LOEB WINS FOURTH STRAIGHT WORLD RALLY.(Competition)

Citroen's reigning world champion, Sebastien Loeb, continued his winning streak on the all-gravel Rally Argentina, but for once it was his co-driver, Daniel Elena, who was the center of attention. The pair's 24th career victory meant Elena equaled the record number of wins for co-drivers, held by Carlos Sainz's navigator, Luis Moya (now Subaru's sporting director).

"The real fun will start when I beat Luis!'' Elena said. "Records are there to be broken, and no doubt our record will be broken someday, too.''

It's hard to believe. Loeb's win was his fourth straight and puts him just two wins away from equaling Sainz's record of 26. Loeb now has a 21-point championship advantage over his key rival, Ford's Marcus Gronholm, which means he could score no points at the next two rallies and still maintain his championship lead.

Gronholm retired from the lead on the first day with a center differential problem, which put Loeb in front and Subaru driver Petter Solberg second. Solberg clung onto Loeb throughout the first day, ending up 20 seconds behind. He promised a big attack on the second day but got a series of problems instead, including a paddle-shift gear lever that came off in his hand. On one stage alone he lost 30 seconds.

Italian Gigi Galli finished third overall, driving a Peugeot 307 WRC for only the second time this year.

Troxel's streak ends

Streaks were the top story at the NHRA race in Bristol, Tennessee: Some ended, some continued and another possibly began.