Kansas.com: Motorsports

Busch wins Nationwide race -- It's Kyle Busch -- again

Sun, 31 Aug 2008 01:42 CDT

Busch wins Nationwide race -- It's Kyle Busch -- again.

The 23-year-old NASCAR star was dominant Saturday night on the 2-mile oval at Auto Club Speedway, leading 144 of the 150 laps to race off with his seventh Nationwide Series victory of the season.

Busch easily held off Sprint Cup rival Carl Edwards on a pair of late-race restarts, piling up his record 18th NASCAR victory of the season, including eight in Cup and three in the Craftsman Truck Series.

Johnson seeks momentum

Sun, 31 Aug 2008 01:42 CDT

One year ago, Jimmie Johnson roared into the championship chase on the heels of victories at California and Richmond -- a run that helped propel him to his second consecutive Sprint Cup Series championship.

The California native is poised for a repeat performance after easily winning the pole Friday for today's Pepsi 500 at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif.

This year, Hendrick Motorsports -- and Johnson in particular -- has struggled at times on NASCAR's bigger speedways. Johnson hopes Friday's pole at his home track will show the gains his No. 48 team has made.

"Last year (the win) just started the confidence in our minds that we're ready for the Chase," he said. "So, you're looking at what you need to do to be as good as you can in the Chase and building the confidence around yourself and the team that you can be a contender."

Red Bull Racing's second-year driver A.J. Allmendinger used his dead-last position in the qualifying draw to his advantage, capturing the starting position alongside Johnson.

Hutchinson Nationals

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 01:37 CDT

At Hutchinson Fairgrounds

AAA Modifieds, A Feature--1. Tad Davis; 2. Bill Stahl; 3. Ray Thiel. Heat 1--1. Bill Shahl; 2. Ray Thiel; 3. Kevin Newell. Heat 2--1. Tad Davis; 2. Rick Mueller; 3. Scott Miller. Street Stocks, A Feature--1. Bobby Joe Scott; 2. Adam Schrag; 3. Chad McNamara. Dash--1. Brian Miller; 2. Bobby Joe Scott; 3. Chris Pitts. Heat 1--1. Adam Schrag; 2. Bobby Joe Scott; 3. Robert Lamb. Heat 2--1. Chad McNamara; 2. Chris Pitts; 3. D.J. Smith. Heat 3--1. Darren Moses; 2. David Young; 3. Brian Miller. NCRA Sprint, A Feature--1. Mike Chadd; 2. Derek Drown; 3. Cody Forshee. Rookie Modifieds, A Feature--1. J. Straun Taylor; 2. Don Hodge; 3. Neil Dossie. Heat 1--1. Harley Peery; 2. Don Hodge; 3. J. Straun Taylor. NCRA Modifieds, A Feature--1. Marc Hurd; 2. Brian Powers; 3. Brian Casey. Dash--1. Brian Casey; 2. Marc Hurd; 3. Delbert Smith.

Edwards bumpsBusch at Bristol

DAVID POOLE — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 01:40 CDT

Sprint Cup racing has itself a good old-fashioned rivalry.

All doubt about that ended Saturday night at Bristol Motor Speedway, with Carl Edwards working past Kyle Busch just after a late-race restart to take away the lead and a victory that for most of the evening looked like it would be another notch in Busch's 2008 belt.

Edwards gave Busch a bump in Turn 1 on the 470th lap, sending the No. 18 Toyota up the track enough to allow Edwards to turn his No. 99 Ford to the low side and take the lead.

"I couldn't get by him and I couldn't get by him," Edwards said. "... I just kind of ran into him.... I just had to ask myself, 'Would he do that do me?' And he has before. That's the way it goes.

"They keep talking about rivalries. We may have one now."

Edwards earns pole spot at Bristol

Sat, 23 Aug 2008 01:40 CDT

Carl Edwards is doing his best to slow Kyle Busch's momentum.

