Reddick earns first career NASCAR Xfinity victory

Running a partial NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule this season, Tyler Reddick spoiled the party for the opening round of the Playoffs with his first career win in Saturday night’s VisitMyrtleBeach.com 300 at Kentucky Speedway in Sparta, Ky.

The Chip Ganassi Racing driver took control of the lead 74 laps from the finish and never looked back. His 14.540-second margin of victory over teammate Brennan Poole was the largest in series history at the 1.5-mile speedway in 16 years of competition.

Brennan Poole earned a career-best finish behind Reddick, giving Chip Ganassi Racing its first 1-2 finish in Xfinity Series competition.

■ Truck Series: At Loudon, N.H., Christopher Bell pulled away down the stretch to win the NASCAR Truck Series race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

Bell won the playoff opener for the series and earned an automatic spot in the next round. Bell won his fifth race of the season and the Kyle Busch Motorsports driver stamped himself as the favorite for the championship.

■ NHRA: At Mohnton, Pa., Robert Hight maintained his No. 1 qualifier status Saturday at the 33rd annual Dodge NHRA Nationals in front of a sellout crowd at Maple Grove Raceway.

Clay Millican (Top Fuel), Bo Butner (Pro Stock) and Scotty Pollacheck (Pro Stock Motorcycle) are also No. 1 qualifiers in their respective categories at the second of six playoff events during the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series Countdown to the Championship.