CLERMONT, Ind. – Carl Edwards and Brad Keselowski kept it clean.

Kyle Busch kept on winning.

Busch held off Edwards on a late restart Saturday night to win the NASCAR Nationwide race at O’Reilly Raceway Park, collecting his eighth victory of the season while sending a friendly reminder about who drives the dominant car in NASCAR’s No. 2 series.

Busch led 144 laps and had just enough at the end to fend off Edwards, who wasn’t about to send Busch into the wall a week after punting Keselowski on the final lap in St. Louis, a move that forced NASCAR officials to dock him 60 points and fine him $25,000.

“It was good, hard, clean racing,” Busch said. “That’s what happens when you race each other cleanly over time and with respect; you get respect back.”

Busch has earned it. His fifth win in his last six Nationwide starts gives him 38 for his career. Only Mark Martin with 48 has more.

Aric Almirola finished third, followed by pole-sitter Trevor Bayne and Reed Sorenson. Keselowski faded to finish eighth.

A week after their run-in forced NASCAR officials to step in, saying they each crossed the line, Keselowski and Edwards were on their best behavior at the crowded 0.686-mile oval.

The rivals found themselves running within a couple car lengths of each other for a long stretch at the beginning of the race and again on a late restart. This time each driver made sure to give the other a wide berth.

“We gave each other plenty of room and that’s good,” Edwards said. “Hopefully we can keep doing that going forward.”

Keselowski, who was placed on probation through the end of the year along with Edwards for his role in last week’s final-lap scuffle, had no issues with Edwards this time.

“I thought it was decent racing by most everybody, just good hard short-tracking,” he said.

Particularly by Busch. He was dominant at times before using a little moxie to beat Edwards, even though Edwards had fresher tires after a late pit stop.

Busch appeared to be in the clear before Joe Nemechek hit the wall with fewer than 10 laps remaining. The caution set up a green/white/checkered finish, with Busch opting to take the outside lane on the restart.

Edwards hung back, thinking Busch would take his time before restarting. The second Edwards relaxed, Busch was gone.

“In my mind, I thought he was going to go late. As soon as I laid back, he took off,” Edwards said.

Edwards rallied to get on Busch’s rear quarterpanel coming out of Turn 4, but unlike last week, he opted not to dump Busch into the wall. Busch admitted getting “dive bombed” by Edwards was a concern, but figured if Edwards did creep up and take Busch out, he wouldn’t win the race either.

 

SPRINT CUP: Juan Pablo Montoya, a former Indianapolis 500 winner, won the pole position for today’s Brickyard 400 with a lap of 182.278 mph.

Success at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway is nothing new to Montoya, who won the Indy 500 in 2000. He had a strong run going in last year’s Brickyard, only to have his shot at a victory undone by a late pit road speeding penalty.

Jimmie Johnson qualified second, followed by Mark Martin, Jamie McMurray and Ryan Newman. Chevrolets swept the top six starting spots.

 

FORMULA ONE: Sebastian Vettel of Germany squeezed out Fernando Alonso to take the pole position in his home Formula One Grand Prix at Hockenheim, Germany.

Vettel’s Red Bull was .002 seconds faster than Alonso’s Ferrari in qualifying to give the German his sixth pole of the season and his third straight.

“We knew that it would be close, but did not expect it to be that close. It’s not very comfortable,” said Vettel, who now has 11 poles in his career.

Felipe Massa of Brazil in the second Ferrari was third and Mark Webber of Australia was fourth in another Red Bull to complete the two front rows for today’s German Grand Prix.

 

BEECH RIDGE: Steve Carrier took the lead on Lap 12 and went on to win for the second time this season in the 40-lap NASCAR Pro Series. Jay Sands finished second and Chuck Colby was third.

Other winners included Corey Bubar in the 35-lap Sports Series, Matt Gain in the 30-lap Wildcat race and Shawn Brackett in the 20-lap Road Runner main event.

 

IRL: Will Power, going for his third consecutive victory, will start from the pole today in the Honda Edmonton Indy.

Power drove the 1.96-mile track in 1:00.7126 to lead the 25-car field.

Helio Castroneves, Power’s teammate with Team Penske, will start beside him on the front row. Scott Dixon will be third.

Power has been the class of the field in IndyCar this season. He leads the driver standings, has won four of the 10 races and has six poles.

• The IRL has placed Milka Duno on probation for the rest of the year for failing to consistently meet minimal performance standards.

 

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