Auto racing roundup: Kyle Busch rolls to his eighth Nationwide win
Published 11:11 pm Saturday, July 24, 2010
CLERMONT, Ind. — Kyle Busch held off Carl Edwards in a two-lap sprint to the finish to win the NASCAR Nationwide race at O’Reilly Raceway Park on Saturday night.
Busch used a perfectly timed restart to keep a hard-charging Edwards at bay and pick up his eighth win of the season and his fifth in his last six starts.
Edwards, who was docked 60 points and fined $25,000 for taking out series points leader Brad Keselowski at the end of last week’s race in St. Louis, kept things clean this time. He used a late gamble to take on tires to roar through the field but didn’t have quite enough to track down Busch.
Aric Almirola finished third, followed by pole-sitter Trevor Bayne and Reed Sorenson. Keselowski faded late to finish eighth.
Formula One
HOCKENHEIM, Germany — Sebastian Vettel of Germany edged Fernando Alonso to take pole position for the Formula One German Grand Prix. Vettel’s Red Bull was .002 seconds faster than Alonso’s Ferrari on Saturday to give the German his sixth pole of the season.
IndyCar
EDMONTON, Alberta — Will Power, going for his third consecutive win in IndyCar, will start from the pole today in the Honda Edmonton Indy. Power drove the 1.96-mile City Centre Airport track in 1:00.7126 to lead the 25-car field. Helio Castroneves, Power’s teammate with Team Penske, will start beside him on the front row while Scott Dixon of Target Chip Ganassi will be third.
In other news, the IRL placed struggling driver Milka Duno on probation for the rest of the year for failing to consistently meet minimal performance standards. Officials cited her inability to be competitive and her on-track decision making as reasons for the decision. The 38-year-old Venezuelan driver has been pulled by track officials from two races this year, including last week in Toronto, for driving so slowly she was deemed a hazard. She’s also received sharp criticism from other drivers frustrated by her tactics.
NHRA
MORRISON, Colo. — Pro Stock driver Allen Johnson earned the No. 1 qualifier spot while breaking the track speed record at the Mile-High Nationals on Saturday.
Johnson drove his Dodge Avenger in an elapsed time of 6.981 seconds at a record 198.64 mph at Bandimere Speedway. It will be the fourth top qualifier this season for the event’s defending champion.
Antron Brown, the 2009 winner, was Top Fuel’s No. 1 qualifier. Brown’s 3.961 time run a day earlier held up and gained him his fifth top spot of the year and the 27th of his career.
Matt Hagan was atop Funny Car with a run of 4.161 seconds at 301.33.
Michael Phillips led Pro Stock Motorcycle, breaking the track record of 7.308 seconds he set the day before. Phillips rode it in 7.238 on Saturday at 186.41 and five other riders surpassed Phillips’ Friday time.
