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Kyle Busch wins Xfinity Series race and Sprint Cup pole at Indianapolis

NASCAR driver Kyle Busch celebrates after winning the Xfinity Series race at Indianapolis on Saturday.
(Rey Del Rio / Getty Images)
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Kyle Busch led all but one lap Saturday to win the NASACAR Xfinity Series race at Indianapolis for the second consecutive year.

The 2015 Sprint Cup champion beat Kevin Harvick by 0.415 seconds in the race that went 61 laps instead of the 60 scheduled. Paul Menard was third, 1.338 seconds back.

It was Busch’s seventh victory of the season and record-extending 83rd of his career and came on a weekend where he has dominated the 2.5-mile oval on both the Xfinity and Cup circuits.

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He posted the fastest practice times in both series Friday, won both poles Saturday and can sweep both races for the second straight year by winning the Brickyard 400 on Sunday.

Busch surrendered the lead once when he pitted and held off Harvick, who took new tires during a late caution that led to the overtime.

Earlier in the day, Busch pulled off a rare trifecta when he crashed Tony Stewart’s scripted farewell party and pushed Jeff Gordon’s comeback bid to the middle of the pack by accomplishing one of his biggest career goals — claiming his first Brickyard 400 pole.

Busch, the defending race winner, had the fastest lap in the third and final round of qualifying, just ahead of Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Carl Edwards.

Busch won with a speed of 184.634 mph. Edwards was second at 184.547 and Stewart, an Indiana favorite, will start third in the final race on his home track after posting a 184.328. Gordon qualified 21st in the 40-car field as the replacement for the injured Dale Earnhardt Jr.

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Rosberg takes pole position for Hungarian GP

Nico Rosberg of Mercedes will start from pole position at the Hungarian Grand Prix, ahead of teammate Lewis Hamilton and Daniel Ricciardo of Red Bull.

Qualifying on Saturday was hampered by heavy rainfall, which delayed the start by 20 minutes and also led to several interruptions and crashes, including by Felipe Massa of Williams and Sauber’s Marcus Ericsson.

Rosberg posted a time of 1 minute, 19.965 seconds according to provisional results, 0.143 seconds faster than Hamilton, who barely made it to the last of the three qualifying session, finishing 10th in session two. Ricciardo was third, 0.172 seconds off Hamilton’s pace.

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, the only non-Mercedes winner so far this season, was fourth, followed by Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel.

“It was a challenging qualifying. I just got a really good lap in the last lap, so I’m really happy with that,” Rosberg said. “I’m happy to be on the pole because it’s a great chance for me to win a grand prix tomorrow.”

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