The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Kyle Busch earns Indy pole
Rookie Byron tops Menard in closest Xfinity race at track.
INDIANAPOLIS — Kyle Busch will start from the pole position today as he chases an unprecedented third consecutive NASCAR Brickyard 400 victory.
Busch, in a Toyota, earned the top qualifying spot on his final lap Saturday with a speed of 187.301 mph on the 2.5-mile oval at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Kevin Harvick was second at 186.332, and Jamie McMurray qualified third.
Earlier Saturday, Busch finished 12th in his bid for a third straight Xfinity Series victory at Indy.
Busch hasn’t won a Cup race since he claimed last year’s Brickyard 400.
This is the second consecutive year Busch has won the Indianapolis pole. The only other NASCAR Cup drivers with back-to-back pole wins at the Brickyard are Jeff Gordon in 1995 and 1996 and Ernie Irvan in 1997 and 1998.
Busch is trying to become the second driver to win three consecutive races at Indy.
Former Formula One star Michael Schumacher won the U.S. Grand Prix four times in a row from 2003-06, all on the road course.
Earnhardt defends wife: Dale Earnhardt Jr. blamed himself for putting his wife in a position where she felt she had to speak out against the idea that he might race in next season’s 75-lap Clash exhibition at Daytona in his first season of retirement.
Earnhardt is eligible to race because he won the pole for the July race at Daytona, and his immediate reaction in February was that he’d consider racing. He said Saturday he’d consider his wife’s feelings before deciding.
“It sounds like a great idea right off the bat, but maybe it’s not worth it,” Earnhardt said, explaining the Clash has a higher crash rate than other NASCAR races. “I feel much more in control of my own fate in the remainder of this season and anything I do beyond that.”
Amy Earnhardt tweeted last week that Dale shouldn’t race given his history of concussions, which in part prompted his decision to retire after this season.
Even if he doesn’t race in the season-opening exhibition, Earnhardt intends to compete in two Xfinity Series races in 2018.
Xfinity: Series rookie William Byron, in a Chevrolet, edged Paul Menard by 0.108 of a second to win in the closest finish in the race’s history at Indianapolis.
Byron made some savvy moves to block Menard during the last two of 100 laps and had some good luck to finish on what he thought was a deflating tire. He took the lead with 15 laps left.
“I can’t believe that tire held,” Byron said. “But it is awesome, man.”
“I made a pretty aggressive dive into (turn) one on the last lap to see if I could get him loose, but he hung on,” Menard said.
“Maybe I could have gotten his bumper but it would have killed my momentum too.”
At 19 years, 7 months, 23 days, Byron became the youngest winner of a major race on Indy’s oval. Brazil’s Matheus Leist set the previous mark in May when he won the Indy Lights race at 19 years, 8 months, 19 days.
Byron has won three of his past five Xfinity starts. Joey Logano finished third.