Keselowski posts first victory
GLADEVILLE, Tenn. — Brad Keselowski raced to his first Nationwide Series victory Saturday night at Nashville Superspeedway, passing Clint Bowyer with six laps to go and easily holding off his closest competitors.
Las Vegas native Kyle Busch, racing in the second of three NASCAR races in a historic weekend triple, finished 20th, three laps down. A green-flag pit stop with 52 laps to go bounced him from the top five to two laps down.
Keselowski, driving for Dale Earnhardt Jr., became the seventh first-time winner in 15 Nationwide races at Nashville Superspeedway. David Stremme rallied to finish second, followed by David Reutimann and Bowyer.
Busch’s setback came 24 hours after his second-place finish in the Craftsman Truck Series race at Texas Motor Speedway.
By starting today at Pocono, the Sprint Cup Series leader will become the first driver to compete in all of NASCAR’s top three series at different tracks on the same weekend.
• IRL — At Fort Worth, Texas, Scott Dixon regained the lead a lap before a crash between his closest competitors and crossed the finish line under caution to win the IndyCar Series race at Texas Motor Speedway.
On the 222nd lap, Dixon drove under Marco Andretti coming out of the third turn to get in front.
Near the same spot a lap later, Ryan Hunter-Reay was on the bottom of the track trying to get past Andretti. But Hunter-Reay’s car suddenly darted up into Andretti, sending both of them into the wall.
Helio Castroneves avoided the wreckage and finished second.
• NHRA — At Joliet, Ill., Melanie Troxel became the first female driver to top Funny Car qualifying in NHRA history, covering a quarter mile in 4.752 seconds at 327.27 mph in the Route 66 NHRA Nationals.
Tony Schumacher (Top Fuel), Jeg Coughlin (Pro Stock) and Chris Rivas (Pro Stock Motorcycle) led their divisions.
• FORMULA ONE — Lewis Hamilton took the pole for the Canadian Grand Prix in the final seconds of qualifying.
Hamilton ran a lap of 1 minute, 17.886 seconds at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve to edge Robert Kupica, who will start on the outside of the front row.
• OFF-ROAD — At Pomona, Calif., Southern Nevadans Bryan Freeman (Single Buggy) and Rob MacCachren (Pro Buggy) won their races for Las Vegas-based Menzies Motorsports in the Championship Off Road Racing series event.