CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Kyle Busch will be allowed to race in the final two Sprint Cup Series events but without main sponsor M&M’s.
Busch will drive Sunday at Phoenix and in next weekend’s season finale at Homestead (Fla.) with Interstate Batteries as his sponsor. In a statement released Thursday night, sponsor Mars said the car will not run with the M&M’s paint scheme until 2012, “at which time Kyle Busch will be the driver with the expectation that no future incident take place.”
The deal ends a week of wrangling over Busch’s future with his race team — all fallout from a road rage incident at Texas. Busch wrecked Ron Hornaday Jr. under caution early in the Trucks Series race and was parked by NASCAR for the rest of the weekend.
Busch has admitted he lost control of his temper and has since apologized. NASCAR suspended him from all racing at Texas, and this week fined him $50,000 and placed him on probation through the end of the year.
• Robert Hight (funny car), Tony Schumacher (top fuel), Mike Edwards (pro stock) and Andrew Hines (pro stock motorcycle) were the top provisional qualifiers at the season-ending Automobile Club of Southern California NHRA Finals in Pomona, Calif.
Mickelson elected to golf Hall of Fame
SINGAPORE — Four-time major champion Phil Mickelson was elected to the World Golf Hall of Fame in St. Augustine, Fla. Mickelson, who became eligible for the honor after turning 40 last year, received 72 percent of the votes cast.
“Being called a Hall of Fame golfer, it does make me sound a little bit old,” Mickelson said from the Singapore Open, where he opened with a 71 — nine strokes behind leaders Edoardo Molinari and James Morrison. “But I don’t feel old. I feel like I’ve got a lot of great golf ahead of me.”
Mickelson has won 39 tournaments since turning professional in 1992, including three Masters titles and a PGA Championship. He said his enshrinement won’t slow down his quest to reach 50 victories.
• Hall of Famer Juli Inkster shot a bogey-free 5-under-par 67 for a share of the first-round lead with Suzann Pettersen at the Lorena Ochoa Invitational in Guadalajara, Mexico. Inkster, 51, is trying to become the oldest winner in LPGA Tour history. Beth Daniel was 46 when she won the 2003 Canadian Women’s Open.
Footnotes.
Rangers slugger Josh Hamilton is undergoing tests to determine if he has a sports hernia and will need surgery.
• The Pittsburgh Pirates and catcher Rod Barajas agreed to a one-year, $4 million deal with a club option for 2013 worth $3.5 million.
• Los Angeles Galaxy forward Chad Barrett, the team’s second-leading goal-scorer in the regular season with seven, will miss the MLS Cup on Nov. 20 after dislocating his right ankle in training.
• Miami Hurricanes swingman DeQuan Jones, a senior who averaged 4.5 points and 2.5 rebounds last season, will sit out the season while the NCAA investigates allegations he was recruited with the help of $10,000 cash from a booster. The Associated Press
