Almirola advances with Talladega victory
TALLADEGA, Ala. — Aric Almirola capped an absolute Stewart-Haas Racing rout at Talladega Superspeedway with an overtime victory that earned him an automatic berth into the third round of NASCAR’s Monster Energy Cup playoffs.
It also snapped a 149race losing streak for Almirola and atoned for his oh-so-close moment in the season-opening Daytona 500.
“I just love racing at Talladega, and I came to the track with the mindset that we were going to go race and we were going to go give them hell, and if we wrecked, we wrecked,” Almirola said. “And if we win, we win. And we won. What a cool time to do it, too.”
The SHR Fords were untouchable all weekend. They swept qualifying, won every stage of Sunday’s race and used teamwork to pull away from the field. As the laps wound down, Kurt Busch led his three teammates in a straight line and pulled the train away from the pack, which couldn’t organize itself behind the SHR group to mount any sort of challenge.
But the dynamics changed when Alex Bowman spun with three laps remaining to bring out an ill-timed caution. Then the fuel pressure light on Busch’s car began to flicker, and Kevin Harvick’s light followed. As the field roared to the green flag, Harvick forfeited a shot at victory by pulling off the track to get enough gas to make it to the finish.
Busch stayed out as the leader with Almirola and
Clint Bowyer looking for a slot to slip past him for the victory. Then Busch ran out of gas headed to the checkered flag, and Almirola zipped past him for his first victory of the season and first since joining SHR this year as the replacement for Danica Patrick.
Bowyer finished second, followed by Ricky Stenhouse Jr. in a Ford from Roush Fenway Racing. Busch faded to 14th, and Harvick wound up 28th — a disappointing end because SHR was poised for a 1-2-3-4 finish before the race went to overtime.
In other motor sports news: • Steve Torrence raced to his fourth consecutive Top Fuel victory to open the NHRA playoffs in the Carolina Nationals at Concord, N.C. Torrence beat defending series champion
Brittany Force with a 3.703-second run at 329.67 mph. Ron Capps won in Funny Car, Jason Line prevailed in Pro Stock, and
Matt Smith took first in Pro Stock Motorcycle.
SOCCER U.S. women earn slot in World Cup
Tobin Heath and Alex Morgan each scored twice in the first half, and the United States earned a spot in the World Cup next summer in France with a 6-0 victory over Jamaica in the CONCACAF qualifying tournament at Frisco.
The top-ranked United States is the defending champion of the sport’s premier event, having won the final in the 2015 World Cup against Japan.
Canada, ranked No. 5 in the world, also clinched a spot in France with a 7-0 victory over Panama in an earlier game at Toyota Stadium.
The top three finishers in the CONCACAF Women’s Championship represent the region in France, so the winners of both semifinals earned a berth before the final. The title match and the third-place game are set for Wednesday in Frisco. The fourthplace finisher will face Argentina in a playoff for a spot in France.
TENNIS Djokovic snares 4th Shanghai title
Novak Djokovic won a record fourth Shanghai Masters title with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over 13th-seeded Borna Coric.
The Serb offered 13thseeded Coric one break point in the match, in the sixth game of the second set. Coric, who has yet to win a set against Djokovic in three matches played, sailed a forehand wide to miss out on the rare opportunity.
Djokovic, who has now won four titles this season, will move up one ranking spot to No. 2, pushing Roger Federer back to No. 3. In other news: • Juan Martin del
Potro has a fractured right patella bone in what the Argentine player called “a hard blow that leaves me without strength.” Del Potro retired from Thursday’s match against Borna
Coric at the Shanghai Masters after injuring his knee when he fell near the end of the first set. Tests Saturday revealed the fracture. • Jared Hiltzik rebounded from a tiebreaker loss in the second set to defeat top-seeded Ronnie
Schneider 6-4 7-6 (7), 7-5 in the championship matchof the Texas Tamale Company Houston Cup at Rice’s Brown Tennis Center. It was the secondseeded Hiltzik’s second career victory on the USTA Pro Circuit tour.
GOLF Leishman romps to CIMB crown
Marc Leishman won the CIMB Classic by five strokes, closing with a 7-under-par 65 to match
Justin Thomas’ 2015 tournament record of 26-under 262.
Leishman won for the fourth time on the PGA Tour. The Australian had four consecutive birdies on Nos. 2-5 and finished with eight birdies and a bogey on TPC Kuala Lumpur’s West Course. Bronson Burgoon had a 68 to tie for second with Emiliano Grillo (66) and Chesson Hadley (66). In other news:
• Bernhard Langer ran away with the SAS Championship to take the points lead into the PGA Tour Champions’ Charles Schwab Cup playoffs. Langer shot a bogey-free 7under 65 for a six-stroke victory in the regularseason finale at Prestonwood Country Club in Cary, N.C. The 61-year-old German star has 38 victories on the 50-and-over tour. He has a record four victories after turning 60. Langer finished with a tournament-record 22under 194 total.
GYMNASTICS Biles bothered by Bono’s tweet
Olympic champion Simone Biles is upset about an anti-Nike tweet from USA Gymnastics interim president and CEO Mary Bono. Bono on Friday was appointed to hold the position while USA Gymnastics searches for a permanent successor to Kerry
Perry, who resigned under pressure from the United States Olympic Committee in September after spending nine months on the job.
Biles on Saturday responded to a tweet from Bono last month criticizing Nike after the release of its advertising campaign featuring former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick.
Bono, a former Republican congresswoman, had posted a photo of herself drawing over a Nike logo on a golf shoe.
Biles quote-tweeted Bono’s photo and wrote: “*mouth drop* don’t worry, it’s not like we needed a smarter usa gymnastics president or any sponsors or anything.”
Bono deleted her tweet about five hours later, saying she regretted the post and respects “everyone’s views & fundamental right to express them.”
Nike is one of Biles’ sponsors.
BOXING Crawford retains WBO title belt
Terence “Bud” Crawford stopped previously unbeaten Jose Benavidez with 18 seconds left in the 12th and final round at Omaha, Neb., on Saturday night to retain his World Boxing Organization welterweight championship.
Crawford, 31, (34-0, 25 knockouts) had knocked Benavidez (27-1, 18 KOs) to the canvas with a powerful right hand with 46 seconds left, and then Crawford finished him off with consecutive right hands.