Surfers Paradise, Australia ? Paul Tracy won the CART drivers’ championship Sunday when closest rival Bruno Junqueira crashed with 10 laps remaining in the Gold Coast Indy.

American rookie Ryan Hunter-Reay was the winner in a race cut short by thunderstorms and hail the size of marbles.

Hunter-Reay defeated another rookie, Darren Manning of England, by 1.546 seconds for his first CART racing victory.

Tracy finished 13th, two laps behind the winner. But his 28-point lead over Junqueira entering the race meant Junqueira had to pick up at least seven points to send the championship chase to the final event at Fontana, Calif., Nov. 2.

Tracy had tears in his eyes when handed the Vanderbilt Cup for winning the title.

“I went through every range of emotion you could in two hours,” he said. “To finally win it is something.

“I’ve won lots of races and led plenty of laps, but to get to this level is what it’s really all about.”

There were crashes on the first turn and a 75-minute delay because of hail. The race was shortened to 47 laps from 65 because of the weather.

“I can’t believe it, it was just such a battle,” said Hunter-Reay as he held the American flag at the trophy presentations.

Paul Tracy rejoices as members of his crew hold the CART drivers' championship trophy. Tracy clinched the crown Sunday when his closest competitor, Bruno Junqueira, crashed with 10 laps remaining in the Gold Coast Indy 300.

Junqueira finished 15th and was leading before the storm. Cars were forced off the track after 14 laps.

The race restarted after hail was plucked from the floor of some cockpits, drivers changed wet socks and shoes, and water was squeezed off the street course.

“Before the rain it looked as if we could win,” Junqueira said.

Jimmy Vasser, Hunter-Reay’s teammate and the 1996 winner of the Australian race, was third.

He was followed by Michel Jourdain Jr., who led briefly with 20 laps remaining, and Patrick Carpentier of Canada.

American rookie driver Ryan Hunter-Reay celebrates from the winner's podium. He won the CART Gold Coast Indy 300 Sunday in Surfers Paradise, Australia.

This was the 13th straight year a different driver has won this race.

It was also the first time rookies finished first and second in a CART race since Teo Fabi and Al Unser Jr. at Pocono in 1983.

Last year, eight cars were involved in an accident in heavy rain off the slick first turn.

In previous years, rain has forced the race to finish in near-darkness on the 2.5-mile temporary circuit.