CHAMP CAR SERIES Allmendinger wins Cleveland Grand Prix

Survival was key as only 11 of the 18 cars finished the race.
CLEVELAND (AP) -- A.J. Allmendinger didn't so much win the Grand Prix of Cleveland as survive it.
The only American in the Champ Car series won his second straight race on a day when Paul Tracy's car went airborne, landing on top of points leader Sebastien Bourdais's car in a spectacular first-lap crash. Bourdais somehow managed to escape serious injury.
A record nine yellow caution flags went up during the race at Burke Lakefront Airport in the race's 25th anniversary, and only 11 cars from a field of 18 finished.
"That was just the craziest race I've ever been in," the 24-year-old Allmendinger said.
Second straight win
Allmendinger, the 2004 rookie of the year, has had an eventful two weeks in which he is finally showing his potential. He was fired by RuSport, got engaged, was hired by Forsythe Championship Racing and won his first race in Portland, Ore.
Suddenly, he's two-for-two and became the first U.S.-born driver to win back-to-back races in the series in a decade.
"I was able to pull a huge gap because my car was so good," he said. "But so many times I thought I had the race won, a yellow would come out at the wrong time and I thought it was over for us."
Record qualifier
Allmendinger, who won the pole by setting a track record in qualifying, had to pit early when he lost his left wing. He went into the grass on Lap 1 after Oriol Servia made a fast start and dove inside him.
"I tried to do as much as I could to not get the victory for [Forsythe]," Allmendinger said. "I panicked because I didn't want to get clipped. I just threw it away and spun out."
He avoided trouble the rest of the way and took the lead for good on Lap 80 when Alex Tagliani pitted.
Allmendinger's last pit came in Lap 64 and he had to be careful to conserve fuel down the stretch. He finished 3.279 seconds of Bruno Junqueira. Servia was third.
"It tried to survive all the close calls," Junqueira said. "The whole race was excitement."
Some parts were downright scary.
Tracy goes airborne
Bourdais was done after a crash in which Tracy got sandwiched between the Frenchman and Junqueira. Tracy went airborne and tore off Junqueira's rear wing, which went fluttering into the air.
Tracy's car climbed over Bourdais' right side and landed on him.
"I got turned around and the next thing I knew was that there was a car on top of my head," Bourdais said. "He missed the roll bar and was pushing me down into the cockpit. I was the shock absorber for him."
Bourdais believed he started losing consciousness because the next thing he knew he was in the grass and people were running to him.
The two-time series defending champion was released from the hospital after precautionary tests showed no serious injuries. He signed autographs afterward.
Tracy, the defending Cleveland champion, ran 41 laps after he landed, but his damaged car went into the wall in Turn 8 during a yellow flag.
As Allmendinger passed Tracy, he motioned for his teammate to go win the race.
Third in standings
Allmendinger earned 31 championship points and is still third in the standings with 135. But he trails Justin Wilson by just five and Bourdais by 31.
Parts seemed to be flying off cars the entire day and even the final lap of the time-shortened race didn't go without a hitch.
Rookie Dan Clarke and Mario Dominguez became entangled and lost sure podium spots.
Clarke passed Dominguez in Turn 1, but Dominguez beat him inside coming out of the turn. Clarke then steered into Dominguez.
Wilson was in the hunt the entire race but was knocked out on Lap 77 when his front end malfunctioned and he couldn't steer.