Edwards won his first pole position of the season Friday, turning a lap at 121.860 mph in qualifying for tonight's Sprint Cup race at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Edwards, who trails only the dominating Busch in the point standings, is 222 points behind, but followed up his victory last weekend in Michigan with his fourth career pole.

"That's as fast as I could go," Edwards said. "The pole is huge for us. This track, obviously track position, pit stall selection, those things are really important."

Busch, with eight wins and two poles this season, will start ninth.

Busch wins in Craftsman

Thu, 21 Aug 2008 01:39 CDT

There's no stopping Kyle Busch.

Busch earned his third win in the Craftsman Truck Series by dominating the O'Reilly 200 Wednesday night at Bristol Motor Speedway.

The 23-year-old led the final 130 laps, endured four cautions and a red flag over the final 21 laps and finally iced the victory by holding off the field on a green-white-checker finish.

"This feels pretty good," Busch said. "We just had a great race tonight."

Busch extended his record for combined victories in NASCAR's three top series to 17. He also joined Mark Martin and Carl Edwards as the only drivers to win at the .533-mile banked oval in all three series.

Gibbs hit hard by NASCAR

MIKE CRANSTON — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 01:39 CDT

NASCAR suspended seven crew members of Joe Gibbs Racing and stripped drivers Tony Stewart and Joey Logano of 150 points each Wednesday for cheating after last weekend's Nationwide Series race.

Crew chiefs Jason Ratcliff and Dave Rogers were suspended indefinitely and fined $50,000 each, but NASCAR decided not to bar the cars from future races.

Owner Joe Gibbs said he would not appeal the penalties. He indicated he would also personally fine the crew members involved and suspend them through the end of the season.

"We want to apologize to NASCAR, all of our partners, all of our families at JGR, and all of our fans for the unfortunate incident that took place this past weekend in Michigan with our two Nationwide teams," Gibbs said in a statement. "A poor decision was made by some key members of our organization, and 100 percent of the blame rests with us."

No. 18 car chief Dorian Thorsen, engine tuner Michael Johnson and crew member Toby Bigelow, and No. 20 car chief Richard Bray and engine tuner Dan Bajek also received indefinite suspensions. JGR was docked 150 owner points for each car and the teams were placed on probation for the rest of the season.

Edwards wins Nationwide race

Sun, 17 Aug 2008 01:43 CDT

Carl Edwards took the lead in the pits, then drove away Saturday for his first NASCAR Nationwide Series victory at Michigan International Speedway and 16th overall series win.

The reigning series champion was trailing fellow Sprint Cup star Tony Stewart when the leaders drove onto pit road under a caution flag on lap 93. Edwards came out in front and easily led to the end of the 125-lap race on the 2-mile oval.

"I'm just so happy that we won this thing," Edwards said after doing his traditional victory backflip off his car. "We've been close before. I don't know if we would have been able to get by Tony or not. He was pretty quick.

"The car was awesome all day. There were a couple of cars that were real fast -- Tony and Brian Vickers. But my pit crew just did a great job there at the end."

It was the 19th victory for team co-owner Jack Roush at Michigan, but the first in the series previously sponsored by Busch since 1998.

81 Speedway

Fri, 15 Aug 2008 01:44 CDT

Thursday's results

Cruiser Driver

A Feature--1. Brian Russell, Wichita; 2. Jason Dickey, Wichita; 3. Chester Kralicek, Wichita. Heat 1 --1. Nick Biggs, Park City; 2. Harry Prewitt, Wichita; 3. Chester Kralicek, Wichita. Heat 2--1. Brian Russell, Wichita; 2. Daniel Richey, Wichita; 3. Michael Santos, Wichita.

Cruiser Gas

A Feature --1. Derek Kreager, Park City; 2. June Dickey, Wichita; 3. John Ludlow, Wichita. Heat 1 --1. Duane Zwickl, Wichita; 2. Gene Gresty, Derby; 3. John Ludlow, Wichita. Heat 2 --1. Derek Kreager, Park City; 2. Coby Lamb, Wichita; 3. Justin White, Wichita.

