Kyle Busch started the season at Daytona International Speedway being loaded into an ambulance. On Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway he ended it by winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship.

Busch took the lead during a restart with seven laps left in Sunday’s Ford EcoBoost 400 and outran defending series champion and fellow title contender Kevin Harvick to win not only the race, but the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship.

“This is a dream of a lifetime, a dream come true and something that only happens every so often,” Busch said in victory lane. “I just can’t believe it with everything that happened this year. All the turmoil, all the things that I went through, that my wife went through, that my family went through, all those around me that they went through. This championship is all for these guys, for my wife, my family and everyone that sacrificed so much to get me here.”

It was an epic comeback for Busch, who missed 11 races at the start of the season when he suffered a compound fracture in his lower right leg and a fracture in his left during the season-opening NASCAR XFINITY Series race at Daytona.

NASCAR granted Busch a waiver for the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup provided he could win a race and make it into the top 30 in the championship standings upon his return. Busch made his return to NASCAR competition in May during the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race and it didn’t take long for him to get back up to speed.

“I said back then and I’ll say it again, the rehab and then getting back and getting ready, getting healed and focused, all of that was the hardest part. The hardest thing I’ve ever gone through,” Busch said. “To put it all together here tonight, this night wasn’t quite that hard.”

In just his fifth race after returning from injury Busch found victory lane at Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway, but he didn’t stop there. He won again two races later at Kentucky Speedway, which turned out to be the start of a three-race winning streak that included a victory New Hampshire Motor Speedway and a career-making victory in the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Those victories and a solid run of consistency through the summer months got Busch into the top 30 in points, which allowed him to qualify for the 10-race Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.

He remained consistent during the Chase, surviving a 37th-place finish at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in the second race of the Chase to advance to round two. Finishes of 20th, fifth and 11th got him through to round three, where he scored three-straight top fives to get him through to the final round of the Chase during Sunday’s finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Busch started Sunday’s race from the third position and ran in the top five most of the night, challenging for the lead early before slotting into a top-five position in the second half of the race.

At the front of the field, it appeared that Brad Keselowski was in position to score his second victory of the season. Keselowski took the lead during a restart on lap 172 when he drove around championship contender Martin Truex Jr., who had opted to take only two tires during pit stops under the caution period.

Keselowski quickly distanced himself from the field while behind him the battle was on between Busch and Harvick. Busch quickly drove by Truex and into second, with Harvick following suit two laps later to take over third.

While Keselowski continued to lead, all eyes were on Busch and Harvick. Busch built a comfortable margin over Harvick as laps clicked off. Without a caution flag to slow the field, green flag pit stops started on lap 214 when Truex made his stop. Harvick was the next to pit among the championship contenders, followed by Gordon and then Busch.

After the pit cycle was complete, Keselowski continued to lead while Busch ran second. Behind Busch the fastest car on track was Kyle Larson, who had driven by Harvick on the high side to take over third in the middle of the green flag run.

Laps continued to click off and Larson continued to gain on Busch and Keselowski, with Larson bouncing his car off the wall in turn four with 19 laps left as he tried to catch Busch. Five laps later Larson was able to overtake Busch to take second and set his sights on Keselowski.

Larson looked like he was going to catch Keselowski in the final laps, but with 11 laps to go everything changed when the caution flag waved for a piece of debris directly under the flag stand on the front stretch.

All of the lead lap cars came down pit road and Keselowski held serve, holding on to the lead. Behind him Busch’s crew was able to get him off pit road in second ahead of Larson, with Harvick rolling off pit road in fourth.

The field returned to racing with seven laps to go and Busch pounced, using the high side to take the lead away from Keselowski coming out of turn two. Harvick, who restarted right behind Busch, also got by Keselowski to set up a one-on-one battle for both the victory and the championship.

Busch made it look easy, pulling away from Harvick over the final seven laps to eventually beat Harvick to the checkered flag by 1.553 seconds to win both the race and the championship.

