Burton outduels Busch

Jeff Burton turned a late pit stop and fresh tires into a NASCAR Busch Series win Saturday night at California Speedway in Fontana, Calif.

He passed Kyle Busch for the lead just eight laps from the end of the Camping World 300 and pulled away to win by 2.859 seconds – about 12 car-lengths – as Busch barely held off pole-winner Denny Hamlin for second place.

“You’re never sure you can get around Kyle Busch,” Burton said. “He’s an incredible race car driver. We had a better car than he did at that point, but by no means did I think it was a gimme.”

Burton, knowing he was going to come up about three laps short on gas without a stop, gave up the lead to Busch, who stayed on track when Burton pitted on lap 127 during the fifth of six caution flags.

Burton fell to sixth for the restart on lap 131 of 150 on the two-mile oval. But he quickly began to overtake Busch, whose last tire stop came on lap 96. Burton was up to second when the final caution waved on lap 132 for a four-car crash.

When the green came out for the final time on lap 141, Burton began to pressure Busch. He managed to get his nose ahead to take the lead on lap 143 and the two drove side-by-side for nearly half a lap before Burton’s Chevrolet took control.

“I knew I wasn’t going to be able to hold him off, but I was kind of surprised I was able to hold him off as long as I did,” Busch said.

Diamondbacks execs buy team

Two executives with the Arizona Diamondbacks have purchased majority interest in the NASCAR team owned by Troy Aikman and Roger Staubach, the Associated Press learned Saturday night.

Jeff Moorad, chief executive officer of the Diamondbacks, and Tom Garfinkel, the chief operating officer, will be introduced as the controlling owners of Hall of Fame Racing at a news conference today at California Speedway, two people familiar with the deal told the AP. They requested anonymity because the formal announcement had yet to be made.

Aikman and Staubach, Hall of Fame quarterbacks for the Dallas Cowboys, formed their race team with three other partners in 2003. The No. 96 is in its second full season, driven by Tony Raines and sponsored by Texas-based DLP HDTV.

Benson holds off Hornaday

Johnny Benson raced to his second straight NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series victory, holding off Ron Hornaday Jr. in the Dodge Dealers Ram Tough 200 at Madison, Ill.

Points leader Mike Skinner had the pole position and led the first 30 laps on the 1.25-mile Gateway International Raceway oval, but dropped from contention after blowing out his right front tire.

Benson overcame a loose lug nut on his left front tire that forced him to pit twice and dropped him to 21st. Benson, who started fourth in his Toyota, took the lead from Hornaday on lap 147 and held on to win for the eighth time in 92 truck series races.

“It was extremely difficult to cut through the field,” Benson said. “I abused my truck. It’s extremely tired and needs a nap.”

Hornaday finished second and two-time Gateway winner Ted Musgrave was third. Todd Bodine, Musgrave’s teammate and defending champion, finished fourth.

Benson also took the checkered flag Aug. 22 at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Busch can wrap up a spot in Chase

Kurt Busch is doing his own version of scoreboard watching as NASCAR’s “regular season” winds to a close.

Busch, the 2004 Cup champion, goes into the Sharp Aquos 500 at California Speedway holding down the 12th and final spot in the Chase, expanded this season from 10 to 12 drivers.

With only this event and next Saturday night’s race at Richmond before the start of the 10-race playoff, Busch – NASCAR’s hottest driver over the past two months – isn’t quite ready to breath easy yet.

Bourdais, Castroneves claim poles

Three-time champion Sebastien Bourdais won the pole for the Champ Car’s inaugural Dutch Grand Prix at Assen, Netherlands, edging Justin Wilson for the top starting spot.

•At Detroit, Helio Castroneves won his IndyCar Series-record seventh pole of the season at Belle Isle, edging Dario Franchitti for the top spot in the 18-car field for today’s Detroit Indy Grand Prix

Castroneves, who averaged 103.401 mph, broke Billy Boat’s 1998 record of six pole position victories in a season and added to his series record total of 23.