NASCAR’S Truex wins Cup Series race at Richmond

Martin Truex Jr. assumed the lead when Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch was penalized for speeding with about 50 laps to go and won the NASCAR Cup Series race at Richmond Raceway on Saturday night.

The victory was the third for Truex in the last five races at Richmond. He got the lead when Busch was caught speeding entering pit road during green flag pit stops, causing him to relinquish a big lead and fall back to 10th.

Truex led a 1-2-3 finish for JGR, with Denny Hamlin finishing second and Christopher Bell. And Truex did it after being blackflagged on the first lap for beating Hamlin, the pole-sitter, to the start-finish line for the start of the race.

“That was frustrating, I’m not going to lie, but I knew we had a good enough car to overcome it,” Truex said about the penalty.

The finish marked the sixth time JGR cars swept the top three spots.

The penalty sent Truex to the back of the field, but he masterfully worked his way back into contention.

Defending series champion Chase Elliott was fourth, followed by Joey Logano and points-leader Kyle Larson, who started the race at the back of the field after twice failing pre-race inspection. Larson managed to clinch his spot in the second round of the playoffs, which start after one more race.

• Noah Gragson held onto the lead after a restart with seven laps to go and held off Justin Haley on Saturday to win his second consecutive NASCAR Xfinity Series race.

Gragson, driving in the race with JR Motorsports owner Dale Earnhardt Jr., ended a 49-race winless streak last weekend at Darlington. His second victory of the season and fourth of his career gives him momentum into the playoffs.

Just one race remains before the field is set for the 12-driver postseason.

• Cruz Pedregon topped Funny Car qualifying for the first time in more than six years Saturday at the Mopar Express Lane NHRA Nationals, the first event of the NHRA Countdown to the Championship playoffs.

The 57-year-old Pedregon, a two-time season champion and two-time event winner at Maple Grove Raceway, had a 3.875-second run at 326.00 mph in a Dodge Charger.

Brittany Force was the fastest in Top Fuel, Erica Enders in Pro Stock and Angelle Sampey in Pro Stock Motorcycle.

Laporta leads at BMW Championship

Francesco Laporta of Italy shot 3-under 69 to take a one-stroke lead after three rounds of the BMW PGA Championship in Virginia Water, England on Saturday as Bernd Wiesberger moved closer to sealing a place in Europe’s Ryder Cup team.

Nineteen players were within five shots of the 264th-ranked Laporta, who was 14 under overall, heading into the final round of the flagship event on the European Tour. The closest was English player Laurie Canter, who shot 70 and was a stroke behind in second place outright.

Ryder Cup qualification is the major subplot of this week’s tournament at the tour headquarters at Wentworth, which marks the final chance for players to earn points to gain an automatic place in the European team.

Wiesberger looks almost sure of getting in via the European points list after shooting a second straight round of 67 to climb to a tie for seventh place on 11 under. The Austrian golfer, who has never played in the Ryder Cup, needs to finish only in the top 50 to jump above Rory Mcilroy on the list. Mcilroy would still be assured of making the team via the world points list.

Alongside Wiesberger on 11 under was Shane Lowry, also looking to be a Ryder Cup debutant.

• Ken Tanigawa had two frontnine eagles in a 6-under 65 for a share of the second-round lead with Doug Barron in the PGA Tour Champions’ inaugural Ascension Charity Classic.

Tanigawa eagled the par-5 second and eighth holes in a frontnine 30 on Norwood Hills’ West

Course, the tree-lined layout where Ben Hogan won the 1948 PGA Championship for his second major title.

Barron also eagled the eighth and closed with a birdie for a 68 to match Tanigawa at 8-under 134.

The 53-year-old Tanigawa has two senior titles, the last in 2019 in the major Senior PGA Championship. The 52-year-old Barron also has two Champions victories.

Report: Clippers to sign center Hartenstein

The Clippers will sign free agent center Isaiah Hartenstein to a training camp deal, per a report from ESPN’S Adrian Wojnarowski that was confirmed by a league source Saturday.

The 7-foot Hartenstein has played four three teams in his three NBA seasons, including last season for Denver and Cleveland; the 23-year-old put up 8.3 points and 6.0 rebounds in 16 games for the Cavaliers.

A native of Eugene, Ore., Hartenstein in 2008 moved to Germany, where his father, Florian Hartenstein, played basketball professionally. Now, 23, Isaiah Hartenstein became a decorated player in the German youth ranks before going pro in Europe. Since Houston selected him 43rd overall in the 2017 NBA draft, he has averaged 4.1 points and 3.3 rebounds through 97 NBA appearances

The Clippers are exploring options to bolster their post presence behind Ivica Zubac and Serge Ibaka; they also will bring in center Harry Giles on nonguaranteed training camp deal.

Team USA in line to win Sailgp regatta

Jimmy Spithill’s Team USA welcomed back wing trimmer Paul Campbell-james from a broken leg and won two of the three fleet races Saturday in Sailgp’s regatta on the French Riviera in Saint-tropez.

While the American team positioned itself well to reach Sunday’s podium race, Tom Slingsby’s Team Australia had its hopes of a third straight regatta win in the global league dashed when it sustained a series of technical setbacks aboard its foiling 50-foot catamaran.

The defending champion Aussies, who came in with a twopoint lead in the season standings, were last in the eight-boat fleet.

The U.S. team has 20 points, followed by New Zealand with 17. Spain has 16, Japan 16, Great Britain 13, Denmark 12, France 7 and Australia 7.

After two more fleet races Sunday, the top three teams advance to the podium race.

Ronaldo returns home to Manchester United

The leap, swivel and landing with outstretched arms were roared on by the Old Trafford crowd.

If anyone missed it the first time on Saturday — and it’s hard to imagine when so many eyes were transfixed on Cristiano Ronaldo — they got another chance in the second half.

Two goals gave him two chances to stage his trademark celebration in a 4-1 victory over Newcastle, ensuring the performance matched Manchester United’s considerable hype that was embraced by fans young and old with their “Viva Ronaldo” chants and willingness to hand over cash for new No. 7 jerseys.

Ronaldo looked like he’d never been away from Old Trafford for 12 years and yet, he said, “I was very nervous. Maybe I didn’t show it but I was.”

Less than five months ago the fans were storming the stadium in a rage against the owners. Now the green-and-gold antiglazer protest scarves were hanging over the Ronaldo shirts the club megastore is struggling to match the demand for in the two weeks since he joined from Juventus.

For Old Trafford’s second capacity crowd since the start of the pandemic 18 months ago, the “Welcome home” announcements left no doubt they were for the superstar on the field.