Larson doubles up with wins at Fontana Dayton’s Miller off to Indiana
FONTANA, Calif. — Kyle Larson was second to nobody in his home state.
Larson persevered through four late restarts to win at Auto Club Speedway on Sunday, adding his second career victory to his overall Monster Energy NASCAR Cup series points lead.
Larson finished second in each of the last three races, but the Sacramento-area native’s Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet was the class of the field for the second straight day. He also won the Xfinity Series race Saturday, completing a sweep of the weekend.
“This is just amazing,” Larson said. “We have been so good all year long, three seconds in a row. I’ve been watching all the TV, like, ‘He doesn’t know how to win.’ But we knew how to win today, so that was good.”
Brad Keselowski was second, and Clint Bowyer came in third for his best finish since June 2015 and his first top-five finish in 52 races. Martin Truex Jr. was fourth after challenging Larson aggressively, and Joey Logano roared up to fifth.
In other motor sports news:
• Sebastian Vettel broke Ferrari’s Formula One drought with a victory over the Mercedes team of Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix. Ferrari had not won an F1 race since Vettel’s victory in Singapore in 2015. Vettel finished in 1 hour, 24 minutes and 11.672 seconds, almost 10 seconds clear of Hamilton.
Archie Miller, who led Dayton to the NCAA Tournament in each of the last four seasons, will be introduced as Indiana’s new basketball coach Monday as a replacement for Tom Crean, who was fired March 16 after missing the NCAA postseason five times in nine seasons.
Miller, 38, the brother of Arizona coach Sean Miller, led the Flyers to a 139-63 record and won the last two Atlantic 10 regular-season titles. In other news: • Former LSU quarterback Brandon Harris, who was being pursued by Texas, said he had chosen North Carolina, where he will be eligible to play as a graduate transfer. He started 12 games in 2015 as a sophomore for the Tigers, throwing for 2,165 yards and 13 touchdowns for a 9-3 team. Harris started two games last season.
GOLF Lee captures Kia Classic title
Mirim Lee of South Korea shot a 7-under-par 65 to win the Kia Classic at Carlsbad, Calif., by six strokes and tie the tournament record of 20 under.
It was her third LPGA Tour victory and first since winning two titles in 2014, her rookie year.
Lee, 26, tied the tournament record set in 2015 by Cristie Kerr.
Lee twice just missed putts that would have put her at 21 under. She left an eagle putt short on 16 and then rolled a 40-foot birdie putt even with the hole on 18.
So Yeon Ryu of South Korea and Austin Ernst of Greenville, S.C., tied for second at 14 under. In other news: • D.A. Points started with five consecutive birdies and closed with a 6-under 66 to win the Puerto Rico Open at Rio Grande for his third PGA Tour title. The great start wasn’t enough for Points when he made three bogeys in a five-hole stretch around the turn. He steadied himself, protecting a one-shot lead going to the par-5 18th, and made birdie for a twoshot victory. Points won for the first time since the 2013 Shell Houston Open. Retief Goosen, Bill Lunde and Bryson DeChambeau tied for second.
TENNIS Venus advances at Miami Open
Venus Williams made the most of her homecourt advantage at the Miami Open.
Playing for the 18th time in a tournament she considers her hometown event, Williams, 36, reached the fourth round by beating qualifier Patricia Maria Tig 6-3, 6-0.
Williams lives 100 miles up Interstate 95 in Palm Beach Gardens.
Williams, seeded 11th, next will play No. 7 Svetlana Kuznetsova, who beat American qualifier Taylor Townsend 6-4, 6-2.
Top-ranked Angelique Kerber lost the first three games and then rallied to beat American Shelby Rogers 6-4, 7-5. Kerber climbed atop the rankings a week ago to replace Serena Williams, who missed the tournament due to a left knee injury.
In men’s play, Rafael Nadal recovered from a dismal start to beat Philipp Kohlschreiber 0-6, 6-2, 6-3 in the third round.
WINTER SPORTS Stiegler, Ginnis win U.S. slaloms
Resi Stiegler and AJ Ginnis won slalom titles in the U.S. Alpine Championships at Sugarloaf Mountain in Carrabassett Valley, Maine.
Stiegler was timed at 1:39.68 for her second U.S. slalom title and third national championship overall. Ginnis won his first U.S. title, beating four-time champion and U.S. ski team captain David Chodounsky by 0.15 seconds, in 1:35.75.