Vickers says Kyle Busch is 'out of strikes'

Brian Vickers expected to discuss his recent Sprint Cup victory, a contract extension with Red Bull Racing and his chances at making the Chase for the championship when he arrived at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Instead, all of Vickers' positive news was interrupted by his week-old feud with Kyle Busch.

Vickers grew testy during a 25-minute question-and-answer session with reporters Friday, when he was forced to defend his passion for winning after once again criticizing Busch for being "so mad about something so small.

"I hate that he lives in such an angry place," Vickers said of his former teammate. "It must be miserable to live like that. That's just not the way I want to live my life."

The only problem with his assessment is that what Busch is "so mad" about -- the conclusion of last weekend's Nationwide Series race at Michigan International Raceway -- isn't at all "small."

To Busch, winning races is everything and the temperamental driver has an admittedly difficult time accepting defeat. So when Vickers became so preoccupied with Busch in the closing moments of last Saturday's race, he never saw Brad Keselowski charging toward them in a last-lap pass that gave Keselowski the surprise victory.

Busch was furious about the way Vickers raced the final lap, and the two exchanged heated words on pit road after the event. They then sat side-by-side in a comically awkward news conference in which they discussed their frustrations with one another as if the other wasn't in the same room.

Vickers went on to win the Sprint Cup Series race the next day in the first victory for Red Bull Racing, and it moved him just 12 points out of the final Chase qualifying spot with three races remaining to set the field. He also completed the paperwork on a drawn out contract extension on Tuesday.

But the issue with Busch, who spent two-plus years with Vickers at Hendrick Motorsports before both moved on to new teams, has overshadowed all of Vickers' achievements.

So he bristled Friday when asked to elaborate on "something so small" when most drivers view winning as the most important goal.

"The way he got out of the car and how angry he was, I just feel bad for him," Vickers said. "I'm mad that I didn't win the race, too. I don't know what you expect out of someone who wants to win the race. I love what I do and I'm very upset if I don't win, but if that's what it takes to win, then maybe I don't want to, because I don't want to live my life that miserable. I just don't. It's just not who I am.

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Busch breaks slump to sweep Bristol

Kyle Busch was finally able to shake that anger.

Derided all week by rival Brian Vickers as a generally unhappy human being, Busch had reason to celebrate Saturday night when he held off Mark Martin over a frantic four-lap sprint to the finish at Bristol Motor Speedway. His fourth victory of the season put him back in contention for the Chase for the championship.

And that miserable existence Vickers described? Perhaps he was confused by Busch's passion for winning.

"I am a guy who loves to win," Busch shrugged. "There's nothing else to me but the feeling of winning."

Although he grabbed wins in the lower-tier NASCAR series-- including Wednesday night in the Truck race at Bristol -- he'd come up empty in 13 consecutive races in the premiere Sprint Cup Series. It was a healthy slump for a guy who won races at a rapid pace last season, 21 in all spanning all three series.

The struggle to accept defeat had been seemingly too much for Busch to handle of late.

"I hate that he lives in such an angry place. It must be miserable to live like that," Vickers said Friday at Bristol in the wake of a feud that began on the final lap of last week's Nationwide race at Michigan.

Busch knew his emotions were getting the best of him. His feedback during races had fallen off, his mood was often sour even outside the race car and it seemed to be affecting his performance. The top seed in last year's Chase entered Saturday night's race 15th in the standings and in need of a flawless run to save his season.

He delivered by smoothly working his way to the front, then holding off the veteran Martin in a series of restarts over the final 50 laps. It helped him climb off the ropes and keep his title hopes alive.

His fourth win of the season -- tied with Martin for most in the Sprint Cup Series -- jumped him two spots in the standings to 13th.

With two races to go before the 12-driver field is set, Busch trails 12th-place driver Matt Kenseth by just 34 points.

"No pressure on us yet!" his team radioed after he crossed the finish line. "This 18 is not going down without a fight!"

Busch was silent for a few seconds before celebrating with a smoky burnout on the frontstretch and his traditional bow to the crowd. He then grabbed the checkered flag from a NASCAR official, but gave it to a fan through a hole in the fence.

"I hope this just isn't a fluke to get in the Chase," he said in Victory Lane. "We need to run well at Atlanta and Richmond."