“I don’t know why Brad chose the bottom but he gave me the top and I was like, ‘Well this is interesting,’ because I wasn’t expecting that,” Busch said. “That did put Harvick behind me so I just had to protect whatever Harvick was going to do, if he was going to try and shoot the middle or shoot the gap or whatever it was going to be.

“I don’t think I got hit, I think I just got a really good restart and then just got going. I don’t know if Brad spun his tires or what, but when I got to turns one and two we were pretty even. But man, I just held it to the floor and I gave it everything I had those last seven, eight laps, whatever it was,” Busch said.

“To have a shot with these four final drivers, Martin Truex, one of the best at Homestead, Kevin Harvick, one of the best the last two years, and Jeff Gordon, one of the best of all time. To go up against those guys and to score the victory for this M&M’s Toyota Camry was phenomenal,” Busch said.

The championship for Busch came in the final race for four-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Gordon, who was also in contention for the championship Sunday night. Gordon struggled most of the evening despite leading laps early and was never a serious threat at the front, eventually finishing sixth. The fourth championship contender, Truex, ended the race in 12th.

“I don’t know that you could have ever scripted it any better,” Busch said about beating Gordon for the championship in his final race. “For him to be in his last year and go out, I wish I could have beat him sooner in that time you know, when he was still running or had another year to go after it.”

The championship comes in the first year with crew chief Adam Stevens making the calls atop the pit box. Stevens and Busch were first paired in the NASCAR XFINITY Series, where they won dozens of races before Stevens was promoted to serve as Busch’s crew chief this year in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

“Adam Stevens is my hero,” Busch said. “I love that guy. I’m glad I could get him that fifth win to get him a little bit of a raise for next year. That is pretty awesome.

“Adam Stevens made a phenomenal adjustment on that final pit stop to give me exactly what I needed to go out there and run some hard laps for eight laps and drive away,” Busch said.

It also isn’t the first championship for Joe Gibbs Racing, who claimed championships in 2000 with Bobby Labonte and 2002 and 2005 with Tony Stewart. The championship is the first for Toyota since entering the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in 2007. Toyota partnered with JGR in 2008.

“There are so many firsts to this,” team owner Joe Gibbs said. “We have M&M’s, this is their first (title). They’ve been in racing 25 years. It’s Toyota’s first (title). We got Kyle’s first, we got Adam’s (Stevens) first, can you believe that? A rookie crew chief.”

The championship is Busch’s first, but not the first for the Busch family. Kyle’s older brother Kurt Busch won the championship during the very first Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup in 2004, making the Busch brothers just the second pair of brothers to win the championship. The Labonte brothers, Terry and Bobby, were the first pair to do it with Terry winning championships in 1984 and 1996 and Bobby winning the title in 2000.

Delaware super late model fans will have an “ultimate” experience next June at Georgetown Speedway.

On Thursday, June 2, 2016, the touring Ultimate Super Late Model Series will make its debut at the First State half-mile oval in a combined effort with three neighboring Mid-Atlantic Region facilities, kicking off four consecutive nights of super late model racing with lucrative purses and a hefty “mini-series” point fund.

The first Colonial Clash Championship presented by Dirt Nation gets underway at Georgetown on June 2 when the super late models battle for $4000 to win and $400 just to take the green flag. The Ultimate Super Late Model Series will break new ground in Delaware, making the furthest trek north in series history. However, racers will have plenty of incentive to make the tow.

Following the Georgetown event on Thursday, the Colonial Clash Championship continues on Friday (June 3) at Potomac (Md.) Speedway, Saturday (June 4) at Virginia Motor Speedway in Jamaica, Virginia, (for Ernie Shelton’s prestigious 39th annual USA 100) and concludes Sunday (June 5) at Winchester (Va.) Speedway.

A mini-series point fund of $15,000 will be distributed to the top-15 finishers in the Colonial Clash Championship with the champion earning $4000.

