Busch makes history, 3-peats at Bristol

As Kyle Busch crossed the finish line for a three-race sweep, his crew quickly credited the driver for his role in the record-setting moment.

"We are in the presence of greatness," a team member said over the radio.

Indeed, they were.

Busch completed an unprecedented sweep of three national races in one week, completing the trifecta with a victory in the Sprint Cup Irwin Tools Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tenn. He hoisted a broom in Victory Lane, where he made his third visit in four days.

"I've been trying to do this since I got to NASCAR," said Busch, who has tried for a three-race sweep five times in his career.

"I love Bristol and I love winning. And to do it for the first time ever in NASCAR, to sweep the weekend, man, that's pretty awesome."

Busch also won the Nationwide race Friday night, and the Trucks race Wednesday night to become the first driver to complete the sweep since NASCAR expanded to three national series in 1995.

"He's pretty good," Joe Gibbs Racing president J.D. Gibbs said. "To do all three of those back-to-back was a big deal."

The Cup victory, his third of the season and third in the last four at Bristol, was drama-free after another round in his ongoing feud with Brad Keselowski.

Busch admitted to intentionally wrecking Keselowski late in the Nationwide race, and he celebrated that win by mockingly rubbing his eyes like a crying baby as the crowd showered him with boos. Keselowski vowed revenge over the public address system, to the delight of the Bristol crowd.

The barbs continued all the way up to the start of the Cup race. As Busch was booed in pre-race introductions, he sarcastically told the crowd, "Aw, you're so loving."

Keselowski was introduced moments later, taking the microphone and earning a thunderous cheer by saying, "I'm Brad Keselowski ... Kyle Busch is (a jerk)."

There was almost no chance of an on-track altercation, though, as the two hardly raced near each other for most of the night.

Keselowski did make it hard for Busch to pass him late in the race, when Keselowski was fighting not to go a lap down, but Busch made a clean move around him in his No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota after several attempts.

"Great job," his team radioed after the pass.

"I know," Busch replied. "I have more class."

Rogers reiterated that after Busch completed the victory.

"Some wiseguys got introduced behind him, and he raced like a champion and handled it with class all day," Rogers said.

David Reutimann rallied from a bout with food poisoning to finish second in a Toyota for Michael Waltrip Racing, his first top-15 finish since winning at Chicago last month.

"I feel really, really good about the finish, but I'm not feeling so hot right now," Reutimann said after the race. "I'm ready to go to sleep at some point. Maybe now."

Jamie McMurray was third in a Chevrolet for Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing, a finish good enough to move him to 13th in the standings. He trails Clint Bowyer by 100 points for the 12th and final spot in the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship.

But McMurray said he's not focused on making the Chase field. There's two races to go in the "regular season."

"I'm really fortunate this year that we were able to win those two big races because if we don't make the Chase, it's not going to be devastating," said McMurray, winner of the Daytona 500 and the Brickyard 400.

At Bristol Motor Speedway

Bristol, Tenn.

Lap length: .533 miles

(Start position in parentheses)

1. (19) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 500 laps, 139.8 rating, 195 points, $331,731.

2. (5) David Reutimann, Toyota, 500, 121.8, 175, $246,256.

3. (7) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, 500, 112.8, 170, $196,754.

4. (24) Clint Bowyer, Chevrolet, 500, 103.4, 165, $155,375.

5. (11) Kasey Kahne, Ford, 500, 95.4, 155, $158,465.

6. (6) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 500, 110.9, 150, $146,204.

7. (8) Juan Pablo Montoya, Chevrolet, 500, 109.3, 146, $145,331.

8. (21) Greg Biffle, Ford, 500, 81.7, 142, $118,025.

9. (20) Kurt Busch, Dodge, 500, 93.6, 138, $147,273.

10. (14) Matt Kenseth, Ford, 500, 99.3, 134, $148,526.

11. (26) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 500, 90.8, 135, $144,626.

12. (2) Carl Edwards, Ford, 500, 102.5, 127, $137,548.

13. (27) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, 500, 83.7, 124, $108,875.

14. (28) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 499, 70.9, 121, $136,476.

15. (18) Reed Sorenson, Toyota, 499, 68.6, 118, $135,823.

16. (16) Jeff Burton, Chevrolet, 499, 78.2, 115, $133,890.

17. (9) Martin Truex Jr., Toyota, 499, 83.6, 112, $96,900.

