Truex Jr. captures Busch race

Martin Truex Jr. picked the perfect race to make his first Busch Series start of the season.

Truex, the two-time Busch champion who is a Nextel Cup rookie, returned to his roots Saturday to win his third straight race at Talladega Superspeedway in Talladega, Ala.

Driving a car owned by Dale Earnhardt Inc., Truex celebrated what would have been “The Intimidator’s” 55th birthday by giving the company yet another restrictor-plate victory. Earnhardt, who won 10 races at Talladega, was killed in a 2001 accident at Daytona.

“This is up there at the top of my wins,” Truex said. “It’s just a special day. Everybody at DEI, we kind of had this weekend penciled in our calendars.”

The entire weekend has been a tribute to Earnhardt, who was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame on Thursday night. DEI is celebrating his birthday with a celebration at their shop in Mooresville, N.C., and all of the company cars are sporting a black paint scheme that mimics Earnhardt’s old No. 3 Chevrolet.

“It’s just an honor to be associated with this whole thing,” Truex said. “To be part of the company he started, and able to carry it on to more wins. All this stuff for me is like a bonus.

“He was my favorite driver before I ever raced a car.”

Kevin Harvick finished second in a failed bid to stretch his Busch Series winning streak to three consecutive races.

Harvick extended his lead in the series standings to 299 points over Clint Bowyer.

Kyle Busch finished third. Brian Vickers was fourth and was followed by Greg Biffle to give Nextel Cup regulars the top six positions. Cup drivers have won all 10 Busch races this year.

Stewart flips car

Tony Stewart walked away unscathed from a frightening accident when his car flipped onto its roof during the Busch Series race at Talladega.

Stewart, the defending Nextel Cup champion, was running in third when he drove into Kenny Wallace’s path and the two cars touched. The hit wasn’t hard, but enough to send Stewart’s car airborne.

“I take 100 percent responsibility for this one, I just drove in front of (Wallace’s) nose,” Stewart said. “I looked in that little side mirror and I thought I had enough room to get down, and I didn’t.”

His Chevrolet landed on its roof near the start/finish line, and skidded several hundred feet toward the first turn. The car was also hit by rookie Danny O’Quinn, who couldn’t avoid Stewart during the 10-second slide.

It took medical personnel several minutes to get Stewart out of the car. Once out, he went to the medical care facility to be examined.

Bodine stays hot

Todd Bodine raced to his second victory in the last three NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series events, leading a group of five Toyotas across the finish line in the Ram Tough 200 at Gateway International Raceway in Madison, Ill.

Bodine was followed by Ted Musgrave, David Reutimann, Jack Sprague and Johnny Benson before an estimated crowd of 40,000 fans who braved rainy and windy conditions.

Busch, Mears still at odds

Kyle Busch would like to apologize to Casey Mears, but his NASCAR Nextel Cup competitor hasn’t returned his phone calls.

The 20-year-old Busch said he has yet to talk with Mears since their on-track run-in last week in Phoenix.

“I’ve tried to talk to Casey,” Busch said. “I left a message with Brian Vickers, who is a very close friend of his and mine, to give him my phone number and I haven’t heard back from him.”

Mears didn’t sound forgiving.

“I know that he’d call and apologize because a lot of people told him he should call and apologize, not because he really wants to,” Mears said. “I’m glad he didn’t (call), because I wouldn’t have taken it as a true apology anyway.”