Busch completes sweep at Bristol
Erik Jones really needed to win at Bristol Motor Speedway, and Kyle Busch would have loved to celebrate the first Cup win for the kid he discovered. But it was not to be. Busch swept the weekend at Bristol, Tenn., for the second time in his career by winning the Monster Energy Cup Series race Saturday night. He also won in the Truck Series on Wednesday night and the Xfintiy Series on Friday night. He’s the only driver to pull of the sweep — he also did it in 2010 — and has 20 wins overall at the track.
Busch toyed with the crowd, which offered equal parts cheers and boos, by cupping his ear to the fans who disapproved of his win. “So proud of Rowdy Nation. This one’s for you!” he shouted. And the haters? “I don’t care. All noise is good noise,” he said.
He then took a broom from an onlooker to commemorate the sweep.
Busch said the win was the most difficult of the week because of the race he had with Jones, a rookie who is his protege, future teammate and fellow Toyota driver. Jones, who finished second, led the most laps. He said he believes he needs a victory to lock up his spot in the playoffs.
Denny Hamlin and Matt Kenseth were third and fourth as Joe Gibbs Racing took the win and two other spots inside the top four, while all four drivers were in Toyotas.
IndyCar Series: Indianapolis 500 champion Takuma Sato was the last driver waiting to make his qualifying run at Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pa., when Andretti Autosport teammate Ryan Hunter-Reay’s car slammed into the wall.
Hunter-Reay, the 2014 Indy 500 champ, needed assistance out of his car and was transported to a hospital. Sato was worried for his friend — and the wreck put a tinge of unease into his mind.
“It made me nervous,” Sato said. “What happened to him is what could happen to me, too.”
Sato posted an average of 219.639 mph to win the pole for Sunday’s IndyCar race. Sato, who won the Indianapolis 500 in May, claimed his second pole of the season.
Hunter-Reay was treated and released from a hospital in Allentown, Pa., but won’t be cleared to drive before an evaluation Sunday morning.
He suffered injuries to his left hip and knee.