Teenager Jones wins Xfinity race

Associated Press

FORT WORTH, texas

Teenager Erik Jones pulled away to his first career Xfinity Series victory Friday night, outrunning Sprint Cup stars Brad Keselowski and Dale Earnhardt Jr. at the same Texas track where he picked up his high school diploma a year ago.

The 18-year-old Jones turned away a strong bid from Keselowski on a restart with 28 laps remaining, winning by 1.6 seconds in his ninth career Xfinity start.

Jones had earlier battled Earnhardt for the lead, even bumping the popular driver from behind before getting past him and pulling away before a crash that led to his dramatic duel with Keselowski.

“I don’t know what to say right now. It’s surreal,” Jones said. “We beat Cup guys tonight. That’s huge for us. That’s huge for our team.”

A year earlier, Jones ran a Camping World Truck race at Texas Motor Speedway rather than attend his high school graduation in Michigan, and track president Eddie Gossage presented him his diploma during introductions.

Jones, who won from the pole, became the youngest winner in the truck series in 2013 at Phoenix. He has four career wins in his full-time series, but none this year.

Keselowski was second, and Earnhardt took third, with both getting quick questions after the race about Jones in the No. 20 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing.

NHRA

LAS VEGAS

Matt Hagan raced to the Funny Car qualifying lead Friday in the SummitRacing.com NHRA Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Hagan had a 4.007-second pass at 318.02 mph in his Dodge Charger.

J.R. Todd led the Top Fuel field, and Jason Line topped the Pro Stock lineup. Todd had a 3.758-second run at 324.83 mph, and Line had a 6.606 at 208.75 in his Chevy Camaro.

INDYCAR

AVONDALE, La.

Tony Kanaan’s strong early season form continued Thursday when turned a lap at 125.058 mph to top practice for the inaugural Indy Grand Prix of Louisiana.

The 40-year-old Kanaan is coming off a third-place finish in IndyCar’s opening race two weeks ago in St. Petersburg, Fla., where he was the only driver in the top five not racing for Team Penske.