Harvick Pulls Away to Win Busch Race

Once Kevin Harvick got the lead, no one could catch him Saturday night at O’Reilly Raceway Park in Indianapolis.

The NASCAR Busch Series points leader passed Denny Hamlin on Lap 84, built a lead of more than two seconds with 20 laps left and held off Reed Sorenson in the Kroger 200 for his series-high fifth victory of the season.

Caution periods kept the field bunched most of the race, however. Harvick went in front by 2.5 seconds before the final caution and led Sorenson by less than a second after the green came out with 13 laps to go.

Neither Sorenson nor J.J. Yeley, who finished third, could cut into the lead in the final laps, and Harvick’s winning margin was 1.4 seconds.

Hamlin, starting from the pole in a Chevrolet, led the first 83 laps, but he couldn’t build any significant distance in front of the pack because of the frequent cautions.

Harvick, who started sixth in a Chevrolet, moved into second place, erasing a three-second lead for Hamlin on the sixth yellow for a spin by Aric Almirola. That gave Harvick his chance to close in and, after the green came out, he passed the pole-starter on Lap 84 for the lead he didn’t relinquish.

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Michael Schumacher and Fernando Alonso were hit with time penalties and will resume their Formula One championship duel from the middle of the starting grid in today’s Hungarian Grand Prix at Budapest.

Kimi Raikkonen of McLaren-Mercedes, last year’s winner, won the pole position in 1 minute 19.599 seconds. It was his 10th career pole.

Schumacher of Ferrari and Alonso of Renault incurred two-second penalties per qualifying session. Schumacher was 12th and Alonso 15th in the qualifications, but Schumacher will move up to 11th when Jenson Button moves down from fourth to 14th because of an engine change, which indirectly caused Schumacher’s penalty.

When Button’s car caught fire, the session stopped. Schumacher was judged to have passed two cars, including Alonso’s, despite red flags.

“Of course, I am angry ... but I blame myself too,” Schumacher said.

“It is a bit difficult to explain what happened out there. It’s easier if everybody looks at the pictures. There you see more and the pictures are self-explanatory.” He did not elaborate.

Alonso leads Schumacher in the standings (100-89), and their contest could become closer after the race on the tight, twisting Hungaroring circuit, where passing is difficult.

Schumacher, a seven-time champion, has won the last three races, with Alonso finishing second once and fifth twice.

If Schumacher wins and Alonso goes scoreless, the lead will be cut to one point. A victory is worth 10 points.

On Friday, Alonso was judged to have passed a car while under a caution. That gave him a two-second penalty to be added to his fastest time per session.

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Champ Car driver Cristiano da Matta’s condition has stabilized, but he remained in intensive care with a head injury after a collision with a deer at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wis.

Multiple CT scans reveal no further bleeding in his head but there is swelling of the brain as doctors expected, said Chris Pinderski, Champ Car World Series director of medical affairs.

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Ben Spies, riding a Suzuki, won the AMA Superbike race in Lexington, Ohio, beating Mat Mladin by 5.713 seconds.