Kyle Busch Gets Victory After a Back-Row Start

Kyle Busch took the lead with two laps to go at Sparta, Ky., and held on to win the Meijer 300 on Saturday night at Kentucky Speedway for his third Busch Series victory of the year.

Busch, 19, the brother of Nextel Cup driver Kurt Busch, started from the back of the 43-car field after wrecking his car in practice.

By the 47th lap, Busch had moved into the top 10. He slowly worked his way through the rest of the field, and with 13 laps to go, on a restart after a late caution, he was third behind Greg Biffle and Jason Leffler.

After passing Leffler, Busch ducked under Biffle for the lead with two laps left. Busch won by 1.274 seconds over Biffle. Mike Bliss finished third, followed by Ron Hornaday Jr. and Jason Keller.

Busch, who averaged 126.633 mph, remained second in the series points race behind Martin Truex Jr., but closed the gap from 40 to 10 points. Truex finished sixth Saturday.

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Bobby Hamilton took the lead with eight laps left and held off Shane Hmiel by 0.423 seconds to win the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series’ O’Reilly 200 at Millington, Tenn.

Hmiel, a first-time series starter on the 0.75-mile Memphis Motorsports Park track, lost a half-second lead when Rick Crawford’s 187th-lap spin brought out a caution flag.

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Rubens Barrichello made up a 0.2-second deficit over the final two-thirds of the U.S. Grand Prix qualifying at Indianapolis’ 2.605-mile road course, beating Michael Schumacher’s time by 0.177 seconds to claim the pole.

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Reed Sorenson pulled away from the field late in the caution-filled ARCA race, getting his first stock car victory in Brooklyn, Mich.

Thirty-eight of the 100 laps in the Flagstar 200 were run under caution at the two-mile oval of Michigan International Speedway. That kept Sorenson’s winning speed to 112.518 mph.

Sorenson beat second-place finisher Matt Hagans by 6.399 seconds.

A.J. Henriksen, Brent Sherman and Christi Passmore, the only woman in the lineup, rounded out the top five.

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Brandon Bernstein was first in Top Fuel qualifying in the NHRA SuperNationals in Englishtown, N.J., completing his run in 4.565 seconds at a top speed of 325.85 mph.

Eric Medlen (Funny Car), Greg Anderson (Pro Stock) and Andrew Hines (Pro Stock Bike) also qualified No. 1 in their divisions.

Final eliminations are today.

Canyon Country’s Greg Pursley edged out Tony and James Bruncati for his sixth win of the season in the 75-lap Lucas Oil Super Late Model series feature before 4,400 at Irwindale Speedway.

Pursley had lost the lead to Tony Bruncati on Lap 56 but on a late restart on Lap 73, Pursley dived low going through Turns 3 and 4 and pulled out ahead of the elder Bruncati brother for the win.

In the 50-lap Auto Club Late Model series feature, Deryk Ward earned his third win of the season by holding off Doug McComb in the final three laps. Ward led all but one lap, only giving up the 10th lap to Scott

In the 35-lap Grand American Modified series feature, Travis Thirkettle overcame a full inversion to hold off Andrew Phipps and John Watkinson for his second consecutive win of the season.

In the 35-lap Mini-Stock Series feature, Bob Reed earned his first win of the season, and joined his son, Eric, as the first father and son drivers to win a race in the same season. Rookie driver Johnny White earned his second win of the season in the 40-lap Vista Paint Super Stock series feature.

Tennis

Mary Pierce defeated Klara Koukalova, 7-6 (9), 6-2, in the final of the Ordina Open in Den Bosch, Netherlands, for her first grass-court tournament victory.

On the men’s side, top-seeded Guillermo Coria beat Mario Ancic, 7-6 (4), 1-6, 6-3.

Coria, the French Open finalist who had never won professionally on grass until this week, will play the final against Michael Llodra, who beat fourth-seeded Tommy Robredo, 6-3, 6-2.

Top-seeded Paradorn Srichaphan rallied to beat Sweden’s Thomas Johansson, 1-6, 7-6 (4), 6-3, and claim his first title of the year at the Nottingham Open in England.

Miscellany

Former Vanderbilt Athletic Director Todd Turner was hired to head Washington’s athletic department. Turner will replace interim Athletic Director Dick Thompson, who took over when Barbara Hedges announced her early retirement in January.

Mary Sanders dominated the U.S. Olympic Trials for rhythmic gymnastics by defeating Olga Karmansky by 9.65 points at San Jose, earning the country’s only spot for the sport at the Athens Games.

Jennifer Parilla of Newport Beach won the trampoline competition with a total score of 101.70 to beat Jaime Strandmark’s total of 96.90 and will make her second Olympic trip.

John Magera, a 34-year-old wildlife refuge manager who didn’t compete in his first Olympic-style archery tournament until last year, earned the third and final spot on the U.S. team at Mason, Ohio.

Vic Wunderle and Richard Johnson earned the two other spots on the team.

Jennifer Nichols was first in the women’s trials, followed by Stephanie Arnold and two-time Olympian Janet Dykman from El Monte.

Deena Kastor won the U.S. women’s half-marathon championship in Duluth, Minn.

Kastor, who will compete in the Athens Olympics in the marathon, easily took the race in 1 hour 10 minutes 30 seconds.

Susannah Beck was second in 1:15:03 and Cori Mooney was third in 1:15:17.

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T.J. Simers has the day off.