Byron wins at Vegas as Hendrick dominates

LAS VEGAS » William Byron took the lead on the second-to-last lap of overtime to win the NASCAR Cup Series race at Las Vegas on Sunday and put an exclamation mark on a dominant day for Hendrick Motorsports.

The top three drivers were from Hendrick, with Byron beating teammates Kyle Larson and Alex Bowman. Bowman won last year’s March race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Byron led 176 laps and won for the fifth time in his six Cup seasons.

Larson appeared headed for victory when when Aric Almirola hit the wall in turn four on lap No. 264, leading to the second caution of the day.

Most of the leaders pitted a lap later, with only Martin Truex Jr. choosing to stay out. Byron came out of pit road ahead of Larson and then easily overtook Truex on the restart.

Ericsson wins rough season-opening IndyCar race

ST. PETERSBURG, FLA. » Jack Harvey was taken to a hospital for observation and Helio Castroneves needed an ice pack and X-rays. A pair of cars went airborne, the leaders crashed each other and the entire Andretti Autosport fleet was eliminated.

Indianapolis 500 winner Marcus Ericsson, meanwhile, won the IndyCar season-opening race.

Ericsson outlasted the carnage on the downtown streets of St. Petersburg for a surprise victory for Chip Ganassi Racing on a swampy Sunday in Florida. It was the fourth career IndyCar victory for the Swedish former Formula One driver.

Michael Andretti slammed his hand on the pit stand in disgust.

Verstappen opens with a win as Red Bull takes 1-2 in Bahrain

SAKHIR, BAHRAIN » New season, another victory. Max Verstappen won the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix from pole position on Sunday, leading almost the entire race as he opened the defense of his back-to-back Formula One titles.

Red Bull also clinched a dominant 1-2 with Sergio Perez finishing second while 41-year-old Fernando Alonso took a brilliant third place — and claimed a 99th career podium — on a stunning race debut for Aston Martin.

“I’m so proud of you guys,” a jubilant Alonso told his team.

It was Verstappen’s 36th career win but the Dutchman’s first at the flood-lit Sakhir circuit, where he retired just laps from the end in last year’s opening race.

“That was exactly the start to the season we needed,” Verstappen said.