ON THE TRACKS Saturday’s auto racing

NASCAR

Kyle Busch has chance at Texas tripleheader

FORT WORTH, Texas

Kyle Busch has set himself up for the chance at a Texas three-step.

Busch rocketed ahead of Tyler Reddick on the final restart with six laps remaining and won the NASCAR Xfinity race Saturday, setting up the possibility of a tripleheader weekend sweep in Texas.

While Busch will be going for his third career NASCAR tripleheader sweep — he did it at Bristol in 2010 and 2017 — he missed out on the chance for one at his home track in Las Vegas four weeks ago with a third-place Cup finish after winning the Xfinity and Truck Series races. He missed sweep chances at Texas in 2009 and 2014.

“I’ve been close before. I don’t know how many times I’ve won two of the three. It’s been too many,” Busch said. “So certainly to have the opportunity to go after another one here it’s good. It means a lot.”

Busch led 33 of the 200 laps, won for the third time in four Xfinity starts this season and got his 95th career victory in the series. He extended his NASCAR record to 203 wins overall, nine coming in 14 NASCAR starts this year.

He got his 55th career Truck Series win Friday night at Texas, and will start 16th for today’s Cup race at the 1 1/2-mile track where he won last spring. His 53 career Cup wins include three in Texas.

After the ninth and final caution Saturday, Busch and Xfinity Series points leader Reddick both went to pit road for fuel only. Busch beat him off pit road, created separation from the field by the backstretch after the restart and cruised to the checkered flag.

“That’s what won us the race, being first and being in control of the restart, go where I wanted to,” Busch said. “I got a good launch and was able to get to single file before we got to Turn 1. That was the best thing for us all day.”

Reddick led three times for 19 laps.

Polesitter Christopher Bell led a race-high 127 laps, recovering from a speeding penalty on pit road after he led all 48 laps during the first stage. Bell finished third, ahead of Chase Briscoe and Jeb Burton.

Reddick, Bell, Briscoe and sixth-place finisher Michael Annett qualified for the first Dash 4 Cash for the Xfinity championship contenders. The top finisher of that quartet next week at Bristol will earn a $100,000 bonus.

Busch wins again in NASCAR Truck Series

FORT WORTH, Texas

Kyle Busch raced to his fourth straight NASCAR Trucks Series victory Friday night at Texas Motor Speedway.

Busch pushed his NASCAR-record victory total to 202 and his Truck record to 55.

Busch had plenty of challengers, but still led 97 laps in the No. 51 Toyota, running his four-race total to 473. No other racer had led more than 54 this season. Brent Moffitt led 33 laps before fading to finish 19th.

“I thought we were pretty good,” Busch said in Victory Lane. “Not as good as we wanted to be once we stacked up next to the field. The 24 (Moffitt) was really fast and the 52 (Stewart Friesen) was really fast. They made me work for it.”

Busch began the streak at Atlanta and followed with victories in Las Vegas and Martinsville.

Pole-winner Grant Enfinger won the first stage and finished fourth. Busch won the second stage.

Stewart Friesen was second for the second year in a row in the event, 1.269 seconds behind. It is the fifth time Friesen, the season points leader despite never winning a race, has finished second in his three-year career.

Johnny Sauter, the defending race champion, was third.

FORMULA ONE

Ferrari dominates as Leclerc takes 1st pole

SAKHIR, Bahrain

Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc confirmed he is a driver to be reckoned with by taking his first career pole position at the Bahrain Grand Prix on Saturday.

The 21-year-old from Monaco topped all three sections of qualifying, having already been quickest in two of the three practice sessions over the weekend.

Ferrari secured a 1-2 on the grid as four-time Formula One champion Sebastian Vettel qualified in second place.

Defending champion Lewis Hamilton was third, ahead of Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas.

After the disappointment of the season-opening Australian GP two weeks ago, Ferrari has looked in ominous form with its drivers finishing 1-2 in all three practices sessions and throughout qualifying.

Leclerc carried the day, even surpassing his own leading time on his last lap to set a new record in Bahrain of 1 minute, 27.866 seconds on the 5.4-kilometer (3.3-mile) circuit.

Now he is well poised for the first win of a career progressing as quickly and smoothly as his driving. He impressed last year with the Alfa Romeo Sauber team in his debut season, with 10 top-10 finishes and a best result of sixth in one of the grid’s least competitive cars.

Qualifying started at 6 p.m. local time (1500 GMT) and mirrored cool race conditions for tonight’s race, which finishes with floodlights illuminating the desert track.

Bottas won in Australia ahead of Hamilton , where Vettel finished fourth and Leclerc fifth in Melbourne.

FORMULA TWO

Schumacher’s son finishes 8th in Bahrain

SAKHIR, Bahrain

Mick Schumacher made an assured Formula 2 debut for the Prema Racing team, finishing eighth in Saturday’s race in Bahrain after qualifying in 10th place.

The 20-year-old son of F1 great Michael Schumacher had a confident start, jumping up one place. He drifted down the field before climbing back into ninth place, and then made a smart overtaking move inside Japanese driver Nobuharu Matsushita on the final lap.

The German driver finished about 35 seconds behind winner Nicholas Latifi of Canada.

Schumacher has another F2 race today before the spotlight increases when he makes his F1 testing debut with Ferrari at the Bahrain desert circuit on Tuesday.

His famed father won five of his record seven F1 titles with Ferrari from 2000-04. The 50-year-old Schumacher also holds the F1 record for most wins with 91.

They were skiing together in December 2013 when his father fell and hit the right side of his head on a rock, splitting open the helmet.

Doctors worked to remove blood clots from his brain, but some were left because they were too deeply embedded. Schumacher’s condition stabilized after he was placed in a drug-induced coma, from which he later emerged. But updates on his health have been scarce since he left the hospital in September 2014 to be cared for privately at his Swiss home by Lake Geneva.

When the younger Schumacher won the F3 European Championship title last year, it fast-tracked him into F2 and prompted speculation he could be in F1 by 2020 if he shines this season.

F1 FATHERS AND SONS

They are not uncommon, but have rarely been successful.

Nico Rosberg’s F1 title with Mercedes in 2016 made him only the second son of an F1 champion to become one, following father Keke Rosberg’s triumph in 1982.

The others were Graham Hill (’62 and ‘68) and Damon Hill (’96).

The Villeneuves came close: with Gilles runner-up in ‘79 and his son Jacques crowned champion in ‘97.

The late Ayrton Senna won three F1 titles and the Brazilian is considered arguably the greatest F1 driver, along with Schumacher.

Senna’s nephew Bruno Senna’s modest F1 career lasted three seasons, with a best result of sixth when driving for Williams in 2012.

Associated Press