HAMLIN WINS IN THIRD NASCAR OVERTIME
Denny Hamlin put himself in position to finally win in the playoffs by hanging at the back to avoid the carnage of the messiest and longest race in Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway history.
His sweeping three-wide pass in triple overtime Sunday brought an end to the sloppiest race of the season. The Daytona 500 winner surged to the win coming out of the final turn — it was the 58th lead change of a race that went nearly 32 miles, or 12 laps, longer than scheduled.
Talladega was pocked with 13 cautions, two more than the record, and nearly every title contender had some sort of damage. Only six of the 12 made it to the finish.
Hamlin insisted lagging the No. 11 Toyota at the back of the field all day, waiting to pounce at the end, was his strategy all along. Either that, or he was simply the last driver standing when given the chance to snap a skid that started with the playoffs one month ago.
“I hate to say it, but you have to play the game. You have to get to the next round,” Hamlin said. “To win the championship, you have to win the last race and you have to get to the last race. For us, we played the strategy to play the numbers to make sure we got locked in.”
Fitting for this particular wreck-fest was that Hamlin's win needed official review. He had gone below the yellow outof-bounds line during the third overtime, but NASCAR ruled the move was legal.
“They were crashing in front of us,” Hamlin shrugged. “Obviously, I got forced down there.”
Doug Kalitta won the NHRA Midwest Nationals at World Wide Technology Raceway in Madison, Ill., to move within two points of Top Fuel leader Steve Torrence. Kalitta won for the fourth time at the St. Louis-area track, beating Torrence in the final round with a 3.690-second run at 322.58 mph. Tommy Johnson won in Funny Car for Don Schumacher Racing 's 11th straight class victory.
Sergio Garcia delivered two key shots on the back nine, the last one an 8-iron to 30 inches on the final hole for birdie and a one-shot victory over Peter Malnati in the Sanderson Farms Championship at Jackson, Miss.
Garcia closed with a 5under 67 and won for the 10th consecutive year worldwide, and the first time on the PGA Tour since the 2017 Masters. Malnati, whose lone PGA Tour victory came at this tournament five years ago, closed with a career-best 63 and waited nearly two hours to see if it would hold up.
Mel Reid of England seized control with a run of birdies around the turn and finished strong for a 4-under 67 and a two-shot victory in the ShopRite LPGA Classic at Galloway, N.J., for her first LPGA Tour title.
Englishman Aaron Rai needed only one playoff hole to beat compatriot Tommy Fleetwood and win the Scottish Open for his second European Tour title at North Berwick, Scotland. Fleetwood (67) birdied the last hole of regulation to match Rai's total of 11 under par, but then missed from 3 feet for par on the first extra hole.
Breanna Stewart scored 22 points and Seattle moved within a victory of a WNBA championship, beating the Las Vegas Aces 104-91 at Bradenton, Fla. The Storm will try to win their fourth title with a victory in Game 3 on Tuesday night.
Oklahoma dropped out of The Associated Press poll for the first time since September 2016 and No. 24 Iowa State jumped back into the Top 25 after a day of upsets. There largely was stability at the top of the rankings after No. 1 Clemson, No. 2 Alabama, No. 3 Georgia and No. 4 Florida all won big, though the Bulldogs and Gators switched spots.
Zach Smith threw three touchdown passes and visiting
Tulsa (1-1) erased an 18-point first-half deficit to beat No. 11 UCF (2-1) 34-26, snapping the Knights' 21-game home winning streak Saturday night.
Premier League champion Liverpool was humiliated 7-2 by Aston Villa to end its perfect start to the title defense. Ollie Watkins scored a hat trick and Jack Grealish scored twice as Villa made it three wins out of three after only surviving in the league on the last day of last season.
Tottenham tore apart Manchester United for a 6-1 victory at Old Trafford, exposing the defensive weaknesses in Ole Gunnar Solskjær's side by inf licting the team's jointheaviest Premier League defeat at home.
Robert Lewandowski scored four goals as Bayern Munich defeated Hertha Berlin 4-3 in a dramatic finale to their Bundesliga game. The Poland striker converted a penalty in injury time to leave the visitors with nothing but pride.
Bradley Wright-Phillips and Diego Rossi scored in a five-minute span midway through the first half to help visiting LAFC (6-6-3 MLS) beat Real Salt Lake (4-5-6) 3-1.
Andy Rios scored on a penalty kick in the 82nd minute and the host San Jose Earthquakes (4-6-5) beat the Los Angeles Galaxy (4-7-3) 2-1 on Saturday night in MLS play.