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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Auto racing: Truex brothers return to scene of past success

Associated Press

Ryan Truex remembers when the workers on his older brother’s car would stuff him in a box used to hold dirty rags and tape up the hole on top.

Terrifying stuff at the time but an amusing memory now that he’s racing himself.

“I was little, but still, I was scared,” Truex said Saturday. “I didn’t like it.”

At least his tormentors left holes in the box to help him breathe.

The 20-year-old Truex competed in the Nationwide race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway Saturday in Loudon, N.H., and finished 10th. Today, Martin Truex Jr. starts from the fourth position in the Sprint Cup race. And now the 32-year-old driver in eighth place in the Sprint Cup standings is very proud of the sibling who suffered at his staff’s hands.

“He’s staying in my garage because he’s broke, trying to make a living in racing. That’s what you do. You put your life on hold and you go race cars,” Martin said. “I admire his passion for the sport, his passion for what he’s doing. He eats, breathes, sleeps racing.”

The brothers, plus their father, are quite fond of the one-mile oval at New Hampshire. All three have won races here.

Martin Truex Sr. won in the K&N Pro Series East in 1994. Martin Truex Jr. posted wins in that series in 2000 and 2003, then won the Nationwide event in 2005. Ryan won twice in the K&N Pro Series East in 2010.

Keselowski wins again

Brad Keselowski won the Nationwide race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, N.H.

The pole-sitter passed Kevin Harvick with about 21 laps left in the 200-lap race on the one-mile oval when Harvick got caught in traffic with Amber Cope, who was 30 laps down.

Keselowski, also entered in today’s Sprint Cup race, stretched it from there and won by just over seven-tenths of a second.

Peters wins trucks race

Timothy Peters won the NASCAR trucks series race at Iowa Speedway in Newton, Iowa, notching his first victory of the season.

It’s the fourth career win for Peters, who overtook Ron Hornaday Jr. with 10 laps left to become the third pole-sitter to win a trucks race in four events in Iowa.

Peters gave his lead up to Hornaday on a restart with just over 30 laps left. But the series points leader got another shot at Hornaday on a later restart and used the low inside line to take the lead for good.

Hornaday was second, followed by Matt Crafton, the winner in Iowa in 2011.