Monday Motorsports: Alonso and Vettel in Red-Hot F1 Points Battle

Kimi Raikkonen won a crash-filled race for Lotus on Sunday in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, while Sebastian Vettel held on to the Formula One championship points lead with an inspired drive from last place.

Vettel, driving for Team Red Bull, took advantage of luck and some safety car interruptions, to overcome the penalty that had him starting at the back of the pack (for a fueling infraction in qualifying) and wind up on the podium. Vettel's main challenger, Fernando Alonso of Ferrari, came in second and closed the margin in the season points championship to 10 (255 to 245), with two 2012 races remaining. Raikkonen is third in points with 198.

Lewis Hamilton seemed to have the race well in hand in the early going, but his McLaren engine failed after just 20 laps. Alonso, who posted a series of fastest laps in the race as he tried to overtake Raikkonen, was just 0.8 seconds behind at the checkered flag. It was Raikkonen's first victory of the season, as well as the first triumph in 2012 for the troubled Lotus operation.

The season resumes Nov. 18 at Austin, Tex.; it concludes Nov. 25 in São Paolo, Brazil. (Formula1.com)

Here are other race results from the weekend:

- Jimmie Johnson outran the championship challenger Brad Keselowski in a harrowing green-white-checker finish at Texas Motor Speedway on Sunday, keeping the points standings razor close as the Nascar Sprint Cup series heads into its final two races. Johnson's Chevrolet finished just 0.8 seconds clear of Keselowski's Dodge. Only seven points separated the top two in points, with Johnson, a five-time Sprint Cup champion, out in front. Clint Bowyer, who finished sixth, is third in points, 36 behind Johnson. Kyle Busch was third in a Toyota, followed by Matt Kenseth's Ford and Tony Stewart's Chevy. (Nascar.com)

- The Blaney family reminded the racing world last weekend what a “journeyman” driver needs to do to earn a li ving. Dave Blaney raced in three events in two states 1,000 miles apart, won one of them but easily could have won another, and probably banked enough frequent flier miles for a free ticket. Meanwhile, his son Ryan, 18, narrowly lost to the veteran Kevin Harvick in a Nascar truck race at Texas Motor Speedway on Saturday night. Dave Blaney, 40, raced Friday night in the World of Outlaws event in Charlotte, N.C., and led until the late going when a cut tire sidelined him. He came back Saturday night at the same track and won the World of Outlaws World Finals. Blaney won $10,000 for his Saturday night triumph. By early Sunday, the elder Blaney rejoined his son at the Texas track, near Fort Worth, where he had started the weekend, qualifying for the 500-mile Sprint Cup event. His Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet lasted only a few laps, however, and he placed 39th. After the events, the Blaney family returned home - with tens of thousands of dollars in prize money - to Hartford, Oh io, where they own the local race track, Sharon Speedway. (Woosprint.com)