Briscoe grabs 8th win of season in Xfinity playoff opener

LAS VEGAS — Chase Briscoe routed the field in the Xfinity Series playoff opener for his eighth win of the season, the number he’s said should earn him a promotion to NASCAR’s top level.

Briscoe, in a Ford for Stewart-Haas Racing, won all three stages Saturday night at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, then beat hometown driver Noah Gragson on a late restart to grab control of the Xfinity Series title race.

Briscoe earned an automatic berth into the second round of the playoffs and increased his series-best victory total. There will be a new Xfinity Series champion for the first time in three years this season and Briscoe is one of the favorites.

“An incredible car by everybody at Stewart-Haas. That made my job way too easy, honestly,” Briscoe said. “We have had a lot of wins this year, but this is by far our most dominant car.”

Now that Briscoe has hit his mark of eight wins, he’s got his sights set on grabbing every trophy he can over the final six races of the season. He knew his No. 98 team was capable of a dominant season, which is why he felt comfortable making eight wins the mark to hit to argue his case for a Cup ride.

GOLF

PUNTA CANA, Dominican Republic — Adam Long took over the lead with a stretch of three straight birdies on the back nine and finished with key par saves for an 8-under 64 and a two-shot lead in the Corales Puntacana Resort and Club Championship.

Hudson Swafford had to settle for nothing but pars on the back nine for a 69 and was two shots behind.

Long, coming off a tie for 13th at Winged Foot last week in the U.S. Open, matched the low round of the day and will going for his second PGA Tour victory.

His other was in January 2019 when he birdied the last hole of the Desert Classic to beat Phil Mickelson and Adam Hadwin.

He has a little more separation going into the final round in the Dominican Republic. Long was at 17-under 199, with only five other players within five shots of the lead.

Swafford was at 15 under and will be in the final group. Mackenzie Hughes of Canada twice chipped in for birdie late in his round of 67, leaving him three shots behind. Xinjun Zhang of China had a 68 and was at 13 under, while Nate Lashley (65) and Sean O’Hair (70) were five shots behind.

MLB

SAN FRANCISCO — Four-time All-Star outfielder Hunter Pence announced his retirement following 14 major league seasons.

Most recently he was a fan favorite for the San Francisco Giants, helping the club to a pair of World Series championships after being acquired from the Phillies at the 2012 trade deadline.

A career .279 hitter, Pence had 244 home runs and 942 RBIs playing for Houston, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Texas.