BRISTOL, Tenn. - Michael Waltrip used a bump-and-run to knock Ron Hornaday out of his way Friday night to win the Busch series race at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Waltrip led early in the Food City 250 but lost the top spot to Hornaday when he struggled on a restart.
But Waltrip was in position to regain it with 34 laps to go as he followed Hornaday around the high-banked .533-mile ring. As the cars headed into Turn 4, Waltrip pulled up on Hornaday's bumper and tapped him. Waltrip then slid low and drove past him, holding on for his first Busch win since August 2002 at Michigan.
Waltrip's only other Busch Bristol win was in 1993.
Hornaday finished second and said he wouldn't race rough with Waltrip just to win.
"I knew he was going to move me over, he had fresher tires and was a little faster than me," Hornaday said. "I think I could have roughed him up, but that ain't racing."
The fans got a small taste of flaring tempers late in the race when Jamie McMurray knocked Joey Clanton into the Turn 4 wall. Clanton was furious and waited near the apron for McMurray to come by under caution, his helmet poised in his hands as if he were going to throw it. But as McMurray circled the track, he aimed his car at Clanton, almost daring him to toss the helmet.
Clanton made a move to throw it, but backed off as McMurray pulled away. "There is going to be payback," Clanton vowed.
Gordon on Sharpie 500 pole
Jeff Gordon's frustrating pursuit of his fifth Winston Cup title took a positive turn when he won the pole for tonight's Sharpie 500 at Bristol.
Gordon, quickest in the morning practice, pulled an early draw and turned a lap in 15.038 seconds around Bristol to break the event qualifying record of 15.292 set by Rusty Wallace in 2000.
A brief thunderstorm interrupted qualifying, then Mark Martin ran a lap at 15.039 and just missed bumping Gordon off the pole. They start first and second tonight.
HELTON NOT LEAVING: NASCAR president Mike Helton denied rumors he is leaving his post to take over Dale Earnhardt Inc. The rumor has circulated for weeks.
MONTREAL INDY: Oriol Servia, in his fourth season in the CART series, was guaranteed the first front-row start of his career when he turned a fast lap of 1 minute, 21.112 seconds (120.234 mph) to take the provisional pole for Sunday's race. The quick trip around the 13-turn, 2.709-mile Circuit Gilles Villeneuve also gave Servia one point, moving him into a tie for sixth in the season standings with Adrian Fernandez. Paul Tracy's lap of 1:21.405 (129.801) gave him second on the tentative grid but didn't improve his 20-point lead over Bruno Junqueira, who was third at 1:21.476.
HUNGARIAN GRAND PRIX: Renault's Jarno Trulli posted the fastest time in prequalifying for the Formula One race in Budapest, and five-time world champion Michael Schumacher finished ninth. Trulli clocked 1:22.358 seconds on the 2.72-mile circuit.
