HAMPTON, Ga. — Carl Edwards worked his way from the back of the pack after a penalty in a pit stop early in the race and held off Kyle Busch to win the Nationwide Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Saturday night.
Starting from the pole, Edwards led the first 43 laps before being penalized for having equipment out of his team’s allotted space during a pit stop. He went to the back of the field but quickly moved his way through the pack.
Edwards won a battle with Kevin Harvick for the lead after the sixth caution ended with 19 laps remaining. Nationwide points leader Ricky Stenhouse Jr. came out of the restart in sixth but quickly moved up, passing Busch for second before finishing third.
Harvick finished fourth and Kasey Kahne was fifth after winning the pole for today’s Sprint Cup race.
• Will Power used a late surge to earn his seventh pole of the season, a point in the IndyCar Series standings and some peace of mind heading into today’s Baltimore Grand Prix on a difficult street course.
Power completed his fifth and final lap in 1 minute, 20.2447 seconds to edge Graham Rahal (1.20.3238).
• Antron Brown raced to the provisional No. 1 position in top fuel qualifying at the NHRA’s U.S. Nationals in Clermont, Ind.
Cruz Pedregon (funny car), Greg Anderson (pro stock) and Matt Smith (pro stock motorcycle) stayed in the provisional top spots in their categories.
Westwood, McIroy are lurking
CRANS-SUR- SIERRE, Switzerland — Jamie Donaldson shot a 6-under-par 65 to pull ahead of Lee Westwood (64) and Rory McIlroy (67) and lead the European Masters after three rounds.
Donaldson, a 35-year-old Welshman seeking his first career European Tour victory, was at 14-under and one shot ahead of Westwood. McIlroy was another stroke back.
“There’s a 61 or 62 out there,” said McIlroy, who lost a playoff on this course at age 19 when taking a four- shot lead into the final round.
Wiggins extends Vuelta lead
LA FARRAPONA, Spain — Rein Taaramae of Cofidis won the 14th stage of the Spanish Vuelta for his first victory in a major race, and Bradley Wiggins extended his overall lead in a grueling mountain leg.
Taaramae broke away in the final uphill push to finish the 109.2-mile run from Astorga to La Farrapona in 4 hours, 39 minutes, 1 seconds.
Wiggins is now seven seconds ahead of Sky teammate Christopher Froome, while third-place Bauke Mollema of Rabobank is 36 seconds off the pace.
Footnotes.
Havre de Grace, a 4-year-old filly, held off a late bid by Flat Out and defeated males in her first attempt in the $750,000 Woodward Stakes at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.
• The agent for DeJuan Blair, who averaged 8.3 points and 7.0 rebounds last season, said the San Antonio Spurs forward has signed to play in Russia during the NBA lockout.
• Kyle Beckerman scored one goal and assisted on another in the first half to lead host Real Salt Lake to a 2-1 MLS victory over the Philadelphia Union.
