JOLIET, Ill. — Kyle Busch held off Todd Bodine on a restart with seven laps to go, then cruised to a victory in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Chicagoland Speedway on Friday night.
It was the second Truck Series victory in as many weeks for Busch, who also won at Bristol Motor Speedway last week. With Friday’s win, the Sprint Cup series regular has four Truck Series victories this season and 13 in his career.
Bodine finished second, giving Toyota the top two spots. They were followed by Ford drivers Colin Braun and Rick Crawford, with Johnny Sauter finishing fifth in a Chevrolet.
It was a disappointing night for the series’ top two championship contenders, Ron Hornaday Jr. and Matt Crafton. Both drivers spent much of the race a lap behind the leaders, with Hornaday making up his lap in the late stages of the race to finish 11th and Crafton finishing a lap down in 14th.
Hornaday came into the race with a commanding 211-point lead over Crafton in the standings.
Busch credited his crew for good pit strategy, taking fresh tires early in the race.
“We made it look like we knew what we were doing,” Busch said.
Briscoe wins pole.
Ryan Briscoe took a small step to boost his IndyCar championship bid, winning the pole for tonight’s race at Chicagoland Speedway.
The series points leader averaged 215.364 mph, earning the top starting spot and a bonus point in the championship standings.
With three races left in the IndyCar season, Briscoe leads Dario Franchitti by five points. Briscoe will start alongside his teammate, Helio Castroneves, with Franchitti directly behind him in the third starting spot. Tony Kanaan and Graham Rahal rounded out the top five.
Footnotes.
Qualifying for next season’s Daytona 500 will be held Feb. 6, one day earlier than usual in a move that avoids running the session on the same day as the Super Bowl.
• IndyCar driver Will Power has been released from the hospital and returned home to Indianapolis after multiple injuries during a crash in Sonoma, Calif., last Saturday.
• The season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Nov. 1 will be the first Formula One race to start in daylight and end at night.
The Associated Press
This weekend’s races
INDYCAR Peak Indy 300
Site: Joliet, Ill.
TV:Tonight, Versus, 7 p.m.
Track: Chicagoland Speedway (oval, 1.5 miles).
Race distance: 300 miles, 200 laps.
Next race: Indy Japan 500, Sept. 19, Twin Ring Motegi, Motegi, Japan.
On the Net: www.indycar.com
NASCAR NATIONWIDE NAPA Auto Parts 200
Site: Montreal.
TV: Sunday, ESPN2, 12:30 p.m.
Track: Circuit Gilles Villeneuve (road course, 2.709 miles).
Race distance: 200.466 miles, 74 laps.
Next race:Degree V12 300, Sept. 5, Atlanta Motor Speedway, Hampton, Ga.
On the Net: www.nascar.com
FORMULA ONE Belgian Grand Prix
Site: Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium.
TV: Sunday, Speed Channel, 6 a.m.
Track: Spa-Francorchamps (road course, 4.35 miles).
Race distance: 191.415 miles, 44 laps.
Next race: Italian Grand Prix, Sept. 13, Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, Monza, Italy.
On the Net: www.formula1.com
