AUTO RACING ROUNDUP

NASCAR

Kyle Busch chases 3rd straight at Pocono

LONG POND, PA.

Kyle Busch has swept race weekends across all NASCAR series, so perhaps the idea of driving four times in next year’s packed Pocono slate would hold some appeal for the sport’s winningest driver.

“Hell no,” Busch said to laughter. “Not unless they put up a 50-grand bounty or something.”

Just $50,000 to compete in the Truck, Xfinity and two Cup Series races in 48 hours next June? That’s chump change in prize money for a driver who has won NASCAR’s richest races — and the 2015 Cup championship.

Busch’s Bounty has a nice promotional ring for Pocono.

And he just could win them all.

Busch was tripped up for years by the tri-oval track, failing to win his first 25 tries in the elite Cup races until he broke through in July 2017 on a bump-and-run on Kevin Harvick to grab the lead with 16 laps and take the checkered flag.

Busch finished third in the first race last season and has won the last two times at Pocono. He stormed from the bottom half of the field to win last July and matched Hall of Fame driver Rusty Wallace for ninth on the NASCAR Cup Series career victory list with 55 when he took the checkered flag in June.

Harvick captures pole at Pocono Raceway

LONG POND, PA.

Kevin Harvick is 0 for Pocono.

He’s going to start first at the track for the first time in his career. Harvick would like to finish first for the first time, as well, and erase one of the dubious marks in his otherwise stellar career. Harvick has never won at Pocono: 0 for 37. Harvick, the 2007 Daytona 500 winner and 2014 Cup champion, has won at every active track except Pocono and Kentucky.

“We’d love to cross this one off,” Harvick said. “It’s been a successful race track.”

Harvick turned a lap of 174.058 mph Saturday to take the NASCAR Cup pole at Pocono Raceway, following up his first victory of the season last week at New Hampshire with another strong run for the No. 4 Ford.

Harvick helped Ford sweep the front row and claim the top three spots in the field. He’ll be joined on the front row for today’s 400-mile race by reigning Cup champion Joey Logano. Aric Almirola, Harvick’s teammate at Stewart-Haas Racing, is third.

Erik Jones and Austin Dillon complete the top five.

Briscoe passes Bell to win Xfinity race

NEWTON, IOWA

Chase Briscoe passed Christopher Bell with six laps to go and won the NASCAR Xfinity race at Iowa Speedway on Saturday night for his first victory of the year.

Briscoe’s only other Xfinity victory came last season on Charlotte’s roval.

Bell led a career-high 235 out of 250 laps, but old tires allowed Briscoe to take over and clinch a playoff berth in the No. 98 Ford.

John Hunter Nemechek was third, followed by Noah Gragson and points leader Tyler Reddick. Cole Custer, who entered the race in third place, got loose and crashed into the wall with 90 laps to go.

Cup Series twinbill at Pocono in 2020

LONG POND, PA.

Let’s race two!

Pocono Raceway is set to hold a NASCAR Cup Series twin bill next June — with one race on Saturday, one on Sunday, and the second race comes with a twist. The field for the Sunday race will be set by inverting the lead-lap finishers from race No. 1.

For example, Bubba Wallace finished 21st and was the last driver to complete all 160 laps in the June 3 race at Pocono, so he would have started first the next day had there been a second Cup race. Lapped cars would start at the rear.

Pocono has been run for years at 400 miles on the 21/2-mile track but will race 350 miles today and an undetermined length in the opener, though NASCAR expects the length to sit in the 350-mile range.

Pocono will lose its second race weekend in July, forcing both the Truck and Xfinity Series to run in June.

Chastain dominates for third Truck win

LONG POND, PA.

Ross Chastain dominated at Pocono Raceway on Saturday to win a NASCAR Truck Series race for the third time this season.

Chastain dedicated the victory to popular crew chief Nick Harrison, who died overnight hours after last week’s Xfinity Series race.

Tyler Ankrum was second, followed by Harrison Burton, Christian Eckes and Brett Moffitt.

INDYCAR

Rossi in good spot to defend Mid-Ohio victory

LEXINGTON

Alexander Rossi is in good position to gain on IndyCar series leader Josef Newgarden even if he didn’t win the pole Saturday for the Honda Indy 200 at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

Andretti Autosport announced mid-day Saturday that the 27-year-old Rossi had signed a multiyear deal to stay with the team and not seek free agency at the end of the season.

Three-plus hours later, Rossi qualified second behind Will Power of Team Penske.

“It’s always good to start next to Will because you know you’re going to start up front,” Rossi said. “That’s a positive. He races hard, He races clean.”

Associated Press