After missing the start of the race because his helicopter couldn’t find a place to land, Denny Hamlin rallied to take the checkered flag in a wacky Busch Series race Saturday night at the Milwaukee Mile in West Allis, Wis.
But because a substitute driver, Aric Almirola, started the race in Hamlin’s car, NASCAR will credit Almirola with the victory.
It was the first time a relief driver had won a Busch series race since Jack Ingram turned his car over to Harry Gant at Darlington Raceway on April 13, 1985.
Hamlin, one of a handful of drivers splitting time between the Nextel Cup race in Sonoma, Calif., and the Busch race this weekend, arrived late to the racetrack and took the wheel from Almirola during an early pit stop.
In Victory Lane, Hamlin said it wasn’t his decision to kick Almirola out of the car.
“I didn’t want to do it,” Hamlin said. “I knew he would be really upset.”
Scott Wimmer finished second and Jason Leffler finished third.
Carl Edwards finished eighth, maintaining a dominant lead in the Busch Series points standings.
Champ Car: Sebastien Bourdais, who has been turning series races into checker-flagged Sunday drives this season, won the pole for the Grand Prix of Cleveland by holding off rookie Simon Pagenaud and a pack of first-year racers.
Flying around the 2.106-mile course laid out on the runways and taxiways of Burke Lakefront Airport, Bourdais had a best lap of 56.363 seconds – .080 of a second behind the track mark set by defending champion A.J. Allmendinger in last year’s qualifying.
IndyCar: Scott Dixon earned his first pole of the season during qualifying for the inaugural Iowa Corn Indy 250 in Newton.
Dixon qualified for the top spot with a top speed of 182.360 mph, grabbing the seventh pole of his career and his first on a short oval since 2003.
Today’s races
NASCAR NEXTEL CUP
Toyota/Save Mart 350
Site: Sonoma, Calif.
TV: TNT, 1:30 p.m. MDT.
Track: Infineon Raceway (permanent road course, 1.99 miles, 10 turns).
Race distance: 218.90 miles, 110 laps.
Next race: Lenox Industrial Tools 300, July 1, Loudon, N.H.
On the Net:
CHAMP CAR WORLD SERIES
Grand Prix of Cleveland
TV: CBS, 11 a.m.
Track: Burke Lakefront Airport (temporary road course, 2.106 miles, 10 turns).
Race distance: 204.282 miles, 97 laps.
Next race: Mont-Tremblant07, July 1, Canada
On the Net:
INDY RACING LEAGUE
Iowa Corn 250
Site: Newton, Iowa
TV: ABC, 11 a.m.
Track: Iowa Speedway (oval, 0.875 miles, 12-14 degrees banking in turns).
Race distance: 218.75 miles, 250 laps.
Next race: SunTrust Indy Challenge, June 30, Richmond, Va.
On the Net:
NHRA
SuperNationals
Site: Englishtown, N.J.
TV: ESPN2, 8 p.m. tape.
Track: Old Bridge Township Raceway Park.
Next event: Summit Racing Equipment Nationals, July 1, Norwalk, Ohio.
On the Net:
