Nationwide Series

INDIANAPOLIS -- Danica Patrick's return to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in a stock car ended in a hard crash less than halfway through Saturday's Indiana 250. Patrick, the former IndyCar driver who now races in NASCAR's second-tier Nationwide Series, was running about 20th when the top five race leaders made pit stops. Patrick remained on the track and was running behind Reed Sorenson. As the two entered Turn 1 on lap 39 of the 100-lap race, Patrick's No. 7 Chevrolet tapped the back of Sorenson's No. 98 Ford, sending Sorenson into a spin.

Phil Mickelson and Nick Watney wound up tied for the lead Saturday in the Wells Fargo Championship, minus much separation from the rest of the field. Mickelson hit a shot out-of-bounds on the 15th hole and hit another shot that struck a spectator in the head, costing him three shots over the last four holes at Quail Hollow in Charlotte, N.C., in his round of one-over 73. Watney hit a semi-shank with a six-iron on the par-three 17th, took double bogey and had to settle for a 71. It felt like a small consolation that they were tied at eight-under 208, one shot ahead of George McNeill , who had his share of trouble down the stretch for a 72. Instead of pulling away from the pack, their mistakes in a wild final hour allowed a dozen players to get within three shots of the lead.

When Danica Patrick became a rookie sensation in 2005 in what is now the Izod IndyCar Series, she capped the year with a race in Southern California. Five years later, IndyCar's most popular driver might make her NASCAR stock-car racing debut at the same location. Patrick, who recently announced plans to try stock-car racing on a limited basis next year in NASCAR's second-tier Nationwide Series, said Thursday that she plans to enter the Feb. 20 Nationwide race at the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana.

The Seattle group attempting to buy the Sacramento Kings says it has reached agreement to raise the purchase price by $25 million. Chris Hansen, who is teaming with Steve Ballmer to lead the group, announced the decision to raise the valuation late Friday night. In a statement on his website, Sonicsarena.com, Hansen says the group has voluntarily raised the purchase price as a "sign of our commitment to bring basketball back to our city. " Hansen's group entered into a binding agreement with the Maloof family in January to purchase the controlling interest of the franchise based on a $525 million value.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. used a late push from runner-up Brad Keselowski to pass Kevin Harvick and win the Nationwide race at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Saturday night. After a restart with three laps to go, Harvick lost the lead on the final lap as his car got loose coming out of Turn 2 and, Stenhouse, who was bumped by Keselowski on the front straightaway, went ahead for good in Turn 3. Stenhouse, the defending series champion, raced to his fourth Nationwide victory of the season, and moved within 12 points of leader Elliott Sadler . Keselowski got into a heated argument after the race with Harvick, who accused him of throwing a water bottle out of his car to cause an earlier caution flag.

Carl Edwards drove to a dominant win in the NASCAR Nationwide Series race Saturday at Phoenix International Raceway in a Ford that Edwards declared "the best race car I've ever had. " Danica Patrick, meanwhile, had another rough outing in her part-time NASCAR experiment and finished 32nd in the 43-car field. Edwards, one of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series regulars who also compete in the second-level Nationwide Series, won by five seconds over Kevin Harvick and led 153 laps of the 200-lap race at the one-mile Phoenix oval.

Clint Bowyer raced to his second Nationwide Series victory of the season on Saturday, taking the lead with 83 laps to go on the concrete at Dover (Del.) International Speedway. His celebration was ignored as all attention turned to a brief but heated confrontation on pit road between Denny Hamlin and Brad Keselowski. They made contact late in the race, sending Hamlin to the garage. Keselowski finished third and was greeted when he got out of his car by an angry Hamlin. They exchanged words, and Hamlin shoved Keselowski.

Russ Cochran shot a five-under 67 in the SAS Championship on Saturday to increase his lead to four strokes, the largest 36-hole margin the history of the Champions Tour event. "I don't have any experience with a four-shot lead so I don't know what to expect," Cochran said. "I'm sure I'll have to be on my toes. " Cochran, the 51-year-old left-hander coming off his first victory on the 50-and-over tour two weeks ago in South Korea, birdied the final two holes at Prestonwood Country Club in Cary, N.C., to finish at 13 under.

Kyle Busch grabbed a souvenir for his victory lap Saturday: a white "100" flag that rippled out the window of his No. 18 Toyota, one special number and a giant slice of NASCAR history. Whether purists like it or not, Busch joined an elite list in auto racing history, becoming the third NASCAR driver to win 100 races. Busch's victory at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon also tied him with Mark Martin for first place in career Nationwide Series victories with 49. Busch has 22 Sprint Cup wins and 29 in the truck series.