The Ultimate Super Late Model Series, operated by Stan Lester and managed by Kelly Carlton, has been in existence since 2011.

Carlton said the Colonial Clash Championship brings new excitement to the series.

“We want to thank everyone involved for putting this monster together,” Carlton said. “I am very excited about this seal. It’s good for the racers. It’s good for the fans. And we believe it will be good for the tracks, too.

“Racers can make a good long weekend out of it and have something to show for it in the end. Delaware is a little further north than we’ve been with the series, but with the point fund money and opportunities for good purses, I think it will make sense for our teams.”

Virginia Motor Speedway’s Bill Sawyer appreciates the cooperation of the four speedways to benefit racers.

“We wanted to do something to bring in more of the traveling fans to our USA 100 (paying $15,000 to win) and we knew if we could work together with some of the other tracks and promoters, we could do just that,” Sawyer said.

“It just shows that promoters can work together and have it be a good situation for everyone involved.”

Georgetown Speedway promoter Brett Deyo of BD Motorsports Media LLC said he sees nothing but positives from the arrangement.

“This is huge for Georgetown and Delaware Late Model racing,” Deyo said “We’re proud to be aligned with the other tracks and feel being part of such a rich series will draw some of the top names in super late model racing.”

TI Automotive, a global supplier of fluid storage, carrying and delivery technology, has become a manufacturer member of the Performance Warehouse Association (PWA). PWA is an automotive industry association devoted to performance and truck distributors.

“As a manufacturer of high performance aftermarket fuel pumps, joining PWA was a natural fit for us,” said Doug Thomson, director, North American aftermarket. “It is our desire to give back to the high performance market and the opportunity to participate in the PWA Conference earlier this year provided us with the opportunity to network with their distributor members.”

PWA is a nonprofit organization of specialty automotive parts distributors joined together to deal with management, financial and legislative matters. Founded in 1971, PWA's mission is to assist the specialty automotive industry in efforts to expand, maintain and promote the profitable distribution of specialty automotive products through the manufacturer/distributor/retailer/consumer channel. For more information, visit http://www.pwa-par.org.

TI Automotive manufactures a complete line of fuel pumps, accessories, pump kits and fuel modules for the high performance aftermarket. From the street to the track, high performance vehicles are fueled by TI Automotive. For more information, visit www.tiautomotive.com/aftermarket.

Mazda Motorsports has named Glenn McGee the winner of last week’s Mazda Road to 24 Shootout.

McGee, of Tampa, Florida, will receive a scholarship valued at $100,000 to race in the 2016 Battery Tender Mazda MX-5 Cup.

McGee, along with Richard Eklund, qualified for the event at Carolina Motorsports Park as one of the top finishers in the popular iRacing online Mazda Cup series. McGee, along with other participants, were evaluated for their on-track, business and marketing skills. McGee was selected to compete in the finals against NASA Spec Miata Champion Mark Drinnan.

In the end, the panel of judges chose the McGee as the winner of the Shootout.

“Wow. I’m speechless…almost,” said McGee. “I can’t thank iRacing and Mazda enough for this incredible opportunity. I’m honored to represent iRacers all over the world in next year’s Battery Tender MX-5 Cup, and I also want to take a moment to congratulate all the drivers who participated in the Shootout and wish them the best in their careers going forward.”

“All of us at Mazda Motorsports are excited for what the future holds for Glenn and the iRacing community,” said David Cook, Business Development Manager, Mazda Motorsports. “Glenn showed the Mazda Road to 24 judges he possesses the key attributes and skill sets that we look for in a Mazda scholarship driver. His technical understanding and natural speed behind the wheel show the benefits that iRacing’s platform can provide.

“We believe our Mazda scholarship program—whether open wheel (Mazda Road to Indy) or sports cars (Mazda Road to 24) – provides us with a competitive advantage. Our professional drivers help fuel the excitement of racing and also help us build relationships with customers, dealers and race fans around the world. They can also help develop and improve our road cars. With iRacing’s help, we’re happy to add Glenn McGee to that list of drivers.”

Buying and selling is the heart of every PRI Trade Show. Building international two-way business has never been more important for US companies and the 45,000 visitors from 67 countries who will attend the show.

PRI and MIA want to help businesses build international trade, and the best way to do that is to meet those who are knowledgable about this topic. The Motorsport Industry Association (MIA) is offering a free half-day conference on Wednesday, December 9, at the Indiana Convention Center, Meeting room 211.

Attendees can listen, learn, meet and discuss success with the panel of experienced business leaders from the USA and Europe, all of whom have first-hand experience of successful international two-way trade in motorsports.

• Benefit from meeting and exchanging ideas with delegates keen to grow their international trade.

• Hear ‘case-studies’ directly from experts and learn the ‘do’s and don’ts’ of global two-way trade.

Confirmed speakers:
 
• Hannes Gruber - Solution Engineer Racing - AVL - Topic - Global
• Chris Paulsen - President - C&R Racing & PWR - Topic - US, UK & Australia
• Scooter Brothers - Director - Comp Performance Group - Topic - US & Europe
• Jon Hourihan, Chief Executive Europe, Middle East, Africa & Asia Pacific – Goodridge - Topic - Global
• Martin Jones - Business Development Manager - MOOG - Topic - Europe & US
• Benjamin Grenon, Managing Director - Speedshare - Topic - Asia & US
• Jim Moore, General Manager Americas - Speedshare - Topic - Asia & US
• Chris Milne – General Manager – Turbosmart - Topic - Australia & US
• Mark Cooper - US Department of Commerce - Indy - Topic - Government Support
• Pat Goodridge - Sales Manager - Variohm - Topic - Europe
 
International Delegates—why should you attend? The US racing market is valued at over $13.5 billion, comprising of 400,000+ participants. Before the show starts, attendees need to meet US companies who want to trade internationally, and they will be at this conference.

USA delegates—why should you attend? The world market for motorsports is growing fast and you need to know if and how your company should take its share. Australia, South America, India and China want to buy from the USA, and Europe is the largest motorsports market. Just one country in Europe—the UK—has sales worth $14 billion and is home to over 4000 specialist motorsport companies in 200 square miles.

Grab this chance and claim your share of these lucrative markets in 2016.

Register here: http://www.the-mia.com/Events-Diary/Require-registration?e_id=951

Mexico City has been confirmed as the host city for round five of the 2015–2016 FIA Formula E Championship, subject to approval from the FIA World Motor Sport Council meeting in December.

The Mexico City ePrix will take place on March 12, 2016. The track is approximately 2.14km in length and subject to FIA track homologation. It will use part of the historic Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez with seating for around 40,000 fans.

Mexico has a rich racing culture hosting major international races and now Formula E with the help of DHL, the championship’s Official Logistics Partner.

“We are delighted to be taking Formula E to Mexico City,” said Formula E CEO Alejandro Agag. “This is one of the world’s great cities, with a rich heritage and passion for motorsport. I’m confident the fans will create an amazing atmosphere and make the Mexico City ePrix one of the most memorable races of the season.”

“For OCESA it is an honor to open the doors to Formula E to the just newly-renovated Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez track. A circuit that is positioning itself day-by-day as the temple of motorsport,” said Alejandro Soberon, President and CEO of CIE.

“Staging events such as Formula E is helping to make Mexico City one of the ‘sports capitals’ of the world,” said Miguel Angel Mancera, Major of Mexico City. “After the success of the Formula One Grand Prix, the addition of the Formula E race shows that the Hermanos Rodriguez racetrack is the perfect place for all kinds of racing events and is a key part of the work that the Mexico City government has undertaken to enhance our tourist attractions.”

The 9th edition of International Business Days Le Mans will take place on June 15–16, 2016, in Le Mans Technoparc in the week of the famous 24 Hour race.

This business convention is open to all those involved in the motorsport, automotive, aeronautic and railways industries as well as the services industry.