NASCAR looks to expand in KC

RANDY COVITZ — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 01:42 CDT

Lesa France Kennedy, president of International Speedway Corporation, should have the votes to bring a second NASCAR Sprint Cup race to Kansas City.

All she needs now is for the Kansas Racing and Gaming Commission to approve a $700 million hotel and casino plan proposed by Kansas Speedway and The Cordish Company.

Kennedy told the commission on Wednesday at Kansas City Kansas Community College that if it selects the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino over three other casino proposals for Wyandotte County, she would ask the ISC Board of Directors for a second Sprint Cup weekend at Kansas Speedway.

And who comprises the five-person board of directors? Kennedy; her brother, NASCAR chairman of the board Brian France; her uncle, NASCAR vice-chairman Jim France; and two of their trusted executives, NASCAR president Mike Helton and NASCAR secretary/general counsel Gary Crotty.

You do the math.

BASKETBALL

Thu, 14 Aug 2008 01:42 CDT

The civil lawsuit against Kansas junior point guard Sherron Collins has been set for trial on April 15, which means that Collins might play the entire 2008-09 season before the legal matter is resolved.

Jessica Brown, who accused Collins in the lawsuit of exposing himself and rubbing against her in a Jayhawker Towers elevator in May 2007, is seeking damages in excess of $75,000. Collins has denied the allegations.

In July, Douglas County District Attorney Charles Branson decided there was insufficient evidence to charge Collins in a criminal case.

• The Cleveland Cavaliers are getting some help for LeBron James.

High-scoring Milwaukee point guard Mo Williams is headed to Cleveland to become James' new backcourt mate as part of a three-team trade involving Milwaukee and Oklahoma City.

Ambrose defeats Busch with ease

Sun, 10 Aug 2008 01:41 CDT

Marcos Ambrose took advantage of a fortuitous pit stop midway through the Nationwide Zippo 200 at Watkins Glen International on Saturday and easily beat Kyle Busch for his first career NASCAR victory.

Ambrose, from Tasmania, was in the pits on Lap 42 when the fourth caution of the 82-lap race flew. He gained the lead on Lap 48 but gave it up right away to top off for fuel.

Ambrose worked his way up to third with 12 laps to go as Jeff Burton and Jimmie Johnson battled for the lead. But the two leaders ran out of fuel with less than four laps remaining and Ambrose coasted to the victory in the No. 59 JTG Daugherty Racing Ford.

"I just feel like a weight is off my shoulders, just a huge relief," said Ambrose, who was third last week in the rain in Montreal after leading the most laps and second on the road course in Mexico. "We've come close. We haven't been able to close the deal. I've had to be patient."

"He's been due," Busch said. "He was leading last week in the rain by nine seconds."

Road races kind to Stewart, Gordon

JOHN KEKIS — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 01:40 CDT

A road course race couldn't come at a better time for Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon.

The masters of Watkins Glen International -- Stewart and Gordon have combined to win eight of the past 11 NASCAR Sprint Cup races on the twisting, 11-turn layout -- are mired in season-long winless streaks heading into Sunday's Centurion Boats at The Glen.

A fifth win by either driver would put him in a league of his own. No driver in the track's storied 60-year history has ever won five races, and that includes Formula One, Indy cars, and sports cars.

"I feel that we're the guys that every time we go there that everybody has to pay attention to us in order to win," Stewart said. "Now, there are times we don't win, obviously, but we're still in the hunt every time and got a shot."

Being winless in early August isn't uncharted territory for Gordon, although the four-time Cup champion hasn't gone this deep into a season without a victory since 2002. It is for Stewart, though, who has had at least two wins every year since 1999, his rookie season, and customarily shines in the heat of summer.