Busch completes Bristol sweep
Passes protegé with 55 laps left, says it was ‘whale of a fight’
It’s Bristol Motor Speedway and Kyle Busch practically owns the place.
Busch swept the weekend 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 off the sweep, and he also did it in 2010.
Busch toyed with the crowd, which had equal cheers and boos, by cupping his ear to the fans who disapproved of the 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 collected a broom from an onlooker to commemorate the sweep.
Busch admitted this win was the most difficult of the week because of the race he had with rookie Erik Jones, his protege, future teammate and fellow Toyota driver. Jones led the most laps and the rookie believes he needs a victory to lock up his spot in the playoffs.
“Erik Jones put up a whale of a fight,” Busch said. “I was running with my tongue hanging out, my arms were Jell-O and my throat hurts.”
Busch won for the 40th time in the Cup Series, sixth time at Bristol in Cup, and second time this season. All told, he’s won 20 times across NASCAR’s national series at the Tennessee bullring.
Jones settled for second, one spot short of his first career victory. 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.
Busch passed Jones for the lead with 55 laps remaining as the track changed and the top lane became the preferable spot. Jones’ car didn’t handle as well in that area, and he had Busch and Kenseth all over his bumper. It was Busch who moved from third to first, but Jones didn’t relent.
He chased Kenseth after Kenseth moved into second, and he ultimately gouged Kenseth out of his way. It put Jones in the middle of a weird JGR sandwich. In front of him, Busch, the driver who launched Jones’ career and future teammate, and Kenseth, the guy Jones is replacing next season who is looking for 2018 employment.
Hamlin eventually took position from Kenseth, but it was so obviously a night for Toyota.
Martin Truex Jr. finished 21st and did not clinch the regular-season title.
NHRA
Leah Pritchett’s NHRArecord pass held up at Brainerd (Minn.) International Speedway in Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals qualifying.
Pritchett took the No. 1 spot in Top Fuel with her Friday night run of 3.640 seconds at 330.63 mph, the quickest pass in NHRA history. She broke her own Top Fuel record of 3.658 set in Arizona in February.
“Brainerd is the epitome of throw-down central, so that’s what we did last night,” Pritchett said. “Today was about getting ready for Sunday. Obviously, our national record gave us, delivered us, blessed us with a green hat but Q4 today was looking pretty good for us. We threw down last night and today was just about race day.”
Robert Hight broke the Funny Car time record Friday with a 3.793 at 338.00 in a Chevrolet Camaro SS, and that also stood as the top mark Saturday. He set the speed record of 339.87 last month at Sonoma.
Tanner Gray topped the Pro Stock field, and Hector Arana Jr. was the fastest in Pro Stock Motorcycle, also both with their Friday runs. Gray had a 6.607 at 208.617 in a Chevrolet Camaro, and Arana had a 6.879 at 194.24 on a Buell.
IndyCar
Indianapolis 500 champion Takuma Sato posted an average of 219.639 mph to win the pole for the IndyCar race at Pocono Raceway.
Sato was the last driver to take his qualifying laps and went out moments after Andretti Autosport teammate Ryan Hunter-Reay was involved in a crash. HunterReay needed assistance out of his car, limped to an ambulance and was transported to a hospital.
Hunter-Reay appeared to lose control of the No. 28 Honda and the left side slammed the protective soft wall. The car shot down the track and hit the inside wall.
Helio Castroneves also was involved in a violent wreck. Castroneves is the series points leader and holds a seven-point lead over Josef Newgarden with just four races left this season.
Simon Pagenaud joins Sato on the front row. Charlie Kimball and Tony Kanaan are on the second row.