The DNA of this unique event is to combine business, motorsport and “gastronomie.” On Thursday, the 16th, participants can benefit up to 11 pre-arranged and personalized meetings of 25 minutes, to tie new commercial and technological partnerships. They can also showcase their know-how and products in the exhibition and demonstration space or through audiovisual presentations.

In 2016, this invaluable networking event will host close to 100 participants coming from a dozen of countries.

The day before, on June 15, after welcome and registration in the Technoparc, tasting of local “gastronomie” gives the start of a memorable day by offering to participants the ability to access the most restricted areas of the circuit such as pits, paddocks and hospitality zones for private guided tours during the practice sessions of the afternoon and by night.

In the evening, after a presentation by a sponsor, a gourmet dinner is served at the Auberge de Mulsanne (alongside the very famous Mulsanne straight) with an opportunity, after dinner, to view the qualifying session from a private location at the second chicane on the Mulsanne straight given to participants.

As NASCAR prepares to crown its national series champions this weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway, FOX NASCAR already has begun preparations for the 2016 season, announcing its full broadcaster lineup for next year, including a new NASCAR Sprint Cup Series team featuring veteran play-by-play announcer Mike Joy and analysts Darrell Waltrip, together for their 16th season, and newcomer and four-time champion Jeff Gordon, plus new NASCAR Camping World Truck Series play-by-play announcer Vince Welch.

Waltrip, a NASCAR Hall of Famer, and Gordon, currently campaigning for his fifth title in 2015, combine for seven Cup Series championships and 177 series wins, while Joy marks his 30th year as a NASCAR broadcaster. The FOX NASCAR deck is stacked well beyond the booth, though, with veteran crew chief Larry McReynolds returning for his 16th year with the network, providing in-race analysis during each event armed with 40 years in the sport.

"In 2016, we have the unique opportunity to take a four-time champion, Jeff Gordon, directly from the Chase to the booth, pairing him with Darrell Waltrip to offer fans seven championships' worth of expertise," said Eric Shanks, President and COO, Executive Producer, FOX Sports. "Led by Mike Joy, one of the sport's most talented play-by-play announcers ever, there is a ton of enthusiasm building around our 2016 talent lineup."

The team is joined on pit road by reporters Jamie Little, Chris Neville, Welch and Matt Yocum. FOX broadcasts 10 of FOX Sports' 16 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races, while FS1 telecasts six. Chris Myers hosts "FOX NASCAR Sunday," the network's fast-paced prerace show from the traveling Hollywood Hotel, alongside Gordon and brothers Darrell and Michael Waltrip.

The NASCAR XFINITY Series returns to FOX Sports for the second consecutive season in 2016, with Adam Alexander once again handling fulltime play-by-play duties alongside analyst Michael Waltrip and a rotation of NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers. In 2015, FOX Sports featured five Cup Series drivers in the XFINITY booth throughout the season, offering fans a variety of knowledgeable viewpoints. Neville, Hermie Sadler, Little, Welch and Yocum alternate to cover pit road.

For the 14th consecutive year, FS1 offers exclusive coverage of the entire NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season.  Welch, longtime pit reporter covering the Cup and XFINITY Series, moves into the Truck Series play-by-play role fulltime in 2016 with veteran analysts Phil Parsons and Michael Waltrip. Welch, who also calls play-by-play for select FOX Sports college basketball games this season, pitched in to call Truck Series races on FS1 in 2015, as well as select NASCAR XFINITY Series races prior to joining FOX. Sadler leads pit road reporting with Yocum and Kaitlyn Vincie. FS1 telecasts 22 of the series' 23 races live in 2016, while FOX broadcasts the October Talladega race.

NASCAR RaceDay, FS1's popular prerace show, continues to deliver the excitement behind-the-scenes and up-to-the-minute reports from the garage prior to the start of each Sprint Cup race. Myers, Danielle Trotta and John Roberts share hosting duties, while the entire FOX NASCAR on-air team joins analysts Kenny Wallace, Jeff Hammond and Wally Dallenbach and reporters Alan Cavanna, Andrew Doud and Vincie.

