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Busch win a first for Leicht

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From Times Wire Reports

Stephen Leicht took advantage of Carl Edwards’ late wreck to win for the first time in the NASCAR Busch Series, passing rookie Brad Coleman with 13 laps left and holding on Saturday night in the Meijer 300 at Kentucky Speedway in Sparta.

Leicht, whose best previous finish was eighth in the Pepsi 300 in April, beat Coleman by 1.851 seconds in a Ford.

A year after unsung David Gilliland stunned the field, Leicht repeated the feat at the 1.5-mile oval, a track that has become friendly to Busch Series drivers because of the absence of many Nextel Cup drivers who usually run the series.

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Leicht had led only 11 laps this season before Saturday night, including 10 in last week’s Federated 300. He’d managed only two top-10 finishes this season and had finished better than 20th once in his last eight starts.

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Travis Kvapil patiently stalked Kyle Busch around Michigan International Speedway, finally passing him with one lap left to win the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Michigan 200.

Busch led four times for 38 laps, but was struggling to control his Chevrolet when Kvapil closed in on him over the final 10 laps in his Ford.

Kvapil finally passed Busch in the fourth turn as they closed in on the start/finish line. Kvapil then pulled away on the final lap to win for the first time since Sept. 18, 2004.

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Michael Waltrip juggled his roles as Toyota team owner and driver, replacing David Reutimann for next Sunday’s NASCAR Nextel Cup Series race at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma.

Earlier this week, Waltrip said he would let Terry Labonte drive his car at Sonoma. Waltrip has not driven in 12 of the 14 Cup races this season, but he made the field for today’s Citizens Bank 400 at Michigan International Speedway.

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P.J. Jones will drive at Sonoma, and Reutimann, 43rd in the standings, will drive in the Busch Series race at Milwaukee.

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Seeking a record eighth 24 Hours of Le Mans victory, Tom Kristensen led after five hours of the world’s most famous endurance race. He had the fastest lap -- 3 minutes 29.913 seconds -- on the 8.45-mile circuit.

After 67 laps, Kristensen, in the Audi No. 2, had a one-lap lead over defending champion Marco Werner in the Audi No. 1, which was 19 seconds ahead of Stephane Sarrazin in Peugeot No. 8.

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Rip Michels took the lead from Derek Becker on the second lap and cruised to his sixth straight victory in the ACDelco Super Late Model division feature race at Irwindale Speedway.

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