Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Hamlin wins chaotic NASCAR cut-off race at Kansas Speedway
KANSAS CITY, KAN. >> Denny Hamlin was surrounded by Joe Gibbs Racing teammates at the front on the final restart, and that put Chase Elliott in the most difficult and precarious of situations.
Somehow, he figured, he needed to find a way to beat them all to advance in NASCAR’s playoffs.
It turned out second place was good enough.
Hamlin roared away with a push from behind from teammate Kyle Busch on the second shot at a green-white-checkered finish, and Elliott was unable to chase him down. But deep in the field, Brad Keselowski was going backward, and the spots he lost in the elimination race at Kansas Speedway were enough to send Elliott through in the final cut-off spot to the round of eight.
Hamlin won the race. Elliott felt almost as if he did.
“You have to stay fighting in these things, especially with the late-race restarts,” he said. “Just excited we get to fight another race. Back up against the wall, to come out here and battle for the win, that’s what you have to do when you’re in the position we were in.”
In a bit of irony, it was Keselowski who helped bring out the caution in the first overtime when he got into Daniel Suarez and triggered a wreck that collected teammate Joey Logano. The field was nearing the start-finish line but the caution light came on before the leader took the white flag.
If Hamlin had crossed a split-second quicker, the race would have been over and Keselowski safe.
Thomas wins again at CJ Cup in South Korea
JEJU ISLAND, SOUTH KOREA >> Justin Thomas pulled away from Danny Lee in the final hour and closed with a 5-under 67 on Sunday to win the CJ Cup at Nine Bridges for the second time in two years.
Thomas won for the 11th time on the PGA Tour and the second time in his last four starts.
He was one shot ahead when Lee, the South Koreaborn player who plays under the New Zealand flag, bogeyed the 15th and 16th holes to fall three shots behind. LPGA TOUR >> Danielle Kang played bogey-free and closed with a 2-under 70 to win the Buick LPGA Shanghai for the second consecutive year. She had a tournament record 16-under 272.
The 27-year-old American began the day one stroke behind compatriot Jessica Korda, who shot 72 to finish one shot behind. EUROPEAN TOUR >> Nicolas Colsaerts of Belgium ended more than seven years without a victory, shooting a 1-over 72 and surviving a wild back nine at Le Golf National in the French Open.
It was Colsaerts first victory since the Volvo World Match Play in 2012, when he was No. 32 in the world and played a role in Europe’s record comeback to win the Ryder Cup at Medinah. PGA TOUR CHAMPIONS >> The final round of the Dominion Energy Charity Classic was postponed until Monday because of more than 2 inches of rain overnight and a forecast for more.
Tommy Tolles and Scott Parel shared the lead. Colin Montgomerie was one shot behind.