Busch holds off veterans for win

Kurt Busch kept his poise with NASCAR’s two grizzled veterans pushing hard down the stretch.

Rusty Wallace and Mark Martin were both determined to leave Pocono for good as winners. Instead, Busch spoiled the going away party and kept moving toward another Nextel Cup title.

Busch dominated at the beginning, surged back to the lead late and raced to his second win of the season Sunday in the Pennsylvania 500 at Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pa.

“To see the (No.) 2 and the 6 back there is reminiscent of old times,” said Busch, who earned his 13th career victory.

Wallace, who will retire at the end of the year, finished second in the No. 2 Dodge, falling just short of Bill Elliott’s record of five career wins at Pocono.

Perhaps driving his last race at Pocono, Mark Martin finished third in the No. 6 Ford and Carl Edwards followed his win here in June with a fourth-place finish.

While Wallace is firm in his commitment to retire, Martin may have his farewell tour extended another year because Jack Roush is without a driver for the Ford next year.

“I still have my decision,” Martin said. “I don’t even like talking about it because I want to go truck racing next year. We are working on trucks.”

Busch, the defending NASCAR Nextel Cup champion led 110 of the first 150 laps on the 2.5-mile triangle and kept his fifth place spot in the points standings with six races left to decide the 10 drivers who will race for the title. All drivers within 400 points of the lead also are eligible, though no driver outside the top 10 meets that requirement.

The “Chase for the Cup” begins at New Hampshire International Speedway on Sept. 18.

Jeff Gordon finished 13th and Dale Earnhardt Jr. was two laps off the leader in 32nd place as two of NASCAR’s most successful drivers are running out of time to crack the top 10.

IRL

Sam Hornish Jr. had to pass Dario Franchitti twice in the waning laps before pulling away for a hard-earned victory in the A.J. Foyt 225 at the Milwaukee Mile in West Allis, Wis.

Hornish, a two-time Indy Racing League champion, dominated early in the race, but slipped back on a hot, slippery track before coming on strong at the end to grab his second win of the season and the 14th of his career.

With temperatures soaring into the mid-90s, there were several crashes, including one by rookie sensation Danica Patrick, who came away uninjured.

During the caution period after Buddy Rice crashed on lap 167, Andretti Green Racing chose to keep Franchitti and reigning IndyCar Series champion Tony Kanaan on the track while the rest of the leaders pitted — hoping one of them would win by conserving fuel to the end.

It appeared the strategy might work for Franchitti, the defending Milwaukee champion and coming off a victory last week at Nashville, when Hornish touched wheels with Marlboro Team Penske teammate Helio Castroneves, sending the Brazilian driver into the wall and bringing out another caution flag on lap 186.

Hornish restarted fourth when the green flag waved again on lap 196, but he quickly passed series points leader Dan Wheldon for third place, chased down and passed Kanaan for second on lap 201 and bore down on Franchitti.

The two leaders touched wheels once as Hornish tried to get outside Franchitti on lap 208. He finally did get the lead on lap 211 and began to pull away. But Hornish’s work was far from done as he slid high into turn one on lap 213, barely keeping from hitting the wall and allowing Franchitti to retake the lead.

But, with Franchitti still trying desperately to conserve fuel, Hornish regrouped and chased him down once more, easily charging past on lap 217 and pulling away to win by 0.384 seconds – about three car lengths.

Formula One

Fernando Alonso won the German Grand Prix in Hockenheim, Germany, and extended his lead in the F1 standings when rival Kimi Raikkonen couldn’t finish because of a hydraulic failure.

Raikkonen started from the pole and led comfortably until the 36th lap of the 67-lap race, when his McLaren-Mercedes suddenly stopped on the track.

McLaren-Mercedes teammate Juan Pablo Montoya, who rallied from the back of the grid, charged back to finish second, with Jenson Button third in a BAR-Honda.

NHRA

Brandon Bernstein won the NHRA’s Top Fuel division for the second time in three events, speeding past points leader Tony Schumacher at the NHRA-Carquest Auto Parts Nationals at Pacific Raceways in Kent, Wash.

Bernstein improved to 8-1 in championship races with a 4.527-second pass at 329.99 mph, easily beating Schumacher’s 6.021 seconds. It was his second win in three events.