Danica Patrick looked like just another rookie last night, struggling to a 13th-place finish as Tomas Scheckter held off Sam Hornish Jr. to win the Indy Racing League event at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth.

"Danica Mania," in full bloom since Patrick finished fourth in the Indianapolis 500, took a night off as the 23-year-old racer, the only woman in the 22-car field, quickly slipped back into the pack after starting third.

After leading in each of her past two races and coming close to winning at Indy, Patrick was never a factor in the Bombardier Learjet 500. Instead, she gave up the spotlight to a pack of IRL veterans who put on another in a series of great side-by-side racing shows on the 1 1/2-mile Texas oval.

The battle at the end came down to Scheckter, who started from the pole for the third time in six races here, and two-time series champion Hornish, with Scheckter, the son of former Formula One champion Jody Scheckter, winning by 0.534 seconds, less than a car-length. It was the 10th-closest finish in IRL history.

Scheckter, who had led more laps at this track than any other non-winner and never finished above 15th, threw his hands in the air in celebration as the crowd of about 100,000 cheered. It was the first victory for a Chevrolet-powered car since Hornish won the season-finale at Fontana, Calif., in 2003.

Formula One

The series is increasing its efforts to pump itself up in the United States, the rare country that has not embraced the globe-trotting racing series. The Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal will be televised live on CBS today, one of four races this year the network is airing. F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone hopes it raises interest in time for the U.S. Grand Prix in Indianapolis next week. Still, he thinks his series has a long way to go before its fully appreciated in the United States. "We're gradually getting to grips on it, but it's not easy," he said. "Until we get the world championship on regular TV, there's not much we can do." ... Jenson Button won the second pole of his career when he earned the top starting spot for the Canadian Grand Prix. Button, in a BAR-Honda, had a time of 1 minute, 15.217 seconds to earn his first pole of the season. Michael Schumacher, who won this race the past three years, qualified second for Ferrari with a lap at 1:15.475.

NHRA

Dave Connolly took the $50,000 King Demon Crown at the CARQUEST Auto Parts NHRA Nationals in Joliet, Ill., winning the special bonus event for the season's eight-quickest Pro Stock cars when final-round opponent Jason Line fouled at the start. Tony Schumacher (Top Fuel), Robert Hight (Funny Car), Warren Johnson (Funny Car) and Andrew Hines (Pro Stock Motorcycle) topped qualifying in their divisions.