Kyle Busch turns into good guy

NASCAR fans shouldn't continue booing Kyle Busch during driver introductions after what he did last weekend.

He deserves better.

After winning his 10th Nationwide Series race of the year Saturday to tie a record set by Sam Ard in 1983, Busch honored the man who set the mark two years before he was born.

Ard, 69, is battling Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases, and Busch is among those rallying to help Ard and his wife, Jo.

NASCAR driver and team owner Kevin Harvick donated a van last month.

Busch committed to donating $100,000 to the Ards.

"Sam Ard is one of the pioneers of this (series), and to be tied with him at 10 wins is something that's pretty spectacular and really, really special to me," Busch said. "I'm going to try to help him out and see what I can do. It's not much, but it's something that can try to help."

Said Jo Ard: "Kyle doesn't know what he's done. He really, truly does not know what he's done to take the load and the pressure off of me."

• INCOMING -- NASCAR fans are known for their loyalty to sponsors that support racing.

Had too many Budweisers? Pop a Tums antacid or take some Goody's Headache Powder.

Camping out in the infield during a race weekend? Don't forget your Old Spice.

But just because GunBroker.com supports a NASCAR truck team, that doesn't mean its products should be used at a race.

A NASCAR fan in a recreational vehicle at Texas Motor Speedway was wounded Sunday by a stray bullet after someone apparently fired a gun into the air, police said.

The bullet pierced the motor home's roof a few hours before the Sprint Cup Series race began, hitting a 62-year-old woman in the right arm. She was treated at a nearby hospital with a "significant wound" and was listed in stable condition, a police spokesman said Monday.

But that didn't stop the speedway from handing a couple of six-shooters to race winner Carl Edwards afterward.

At least those guns were loaded with blanks.

• OPPOSING VIEWPOINTS -- Dodgers second baseman Jeff Kent is not happy and he's supporting California's Proposition 8, a measure that would ban same-sex marriages. He's contributed $15,000 to the supporters of the initiative, according to SportingNews.com.

But the wife of NFL Hall of Famer Steve Young has contributed $50,000 to support gay unions.

Barbara Young is "strongly against discrimination" and said her husband supports her actions to fight the proposition, according to The Associated Press.

• PAYING MORE FOR MARE -- Better Than Honour, a 12-year-old mare, sold at auction last weekend for a record $14 million in Lexington, Ky. The horse gave birth to two Belmont Stakes winners.

"She's the best mare in the world. ... She's a Picasso," said Mike Moreno of Southern Equine Stables, who owned 70 percent of the mare.

That explains the sale topping the previous record by $3.5 million. How many other horses can paint?

COMPILED BY JEFF WOLF REVIEW-JOURNAL