Truex cruises to victory at Kentucky
Martin Truex Jr. was dominant throughout and had enough left on a final restart to win the NASCAR Cup race Saturday night at Kentucky Speedway in Sparta, Ky.
Second in points entering the 400-mile event, Truex started second beside Kyle Busch and won the first two stages.
He led the final segment by as many as 15 seconds before a final caution created overtime and bunched the field together.
That made no difference as Truex flew past Busch on the restart and went on to his third victory of the season and 10th of his career. He led 152 of 274 laps in the No. 78 Toyota to draw within a point of standings leader Kyle Larson, who finished second in a Chevy.
Chase Elliott was third in a Chevy, followed by Denny Hamlin and Busch in Toyotas. Busch led 112 laps, but fell short of his third Kentucky victory.
Xfinity Series:
Kyle Busch No matter the circumstances, Kyle Busch always seems to figure it out at Kentucky Speedway.
Busch took the lead during a late caution on lap 168 Saturday afternoon and held on to win the 300-mile NASCAR Xfinity Series race in Sparta, Ky. The race had been postponed Friday because of storms, creating a 700-mile doubleheader for Busch and several other Cup drivers.
Starting the first of two races on the pole, Busch led three times for 70 laps to earn his second straight series victory at Kentucky and third overall on the 1.5mile oval.
Ryan Blaney passed Erik Jones’ Toyota on the last lap to finish second.
Formula One:
Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas beat Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel to take pole position for the Austrian Grand Prix. It was the second pole of the Finnish driver’s career, and both have been since joining Mercedes this season. Lewis Hamilton, who is second in the championship behind Vettel, qualified in third place but will start from eighth because of a grid penalty. Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen moves up from fourth to third.
Will Power took advantage of being the last driver to make a qualifying attempt for the Iowa Corn 300 and easily claimed the Verizon P1 Award and pole position for today’s race in Newton, Iowa. The 21st driver to make his two-lap attempt, Power drove the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet to an average speed of 185.210 mph to win the pole by 1.4 mph over Ed Carpenter Racing’s J.R. Hildebrand.
IndyCar:
Boston president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said Saturday the AL East-leading Red Sox are not seeking pitching rotation help and may stand pat as the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline looms.
A starting staff that includes Chris Sale, Drew Pomeranz and 2016 AL Cy Young Award winner Rick Porcello has been bolstered by David Price (4-2 in eight starts since coming back from an arm injury). Doug Fister was claimed off waivers from the Los Angeles Angels June 23, while Eduardo Rodriguez (right knee) is scheduled to return July 17. “You can always get deeper, but I don’t know how much deeper you can get at this particular time,” Dombrowski said.
Manager Terry Francona is resting at home following a heart procedure and four-day hospital stay. He was released from the hospital Friday, a day after undergoing a cardiac ablation for an irregular heartbeat.
Madison Bumgarner (0-3, 3.00 ERA) threw a bullpen session Friday and is scheduled to pitch for Single-A San Jose on Monday. Manager Bruce Bochy said it’s possible the left-hander will rejoin the big league club shortly after the AllStar break. Bumgarner separated his left shoulder in a dirt bike accident April 20.
Left-handed reliever Antonio Bastardo was designated for assignment. Pittsburgh has 10 days to trade or release Bastardo or, if he clears waivers, it can send him outright to the minors. But he has enough service time to reject such an assignment and collect the remainder of his $6.5 million salary. Bastardo made nine appearances this season and kept the opponent off the scoreboard in just one, allowing 15 runs and posting a 15.00 ERA.
Friday, as Phoenix set a record for July 7 at 118 degrees, it was 113 outside Chase Field and 85 inside the closed stadium at the 6:40 p.m. start of a 6-3 victory over Cincinnati.
Outfielder Brandon Nimmo went on the disabled list with a partially collapsed lung. Nimmo said he first experienced symptoms July 4 but when it lasted for a few more days, he was taken to the hospital. “Really not sure how it happened,’ ” he said. Nimmo is hitting .350 in limited playing time, excelling as a pinch hitter.
Indians: Giants: Pirates: Diamondbacks: Mets: Twins:
Newly acquired right-hander Bartolo Colon, 44, could be promoted from Triple-A Rochester as soon as July 18 against the New York Yankees.