Kyle Busch into playoffs’ second round

RICHMOND, Va. — Kyle Busch is starting to wonder why he even spends time trying to qualify well at Richmond Raceway.

Five months after winning the spring race on the 0.75-mile oval from the 32nd starting spot, the native Las Vegan did even better Saturday night, winning from 39th to complete a season sweep of the NASCAR Cup Series races with a victory in the Federated Auto Parts 400.

“Yeah, I’m not going to qualify here anymore,” he said after his 50th career victory, sixth at Richmond and first in the fall. “It’s a waste of time for us.”

Besides, once the green flag flies, his fortunes change.

“I don’t know why. I just cannot qualify here, but we’ve got a really good race car when it comes down time to have a race and especially the later it gets,” he said.

Busch, sent to the rear of the field at the start because of unauthorized adjustments to his Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, passed Brad Keselowski with 38 laps to go and held off hard-charging Kevin Harvick.

“To start dead last, come up through the field and win this thing? That’s right, Rowdy Nation. All for you, baby,” Busch said after climbing from his car. “I finally won a fall race here at Richmond.”

Harvick closed a gap of more than 1.5 seconds over the final few laps, but was not able to deprive Busch of tying him with a season-best seven wins this season.

Martin Truex Jr., who swept the first two stages before a penalty forced him to play catch up, rallied for third, followed by Chase Elliott and Aric Almirola.

“The problem is when you get back there, to pass those guys, you’ve got to really use up your tires,” Truex said. “We did really good for only having one caution thrown in there. It went well.”

It was the first time all season that the three drivers who have dominated all season claimed the top three spots in a race.

Busch and Brad Keselowski have already clinched spots in the next round of the playoff by winning the first two playoff races, and Truex joined them on points by winning the first two stages. but he understands the process is far more important.

“We have to keep at it,” the forward said after a morning skate in Las Vegas before boarding a plane for San Jose, where he was in the lineup for the second time. “It’s refreshing to see everyone on the same page, but we have to pump the brakes a bit. It’s preseason, though it is exciting that everyone wants to play this fast game. Nobody in this room is doubting the way we’re playing. I know everyone’s on board and likes this style.”

Forward Pierre-Edouard Bellemare said Pacioretty and fellow newcomer Paul Stastny have fit in nicely. While he thinks their additions could make the Knights a better team on paper, the key to success last season was how the team developed chemistry and got stronger as the year progressed.

“It’s going to be fun to watch how we evolve during the season,” Bellemare said. “It’s only preseason. You don’t want to be the best team on Oct. 4. You want to be able to play as well as you can and then make sure you keep working to improve. We’ll see down the line how we compare to last year, but I think we have a strong group again.”

No Nosek

Forward Tomas Nosek did not practice Saturday with what coach Gerard Gallant called a lower-body injury.

Gallant initially said Nosek was injured Thursday against the Los Angeles Kings, then quickly amended his statement and called it a “rest day.”

“Nothing major,” Gallant said. “Hopefully in a couple days he’ll be fine.”

Forward Cody Glass (lower body) returned to practice Saturday.

Dansk clears waivers

Goaltender Oscar Dansk, who went 3-0 in three starts for the Knights last season, cleared waivers and will be assigned to the Chicago Wolves of the American Hockey League.

General manager George McPhee placed Dansk on waivers Friday morning, and teams had 24 hours to put in a claim on the 24-yearold with no compensation to the Knights.

Dansk stopped 17 of 19 shots in earning the victory Thursday in Los Angeles in his only action of the preseason.

SUMMARY

Defenseman Zac Leslie and forward Alex Gallant also cleared waivers and were assigned to the Wolves.

Cold beer on a Friday night

Several players took advantage of Friday’s rare training camp off day by attending a Zac Brown Band concert at the Palms.

“It was a good show,” forward Jonathan Marchessault said. “They have a lot of good songs, and it was just a fun time.”

His linemates William Karlsson and Reilly Smith were among the group, along with Dansk and Erik Haula.

Gallant, who wore a Zac Brown Band T-shirt to a morning skate in March after attending its show, did not go Friday.

“It’s training camp,” he said. “It’s work.”

While Marchessault enjoyed the show, he said it doesn’t compare to his favorite one since moving to Las Vegas.

“For me, ‘Absinthe’ is definitely the best thing I’ve seen here,” he said.