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Rubens Barrichello wins F1's European Grand Prix

Brawn GP's Rubens Barrichello won the European Grand Prix on Sunday to claim his first Formula One victory in five years.

The 37-year-old Brazilian took advantage of a costly pit-stop error by Lewis Hamilton's McLaren team to record his 10th career win -- his first since the 2004 Chinese GP -- and boost his championship hopes.

Hamilton finished second ahead of Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen after having started the Valencia street race from pole position.

Jenson Button finished seventh to have his championship lead cut to 18 points over teammate Barrichello. Red Bull's Mark Webber finished ninth and is 20.5 points behind Button.

"It's going to be a good fight. But at least it's going to be a fair fight between ourselves," said Barrichello, who danced on the podium after pumping his fists wildly through the victory lap.

Luca Badoer, who is filling in for injured Ferrari driver Felipe Massa, finished 17th after starting last.

Hamilton, who also finished second at last year's race, looked set for a second straight win after having taken the Hungarian GP. But McLaren's mechanics fumbled when removing tire warmers during his final pit stop, which lasted 13.4 seconds, and the chance was gone.

"This is very, very rare that this happens," said Hamilton, who was called in with his fuel load running out before the team reconsidered too late. "The call was a marginal one, the team was pushing the envelope and it came just a little too late for me and the mechanics, who weren't perfectly prepared."

As Hamilton's exasperated father Anthony and pop star girlfriend Nicole Scherzinger looked on, Barrichello moved clear in front after his second stop and held on to win by 2.3 seconds.

"I was pushing like hell. A hard win, especially after five years, you don't forget how to do it but it's tough," Barrichello said after earning the 100th victory for Brazilian drivers in F1.

He dedicated his victory to Massa, who is recovering from lifesaving brain surgery after a loose part came off Barrichello's car and struck the Ferrari driver in the helmet at the Hungarian GP.

"This was an emotional one for me. He's such a good friend and I wish him the very best," said Barrichello, who had written "Felipe, see you on the track soon" across the top of his helmet.

McLaren's Heikki Kovalainen finished fourth after starting second, while Nico Rosberg of Williams rounded out the top five with a seventh straight points finish ahead of Renault's Fernando Alonso.

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Franchitti wins Sonoma Grand Prix

Dario Franchitti hoisted a celebratory glass of red wine to his lips in a long-awaited moment for the IndyCar driver at Infineon Raceway.

Such is tradition for the winner in a race set in the heart of Sonoma County's wine country.

Franchitti finally won on a challenging course where he's been so close before, leading from start to finish to capture his first Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma on Sunday in the final road course race of the year.

And the Scotman's victory sent the IndyCar points race into a serious sprint for the finish.

"Great to finally get one here at Sonoma," Franchitti said in the winner's circle.

Franchitti took the pole and led all 75 laps, topping runner-up and new points leader Ryan Briscoe on the way to his fourth victory of the year. Franchitti and Briscoe avoided a multiple-car crash early in Lap 1 on the tough 12-turn, 2.303-mile road course. Rookie Mike Conway finished third.

"I couldn't do anything behind Dario. It was really difficult," Briscoe said.

Scott Dixon, the points leader coming in and Franchitti's teammate with Target Chip Ganassi Racing, finished a disappointing 13th after stalling in the wreck. He fell into third place in the points race at 477.

At least seven cars crashed in an accident heading into Turn 2 of the race, including '07 Sonoma champion Dixon after he started 10th. There's a quick 104-foot elevation gain from the starting line to Turn 2. Debris was strewn all over the track.

Franchitti, who moved into second in points at 493 and four behind Briscoe, became the first flag-to-flag winner in an IndyCar race since Dixon did so in 2003 for 206 laps in a rain-shortened event at Richmond.

"The Firestones were pretty much as good on the last lap as they were on the first," Franchitti said. "It was a great day. I guess it wasn't too eventful for everybody out there. I was just trying to be inch-perfect, not make any mistakes and keep everybody in the rearview mirror."

All the top drivers know the 2009 title will come down to the wire with three races to go. The four points separating Briscoe and Franchitti ties the closest margin in IRL history with three weeks remaining. The race also was that close in 2002.

This marked the 13th time in 14 races that the points leader has changed.

"It's so difficult with the competition level," Franchitti said of holding the lead. "It's not that nobody wants to. ... It's so competitive you can't afford mistakes. We've all made them this year and we've all had bad luck as well."

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