Angry Junior: ‘We’re better than this’

With the front end of the No. 88 Chevrolet shredded and its left rear mangled, Dale Earnhardt Jr. stopped in the garage and tossed his steering wheel on the dashboard.

A crash with two laps left in the Toyota/Save Mart 350 cost NASCAR’s most popular driver a shot at his first top-10 finish on the Sonoma road course, but that wasn’t the only reason for Earnhardt’s frustration. “I’m this mad because we didn’t run better,” said Earnhardt, who finished 23rd after starting 19th — a week after breaking a 143-race winless streak. “We’re better than this. I’ve run better here. We weren’t good all weekend. We’ve got to put a better car on the racetrack.

“I ain’t the best road-course racer out there, but I can damn sure do better than that.”

Tame race surprises, pleases Stewart

The caution flag flew twice Sunday, a record low in 24 Sprint Cup races at Sonoma (the previous mark was three yellows in four races, most recently in 2002). It was a surprising development considering some drivers had labeled Sonoma as the most rough-and-tumble track on the circuit. Runner-up Tony Stewart said he wouldn’t have predicted the lack of mayhem. “Not having all of those cautions made it fun, because you could actually race guys one-on-one a lot,” he said.

Hunter-Reay quickly a title contender

Ryan Hunter-Reay, who was 75 points out of the Izod IndyCar Series lead two weeks ago, goes into a week off three points behind leader Will Power after back-to-back wins at The Milwaukee Mile and Iowa Speedway. “Two in a row is a game changer,” said the Andretti Autosport driver, who in the 12 races before Milwaukee had led a total of five laps. “(But) we’re halfway through the season, so there’s still a long, long way to go.” Iowa pole-sitter Dario Franchitti is going the opposite direction entering the Honda Indy Toronto on July 8. He’s 70 points out of first after blowing an engine on a warmup lap.

Schumacher returns to F1 podium

Seven-time Formula One world champion Michael Schumacher stepped on a podium Sunday for the first time since 2006, placing third in the European Grand Prix that was won by Fernando Alonso in Valencia, Spain. Schumacher, 43, returned to F1 in 2010 after a three-year hiatus.