In addition, FOX Sports offers a dedicated 30-minute prerace show immediately prior to each NASCAR XFINITY Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race. Trotta returns to host "NASCAR RaceDay-XFINITY" with McReynolds and Wallace providing analysis. Roberts has the honors for "NCWTS Setup" leading into all Truck Series races with insight from two-time series champion Todd Bodine and feature reports from Ray Dunlap.

"NASCAR Race Hub," the sport's most watched news and information program, continues live at 6 p.m. ET every Monday through Thursday on FS1.  Alexander, Trotta and Roberts co-host the hour-long program with analysts McReynolds, Hammond and Dallenbach, who are joined by a rotating team of active drivers and crew chiefs. The trio of Cavanna, Doud and Vincie are back with daily reports from NASCAR race shops, while Dunlap delivers Truck Series feature reports and analysis.

"NASCAR Race Hub Weekend Edition" once again is a Friday and Saturday fixture on FS1, delivering at-track updates and news as it breaks throughout the course of the race weekend, while "NASCAR Victory Lane" recaps each Sprint Cup Series race with highlights and analysis.

Longtime southwest Missouri sports journalist Lyndal Scranton has been named Public Relations Director for Lucas Oil Speedway, track General Manager Dan Robinson announced on Wednesday.

Scranton recently took early retirement from the Springfield News-Leader after a 36-year career with the newspaper, including the last 30 as the motorsports reporter. He will be inducted in December into the Ozarks Area Racers Foundation Hall of Fame in the pioneer division.

“We are thrilled and honored to add Lyndal to our staff,” Robinson said. “There is nobody with more knowledge or with a stronger background in the area racing scene than Lyndal and he will be a great addition to our team here at Lucas Oil Speedway.”

Scranton, a Springfield native who attended Central High School and Missouri State University, has been around the Ozarks racing scene since attending his first race as an eight-year-old at the old Springfield Fairgrounds Speedway where he saw the legendary Larry Phillips win the Conoco 100.

He eventually wound up writing numerous stories about Phillips, a five-time NASCAR Weekly Racing Series National Champion and Missouri Sports Hall of Famer, along with stories on future NASCAR stars such Carl Edwards and Jamie McMurray while they were establishing themselves on area short tracks.

“I’ve always been a racing fan as well as a sportswriter and I was fortunate enough to be able to combine those two passions,” Scranton said. “I have a deep appreciation for the heritage, tradition and talent of Ozarks racing. Lucas Oil Speedway is a major player on the weekly racing scene, locally and nationally, and I look forward to supplying information and telling stories from there.”

Porsche has unveiled the new Cayman club racer set to be homologated in the GT4 category next year. The wraps came off the 385hp Cayman GT4 Clubsport as scheduled at the Los Angeles auto show.

The car, which is based on the road-going Cayman GT4, has been conceived as an entry-level racer that will sit under its existing range of GTE, GT3 and one-make Cup contenders based on the 911.

The Clubsport GT4 has not been specifically developed for the category with which it shares its name, but Porsche motorsport vice-president Frank-Steffen Walliser revealed the marque's ambitions to homologate the car for GT4 racing last month.

"Our priority is to produce an attractive car for customers and then homologation for GT4 will come some time later next year," said Walliser.

The Clubsport is set to be homologated for the IMSA Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge, the VLN long-distance championship on the Nurburgring-Nordschleife and the secondary class of the British GT Championship, in which a GT4-spec Cayman developed by the German PROsport Performance squad raced at the series finale at Donington Park in September.

The new Cayman racer, which is to be built on the road car production line, is powered by a 3.8-liter flat-six engine and has a double-clutch six-speed paddle shift transmission. It borrows its front suspension from the latest 991-shape 911 GT3 Cup one-make racer.

A price of $165,000 has been announced for the U.S. market.