Elliott and Harvick add fiery feud to NASCAR playoff mix
Chase Elliott, according to Kevin Harvick, doesn’t race very smart. In fact, moving forward in NASCAR’s playoffs, Harvick plans to run all over the reigning Cup Series champion.
Those were the angry words Harvick had for Elliott after Saturday night’s race at Bristol Motor Speedway, where a feud no one saw coming took center stage.
Elliott is NASCAR’s most popular driver and the defending Cup champion doesn’t really make waves on the racetrack. He’s had his arguments with rival drivers before, but the 25-yearold entered new territory when he decided at Bristol that he’d had enough of Harvick’s perceived bullying.
Harvick has never backed down from anyone, on or off the track, and his early career was marked by explosive confrontations that occasionally became physical. Because he is known as a master manipulator who can mentally derail the toughest competitors, most drivers make a genuine attempt not to land in Harvick’s crosshairs.
But when an aggressive sequence for the lead — and probably the race win — resulted in a flat tire for Elliott, he made sure to exact his revenge. If Elliott wasn’t going to win the playoff race, then Harvick wasn’t going to victory lane either.
“I don’t care who he is or how long he’s been doing it, I’m going to stand up for myself and my team and we’re going down the road,” Elliott fumed.
To ruin Harvick’s race, as well as Harvick’s bid to end a yearlong losing streak, Elliott returned to the track after changing his flat tire and deliberately slowed in front of Harvick. By acting as a rolling chicane, Elliott allowed teammate Kyle Larson to catch Harvick and finally, with four laps remaining, pass Harvick for Larson’s sixth win of the season.
Arrow Electronics extends deal with McClaren
MONTEREY, CALIF. » The tiny IndyCar team Sam Schmidt formed 20 years ago moved another step toward becoming an elite organization with a sponsorship extension by Arrow Electronics announced ahead of Sunday’s race at Laguna Seca.
The deal through 2028 retains Arrow’s name in the Arrow McLaren SP team title. Arrow continues as a partner of the McLaren Formula One team, the organization said.
The extension was announced as Pato O’Ward headed into Sunday’s race ranked second in the IndyCar standings with a viable shot at giving Arrow McLaren its first IndyCar title. Schmidt drivers have competed for championships at the Indy Lights level but never at the top IndyCar level.
Simon Pagenaud finished fifth in the standings twice, and a Schmidt-owned car best third in a stretch from 2012 to 2014 in which the team showed the potential that first attracted Arrow. The Colorado-based company took a partial role in 2015, continued to expand its funding each year since and ultimately took on an investment stake that made Arrow an entitlement sponsor of the race team.
Ko takes LPGA stop in Portland
WEST LINN, ORE. » Jin Young Ko won the rain-shortened Cambia Portland Classic on Sunday for her second victory in her last three starts.
Making her first start since the Tokyo Olympics, the second-round South Korean player closed with a 3-under 69 at Oregon Golf Club for a four-stroke victory over Jeongeun Lee and Su Oh. Ko finished at 11-under 205.
Play was washed out Saturday because of rain and the event was cut from 72 to 54 holes. Ko took the lead Friday with a 67. Ko also won the Volunteers of America Classic in Texas in early July. The two-time major champion has nine LPGA Tour victories.
Clarke wins
Stanford International
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. » Darren Clarke won the Stanford International for his third PGA Tour Champions victory of the season, beating K.J. Choi with a birdie on the second hole of a playoff.
Clarke, the 53-year-old major champion from Northern Ireland, closed with a 5-under 65 at Minnehaha Country Club, birdieing the par-4 18th to match Choi and Steve Flesch at 12-under 198.
Clarke won the TimberTech Championship in November for his first senior title and took the Mitsubishi Electric Championship in January on his next tour start. Choi finished with a 69. He had only one birdie, on the par-4 13th. Flesch, eliminated with a bogey on the first extra trip down 18, also bogeyed the hole in regulation for a 66.
Broberg gets second Euro Tour win
CROMVOIRT, NETHERLANDS » Kristoffer Broberg of Sweden won the Dutch Open for his second European Tour victory, closing with an even-par 72 to beat Germany’s Matthias Schmid by three strokes.
The 35-year-old Broberg finished at 23-under 265 at Bernardus, setting course record s with a 64 on Friday and a 61 on Saturday. Schmid shot a 66.