Jason Leffler won the first NASCAR Busch Series race of his career early Sunday morning in a wild ending to the Federated Auto Parts 300 following a nearly three-hour rain delay.
Leffler won under caution at Nashville Superspeedway, caused when Kyle Busch ran out of gas with four laps to go. He had led 60 laps and looked ready to run away with his third victory of the year, but wound up spinning into the infield grass.
That allowed Leffler to inherit the lead, and he was able to nurse his Chevrolet through the final laps under caution for his first victory in his 56th start.
Crew chief Bootie Barker advised Leffler to save his gas because Busch wouldn't be able to make it to the end.
"I thought Bootie was crazy," Leffler said. "It's not the way I wanted to win, but I knew I couldn't catch the five [Busch]."
Busch wound up 17th, failing to finish in the top 10 for the first time in 11 races and lost the points to Martin Truex Jr.
Polesitter Truex finished second in his Chevy and leads Busch by 45 points. Third was Clint Bowyer, followed by Mike Bliss and Ron Hornaday, giving Chevy a top-five sweep.
"It was just my fault. I ran out of gas," Busch said. "It was just a matter of time until Jason Leffler got to Victory Lane."
Truex led 39 laps, but struggled after the heavy rain washed the track clean and left his car loose. That left him very happy with his finish.
"It's funny. We've been joking the last two weeks between me and Kyle that if you don't win the race, you can't leave with the points lead ... Tough break for him," Truex said.
Leffler, a three-time USAC midget champ, hadn't finished better than fourth this year. He wound up leading 61 laps, including the final laps for the victory.
"I've won a lot of dirt races slowing down. When the track gets slick, sometimes you have to slow down to go faster. I've never had a crew chief tell you, `You're going too fast. Slow down.' I'm just glad it all worked out," Leffler said.
It was a fitting end to a race that waited out a 2-hour, 48-minute rain delay at the 2.14km concrete oval.
Jemimah Rodrigues on Thursday hit an unbeaten 127 as India pulled off a record chase of 339 against Australia to set up a Women’s World Cup final against South Africa. Rodrigues and skipper Harmanpreet Kaur, who hit 89, put on 167 runs for the third wicket as India won with nine balls and five wickets to spare at DY Patil Stadium, on the outskirts of Mumbai. The hosts finished on a total of 341-5 in reply to Australia’s impressive 338 and ensured there would be a new name on the 50-over trophy tomorrow. Amanjot Kaur hit the winning boundary to trigger wild celebrations
Jannik Sinner on Thursday eased past Francisco Cerundolo 7-5, 6-1 at the Paris Masters to set up a quarter-final clash with Ben Shelton, while reigning champion Alexander Zverev earned a straight-sets win over Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the third round. A maiden crown in the French capital would return Sinner to No. 1 in the world rankings after current incumbent Carlos Alcaraz suffered a shock early exit at the hands of Britain’s Cameron Norrie. The Italian four-time Grand Slam champion is yet to drop a set in the tournament as he hones in on what would be a fifth title of the
ANFIELD BLUES: Kylian Mbappe arrived at Anfield on a run of 21 goals in 17 games, but he managed just three attempts in the match, none of them hitting the target Kylian Mbappe has been nearly unstoppable this season, but he hit a roadblock in their UEFA Champions League match at Anfield on Tuesday. For the second year running, the Real Madrid forward had a night to forget at Merseyside as Liverpool won 1-0. Mbappe looked a shadow of the player who has been tearing defenses apart all season. “We were lacking that threat in the final third,” said Madrid coach Xabi Alonso, without naming Mbappe individually. The FIFA World Cup winner for France rarely looked capable of finding a breakthrough against a Liverpool team who have been so defensively fragile for much of the
LOCAL SUCCESS: In the doubles, Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia defeated Italians Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini in straight sets Elena Rybakina on Monday punched her ticket to the WTA Finals last four with an impressive 3-6, 6-1, 6-0 victory over second seed Iga Swiatek in round-robin play in Riyadh. After cruising past Amanda Anisimova in her opener on Saturday, Rybakina claimed her second win of the week to guarantee herself top spot in the Serena Williams Group. Anisimova on Monday rallied back from a set and a break down to triumph 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 in her all-American battle with seventh seed Madison Keys, who has been eliminated from the competition. “Madi was playing so well, it was quite a battle out there,”
RSS