Pagenaud to start from pole at Mid-Ohio

Byron sets rookie record with fifth truck win of season.

IndyCar points leader Simon Pagenaud knows Penske teammate Will Power is chasing him, so earning the pole at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course was important.

Pagenaud, in a Chevrolet, set a course record with a lap at 127.271 mph around the 13-turn, 2.258-mile road course Saturday to edge Power. Pagenaud increased his lead to 48 points entering today’s race.

“That’s what you need to do to win the championship,” he said. “It’s a long season. That’s what we were doing at the beginning of the season to extend the gap.”

It was his sixth pole position of the season. He won three of the first five races and had top-three finishes in the other two, but has made only one podium in the past six races.

Pagenaud competed despite a sore back. He was hurt in practice Friday.

“All of a sudden it was like somebody jammed a knife in my back,” he said. “This morning the pain was 10 out of 10.”

Power is in good position to win for the fourth time in the past five races. He hopes for good weather today after two days of showers.

“A dry race would be very nice,” Power said. “This course in the rain is very tough.”

NASCAR: William Byron, 18, earned his fifth victory of the season, a record for a Truck Series rookie, yet insisted “these things don’t come easy at all. It’s a good thing when you get one.”

Byron, in a Toyota, beat Cameron Hayley by 1.406 seconds at Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pa. The 60-lap race never went more than eight laps without a caution . ...

Erik Jones, in a Toyota, retook the lead from Ty Dillon with 16 laps left and won the Xfinity race at Iowa Speedway for his third victory of the season. Jones led a race-high 154 of 250 laps, but needed an inside move to overcome Dillon, who finished second and is winless in his past 66 races . ...

Sprint Cup driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. tweeted that his concussion-like symptoms haven’t changed and his return to the car doesn’t appear imminent.

Formula One: Nico Rosberg won the pole for today’s German Grand Prix at Hockenheim, eclipsing Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton on the final lap of qualifying.