McGriff trying a comeback at age 81

PORTLAND, Ore. — At 81, Hershel McGriff's reasoning for making a racing comeback came down to a simple question: Why not?

"I haven't had anyone tell me that I'm crazy," he laughs.

McGriff will attempt to qualify for a NASCAR Camping World West Series race this Sunday at Portland International Raceway. If he does, he will become the oldest driver ever to compete in a national NASCAR series race.

"I guess it's a new venture in my career," he said.

McGriff feels good about Portland, considering he is the defending champion at PIR. He won on the road course in 1986 the last time the series — then known as Winston West — visited the track.

McGriff spent much of his adult life in the Portland area. He drove in his first race in the family sedan on a dirt track at the old Portland Speedway in 1945 at age 17. The next year there, with the track newly paved, he won a 100-lap race and was hooked.

Over the years, he competed in 85 races on the NASCAR Cup series, winning four.

But he eschewed NASCAR's premiere series because he wanted to be closer to his family and business in Oregon, and focused instead on the West series — where he competed in 233 races between 1954 and 2002. He won 37 times.

He made his last Cup series start at Sonoma in 1993 when he was 65, but did not finish.

BUSCH WINS 6TH NATIONWIDE RACE: At Madison, Ill., Kyle Busch continued his domination of the NASCAR Nationwide Series by sailing to victory in the Missouri-Illinois Dodge Dealers 250 on Saturday night.

Busch, who leads the point standings, won for the sixth time in 19 races this season and also captured the 27th win of his career. Reed Sorenson finished second and Carl Edwards was third. Mike Bliss and Brad Coleman rounded out the top five.

Busch, who started from the fifth row, has finished first or second in the past seven Nationwide races including wins at Loudon, New Hampshire and Nashville.

Driving a Toyota, Busch was one of four full-time Sprint Cup series drivers competing in the event with the Sprint Series taking the weekend off. Edwards, Sorenson, and Kevin Harvick also race regularly on the Sprint Series.

The win was the first for Busch in three career starts at the 1.25-mile oval.