Louden, N.H. ? Kurt Busch’s bid for a second championship started in a shroud of controversy when NASCAR punished his team for getting caught with an extra set of tires.

The 2004 champion blamed the tire violation on miscommunication between a pair of NASCAR officials and said he didn’t think being parked for 15 minutes of practice Saturday would hurt him in the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship opener at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

“It’s just motivation for what we know we did right, we didn’t do anything wrong,” Busch said. “That’s what it takes to get me motivated. When somebody calls us out wrong, we didn’t do anything wrong, we’re going to go out there and run our best.”

Busch will start ninth in today’s race, the first of 10 that decide the NASCAR championship.

Auto racing

Kyle Busch wins Trucks race

Loudon, N.H. — Kyle Busch raced to his fifth Trucks victory of the season and 80th overall NASCAR win, passing James Buescher on the final restart Saturday at New Hampshire Motorspeedway.

Busch and Kevin Harvick battled for the lead most of the day, and it appeared one of them would drive away with the victory. Buescher, though, dipped below both of them with 10 laps left to take the lead. He held it until Ron Hornaday spun into the wall late, bringing out a caution.

That set up Buescher vs. Busch on the restart with two laps left. Busch nudged past Buescher and tagged the wall — “It knocked my helmet crooked” — and sped ahead for the victory.

Buescher finished second, and Harvick was third.

Busch has 21 career wins in the Trucks Series.

College football

Fulmer slams Kiffin on TV

New York — Former Tennessee coach Phillip Fulmer says Lane Kiffin’s “arrogant attitude turned people off” and wondered how Kiffin was able to land prestigious head-coaching jobs at Tennessee and Southern California.

Fulmer, who now works as an analyst for CBS, was forced to resign by Tennessee after the 2008 season and replaced by Kiffin. After one season at Tennessee, Kiffin left the Volunteers to replace Pete Carroll at USC.

On the CBS halftime show, Fulmer said the people of Tennessee felt betrayed by Kiffin when he left Knoxville “with basically his hat in his hand and a bunch of NCAA compliance questions.”

Pitt player arrested

Pittsburgh — Police arrested a University of Pittsburgh football player and charged him with aggravated assault, harassment and disorderly conduct after a dispute left another man with a broken bone.

Twenty-year-old reserve offensive lineman Keith Coleman was arrested just before 2 a.m. Saturday in Pittsburgh. Sgt. James Kohnen says a witness told officers that Coleman spoke to two women, and that upset their two male companions. Kohnen says the player told investigators that the other men called him a racial slur, and a fight began. One of men was taken to a hospital with a broken collarbone.

NFL

Steelers cut Leftwich, for now

Pittsburgh — The Pittsburgh Steelers have released quarterback Byron Leftwich so they can dress an additional defensive lineman for today’s game at Tennessee.

Leftwich is expected to return to the 53-man roster Monday. He already is guaranteed his full salary this season.

Leftwich, mending from a left knee injury, was not expected to play against Tennessee. The Steelers will go with Dennis Dixon and Charlie Batch at quarterback, as they did in their opener, a 15-9 overtime win over Atlanta.

Golf

English pair lead Austrian Open

Atzenbrugg, Austria — Englishmen David Lynn and Danny Willett tied for the lead at the Austrian Open on Saturday, two strokes ahead of threesome that included European Ryder Cup player Graeme McDowell.

Lynn shot an 8-under 64, and Willett had a 65 to stand at 13-under 203 after the third round.

Tennis

U.S. takes lead over Columbia

Bogota, Colombia — Mardy Fish and John Isner defeated Colombia’s Robert Farah and Carlos Salamanca, 6-4, 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-3, to give the United States a 2-1 lead in their Davis Cup World Group playoff Saturday.

Basketball

U.S. women rout Senegal

Salamanca, Spain — Diana Taurasi had 14 points on 6-of-7 shooting and five assists in 15 minutes of action to help the U.S. women’s national team beat Senegal 93-51 on Saturday night in its final exhibition game before the world championship begins next week in the Czech Republic.