Richmond, Va ? Kyle Busch celebrated his 24th birthday with a trip to Victory Lane, winning Saturday night at Richmond International Raceway.

The win snapped a monthlong losing streak — an eternity by Busch’s standards — and made him just the second NASCAR driver to win a Cup race on his birthday. Cale Yarborough did it twice, celebrating his March 27 birthday with wins at North Wilkesoboro in 1977 and Atlanta in 1983.

“You guys are awesome!” Busch radioed his crew. “May 2nd, baby! Thank you.”

Busch celebrated the win with his trademark sarcastic bow to the crowd, then swan-dived into the arms of his Joe Gibbs Racing crew once in Victory Lane.

“It’s an awesome win for us,” Busch said. “It’s really exciting to win on my birthday and to have my team guys enjoy it as much as I do. They’re having a good time. We struggled for four weeks. It’s been a struggle for us — we haven’t finished where we want to. We made it happen here.”

The win was his third since arriving in Richmond: He drove to a victory in teammate Denny Hamlin’s charity race at Southside Speedway on Thursday night, and used a pass of Carl Edwards with 22 laps to go to win Friday night’s Nationwide Series race.

For the Cup win, Busch used a quick jump on a late restart to again pass Edwards, then set his sights on leader Jeff Gordon. Busch raced past Gordon on the next lap, then held on for the Richmond sweep.

It is Busch’s series-best third Cup win of the season, and 50th of his career spanning NASCAR’s top three series.

Tony Stewart was second, followed by Jeff Burton, Ryan Newman and Mark Martin. Burton and Martin both recovered from earlier accidents — Burton spun after contact with Dale Earnhardt Jr., and Martin was involved in an accident with Martin Truex Jr. — for their strong finishes.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

Marshall players arrested

Barboursville, W.Va. — Two Marshall University football players have been suspended after being arrested on drug charges in western West Virginia.

Tailback Darius Marshall and defensive back DeQuan Bembry, also known as DeQuan Starling, were arrested early Saturday in Cabell County and charged with possession with intent to deliver.

Coffman shines for ‘Cats

Manhattan — Carson Coffman took center stage in the annual Purple-White spring game Saturday and erased any lingering doubts as to who’ll replace Josh Freeman as Kansas State’s starting quarterback.

Carson, a senior-to-be, threw for 334 yards and three touchdowns as the Purple team completely dominated the White. Freeman decided to pass up his senior year after Ron Prince was fired as head coach and Bill Snyder came out of retirement to replace him.

Coffman threw TD passes of 4 yards to Jeron Mastrud, 6 yards to Attrail Snipes and 64 yards to Brandon Banks.

The Purple team overwhelmed the second-team offense and defense of the White team, 28-17.

GOLF

Johnson leads Quail Hollow

Charlotte, N.C. — Tiger Woods dropped out of the lead with late bogeys for the second straight day, leaving former Masters champion Zach Johnson with a two-shot advantage Saturday heading into the final round of the Quail Hollow Championship.

Johnson had a 4-under 68 and was at 11-under 205, two shots ahead of Woods, Lucas Glover and George McNeill.

Former Kansas University golfer Gary Woodland shot a 76 and was 4 over for the tournament.

Daly shoots 74 in Spain

Girona, Spain — Thomas Levet of France shot a 1-under 71 Saturday to hold a two-shot lead heading into the final round of the Spanish Open. John Daly, who is serving a six-month suspension from the PGA Tour, shot 74 to drop into 51st.

NFL

Cowboys coach injured

Irving, Texas — Cowboys special teams coach Joe DeCamillis broke his back, and 11 more were injured when winds just shy of tornado strength ripped through the roof of the team’s indoor practice facility during a rookie minicamp Saturday.

Former coach Dan Reeves, DeCamillis’ father-in-law, says the first-year Dallas assistant has a couple of broken vertebrae in his lower back.

Reeves added DeCamillis probably will have surgery.

CYCLING

Armstrong has near miss

Silver City, N.M. — Lance Armstrong didn’t disappoint fans who came to see him take on a potentially dangerous race around the 1-mile downtown course in the Tour of the Gila. With two laps to go, Armstrong and teammates Levi Leipheimer and Chris Horner had a near miss as the pack sped into the second turn of the downtown course. Armstrong was near the front of the field, Leipheimer — the tour’s leader — was following a few bikes behind and then came Horner.

The three were near the front of the field, trying to stay out of trouble for most of the stage. When the pileup happened, Leipheimer was in about 15th place, not far behind Armstrong.

BASEBALL

MLB investigating A-Rod

New York — Major League Baseball is investigating Alex Rodriguez’s statements about his use of performance-enhancing drugs, increasing the pressure on the New York Yankees star ahead of an unflattering biography due out Monday.

The New York Times reported on its Web site Saturday night that investigators have reached out to several of the All-Star third baseman’s associates to examine whether he used drugs for a longer period than he has acknowledged.

Mariners shelve Morrow

Seattle — Brandon Morrow is headed to the 15-day disabled list as the Seattle Mariners are taking a cautious approach with the biceps tendinitis bothering their closer.

BOXING

Mayweather to return

Las Vegas — Floyd Mayweather Jr. formally announced his return to boxing Saturday, less than a year after he retired and said he was through with the sport. He will fight lightweight champion Juan Manuel Marquez on July 18 in a fight with a 143-pound limit.

Pacquiao stuns Hatton

Las Vegas — Manny Pacquiao turned in perhaps the most dominating performance of his career Saturday night, knocking Ricky Hatton down twice in the first round before finally stopping him with a ferocious left hand in the final seconds of the second round.