CARLSBAD -- For Michael Simpson, it was a matter of taking care of unfinished business. For Michellie Jones, it was business as usual.

Simpson and Jones took top honors Sunday at the 26th annual Carlsbad Triathlon, topping a field of more than 1,000 entries. It was Simpson's first attempt at the Carlsbad course, while Jones earned her seventh triumph here.

Simpson, of Vancouver, British Columbia, made sure there wasn't a repeat of what happened to him two weeks ago at the San Diego International Triathlon. He dominated the bike and led most of the run until yielding victory to Chris Foster less than a mile from the finish.

On Sunday at Tamarack Surf Beach, Simpson pulled away from San Diegan Caue Suplicy early in the 5-kilometer run after the pair finished the 25K bike wheel to wheel. Simpson's winning time was 1 hour, 7 minutes, 3 seconds.

"It was a great race," Simpson said. "I was really hurting on the hills. I was riding on pure dynamics."

Simpson and Suplicy were shoulder to shoulder as they began the run on the Carlsbad sea wall, and it was Suplicy who tried to make the first move.

"We were about 1 kilometer into the run, and he surged on me," Simpson said. "I answered and, as soon as he let go, I went as hard as I could."

"He was running super fast," said Suplicy, who won the Encinitas Sprint Triathlon on May 20. "I tried to keep up and push him, but he just kept going."

Suplicy finished more than a minute behind Simpson in 1:08:26. The next three places went to teenagers with third going to Rodrigo Gonzalez of Mexico City, who is part of a group of teen triathletes training at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista. His time was 1:08:54.

Corey Farrell of Camarillo was fourth in 1:09:39, and Torrey Pines High graduate Zack Paris was fifth in 1:11:22 after being first out of the water following a 1K swim.

"I had a good swim, but I'm not as strong on the bike," said Paris, who will be running cross country this fall at UC Santa Barbara. "This was a good tune-up for an (International Triathlon Union) race I'll be doing next week in Pittsburgh."

On the women's side, Jones nearly didn't have a chance to defend her crown. A silver medalist at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, the native Australian and longtime Carlsbad resident was one of the final entries allowed in the race, which sold out more than a week ago.

"I nearly didn't get in," said Jones, who also had recent victories in the Encinitas Sprint and San Diego International races. "When you're a pro, sometimes you assume that you can just show up and enter. It would have been tough knowing that I can enter any pro race around the world but I couldn't race in the triathlon that's in my own back yard.

"I really appreciate that they let me in."

Jones outraced everyone in the elite field, men and women, except for Paris during the swim. Her wave knowledge proved beneficial.

"Michellie really cooked me in the waves," said Simpson.

Said Jones: "But the bike took me a while to wind up.

"Luckily I was able to pace with a couple of guys who kept me going."

Jones finished in 1:11:38, almost 3 1/2 minutes faster than her winning time last year of 1:15:04. Second place went to Rachel Challis of Carlsbad in 1:17:33, and completing a podium sweep for Carlsbad residents was third-place finisher Misako Win, who was timed in 1:21:27.

The top times for the age groupers belonged to Dylan Barr and Tatiana Vertiz, both competing in the 19-and-under division. Barr of Tempe, Ariz., was the top male in 1:10:44, which would have placed fifth among the elite men. Vertiz of Dallas, finished in 1:21:04, which would have placed her third among the elite females.

Conditions for the race were favorable with a constant marine layer and ocean temperatures ranging from 70-72 degrees. There was a slight chop with medium-sized waves that allowed many of the competitors to bodysurf their way back to the beach.

Contact Rick Hoff at (760) 740-3545 or rhoff@nctimes.com. Comment at sports.nctimes.com.

Dixon continues to own Watkins Glen

Associated Press

Just call Scott Dixon the new king of Watkins Glen International.

Dixon held off Sam Hornish Jr., series leader Dario Franchitti, Tony Kanaan and Marco Andretti over the final 14 laps and won the Watkins Glen Grand Prix on Sunday, pulling away at the end by 6.2 seconds for his third straight victory at the 3.4-mile, 11-turn natural road course in the Finger Lakes region of upstate New York.

"That was fantastic, great," Dixon said. "I look forward to coming to the track every year. It's just been a fantastic track for myself."

It was the first win of the IndyCar Series season for Dixon, who has four runner-up finishes for Target Chip Ganassi Racing, and seventh of his career. He took advantage of a mistake by pole sitter Helio Castroneves, who led the first 19 laps and seemed to be the man to beat before crashing.

Buddy Rice was sixth and Dan Wheldon seventh. The two women in the race didn't fare well. Danica Patrick finished 11th and Sarah Fisher 16th, two laps off the pace.

Dixon cut into some of Franchitti's big lead in the standings. Dixon led the most laps and picked up 18 points on the Scotsman and now trails him by 47 points with seven races remaining.

Power rallies for win

Australian Will Power drove from fourth to first in 14 laps, finally splashing past rookie Ryan Dalziel to take the lead with 23 minutes to go, and went on to an easy victory in the messy Steelback Grand Prix of Toronto.

To get to the lead, Power also had to pass three-time Champ Car World Series champion Sebastien Bourdais and rookie Neel Jani. Thanks to a series of late caution flags, he was able to go after each of them in turn.

"I was close behind Sebastien and I knew he was quite tentative in the wet and I attacked him," Power said. "I got him on a restart. Then the next restart, I got Neel and the next restart, I got Dalziel. It's just about being aggressive at the right time and not hitting anyone."

Et cetera

F1: Kimi Raikkonen won his second straight race and rookie star Lewis Hamilton made his ninth podium in a row, finishing third at the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, England.

CHAMP CAR ATLANTIC: French rookie Franck Perera won his second consecutive series race in a rainy Grand Prix of Toronto.