Busch takes hit for fit
Kurt Busch paid a hefty price for his fit in the pit.
The former Nextel Cup champion was docked 100 driver points Friday, fined $100,000 and placed on probation until the end of the year for reckless driving and endangering one of Tony Stewart’s crew members on pit road.
“It’s a bit surprising, but safety on pit road can’t be compromised,” Busch said at Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pa. “I understand that. To me, it’s a matter of making sure everyone is safe on pit road.”
Busch should consider himself lucky NASCAR didn’t park him for Sunday’s Pocono 500. Officials considered that idea after parking him near the end of Monday’s 400-mile race at Dover International Speedway.
With the penalty, Busch fell from 11th to 17th in the Chase standings, moving Martin Truex Jr., who was eight points out of 12th place, into the Chase standings. The top 12 drivers are in the final 10 races for the title.
Car owner Roger Penske also was penalized 100 owner points.
On Monday, Busch clipped Stewart as he went to make a pass in lap 271, with both drivers running in the top 10. Busch nosed into the wall, and Stewart was sent hard into the SAFER barrier on the outside retaining wall.
While Stewart’s team checked the damage to the No. 20 Chevrolet in the pit stall, Busch pulled his No. 2 Dodge next to Stewart’s car, forcing jackman Jason Lee to jump back and onto the hood.
NASCAR parked Busch, and he finished 42nd.
Busch said he had a point for pulling up to the side of Stewart’s car.
“I wanted him to look me in the whites of my eyes and realize how upset I was,” he said.
Newman races to pole
Ryan Newman ended Denny Hamlin’s Pocono perfection.
Newman showed again he has the qualifying part of race weekend figured out. Now all he wants is to be in front when the checkered flag drops.
Newman raced to his third straight pole and 41st overall with a lap of 170.062 at Pocono Raceway. He also took the top spot at Lowe’s Motor Speedway and again last week at Dover International Speedway.
He has four poles overall this year with no wins. His best finish came Monday at Dover when he finished second behind Martin Truex Jr., and his last win came nearly two years ago.
Newman’s lap spoiled Hamlin’s run of winning everything at Pocono. Hamlin qualified second after he won two poles and two races last year in his first two trips to the 2.5-mile triangle track.
Indy Racing League
Scott Sharp, a nine-time IndyCar Series winner in his first season with Rahal Letterman Racing, won the pole for the Bombardier Learjet 550 with a qualifying lap of 215.260 mph. It is his sixth career pole, but first since 2001 at Kentucky.
Craftsman trucks
Todd Bodine beat Mike Skinner to the checkered flag again at Texas, holding on to win after another green-white-checker finish in the NASCAR Craftsman Trucks Series at Fort Worth.