NASCAR

After yesterday's qualifying; race tonight At Kentucky Speedway Sparta, Ky. Lap length: 1.5 miles (Car number in parentheses) 1. (18) Kyle Busch, Toyota, Owner Points. 2. (42) Juan Pablo Montoya, Chevrolet, Owner Points. 3. (22) Kurt Busch, Dodge, Owner Points. 4. (4) Kasey Kahne, Toyota, Owner Points. 5. (48) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, Owner Points.

SONOMA, Calif. (AP) - It certainly seemed as if Kurt Busch's season was in serious trouble just two months ago, when poor performances led to an intense radio tirade against his entire Penske Racing organization. What could have destroyed his race team has actually had the opposite effect. Busch's impressive turnaround continued yesterday with a dominating run at Infineon Raceway, where he earned his first career road course victory and his first win of the season.

BROOKLYN, Mich. - Many have gone longer between victories - look at Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s 108-race winless streak. So Denny Hamlin's 16-race drought entering yesterday was not cause for consternation. Except to him. "If I go about eight weeks without winning, I'm wondering what the heck is going on,'' Hamlin said. The series' winningest driver last year - Hamlin won nearly a quarter of the Sprint Cup races - entered yesterday's event here in the midst of his longest winless streak in nearly two years.

LONG POND, Pa. (AP) - Jeff Gordon waits like all fans to learn this week who NASCAR selects for its next Hall of Fame class. One year, that list of all-time greats will surely include Gordon. Gordon has put up the kind of championship totals and win numbers that few in the sport can match. Gordon feels now, when he's still winning races and a championship contender, is not the time to reflect on his career. That time will come when he's called to the Hall. "I want to make it to that speech," Gordon said.