Kurt Busch won his third consecutive pole in the NASCAR Sprint Cup series, finishing first in qualifying Saturday at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn with a lap of 188.699 mph. He is the first driver to win three consecutive poles since Brian Vickers in 2009, and two qualifying sessions were canceled during that streak. The last person to win three poles in three races was Ryan Newman in 2007. Busch is sixth in the points standings and has finished in the top 10 in three consecutive races, including a second-place showing last weekend at Pocono Raceway.

Danica Patrick was talking about racing at Martinsville Speedway next month when a reporter asked whether she also would eat one of the Virginia track's famous hot dogs. "I will at least have half of a hot dog," she said Friday. "I'm a half person. I have half of a cookie, half of a brownie, half of a hot dog. " A more pressing issue is how soon the struggling Patrick again will be racing with the front half of the field as she continues her first full season in NASCAR's top-tier Sprint Cup Series.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - A crash near the end of the NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Daytona turned to horror Saturday when one of the cars hurtled into the grandstand fence, sending pieces of the car flying into the seats and injuring more than two dozen spectators. The car was driven by Kyle Larson, who was collected in a 12-car crash just as the field, traveling at more than 175 mph, was approaching the finish line at Daytona International Speedway. The crash was so violent that the front half of Larson's white No. 32 Chevrolet was sheared off as his car went airborne and tore into the fence.

Already considered perhaps the best prospect in NASCAR, 20-year-old driver Kyle Larson is starting to prove he's also one of the most aggressive. Running second in a minor-league NASCAR race at Daytona International Speedway on Monday night, the Elk Grove, Calif., native simply shoved the leader in front of him, C.E. Falk, out of the way on the last turn of the final lap. In fact, Larson had to bump Falk twice before Falk spun out, clearing the way for Larson to take the checkered flag.

Danica Patrick became the first woman to win the Daytona 500 pole position Sunday when she covered the 2½-mile speedway in 45.817 seconds. Patrick, who has not had much success in either the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series or the second-tier Nationwide Series, was the eighth driver in the qualifying session and averaged 196.434 mph. She had to wait for two hours as 37 other drivers tried to better her mark on the Daytona, Fla., track. Jeff Gordon was the only other driver to average 196 mph, clinching the second spot on the front row for the race, which will be next Sunday.

Darrell Wallace Jr. will become only the fourth black driver to race full time in one of NASCAR's three national series after Joe Gibbs Racing on Saturday said the 19-year-old will drive in NASCAR's truck series this year. "I can't wait to get on the track at Daytona [International Speedway]," site of the first NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race Feb. 22, Wallace said in a statement. Wallace is a developmental driver under contract with Gibbs and will race the No. 54 Toyota truck prepared by the team of Kyle Busch Motorsports.

Kyle Larson, a highly touted 20-year-old driver from Elk Grove, Calif., will drive full time this season in NASCAR's second-level Nationwide Series, his team announced Wednesday. Veteran team owner Chip Ganassi is overseeing Larson's fledgling NASCAR career, and Ganassi helped Larson reach a deal to drive the No. 32 Chevrolet for the Nationwide team of Turner Scott Motorsports. "Kyle's shown an uncanny ability to really drive anything that's been put under him so far," Ganassi told reporters on a conference call.

Despite winning the Daytona 500 and its $1.5 million in prize money in only his second NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race, Trevor Bayne technically isn't a rookie in the series because he's committed to running this year in NASCAR's second-tier Nationwide Series. So Carl Edwards , who finished second to Bayne on Sunday, took the early lead in the Cup championship standings under NASCAR's new points system. Edwards left Daytona with 42 points and a one-point lead over David Gilliland and Bobby Labonte , who finished third and fourth, respectively.

Danica Patrick will make her NASCAR debut this weekend at Daytona International Speedway in Florida. The IndyCar star will drive the No. 7 Chevrolet for JR Motorsports in Saturday's second-tier Nationwide Series race. The decision announced Monday to race at Daytona was made after team officials dissected her stock car racing debut in the ARCA race at Daytona on Saturday. The team had left the option to race up to Patrick, who wanted to assess her first race before deciding whether to enter one of the most prestigious Nationwide races of the season.

Danica Patrick, who filed for divorce on Jan. 3, has confirmed what many suspected: She's dating fellow NASCAR driver Ricky Stenhouse Jr. “I think I am just finally excited to tell someone about this,” Patrick told the Associated Press during a phone interview early Friday morning. “I have a boyfriend, his name is Richard.” Patrick, a celebrity since 2005 when she burst onto the national auto racing scene while driving in the IndyCar...

Former action sports star Travis Pastrana will drive full-time in NASCAR's second-level Nationwide Series this year in a car prepared by Roush Fenway Racing, the team said Thursday. Pastrana, 29, will drive the No. 60 Ford Mustang in all 33 Nationwide races and "we are committed to doing everything we can to see his career develop in NASCAR," team co-owner Jack Roush said in a statement. A celebrated motorcycle and rally car racer, notably in the X Games, Pastrana turned his sights on stock-car racing and made nine Nationwide starts last year.