Truex wins first pole at Atlanta

Martin Truex Jr. won his first pole at Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Ga., on Saturday, just in time for the track’s first scheduled race entirely under the lights.

Truex qualified first for tonight’s Pep Boys Auto 500 with his lap of 184.149 mph. It is his second pole of the season after qualifying first and finishing 11th at the Daytona 500.

Truex is leaving Earnhardt Ganassi Racing after the season to join Michael Waltrip Racing and says he wants to give his current team a win.

“I want to go out on a high note for them and for all they’ve done for me,” Truex said.

Truex, 23rd in the Sprint Cup standings, is an outsider in the late-season competition for one of the 12 spots in the Chase for the Championship.

Kasey Kahne, 11th in the Sprint Cup standings, qualified second at 183.497 mph and has much at stake tonight.

Jimmie Johnson, was third, followed by Jeff Gordon, Kyle Busch and Kurt Busch.

Johnson and Gordon are second and third, respectively, and Kurt Busch is sixth in the standings. Each are secure with only two races left before the Chase.

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Nationwide

Kevin Harvick led most of the race and then passed Dale Earnhardt Jr. with two laps left to regain the lead and win the Degree V12 300 Nationwide Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Harvick and Kyle Busch each went into the pits for gas and four tires with 14 laps remaining while Earnhardt and Brad Keselowski stayed on the track, gambling they had enough gas to finish the race.

Earnhardt and Keselowski had enough gas but were still passed by Harvick and Busch, who finished second.

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Trucks

Mike Skinner pulled away after a late restart to win the first Camping World Trucks Series race at the Iowa Speedway in Newton.

Skinner, a two-time winner this year, was running away from the field when the yellow flag came out because of debris with seven laps to go. They restarted with four laps remaining and Skinner pulled away in his Toyota to win by 1.370 seconds.

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Motocross

Ryan Dungey wrapped up his first AMA Pro Motocross Championship season title, finishing second in both 250 Class motos in the American Motocross Festival at Steel City Raceway in Delmont, Pa.

Dungey, the Rockstar/Makita/Suzuki rider from Belle Plaine, Minn., finished nine points ahead of France’s Christophe Pourcel, the Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki star who swept the motos Saturday. Dungey also won the AMA Supercross title this season.

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Irwindale

Mike Johnson of Covina started from the front row and led the entire race winning the NASCAR Auto Club Late Model 50-lap feature race at Toyota Speedway in Irwindale. It was Johnson’s fourth consecutive victory moving him to within 26 points of points leader Nick Joanides of Woodland Hills, who finished sixth.