Texas: Medeiros wins finale

Medeiros won the IRL Infiniti Pro Series season finale Saturday at Texas Motor Speedway, but a frightening crash involving Mark Taylor and Arie Luyendyk Jr. was the primary topic of discussion following the race.

Taylor and Luyendyk were racing among the leaders while exiting the second turn when their cars touched wheels, launching Luyendyk's car into a sideways pirouette. It landed atop Taylor's car, where it rode through most of the backstretch as both cars skidded along the wall.

"I knew we were still moving quite quick," Taylor said. "I was just trying to slow the car down. When we came down off the banking, the car went over the top of me. That's when I got a bit worried about it - if there was anything dangling off the back of it."

Neither driver was hurt, but the spectacular nature of the crash - and the images from Taylor's in-car camera - were expected to put it into heavy rotation on televised sports highlight shows.

"It wasn't as much scary as it was spectacular," said Taylor, who clinched the Infiniti Pro Series title by winning the previous race at California. "I was just hoping that it would stop."

In the end, Medeiros won the dreamerscandles.com 100 by just 0.0694s over Jeff Simmons.

"At the end, I was just trying to find a partner to run with," Medeiros said. "I was just waiting for the final lap to make my move."

Simmons made a charge and gained ground rapidly as the lead pack approached the finish line, but he couldn't catch Medeiros.

"I couldn't really hold the run," Simmons said. "It was exciting and nerve-wracking at the same time."

Cory Witherill finished third, while Ed Carpenter was fourth. Aaron Fike, who led 22 laps after the Taylor-Luyendyk crash, finished fifth.

Medeiros, a 21-year-old Brazilian who won the pole for the season opener at Homestead but hadn't won a race, unfurled a Brazilian flag during his cool-down lap.

"I've just been trying to find my place," he said. "It finally happened. My dream has come true."