Elliott wins at Charlotte as Busch gets bounced from playoffs
CONCORD, N.C. » Kyle Busch, leading a race he had to win, not once believed he was driving toward victory lane.
NASCAR will crown a new champion this year as the worst season of Busch’s career extended Sunday when he was knocked from the playoffs. It’s the earliest the reigning Cup champion has been eliminated since the format debuted in 2014.
Chase Elliott won on the hybrid road course-oval at Charlotte Motor Speedway, where Busch and three others were trimmed from title contention. It was Elliott’s fourth straight road course victory dating to last season.
Busch needed his first win of the season to move into the round of eight and that was a tall ask in this bumpy year for Busch. He seemed good as done when a flat tire at the end of the second stage should have ended his chances.
He sounded resigned when over his mic he said, “Good job this year, guys,” to his No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing crew. But Busch worked his way back into the top three and took the lead when he gambled and didn’t pit under caution.
Hamilton wins his 91st F1 race to match Schumacher’s record
NÜRBURG, GERMANY » Even Lewis Hamilton once saw Michael Schumacher’s record of 91 wins in Formula One as unbeatable. Now he’s matched it.
Schumacher’s son Mick presented Hamilton with one of his father’s old helmets after the British driver took a record-equaling 91st win at Germany’s Eifel Grand Prix.
“Seeing his dominance, I don’t think anyone, and especially me, didn’t imagine that I’d be anywhere near Michael in terms of records so it’s an incredible honor and it’s going to take some time to get used to,” Hamilton said, adding that he used to choose Schumacher as his character in a video game.
“That number’s so big and when it’s so far away it’s hard for people to perhaps fully understand how hard it was for him to go those 91 wins, to deliver weekend in and weekend out, year on year on year and stay so physically in shape and so precise. So I understand that now more than ever,” Hamilton said.
Laird redeems himself in playoff to win again in Las Vegas
LAS VEGAS » Martin Laird lost a chance to win by making bogey on the 18th hole, only to redeem himself in a three-way playoff by making a 20-foot birdie putt on the second extra hole Sunday to win the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open.
Laird ended seven years without a victory in a year filled with so much doubt, which included knee surgery right about the time golf was set to resume from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The 37-year-old Scot suddenly is flying high.
He needed a sponsor exemption to play the tournament he won in 2009. He ended it with a birdie to beat Matthew Wolff and Austin Cook. It was the third three-man playoff in Las Vegas for Laird, who won in 2009 and lost the following year when Jonathan Byrd made a hole-inone on the 17th hole at the TPC Summerlin.