Talladega, Ala. ? Kurt Busch proved Saturday he’s a quick study, winning his first International Race of Champions Series race in only his second try.

After spending most of the 38-lap race at Talladega Superspeedway fending off Roush Racing teammate Mark Martin, Busch — one of NASCAR Winston Cup racing’s vaunted “Young Guns” — got the jump on a late restart and pulled away.

The 24-year-old Las Vegas native finished second to Martin in the IROC opener in February in Daytona and used the lessons he learned from watching Martin, a four-time IROC champion and tied with the late Dale Earnhardt and Indy-car star Al Unser Jr. on top of the career victories list with 10.

Reigning NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series driver Mike Bliss grabbed the runner-up spot on the restart on lap 36 and followed Busch to the end, finishing 0.098-seconds — about 1 car-length — behind the winner.

Barrichello bags pole

Sao Paulo, Brazil — Rubens Barrichello won the pole Saturday for the Brazilian Grand Prix, the first local driver to claim the top spot since Ayrton Senna in 1994.

The Ferrari driver turned the fast lap of 1 minute, 13.807 seconds on the 2.671-mile Interlagos circuit, beating David Coulthard by less than one-tenth of a second.

Five-time Formula One champion Michael Schumacher finished seventh in 1:14.130, his worst qualifying performance since placing ninth at the German Grand Prix in 1998.

Kalitta tops NHRA qualifying

Las Vegas — Doug Kalitta became the second Top Fuel driver in NHRA history to open the season with four consecutive No. 1 qualifying efforts, taking the top spot Saturday in the SummitRacing.com Nationals.

Kalitta earned his 11th career top qualifying effort with a track-record time of 4.499 seconds at 332.10 mph.