18. (3) Joey Logano, Toyota, 499, 82.4, 109, $132,765.

19. (15) Brad Keselowski, Dodge, 499, 70.3, 106, $122,710.

20. (22) Marcos Ambrose, Toyota, 499, 67.4, 103, $123,273.

21. (12) Paul Menard, Ford, 499, 70.8, 100, $102,200.

22. (33) Travis Kvapil, Ford, 498, 56.9, 102, $93,900.

23. (13) Mark Martin, Chevrolet, 498, 69.9, 99, $110,625.

24. (31) Jeff Green, Ford, 497, 58, 91, $100,300.

25. (25) Sam Hornish Jr., Dodge, 497, 57.5, 88, $99,675.

26. (34) David Gilliland, Ford, 495, 47.8, 85, $109,910.

27. (4) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 494, 70.6, 87, $127,153.

28. (39) Tony Raines, Ford, 492, 44.1, 79, $106,193.

29. (41) Elliott Sadler, Ford, 491, 37.9, 76, $97,010.

30. (29) Regan Smith, Chevrolet, 489, 44.4, 73, $94,375.

31. (10) A J Allmendinger, Ford, 488, 50.9, 70, $124,116.

32. (38) David Ragan, Ford, 486, 43.2, 67, $94,155.

33. (23) Scott Speed, Toyota, 486, 51, 64, $100,618.

34. (17) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 473, 63.6, 61, $107,685.

35. (1) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 415, 92, 63, $151,753.

36. (40) Kevin Conway, Toyota, vibration, 212, 30.8, 55, $97,763.

37. (42) Landon Cassill, Chevrolet, ignition, 129, 38.9, 52, $86,555.

38. (30) Bobby Labonte, Chevrolet, accident, 118, 35.4, 49, $85,445.

39. (43) Casey Mears, Toyota, electrical, 58, 39.2, 46, $85,335.

40. (37) Robby Gordon, Toyota, electrical, 50, 34.3, 43, $85,225.

41. (36) Todd Bodine, Toyota, rear gear, 47, 36.2, 40, $85,000.

42. (32) Scott Riggs, Toyota, transmission, 32, 30.5, 37, $84,885.

43. (35) Michael McDowell, Toyota, engine, 16, 27, 34, $85,203.

Top 12 in Points: 1. K.Harvick, 3,521; 2. J.Gordon, 3,242; 3. Ky.Busch, 3,170; 4. C.Edwards, 3,113; 5. D.Hamlin, 3,108; 6. T.Stewart, 3,107; 7. J.Burton, 3,101; 8. M.Kenseth, 3,095; 9. J.Johnson, 3,077; 10. Ku.Busch, 3,073; 11. G.Biffle, 3,055; 12. C.Bowyer, 2,920.

n INDYCAR

Will Power set an IndyCar Series record with his eighth pole this season.

Power broke Helio Castroneves' 2007 record at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif., turning in the fastest time after barely making it into the final round of knockout qualifying.

Castroneves qualified second, Dario Franchitti third for today's Grand Prix of Sonoma (2 p.m., VS, ESPN 700).

At Infineon Raceway

Sonoma, Calif.

Lap length: 2.303 miles

(Car number in parentheses)

(All cars Dallara-Honda)

1. (12) Will Power, 108.337.

2. (3) Helio Castroneves, 108.284.

3. (10) Dario Franchitti, 107.752.

4. (77) Alex Tagliani, 107.384.

5. (6) Ryan Briscoe, 107.379.

6. (9) Scott Dixon, 107.19.

7. (22) Justin Wilson, 107.75.

8. (37) Ryan Hunter-Reay, 107.489.

9. (11) Tony Kanaan, 107.23.

10. (2) Raphael Matos, 107.156.

11. (78) Simona de Silvestro, 106.644.

12. (4) Dan Wheldon, 106.527.

13. (36) Bertrand Baguette, 106.945.

14. (06) Hideki Mutoh, 106.952.

15. (8) E.J. Viso, 106.727.

16. (02) Graham Rahal, 106.939.

17. (5) Takuma Sato, 106.687.

18. (26) Marco Andretti, 106.81.

19. (24) J.R. Hildebrand, 106.612.

20. (32) Mario Moraes, 106.63.

21. (14) Vitor Meira, 106.408.

22. (19) Alex Lloyd, 106.235.

23. (7) Danica Patrick, 105.751.

24. (18) Milka Duno, 100.741.

25. (34) Francesco Dracone, 102.071.