lead with a victory June 15 in the Canadian Grand Prix, was second-fastest. His Ferrari got around the course in 1:30.353.
Juan Pablo Montoya's BMW-powered Williams was next at 1:30.378, followed by teammate. Ralf Schumacher at 1:30.522.