Kurt Busch takes pole at Michigan
Kurt Busch’s impressive qualifying run highlighted a strong day for Ford in Michigan.
Busch won his second NASCAR Cup Series pole of the season yesterday at Michigan International Speedway, posting a lap of 203.361 mph in his No. 41 Ford.
It was the 24th pole of Busch’s career, and Ford ended up with six of the top seven spots in qualifying.
Brad Keselowski was second in qualifying, followed by Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick. Kyle Busch and Harvick are 1-2 in the points standings and have won nine of the 14 races this year. Kyle Busch’s Toyota was the only nonFord car in the top seven.
Kurt Busch started first in Texas in April and finished seventh in the race. He hasn’t won this year but has seven top-10 finishes.
Kyle Larson, who has won the last three Cup races at Michigan, was 26th in qualifying. Larson is winless on the season . . . .
Max Verstappen drove the fastest laps in the first two practices at the Formula One Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal. Verstappen completed the 2.71-mile lap at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in 1 minute, 12.198 seconds, a full second better than his best time in the morning. That was 0.13 seconds faster than Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen.
NFL: Texans safety ill
Houston Texans safety Andre Hal has been diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma and insists he “will beat it.” Hal received the preliminary diagnosis of cancer of the blood cells from the team physician and consulted with doctors at Houston’s MD Anderson Cancer Center, the team said yesterday.
The Texans added that Hal is “undergo testing and evaluation and is discussing his treatment options.”
The team also said Hal and his family have requested privacy.
Hal, 26, is starting his fifth year with the Texans after being drafted in 2014 out of Vanderbilt. He started all 16 games last season and had three interceptions.
Crime: Dykstra defense
Lenny Dykstra says an Uber driver kidnapped him last month in New Jersey in an incident that led to criminal charges against the former baseball star. Yesterday in New York, Dykstra said the driver threatened him after Dykstra asked to change the trip’s destination, then locked the car’s doors and sped up so Dykstra couldn’t exit the car.
Dykstra’s version clashes with that of the driver. Police in Linden, N.J., where Dykstra lives, said the driver told them Dykstra held a gun to his head. No weapon was found at the scene. Police charged Dykstra with making terroristic threats and drug offenses after finding cocaine, MDMA and marijuana among his belongings.
Dykstra, 55, played 12 seasons with the Philadelphia Phillies and New York Mets. Since retiring, Dykstra served prison time after pleading guilty to crimes including bankruptcy fraud, grand theft auto and money laundering . . . .
The Milwaukee Fire and Police Commission is calling for an audit of the stun gun arrest of Bucks guard Sterling Brown. Three officers involved in the arrest have been disciplined with suspensions ranging from two to 15 days.
Misc.: Tennis’ Bueno dead
Maria Bueno, a Brazilian tennis great who won three Wimbledon singles titles and four titles at the U.S. Open in the 1950s and 1960s and helped usher in modern women’s tennis, died in Sao Paulo, Brazil, after battling mouth cancer. She was 78. Bueno won 19 Grand Slam titles overall, seven in singles, 11 in doubles and one in mixed doubles, between 1959 and 1966 . . . .
Italy qualified for the Women’s World Cup for the first time since 1999 following a 3-0 win over Portugal in Florence, Italy. The Azzurre have won all seven of their qualifiers in Group 6. Spain also qualified for next year’s tournament in France.