Blaney victorious in Daytona race

Ryan Blaney won for the second consecutive week when the night race at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway ended under caution in overtime with a typical fiery finish.

Tyler Reddick took the 16th and final spot in the playoffs with a seventh-place finish. Reddick needed only to beat Richard Childress Racing teammate Austin Dillon and hope for a repeat winner to earn his first playoff berth.

Reddick and Dillon were both in contention to make a desperate, last-gasp push for the win in the two-lap overtime sprint to the finish. But Blaney, who was second on the restart, cleared traffic with a push from Corey LaJoie and was well ahead of the pack when a crash ended the race. Daniel Suarez, one of 10 drivers in the front pack trying to win the race to earn the automatic playoff berth, turned Kevin Harvick to trigger the multi-car crash. Earlier, Justin Haley used a late push from Daniel Hamric to edge Kaulig Racing teammate AJ Allmendinger and win the rain-delayed Xfinity Series race at Daytona. Kaulig claimed three of the top four spots. The powerhouse team looked set to sweep the podium when Allmendinger turned below leader Christopher Bell with four laps to go. Max Verstappen produced a brilliant last lap in the rain to take pole position for the Belgian Grand Prix in Spa-Francorchamps and deny George Russell a first career pole in Formula One.

WNBA: Riquna Williams scored 15 points, Kelsey Plum added 14 and the visiting Las Vegas Aces beat the Indiana Fever 87-71 . ... Brionna Jones had 16 points and a career-high 15 rebounds and the WNBAleading Connecticut Sun won their eight straight game, beating the visiting Los Angeles Sparks 76-61 . ... Natasha Cloud scored 21 points and Shavonte Zellous hit two free throws with 4.7 seconds left to cap a second-half comeback in the host Washington Mystics’ 76-75 victory over the Dallas Wings.

NBA: The Memphis Grizzlies waived guard Rajon Rondo, who was acquired on Aug. 16 in a deal that sent guard Eric Bledsoe to the Los Angeles Clippers for Rondo, Patrick Beverley and center Daniel Oturu. The four-time All-Star has played 15 seasons. The league’s referees will be vaccinated against the coronavirus. Part of the referees’ agreement with the NBA also says that those working games will receive booster shots once they become recommended.

Hockey: Hilary Knight had two goals and an assist to break Cammi Granato’s U.S. points record in women’s world championship play, helping the U.S. beat Japan 10-2 in the quarterfinals in Calgary, Alberta.

Knight tied Granato at 78 points with a goal in the first and broke the mark with an assist in the second. Knight added a goal in the third.

The U.S. outshot Japan 61-12.

Horse racing: Belmont Stakes winner Essential Quality won the $1.25 million Travers Stakes, edging Midnight Bourbon in a duel at Saratoga (N.Y.) Race Course for his eighth win in nine career starts.

Tennis: Ilya Ivashka beat Mikael Ymer 6-0, 6-2 in the Winston-Salem (N.C.) Open to become the first player from Belarus to win an ATP Tour singles title in 18 years.