NASCAR MONSTER CUP

NASCAR MONSTER CUP

Kyle Busch captures Indy pole

INDIANAPOLIS

Kyle Busch won the pole position Saturday as he chases an unprecedented third consecutive NASCAR Brickyard 400 victory today.

Busch earned the top qualifying spot on his final lap with a speed of 187.301 mph on the 2.5-mile oval. Kevin Harvick was second at 186.332, and Jamie McMurray qualified third.

It’s the second consecutive year Busch has claimed the Indianapolis pole. The only other 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, all on the road course.

NASCAR XFINITY

Byron holds off Menard to win race

INDIANAPOLIS

Rookie William Byron bobbed and weaved through the final two laps Saturday and held off Paul Menard to win the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Indianapolis.

The victory margin of 0.108 seconds was the narrowest in race history. Joey Logano was third, more than three seconds behind.

Kyle Busch finished 12th, failing in his bid to become the first driver to win five consecutive races on Indy’s 2.5-mile oval.

The 19-year-old Byron has won three of his last five starts, the last two at Daytona and Indy. This time, he needed some savvy moves to block Menard, and some good luck to complete the final laps with what he thought was a deflating tire.

Byron also won the first stage over Busch by 0.113 seconds. Pole-winner Elliott Sadler won a caution-flag marred second stage under caution, just ahead of Brennan Poole.

IMSA SPORTS CAR CHAMPIONSHIP

Polet, Werner win at Lime Rock

LAKEVILLE, CONN.

Patrick Pilet and Dirk Werner led a Porsche GT Team sweep Saturday in the IMSA SportsCar Championship race at Lime Rock Park, the first victory for the new mid-engine Porsche 911 RSR.

Pilet finished the 2-hour, 40-munute race, beating teammate Laurens Vanthoor by 14.5 seconds. Pilet and Werner drove the No. 911 Porsche, and Vanthoor teamed with Gianmaria Bruni in the No. 912 Porsche.

“It means a lot,” Pilet said. “Since the first race of the season, we’ve fought for the victory but never achieved that. It was great because everybody worked so hard. It went smooth all weekend since first practice. Both cars were really quick, especially the 912. We managed to get a really good pace during the long runs and we knew it was a key here to be strong during the long runs and it went perfectly.”

Martin Tomczyk and John Edwards were third in the No. 24 BMW in the event that featured the two GT classes. It was the first IMSA race to be run without a full-course caution since another GT-only race at Virginia International Raceway in 2015.

Porsche also won the GT Daytona class with Patrick Lindsey and Joerg Bergmeister in the No. 73 Park Place Motorsports 911 GT3 R. Bergmeister has seven victories at the 1.5-mile Lime Rock Park circuit.

NHRA

Force tops Funny Car qualifying

MORRISON, Colo.

Courtney Force had a track-record run to top Funny Car qualifying Friday night in the Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals at Bandimere Speedway.

Force set both ends of the track record with a 3.889-second pass at 328.30 mph in a Chevrolet Camaro SS during the first qualifying session. She has five No. 1 qualifiers in a winless season.

“It’s important to make a solid pass early at a track like this, but the coolest part is my team taking full advantage of the great conditions that we had today,” said Force, the daughter of Funny Car great John Force. “I’m really proud of my guys and I know we are going to put in the effort to try and have another great run tomorrow.”

Doug Kalitta led in Top Fuel, Drew Skillman was fastest in Pro Stock, and Eddie Krawiec topped the Pro Stock Motorcycle field.

Kalitta had a track time record of 3.767 at 323.97 during his second pass of the day. Skillman had a 6.925 at 197.94 in a Chevrolet Camaro during the only Pro Stock session of the day because of rain, and Krawiec ran a 7.178 at 185.66 on a Harley-Davidson in his only pass of the day.

Associated Press