Hornish wins Xfinity race in Ohio
LEXINGTON, Ohio — Sam Hornish Jr. dominated in his home state Saturday for the fifth NASCAR Xfinity Series win of his career.
Hornish, who is from Defiance, took the lead from series rookie Daniel Hemric on the 62nd of 75 laps at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course and held on to beat Hemric by 1.335 seconds.
Hinckley, Ohio, native Matt Tifft — another rookie — was third, 2.373 seconds back of Hornish. James Davison and Andy Lally completed the top five.
Series points leader Elliott Sadler overcame an early collision to finish sixth. Playoff points leader William Byron, who leads the series with three wins this year, was 25th.
Hornish led for 61 laps and avoided a 10-car pileup on the 69th lap that resulted in the second red flag. There were also nine cautions.
Blake Koch of Kaulig Racing from Akron, Ohio, won the first stage ahead of Brennan Poole. Hornish, who started in pole position, easily took the second 20-lap stage by 4.645 seconds over Hemric.
Wallace holds on in Michigan
BROOKLYN, Mich. — In his first NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race in three years, Darrell Wallace Jr. looked as if he had never left.
Wallace held off a late challenge from Christopher Bell to win at Michigan International Speedway. After taking the lead in his No. 99 Chevrolet with about 10 laps remaining, Wallace had to contend with Austin Cindric and Bell toward the end. He was able to edge Bell by 0.176 second.
“I knew those last laps were going to be hectic,” Wallace said.
Wallace hadn’t driven in a Truck Series race since 2014, when he won four times. He was a full-time competitor in the Xfinity Series in 2015 and 2016. He actually has a two-race winning streak in Truck Series races because he won the finale three years ago.
Kyle Busch won the first two stages Saturday and looked dominant, but his car showed a bit of damage after an incident in which Cody Coughlin bounced hard off a barrier to the inside. Busch fought back but had to settle for third place in the 100-lap, 200-mile race.