Logano holds off Harvick
Joey Logano spent the final 40-plus laps at Kansas Speedway keeping an eye on Kevin Harvick in his rearview mirror.
Now he can look ahead to the NASCAR Cup Series finale at Phoenix.
Using every bit of the track to hold off the winningest driver this season, Logano took the checkered flag on a cold, blustery Sunday to secure a spot in the championship round of the playoffs.
Harvick was followed across by Alex Bowman and Brad Keselowski as postseason contenders swept the top four spots in the opener of the round of eight.
“It’s on your mind every lap. You come into this race knowing if you win this thing you have an amazing advantage,” said Logano, who experienced the same perk on his way to the 2018 title. “I can’t believe it, especially the way the beginning of the race was going, running back there around 10th and not scoring any stage points.”
Harvick, who has won nine times this season, kept pulling up to Logano’s bumper after the final restart for a caution brought out by Tyler Reddick. But he couldn’t make a pass stick as Logano moved all over the track to block him while taking advantage of lapped traffic that kept him from making a clear run.
GOLF Mickelson is 2-for-2 on Champions tour
Phil Mickelson became the third player and second this year to win his first two starts in the PGA Tour Champions, slamming the door on Mike Weir with a backnine surge in the Dominion Energy Charity Classic in Richmond, Virginia.
Mickelson closed with a 7-under 65 to finish at 17-under 199, three strokes better than second-round leader Weir, the fellow 50-yearold left-hander who had a 71.
♦ In his 10th season, in his 233rd tournament, Jason Kokrak can finally call himself a PGA Tour winner. Kokrak matched the best round of the CJ Cup in North Las Vegas, Nevada, with an 8-under 64 to overcome a three-shot deficit at the start and win a duel on the back nine with Xander Schauffele.
TENNIS Zverev redeems himself in Cologne
Alexander Zverev ended his 17-month wait for a title by drawing on the pain of his U.S. Open final defeat to roll over Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-3, 6-3 and win the Cologne Indoors in Germany.
Zverev has had a breakthrough year in Grand Slam tournaments with his first semifinal at the Australian Open and first final at the U.S. Open, when he lost to Dominic Thiem. Zverev has said he thinks almost constantly about that final.
“I had a very tough final in New York and, the next final I played here, I wanted to come out and play my best tennis,” he said.
♦ Andrey Rublev joined Novak Djokovic as the only men to win four tour singles titles in the pandemic-shortened season when he beat Borna Coric 7-6 (5), 6- 4 in the final of the St. Petersburg Open in Russia.