Edwards wins at Richmond with last-lap pass
RICHMOND, Va. — Carl Edwards bumped teammate Kyle Busch off his racing line in the last turn and passed him to win the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Richmond International Raceway on Sunday.
Edwards, who had fallen nearly 1.5 seconds behind his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate after a restart with 36 laps to go, gradually ran him down until the final lap. Then he slipped underneath Busch, a master blocker in late-race situations, and nudged him just enough to allow Edwards to take the lead coming out of the fourth turn for his second consecutive victory.
MOTOR SPORTS Brittany Force tops in Top Fuel
Brittany Force raced to her second Top Fuel victory of the season at the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals in Concord, N.C.
Force held off the two-time defending race winner Antron Brown, along with Doug Kalitta and Clay Millican, at z MAX Dragway. Force powered her dragster to a final-round performance of 3.764 seconds at 319.98 mph; defending season champion Brown finished second at 3.779 at 316.75. In other news: • Simon Pagenaud led most of the way and overcame late contact with Graham Rahal to win the Indy Car race at Birmingham, Ala., for his second consecutive victory
HOCKEY Spezza helps Stars advance
Jason Spezza scored his fourth goal of the series and added three assists, and goalie Kari Lehtonen and Dallas needed every last one of them to hold off Minnesota 5-4 at St. Paul, Minn., and wrap up the NHL Western Conference first-round series in six games.
Jared Spuregon scored two of the Wild’s four third-period goals as Minnesota came within a fraction of an inch of tying it with 34 seconds lo eft when Nino Niederreiter whacked at a loose puck in the crease. Freeze-frame replays showed it in the net but not fully across the goal line as it connected with Lehtonen’s right pad. In other games: • Nicklas Backstrom scored the game-winner, and Braden Holtby had 26 saves as visiting Washington beat Philadelphia 1-0 to win the Eastern Conference first-round series 4-2.
GOLF Hoffman prevails in Texas Open
Charley Hoffman made a 9-foot birdie putt on the final hole to win the Valero Texas Open at TPC San Antonio.
Hoffman, 39, closed with a 3-under-par 69 for a one-stroke victory over Patrick Reed (69). Hoffman finished at 12-under 276. In other news: • Haru Nomura held on in strong wind to win the Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic at Daly City, Calif., for her second LPGA Tour victory of the year. She closed with a 1-over 73 in wind gusting to 35 mph to finish at 9-under 279.
• Woody Austin and Michael Allen won the PGA Tour Champions’ Bass Pro Shops Legends of Golf at Big Cedar Lodge in Ridgedale, Mo.
TENNIS Nadal wins 9th Barcelona title
Rafael Nadal beat defending champion Kei Nishikori 6-4, 7-5 to win the Barcelona Open for the ninth time, equaling Guillermo Vilas’ record of 49 career clay-court titles.
COLLEGES Rice sweeps C-USA tennis
Rice went 2-for-2 at the Conference USA tennis tournament, with the men and women winning the team titles at the George R. Brown Tennis Center.
Rice became the third school to achieve the feat in conference history. Both teams earned automatic bids to the NCAA Tournament.
The Owls won the men’s crown with a 4-2 victory over Old Dominion; the women defeated Florida International 4-1 for their fourth consecutive C-USA team title.