Indianapolis, IN (My Sportsbook) - Seven-time World Champion Michael Schumacher captured Sunday's United States Grand Prix Formula One race at the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The No.5 Ferrari crossed the finish line 7.984 seconds ahead of teammate Felipe Massa.

The victory was Schumacher's third of the season and record 87th of his F1 career.

After last year's fiasco at Indy, Michelin brought a very conservative tire and Bridgestone runners, headed by Schumacher and Ferrari, grabbed the front row in qualifying.

Schumacher led the field towards the first turn, but it was Massa who won the battle through the turn and led the first lap.

Meanwhile all heck was breaking loose at the back of the pack. A total of seven cars didn't complete the first two turns including: both McLarens driven by Kimi Raikkonen and Juan Montoya and the only American in the race - Scott Speed.

The accident appeared to start when the two McLarens touched entering turn one and it collected the other cars. Heidfeld got the worst of it as he was sent flying end over end.

The green flag came out at the end of lap five and Massa took off. But the caution flag re-appeared quickly as Takuma Sato and Tiago Monteiro got together in the same turn one corner that saw the first accident.

At the front, Schumacher was right on Massa's rear bumper with the Renaults of Fernando Alonso and Giancarlo Fisichella two second behind.

After 10 laps the margin between the Ferraris and the Renaults was four seconds and still climbing. By 15 laps it was a nine-second gap.

Alonso appeared to let Fisichella past him on lap 16 as the Italian seemed to be the faster of the two Renaults.

Fisichella set the fastest lap of the afternoon on lap 21 and began to eat into the huge gap, but the Ferraris fought back. Massa began lapping in the one minute, 12 second range and built a lead of one second over Schumacher and 10 seconds over Fisichella.

Alonso was falling back and after 27 laps was more than seven seconds behind his teammate.

Five of the top-eight drivers were using Bridgestone, a clear signal that they made the correct tire choice this year.

After the first round of pit stops were complete, Schumacher was the quicker and he came out ahead of Massa to collect the race lead - not a surprise to anyone who has watched Ferrari strategy in the past.

Schumacher began to build a gap between himself and Massa over the second portion of the race. With 30 laps to go the margin was 4.6 seconds and rising.

Alonso seemed content to sit in fourth as he watched his teammate Fisichella try to catch the Ferrari pair. In fact, with Jarno Trulli seeming to be on a one-stop strategy, Alonso was going to have to work just to keep that position.

Schumacher posted a new fastest lap of the day on lap 51 - a 1:12.895 and his lead was a commanding 7.1 seconds.

The second round of pit stops and a perfectly executed 6.5-second stop by Schumacher left him within sight of another U.S.G.P. victory. Only a mechanical failure or driver error could stop him now.

Alonso stopped on lap 55 - would he be able to get out in front of Trulli?

It wasn't even close as Trulli flew down the front straight and beat Alonso into the first turn and fourth place. In fact, Alonso fell to sixth place as Ralf Schumacher also passed him.

But Ralf Schumacher's Toyota stopped running with nine laps to go and Alonso inherited fifth place again.

Michael Schumacher's lead was 14.5 seconds with four laps to go and the Ferrari faithful were beginning to celebrate. The German cruised to the checkered flag winning his fifth race at Indianapolis by 7.984 seconds.

Massa finished second, the best of his career.

Fisichella, Trulli, Alonso, Rubens Barrichello, David Coulthard and Vitantonio Liuzzi completed the points-scoring positions.

Alonso's fifth-place finish earned him four points and he remains the points leader. His margin is 19 points over Michael Schumacher (88-69).

The next race in the series is set for Sunday, July 16 at Magny-Cours, France.