SPARTA, Ky. — Austin Theriault of Fort Kent, driving a car sponsored by the state of Maine, finished 18th in the 300-mile Nationwide Series race Saturday night at Kentucky Speedway.

It was Theriault’s third career race. He was 21st at New Hampshire and 15th at Iowa earlier this year.

Brendan Gaughan surged past rookies Chase Elliott and Ty Dillon in a wild three-wide run after a final restart for a hard-earned victory.

Elliott and Dillon initially battled for the lead on Lap 192 before Gaughan’s No. 62 Chevrolet rocketed forward on the outside to make it three abreast, getting past both drivers a couple of laps later with Brian Scott in tow. Gaughan went on to his second career victory by .878 seconds over Scott, followed by Dillon, Elliott and Regan Smith in a top-five sweep by Chevys.

Gaughan’s surprising finish denied Dillon’s quest for a dominant victory after he started on the pole and led 155 laps. Dillon seemed destined to fight Elliott in the closing laps, but Gaughan, who led 22 laps, stayed within reach and used a great restart to snatch the lead and the win.

SPRINT CUP: Sure, winning races earns a driver an automatic berth into the next round, decided after every three races, before the final four drivers are left to duke it out for the Sprint Cup championship in the finale.

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But piling up points can get a driver to the finale even without a win.

Kevin Harvick would love to add at least a third win to a solid season for him at Stewart-Haas Racing. Harvick, though, would trade wins for his first career Cup championship as long as he’s consistent enough over the first nine Chase for the Sprint Cup championship races to be in the mix at the end.

“All you’ve got to do is be the first car out of the four cars to finish the race at Homestead,” Harvick said. “You don’t necessarily even have to win a race to win the championship.”

Harvick has been in the hunt to win plenty of races this season. His six poles this year matched his total for his entire career entering this season and he’s second behind only Brad Keselowski with 1,265 laps led. He was wins at Darlington and Phoenix and was fifth in the Chase opener last week at Chicagoland.

In a championship showdown that many believe will boil down to Team Penske vs. Hendrick Motorsports, Harvick could be a spoiler to watch. He doesn’t plan to gamble down the stretch to win a championship.

“I think the whole winning thing is really overrated,” he said.

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“Obviously you want to win. You want to win every week and you show up to try to win, but you can’t take any unnecessary chances and that is kind of the box that the point system puts you in.”

n Jeff Gordon denied Brad Keselowski’s shot at a perfect weekend with a late run in the final practice at New Hampshire that put him at the top of the chart at 135.357 mph.

Keselowski had the fastest practice speed Friday, won the pole, and topped the first practice chart on Saturday. Keselowski and Gordon finished 1-2 in the last two Sprint Cup races. They reversed the order headed into the second Chase for the Sprint Cup championship race on Sunday.

NASCAR TRUCK SERIES: Cole Custer is the youngest winner in a NASCAR national series race at 16, taking the checkered flag at New Hampshire in just his seventh career Truck Series start. Custer dominated early and pulled away late off the final restart to win at 16 years, 7 months, 28 days.

Custer set a track record of 131.897 mph to win the pole. He led 148 of the 175 laps.

Last November in Phoenix, Erik Jones was the youngest winner in truck series history, winning at 17 years, 4 months on the mile track.

FORMULA ONE: Lewis Hamilton claimed pole position for the Singapore Grand Prix by out-qualifying his Mercedes teammate and title rival Nico Rosberg by a mere seven thousandths of a second.

Hamilton claimed his sixth pole of the season with a time of 1 minute 45.681 seconds, and it could prove crucial on a tight and twisty Marina Bay circuit which will provide few passing opportunities in Sunday night’s race.

Daniel Ricciardo, who is the only genuine threat to the pair for the championship, qualified third, less than two-tenths of a second off Hamilton.


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