FORT WORTH, Texas -- Graham Rahal lifted his arm over his head just as he reached the finish line at Texas Motor Speedway, then glanced to his right to make sure he had won the race.After a last-lap pass of James Hinchcliffe, Rahal did indeed hold on to win Saturday night in the closest finish ever for an IndyCar race at the high-banked, 1?-mile oval.When I got to the stripe, I started to raise my arm, and then I was like, make sure, said Rahal, who glanced to see the No. 2 on the LED panel of Hinchcliffes car signifying his place in the race. I thought I was clear. I knew it was going to be very close.The only time Rahal led the race -- competed over a 2?-month span -- was when he sliced to the bottom of the track coming off of the backstretch on that final lap. He won by eight-thousandths (0.008) of a second, crossing the line only inches ahead and side-by-side with Hinchcliffe, with Tony Kanaan right behind them.When we cleared Tony and it was just me and Graham coming down to the checkered, I thought the momentum is on the outside. I feel like Ive kind of seen it here 10 times before in races in years past, and I thought we were still going to be able to do it, Hinchcliffe said. But man, he rolled through the center of 3 and 4 with a whole lot of speed. He cleared me -- I hadnt been next to a car all night that cleared me that quickly.Hinchcliffe had led the Firestone 600 for 76 days. He was leading when the race was initially red-flagged June 12 because of rain after only 71 of 248 laps, and dominated Saturday after it resumed until three late restarts.Rahals fourth career win came at the same oval where four years ago he appeared headed for victory before brushing the wall on the last lap and finishing second to Justin Wilson.Hinchcliffe led 188 laps overall in the race, including 157 of the 177 laps run Saturday night.My night was great until about eight minutes to go, he said after what was still his best finish of the season.Series points leader Simon Pagenaud was fourth, and he extended his lead from 20 to 28 points over Team Penske teammate Will Power with two races left. Power, who won four of the previous six races with runner-up finishes in the other two, was eighth at Texas.Ed Carpenter twice had contact with other cars while running second behind Hinchcliffe in the later laps.Carpenter was within about two seconds of the lead on Lap 213 when Scott Dixon, trying to get back on the lead lap, made contact coming off the frontstretch. That sent Dixon spinning, and Carpenter believes he might have cut a tire, though he was able to stay on the track and even took the lead after that.After the ensuing caution, Hinchcliffe and Carpenter restarted 1-2 on Lap 221, and Carpenter went low coming off the backstretch and led at the line by a matter of inches. Hinchcliffe went back in front on the next lap, and he was still there when Carpenter got loose coming out of Turn 4 on Lap 225 and made contact with Helio Castroneves and slammed into the wall to end his race.There was one more caution after that, when lead-lap car Mikhail Aleshin crashed, setting up the final sprint to the finish.It was the fifth-closest finish in IndyCar Series history and the closest of any race ever at the Texas track that has hosted NASCAR and IndyCar races since 1997. At one point, the top four finishers were running side-by-side on the backstretch.If people dont love that type of racing, they dont love racing, Rahal said. That was as good as it gets. Whitey Herzog . At a news conference Tuesday where it was thought that the fiery Schallibaum may be shown the door after a dismal finish to the Major League Soccer season, team president Joey Saputo said no decision has been made on whether the Swiss Volcano will be back in 2014. Tony La Russa . Aaron Harrison scored a 22 points for Kentucky (6-1), which has won four in a row following a Nov. 12 loss to current No. 1 Michigan State. Julius Randle overcame a scoreless first half and added his sixth double-double in as many games with 14 points and 10 rebounds. http://www.custommlbcardinalsjersey.com/custom-andrew-miller-jersey-large-971q.html .H. -- Matt Kenseth made it 2 for 2 in the Chase, holding off teammate Kyle Busch to win Sunday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Lou Brock . Three came down to the fourth quarter while quarterbacks continued to shine in all four games; so important to the overall quality of the game. Tyler ONeill . Wilson hit Schenn from behind during Tuesday nights game in Philadelphia, earning a five-minute major for charging and a game misconduct. He has a phone hearing with the department of player safety, which limits any potential suspension to five or fewer games. BALTIMORE -- The Toronto Blue Jays took a big step toward taking more command of the American League East onrioles manager Buck Showalter said before Mondays game Monday night with a win over the Baltimore Orioles. Now the Jays will try and do a little more Tuesday.Toronto (75-56, a season-best 19 games above .500) holds a two-game lead over Boston and a four-game edge against Baltimore (71-60). The Jays and Orioles meet again in the middle game of the three-game series, and Toronto cant leave town any worse than two games ahead of Baltimore.You try to win every game from here on out, Toronto manager John Gibbons said after Mondays win. We always have battles with these guys. Any time you get that first game of the series, you always feel that much better.Toronto also gets a favorable pitching matcup Tuesday, sending out J.A. Happ (17-4, 3.19 ERA) against Ubaldo Jimenez (5-11, 6.62). Happ saw his 11-game winning streak end in his last outing, a 6-3 loss to the Angels on Aug. 25.Happ gave up four runs and six hits in five innings in the loss. Jimenez stepped in for Chris Tillman in the Baltimore rotation as hes on the disabled list with right shoulder bursitis, retroactive to Aug. 21. In his last start, Jimenez allowed just one run in six innings but took the loss as Washington posted a 4-0 victory last Thursday.Orioles manager Buck Showalter said before Mondays game that Tillman threw fine on flat ground and will go again Wednesday. Theyre hoping he can come off the DL close to the time hes scheduled to do so.As Gibbons said, this is the biggest time of the year for both teams.dddddddddddd. The Orioles and Blue Jays both will have chances to make noise in the division and fight for playoff spots.Showalter said his team is ready for the grind of the final five weeks.The last 30, 40 games are an eternity, Showalter said. Were just trying to do things to keep us involved in it. We have an opportunity ... to play meaningful games down the stretch.The Orioles also have been dealing with a number of injury issues in recent days. Setup man Darren ODay is on the disabled list for the second time this year (rotator cuff strain), and offensive spark-plug Adam Jones now has not played since Friday night because of a hamstring strain.The Orioles made the playoffs in 2012 and 2014 but missed out last year while Toronto won the division before losing to the World Series champion Kansas City Royals in the American League Championship Series. Baltimore remains in line at least for a shot at the wild-card game but is slipping back in the division race.Much of the final months games will be played inside the competitive American League East as the Jays are fighting the Orioles and Boston for the division title and/or a wild-card berth.Gibbons likes the schedule working out this way. He thinks its probably what tells the true story.Thats (how) it ought to be, Gibbons said. ' ' '
