Tough-luck Busch breaks through
Kyle Busch finished ahead of Kevin Harvick and the rest of the field this time, winning at Texas Motor Speedway on Sunday to give Joe Gibbs Racing its first victory of the season.
Busch stayed in front of Harvick the last 24 laps after the final restart. It was Busch’s third win at Texas, and the 44th of his career. He led 116 of the 334 laps at the 1 ½-mile track.
While Busch hadn’t won in the first six races, he had finished second three times twice to Harvick and is the NASCAR Cup Series points leader. He also had a thirdplace finish in the No. 18 Toyota.
Since finishing 25th in the season opener at Daytona, Busch has been in the top seven the last six races.
“Certainly being that close, it gets a little old a little faster,” Busch said. “If you’re finishing fifth or 10th or whatever, and you’re just not capable of winning . ... Being as close as you are, that kind hurts a little bit more.”
Harvick, who won at Texas in November, led 87 of the first 129 laps and won the first stage. But he had issues on pit road, including a strange incident during a caution when a lugnut popped loose and into the jack. He dropped from first to ninth on that stop, then had to come back in a few laps later because of a loose wheel. There was another stop when Harvick, who dropped back as far as 27th place and a lap behind the leader, got a penalty for an extra man over the wall when a tire got loose in the pit.
Jamie McMurray finished third, ahead of Erik Jones.
• Jimmie Johnson’s career-long winless streak reached 30 races after the seven-time Cup Series champion was taken out in a seven-car incident. VETTEL EDGES BOTTAS IN F1 >> Sebastian Vettel just held
on to win a dramatic Bahrain Grand Prix from pole position and extended his F1 championship lead over Lewis Hamilton, who finished third behind teammate Valtteri Bottas despite starting from ninth.
Vettel was almost overtaken by Bottas on the last lap, but made a crucial blocking move and won by only 0.6 seconds. TORRENCE TOPS FIELD IN VEGAS >> Steve Torrence won the Top Fuel final in the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
J.R. Todd won in Funny Car, and Vincent Nobile topped the Pro Stock field.
Soccer
LLOYD, MORGAN POWER U.S. >> Carli Lloyd became the sixth American to score 100 international goals, putting the United States ahead as it rallied for a 6-2 win over Mexico in an exhibition Sunday.
Cal product Alex Morgan scored twice for the second straight game as the Americans played another prep match ahead of World Cup qualifying. Megan Rapinoe chipped the goalkeeper to score from 35 yards and had four assists, one short of the U.S. record.
• CONCACAF announced that World Cup qualifying will take place in October, with group stage matches
in Cary, North Carolina, and Edinberg, Texas. The semifinals and final will be in Frisco, Texas from Oct. 14-17.
MLS >> Daniel Salloi and Johnny Russell scored five minutes apart in the second half in Sporting Kansas City’s 2-0 victory over the Los Angeles Galaxy.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic came on as a substitute in the 62nd minute but could not repeat the heroics from his MLS debut last Saturday, when he helped rally the Galaxy from a two-goal deficit to beat LAFC.
• Chris Mueller, Sacha Kljestan and Dom Dwyer scored in a late flurry to give Orlando City a stunning 3-2 victory over the Portland Timbers (0-2-2). Mueller started the comeback in the 80th minute with his first MLS goal, Kljestan tied it in the 82nd, and Dwyer added the winner in the 87th. HALILHODZIC OUT FOR JAPAN >> Vahid Halilhodzic is expected to be dismissed as Japan’s head coach following two disappointing international friendly matches and with the World Cup opening in just over two months.
Cycling
SAGAN WINS PARIS-ROYBAIX >> World champion Peter Sagan outsprinted Silvan Dillier to the finish line to win the prestigious Paris-Roubaix race, but his first victory in the race known as the Queen of the Classics was overshadowed by the death of Belgian rider Michael Goolaerts on Sunday.
Goolaerts’ team said the 23-year-old rider died in a Lille hospital where he had been admitted following his collapse at the one-day classic.
Goolaerts had been evacuated by helicopter after crashing about 150 kilometers (93 miles) from the finish. TV footage of the race showed Goolaerts lying unresponsive on the side of the road as the peloton passed him. He was quickly attended by a medical team and appeared to receive CPR.
Wrestling
U.S. WINS WORLD CUP >> The United State won wrestling’s World Cup for the first time in 15 years Sunday, beating Azerbaijan in the final. The victory marked the second consecutive major international tournament won by the Americans, who won the team crown at last year’s world championships.
Tennis
AMERICANS FINISH OFF BELGIUM >> The United States is off to a perfect start in Davis Cup play this year, with Ryan Harrison wrapping up a 4-0 victory over Belgium in essentially an exhibition match with the U.S. already clinching a semifinal berth against Croatia on Sept. 14-16.
BERTENS WINS VOLVO OPEN >> Kiki Bertens of the Netherlands overpowered Germany’s Julia Goerges to cap a long Sunday at the Volvo Car Open with a 6-2, 6-1 victory for her fourth career WTA title and third of the past 11 months. MUGURUZA STAYS HOT >> Wimbledon champion Garbine Muguruza won the Abierto GNP Seguros for her fourth title of the year, beating Timea Babos 3-6, 6-4, 6-3.