Kurt Busch drives Jordan’s team to victory

Kurt Busch was slowly driving his Jordan Brandstyled ride toward victory lane at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kan., on Sunday when car owner Denny Hamlin stopped him in his tracks, ducked his head through the window and said, “We did it.” Did they ever. Busch survived a weary day of tire attrition, then pinched his way past Kyle Larson for the lead with eight laps to go before driving away from the reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion to win for the first time at Kansas — and give the upand-coming 23XI Racing team owned by Hamlin and NBA great Michael Jordan its second victory ever.

“That’s the most gratifying part, helping these guys win,” Busch said. “It’s all about teamwork.”

Larson had the dominant car, riding the top line around the mile-and-a-half oval, but Busch was able to put his Toyota just about anywhere he wanted. That paid off when the two were side by side with eight laps to go and Busch squeezed by Larson, who brushed the wall and lost just enough momentum to surrender the lead — and the win.

Busch pulled his No. 45 car — one of the numbers that Jordan wore during his career — to a stop at the start-finish line and climbed out of the window before throwing his arms up in triumph, the familiar Jumpman logo splashed across his fire suit.

It was the second win for 23XI after Bubba Wallace triumphed last year at Talladega.

Kyle Busch, who last week welcomed daughter Lennix Key into the world, finished third, with Hamlin fourth. Christopher Bell parlayed his third pole of the season into fifth place.

Brittany Force won the top fuel class in the Virginia NHRA Nationals in Dinwiddie, and John Force Racing teammate Robert Hight took the funny car crown at Virginia Motorsports Park. Force beat four-time defending season champion Steve Torrence with a 3.770second pass at 334.07 mph for her third victory of the season. Matt Smith won in pro stock motorcycle. step up his game. Just in time too.

A week after his defeat to Alcaraz, 19, in the semifinals in Madrid, Djokovic won the Italian Open for his first title of the year.

Having missed a large portion of the season because he wasn’t vaccinated against the coronavirus, the top-ranked Djokovic beat Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-0, 7-6 (5) for his sixth Rome crown.

Now Djokovic and Alcaraz need to be considered as the top favorites for the French Open, which starts next Sunday.

The status of Rafael Nadal, who has won 13 of his record 21 Grand Slam event titles at Roland Garros, remains uncertain after the Spaniard’s Italian Open ended when his chronically injured left foot began bothering him again.

As for the women, the overwhelming favorite is Iga Swiatek, the top-ranked player from Poland who defended the women’s title in Rome by overwhelming Ons Jabeur 6-2, 6-2 to extend her winning streak to 28 matches.

The Sparks announced a one-year contract extension for 6-foot-3 wing Katie Lou Samuelson, keeping the former Mater Dei High star with the team through the 2023 season. The Sparks acquired Samuelson in a trade with the Seattle Storm in February. She recently finished playing for Avenida, which won the Spanish league title.

UCLA was chosen as the No. 5 overall seed for the NCAA softball tournament and will host a four-team regional at Easton Stadium starting Friday.

The Bruins (43-8), the regional’s top seed, will play fourth-seeded Grand Canyon (39-14) at 7 p.m. The first game Friday at Easton Stadium, at 4:30 p.m., pits second-seeded Mississippi (3917) against third-seeded Loyola Marymount (36-15).

Defending champion Oklahoma (49-2) earned the No. 1 overall seed in the 64team tournament.

The regionals, which are hosted by the top 16 seeds, are from Friday to Sunday, with the winners advancing to the super regionals May 26-29. The Women’s College World Series will be June 2-10 in Oklahoma City.

Luke Hughes scored with 1:57 remaining in overtime to complete a U.S. comeback from two goals down as the Americans edged Austria 3-2 in a Group B game at the ice hockey world championships in Tampere, Finland. The U.S. earned its second victory in two games. Canada followed suit in less dramatic fashion, cruising to a 6-1 win over Italy.

Another English Premier League soccer trophy was virtually in Manchester City’s hands. All the team needed was for Riyad Mahrez to convert a penalty kick, but his kick was saved in the 86th minute, leaving City to settle for a 2-2 draw at West Ham and a four-point lead over Liverpool going into the final week of the season.

Sam Kerr scored in extra time for her second goal of the Women’s FA Cup final, and Chelsea completed a domestic double crown with a 3-2 victory over Manchester City at Wembley Stadium in London. The win came a week after Chelsea captured the Women’s Super League title . ... AC Milan won 2-0 over visiting Atalanta and only needs one point from its final match to secure its first Italian Serie A title since 2011.

In Major League Rugby, the Giltinis’ seven-match winning streak ended with a 31-27 loss to the host San Diego Legion . ... Three Canadian Football league teams — Montreal, Hamilton and Toronto — canceled their opening training camp practices, a day after the league and players union broke off negotiations on a collective bargaining agreement . ... Australian cyclist Jai Hindley won the ninth stage of the Giro d’Italia atop the fearsome Blockhaus, but Juan Pedro Lopez managed to keep hold of the leader’s pink jersey.