• NASCAR

Kyle Busch won his 23rd race on NASCAR's Sprint Cup circuit, pulling even with brother Kurt in career victories.

Now, Kyle would like to match another of Kurt's accomplishments - winning a series title.

"He's always still got that carrot over me," Kyle Busch said. "Certainly, being the younger brother, I've had a little bit shorter time being here, but still, it's great to see both of us be as competitive as we've been and as successful as we've been."

Kyle Busch outlasted Jimmie Johnson on Sunday in a green-white-checkered finish at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Mich., winning his fourth Cup race of the year. Busch leads the series standings by 10 points over Johnson and is assured of a spot in the Chase for the Sprint Cup.

Kurt Busch won the series championship in 2004. Now, his 26-year-old brother might be the driver with the best chance of ending Johnson's five-year hold on the title. There are three races remaining before the 10-race Chase begins.

Kyle Busch passed Johnson with about a dozen laps remaining and was opening up a comfortable margin when Kurt Busch scraped a wall, forcing a caution from laps 198-201. The yellow flag erased much of Kyle Busch's lead, but he was able to fight off a quick move from Johnson after the restart and pull away.

It was Busch's first Cup win at Michigan.

Brad Keselowski finished third, his third consecutive top-three finish and fifth top-10 in his last six races. Mark Martin was fourth.

NASCAR Sprint Cup

Pure Michigan 400

Sunday

At Michigan International Speedway

Brooklyn, Mich.

Lap length: 2 miles

(Start position in parentheses)

1. (17) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 203 laps, 126 rating, 47 points, $204,941.

2. (19) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 203, 109.7, 43, $175,661.

3. (6) Brad Keselowski, Dodge, 203, 117.7, 41, $136,108.

4. (5) Mark Martin, Chevrolet, 203, 106.5, 41, $108,975.

5. (3) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 203, 102.3, 39, $139,600.

6. (9) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 203, 122.4, 39, $125,586.

7. (14) Kasey Kahne, Toyota, 203, 104.2, 38, $110,508.

8. (35) Clint Bowyer, Chevrolet, 203, 90.4, 36, $134,358.

9. (18) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 203, 87.9, 35, $125,758.

10. (2) Matt Kenseth, Ford, 203, 120.5, 35, $128,511.

11. (29) A J Allmendinger, Ford, 203, 71.6, 33, $120,136.

12. (7) David Ragan, Ford, 203, 82.3, 32, $91,325.

13. (30) Regan Smith, Chevrolet, 203, 74.1, 31, $108,120.

14. (8) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, 203, 91.2, 30, $90,000.

15. (28) Bobby Labonte, Toyota, 203, 64.5, 29, $109,120.

16. (26) Brian Vickers, Toyota, 203, 63, 28, $107,139.

17. (32) Jeff Burton, Chevrolet, 203, 75.1, 27, $87,475.

18. (12) David Reutimann, Toyota, 203, 65.8, 26, $106,958.

19. (15) Martin Truex Jr., Toyota, 203, 70.2, 25, $86,650.

20. (1) Greg Biffle, Ford, 203, 112.5, 26, $106,850.

21. (23) Joey Logano, Toyota, 203, 71.7, 23, $85,925.

22. (24) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 203, 72.1, 22, $123,236.

23. (10) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, 203, 75.2, 21, $113,839.

24. (20) Trevor Bayne, Ford, 203, 57, 0, $77,175.

25. (25) Juan Pablo Montoya, Chevrolet, 203, 54.8, 19, $115,358.

26. (11) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 203, 62.6, 18, $84,500.

27. (16) Marcos Ambrose, Ford, 203, 76.6, 17, $106,266.

28. (27) Travis Kvapil, Ford, 202, 48.9, 0, $91,133.

29. (38) Andy Lally, Ford, 202, 42.6, 16, $82,450.

30. (42) Ken Schrader, Ford, 202, 38.7, 14, $86,383.

31. (33) Landon Cassill, Chevrolet, 201, 45.5, 0, $82,297.

32. (39) David Gilliland, Ford, 201, 35.4, 12, $72,650.

33. (34) Dave Blaney, Chevrolet, 198, 37.1, 11, $73,525.

34. (13) Kurt Busch, Dodge, accident, 197, 80.6, 10, $117,050.

35. (4) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 188, 74.6, 9, $120,475.

36. (22) Carl Edwards, Ford, 174, 50.2, 8, $118,266.

37. (21) Casey Mears, Toyota, vibration, 32, 39.4, 8, $72,225.

38. (41) Tony Raines, Ford, rear gear, 26, 31.4, 6, $72,125.

39. (40) Todd Bodine, Toyota, electrical, 21, 35.5, 0, $72,075.

40. (36) David Stremme, Chevrolet, clutch, 20, 30.8, 4, $72,025.

41. (37) Joe Nemechek, Toyota, ignition, 18, 29.5, 0, $71,970.

42. (43) Mike Skinner, Toyota, electrical, 14, 27.9, 0, $71,895.

43. (31) J.J. Yeley, Ford, electrical, 11, 30.6, 1, $71,465.

Top 12 in Points: 1. Ky.Busch, 799; 2. J.Johnson, 789; 3. K.Harvick, 760; 4. C.Edwards, 760; 5. M.Kenseth, 759; 6. J.Gordon, 739; 7. R.Newman, 725; 8. Ku.Busch, 722; 9. D.Earnhardt Jr., 700; 10. T.Stewart, 694; 11. C.Bowyer, 670; 12. Bra.Keselowski, 642.

• NHRA

Antron Brown raced to his fourth win of the season in Top Fuel at the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals at Brainerd (Minn.) International Raceway.

Johnny Gray (Funny Car), Greg Anderson (Pro Stock) and LE Tonglet (Pro Stock Motorcycle) were also winners at the 15th of 22 events in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series.

Brown powered his dragster past his Don Schumacher Racing teammate Tony Schumacher in the final round to collect the win. His final round run of 3.844 seconds at a top speed of 319.22 mph proved strong enough to secure his 29th career victory.

It also moved him up to the second spot in the point standings with just one race remaining until the start of the six-race playoffs to determine the champions in each category.