LONG POND, Pa. — Smoke was on a hot streak at the free-throw line.
Tony Stewart, the pole- sitter for today’s Sprint Cup race at Pocono Raceway, got a chance to show his skills on the hardwood during a recent appearance at Syracuse University. He teamed Wednesday with Orange coach Jim Boeheim in a shooting contest.
The two-time Sprint Cup champion called the visit “really cool,” though he did admit to being a little rattled on the basketball court.
“It’s pretty intimidating when you go to somebody else’s venue and you’re in their house and then get in a competition with them,” Stewart said this weekend.
Stewart, who is from Columbus, Ind., banked some basketball credibility for when he returns to his basketball-crazy home state.
“I’m happy to say that we tied four out of five on the free-throw side, so I held my own as an Indiana kid,” Stewart said. “Hopefully, now when I go back to Indiana, I won’t get thrown out for not being good at basketball.”
Busch dominates again.
Kyle Busch raced to his sixth victory in his last seven Nationwide starts and ninth of the season Saturday night, leading 209 of 250 laps in a dominating run at Iowa Speedway in Newton.
Busch moved a victory away from the series season victory record of 10 he shares with Sam Ard. Busch, a 10-time winner in 2008, is second in series history with 39 victories — nine behind Mark Martin’s record.
Kevin Harvick was second, followed by Jason Leffler and Brad Keselowski in front of a standing-room- only crowd of roughly 55,000.
Trucks: Sadler holds off Kahne.
Tears welled up in Elliott Sadler’s eyes as he drove his No. 2 truck past the white flag. Finally, victory was within reach.
After cutting off Matt Crafton’s pass attempt inside on a restart, the veteran driver pulled away from Kasey Kahne on the final lap of Saturday’s Truck Series race at Pocono for his first NASCAR win in six years.
Kahne finished second, Crafton was third and Todd Bodine was 12th.
F1: Vettel earns pole.
Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel secured the pole position for today’s Hungarian Grand Prix and will be joined by Mark Webber on the front row in Budapest, Hungary.
Today’s races
NASCAR SPRINT CUP Pennsylvania 500
Site: Long Pond, Pa.
TV: 11 a.m. (ESPN, 11 a.m.- 3:30 p.m.)
Track: Pocono Raceway (triangle, 2.5 miles)
Race distance: 500 miles, 200 laps
Points standings
1. Kevin Harvick 2,920
2. Jeff Gordon 2,736
3. Denny Hamlin 2,660
4. Jimmie Johnson 2,659
5. Kurt Busch 2,658
6. Kyle Busch 2,630
7. Jeff Burton 2,615
8. Matt Kenseth 2,573
9. Tony Stewart 2,544
10. Carl Edwards 2,496
11. Greg Biffle 2,462
12. Clint Bowyer 2,446
13. Mark Martin 2,384
14. Dale Earnhardt Jr. 2,353
15. Ryan Newman 2,299
16. Jamie McMurray 2,295
17. Kasey Kahne 2,290
18. David Reutimann 2,269
19. Joey Logano 2,241
20. Martin Truex Jr. 2,145
FORMULA ONE Hungarian Grand Prix
Site: Budapest, Hungary
TV: 6 a.m. (Speed, 5:30- 8 a.m., 12:30-3 p.m.)
Track: Hungaroring (road course, 2.72 miles)
Race distance: 190.53 miles, 70 laps
