It’s Another Bumpy Ride, but Busch Gets a Win

Kurt Busch avoided any postrace punches but was in the middle of the usual bumping and banging in yet another victory at Bristol, Tenn., Motor Speedway on Saturday night.

Busch, punched in the face by Jimmy Spencer after last week’s race in Michigan, kept his head high amid a flood of criticism from his competitors, raucous booing from the fans -- and of course, the chipped tooth and swollen nose Spencer gave him.

He instead put his focus on the NASCAR Winston Cup Series Sharpie 500, running away from Kevin Harvick to score his fourth win of the season and third in the last four races at Bristol.

But it didn’t come without controversy. Busch spun out Sterling Marlin midway through the race as he tried to pass Marlin for second place.

“Kurt went through a tough week and he came out strong, he’s a tough guy,” crew chief Jimmy Fenning said.

Busch didn’t celebrate with the usual doughnuts, instead simply driving his Ford to Victory Lane.

If he heard the thundering boos showered on him from the crowd of 160,000, he didn’t let on.

“This is by far the biggest win, this beats all of my wins,” Busch said. “It is so sweet to come here with all of the things that dragged me down to get here.”

It was reminiscent of 1999, when the late Dale Earnhardt was greeted by boos in Victory Lane after bumping past Terry Labonte for the win at Bristol.

“The late Dale Sr. once told me the guy with the most noise wins,” Busch said.

Harvick finished second in a Chevrolet, never able to challenge Busch after he passed him for the lead 120 laps from the finish.

Rookie Jamie McMurray was third in a Dodge, Winston Cup points leader Matt Kenseth was fourth in a Ford and Jimmie Johnson rounded out the top five in a Chevrolet.

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Renault’s Fernando Alonso earned the pole position for today’s Formula One Hungarian Grand Prix at Budapest, while world champion Michael Schumacher of Ferrari was the eighth fastest qualifier.

It is the third consecutive race in which Schumacher, the series leader, won’t line up among the top three. He hasn’t won a Formula One race since the Canadian Grand Prix in June.

Alonso won his second pole of the season in 1 minute 21.688 seconds (119.994 mph) on the 2.72-mile Hungaroring, ahead of Ralf Schumacher of Williams-BMW at 1:21.944. Mark Webber was third at 1:22.027 in his Jaguar.

Michael Schumacher clocked 1:22.755. He has not had a pole position since mid-May at the Austrian Grand Prix. He leads the drivers standings by six points over Juan Pablo Montoya of Williams-BMW with four races left.

Montoya and Rubens Barrichello of Ferrari were fourth and fifth with the same time of 1:22.180. Montoya received the higher placing on the grid because he did it first, starting 13th, while Barrichello’s was 16th.

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Scott Dixon won the pole for today’s Indy Racing League Firestone Indy 225 at Nazareth, Pa., with a fast lap of 171.182 mph in a Toyota-powered G Force.

Helio Castroneves, with a run of 170.849 mph in his Dallara-Toyota qualified second.

Dixon will be seeking his second victory at Nazareth. In a Championship Auto Racing Teams race in 2001, he became -- at 20 years, 9 months, 14 days -- the youngest driver to win a major open-wheel event.

Sarah Fisher, who qualified 12th in the field of 20, was hurt when her Chevrolet-powered Dallara spun into the wall on the backstretch a few minutes before the end of the post-qualifying practice session.

She was awake, alert and being evaluated for back pain at Lehigh Valley Hospital, said Dr. Henry Bock, the IRL’s director of medical services.

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Alex Tagliani went from fifth after Friday’s provisional qualifying to win the pole for today’s CART Molson Indy in Montreal, turning a fast lap of 1 minute 19.665 seconds (122.418 mph) in his Ford-Cosworth/Lola.

Oriol Servia, guaranteed the first front-row start of his four-year CART career by virtue of his provisional pole, managed the fourth-fastest lap Saturday at 1:19.757 (122.276) in a Ford-Cosworth/Lola.

Bruno Junqueira, trailing Paul Tracy by 20 points in the CART standings, barely missed winning the point that goes with the pole, posting a lap in his Ford-Cosworth/Lola only .006 seconds and .010 mph slower than Tagliani.