Kurt Busch leads at halfway point of NASCAR race in Sonoma

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Kurt Busch and his No. 22 Dodge Charger were the class of the field at the halfway point of Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Infineon Raceway.

Tony Stewart was second, Clint Bowyer third and Jimmie Johnson was running fourth on the 10-turn, 1.99-mile Infineon track.

Busch climbed from his 11th starting spot into the lead after only 13 laps of the 110-lap Toyota/Save Mart 350, then the Penske Racing driver held the lead after several restarts.

One restart followed a multicar crash on Lap 37 that collected Dale Earnhardt Jr., Brian Vickers and Ryan Newman, among others.

The radiator and the right side of Earnhardt’s No. 88 Chevrolet were heavily damaged and his car had to be pushed to the garage for lengthy repairs.

-- Jim Peltz in Sonoma, Calif.