Dillon paces Nationwide event

By The Associated Press

SPARTA, Ky. (AP) — Rookie Austin Dillon took advantage of misfortune by Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Elliott Sadler to win Saturday’s Nationwide Series race at Kentucky Speedway.

Sam Hornish Jr. was second, followed by Brendan Gaughan, Drew Herring and Sadler, who reclaimed the season points lead from Stenhouse.

Dillon seemed destined for a runner-up run behind Sadler, who got an opening when Stenhouse collided with Eric McClure on pit road on lap 33. That essentially handed first place to Sadler, and he began pulling away in pursuit of his fifth win this season.

But Sadler encountered steering issues with 50 laps left and subsequent pit stops for corrections ultimately yielded the lead to his Richard Childress Racing teammate.

Sadler has a four-point lead over Stenhouse, who finished 17th. Dillon is 19 points back.

Dillon, who won the pole, completed a season sweep at Kentucky. He dominated the June race, leading 192 of 200 laps.

 

TRUCK SERIES

SPARTA, Ky. (AP) — James Buescher completed a NASCAR Trucks season sweep at Kentucky Speedway on Friday night, using strong restarts to stay in contention before he broke free to win the wreck-filled race.

It was the fourth career series victory for Buescher, who also won at the track June 28. Parker Kligerman was second, followed by, rookie Ty Dillon, pole-sitter Joey Coulter and Brian Scott.

The race featured seven cautions, including five in the first half totaling 34 laps. One of them involved championship contender Timothy Peters, whose No. 17 Toyota made contact with Max Gresham on lap 55 and went into the wall before being hit by John King as it drifted down onto the track apron.