Noteworthy:

The bumps and rough spots that made Kentucky Speedway one of the toughest tracks are gone following the repaving prior to the 2016 race. But Kentucky Speedway isn’t a pushover.

Turn 3 is the newest challenge as drivers discovered last year. Increased banking in Turn 2 has cars carrying more speed into a narrower and flatter Turn 3. Going three wide is not recommended. The driv- ers that can figure out Turn 3 increase their chances to park it in Victory Lane. The drivers that can’t figure it out increase their chances of parking it in the garage.

“I think it’s a good challenge,” said three-time race winner Brad Keselowski. “We’re professional race car drivers. It shouldn’t be easy. It was very, very diffi- cult and you had to certainly be very smart.”

Two drivers have dominated at Kentucky Speed- way through six races. There have been 1,602 laps in the

Trevor Story kept Colo- rado close with an RBI single in the second, and then scored on Tony Wolters’ double in the fifth. Romano got Chatwood to ground out but a walk to Raimel Tapia put runners on the corners for D J LeMahieu and prompted a visit by manager Bryan Price to talk strategy.

“I knew he was probably six Quaker State 400 races and Brad Keselowski (483) and Kyle Busch (437) have led 920 of them. Matt Kenseth scored a victory in 2013 to break up the monopoly. Will a new name be added Saturday? A driver to watch is Ryan Newman. Along with those past three Kentucky Speedway winners, Newman is the only other active driver with three or more top-5 finishes at Kentucky.

Eleven different drivers have won races through the first 17 NASCAR races. With nine races remaining it’s pos- sible for 16 different driv- ers to claim victories in the coming out to tell me what the game plan was for that situation right there,” Romano said. “He told me what he needed to tell me and I was able to execute it very well.”

Not before going 3-0 on LeMahieu with Charlie Blackmon on deck, but he recovered to get a groundout on 3-1 to end the inning.

“I knew if I just let my sinker work, when I did fall behind I was hopefully going to get a groundball and I was able to do that,” 26-race regular season. If that happens it will tie the modern era record for most different drivers to win in a 26-race schedule. Jimmie Johnson leads the way with three wins this season.

Four drivers have two wins and six drivers have a win each. Kyle Busch has the most top-5 finishes without a win (6) and Chase Elliott (5) is right behind.

Toyota has a race-high three wins in six races at Kentucky Speedway with Busch (2011 & 2015) and Kenseth (2013), so the manufacturer is looking forward to return- Romano said.

Cincinnati padded the lead to 6-2 in the eighth on Duvall’s leadoff homer, an RBI double by Schebler and a pinch-hit double by Zack Cozart.

“That Duvall homer to make it 4-2, then Geno gets a base hit and Cozart pinchhits and smokes one down the line for another run,” Price said. “Those are the difference makers.”

The Rockies added a run in the eighth off closer Rai- ing. Toyota has just two wins this season. Chevrolet has seven wins this season, but its next win at Kentucky will be its first. Chevy has been shut out from Kentucky’s Victory Lane.

NASCAR points leader Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott (6th), Jimmie Johnson (7th) and Jamie McMurray (8th) are among the Chevy driv- ers looking to snap that streak. Ford, which has a season-high eight wins, has two Kentucky victories with Keselowski (2016 & 2014). Keselowski won driving a Dodge in 2012. sel Iglesias, who retired the side in order in the ninth to finish it.

The only unfinished business was Romano trying to secure the game ball.

“I haven’t gotten the ball but I’ll be sure to get that,” he said. “Raisel probably has it.”

Cincinnati right-hander Tim Adleman (5-5, 4.67) will open a threegame series at Arizona today. Adleman is 3-3 with a 3.64 ERA in his last eight starts.

John INDIANAPOLIS — Andretti is back in the garage after having his spleen and gallbladder removed last month.

The former NASCAR and IndyCar driver returned to the team’s Indianapolis headquarters.

Andretti’s ongoing battle first emerged in early May when it was announced he had been diagnosed with colon cancer that had spread to his liver. At the time, Michael Andretti acknowledged his cousin was in “excruciating pain” and was upset because it could have been prevented had John Andretti simply undergone a colonoscopy earlier.

The 54-year-old native of Pennsylvania said his prog- nosis has been getting better since his surgery last month.

“I went in the week after my surgery, and they basically said, we don’t need to see you for maybe about a no t her three we e ks,” Andretti told WTHR-TV in Indianapolis. “Scheduled the next appointment, and they said, ‘We’ll scan you then. Until then, no chemo; you’re a free man.’”

Andretti begins another round of chemo this month.

Yet, there’s nothing quite like spending the day in the garage with his 24-year-old son, Jarrett, who competes in sprint cars.

“I’m actually feeling more like a human again. You start losing all the chemo things that go along with it,” John Andretti told the television station. “Nothing changes your life more than having to go through all that.”

Andretti held news conferences in Charlotte, where he was undergoing treatment, and Indianapolis in May, and it’s not clear whether he’ll make another appearance before NASCAR’s July 23 Brickyard 400.

He may be best known as the first driver to attempt the Memorial Day double — racing 500 miles at Indy and then 600 miles inCharlotte in the same day — May 29, 1994. Andretti, driving for A.J. Foyt’s team, started 10th and finished 10th at the Indianapolis 500. Later that night, he finished 36th in the Coca-Cola 600 after his ride suffered mechanical failures.

Andretti also started 49 consecutive IndyCar races from 1990-92 before moving to NASCAR, where he made 29 or more starts every year from 1994 through 2003. He won two races and had 37 top-10 finishes in 393 career Cup starts, and he won once in IndyCar.