Kenseth wins, but Keselowski advances
AVONDALE, Ariz. — Matt Kenseth might be going away, but he is not going quietly.
Kenseth won for the first time this season in what might have been the second-to-last Cup race of his NASCAR career Sunday. Kenseth does not have a job lined up for next year and said he will take a break at the start of the season.
“Just got one race left and everybody dreams of going out a winner,” a tearful Kenseth said after climbing from his Toyota.
Kenseth passed Chase Elliott with 10 laps remaining to win Sunday at Phoenix Raceway and deny Elliott the final berth in next week’s championship race. Had Elliott hung on for the win, he would have qualified for the championship finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Elliott finished second for the seventh time this season.
Brad Keselowski earned the final spot in the championship on points because a playoffeligible driver did not win the race. Keselowski will race Martin Truex Jr., Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick for the championship Sunday at Homestead.
Brittany Force wins Top Fuel
Brittany Force became the NHRA’s first female Top Fuel season champion since Shirley Muldowney in 1982 in the season-ending Auto Club NHRA Finals at Pomona, Calif.
Force, the daughter of 16-time Funny Car champion John Force, wrapped up the title in the quarterfinals and went on to win the event at Auto Club Raceway. Force beat Shawn Langdon with a 3.668-second pass at 330.07 mph in the final for her fourth victory of the year.
“I can’t believe we are here, it seems like a dream,” Force said.
Robert Hight took his second Funny Car title, and Bo Butner won the Pro Stock crown and event title. Tommy Johnson Jr. won the Funny Car event, and Andrew Hines took the Pro Stock Motorcycle race. In other news: • Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel won the Brazilian Grand Prix at Sao Paolo to solidify his hold on second place in the season standings after Lewis Hamilton clinched the title two weeks ago in Mexico City.
It was Vettel’s 47th career win and his fifth this season. It was also the German’s third victory in Brazil. Vettel started second on the grid but overtook pole-sitter Valtteri Bottas of Mercedes on the first lap and led most of the way.
U.S. captures 18th Fed Cup
A 17-year championship drought came to an end for the United States when it beat Belarus 3-2 at Minsk to take its 18th Fed Cup title.
CoCo Vandeweghe and Shelby Rogers defeated Aryna Sabalenka and Aliaksandra Sasnovich 6-3, 7-6 (3) in the deciding doubles of the 2017 final. It was the first Fed Cup title for the U.S. since 2000. In other news: • One break of serve, and a mini-break, was all Roger Federer needed to win his opening match at the season-ending ATP Finals. The 19-time Grand Slam champion broke Jack Sock at the start of his 6-4, 7-6 (4) victory at the O2 Arena in London. Both then held serve the rest of the way, with Federer losing only three points on his serve in the second set. In the late match, Alexander Zverev beat Wimbledon runner-up Marin Cilic 6-4, 3-6, 6-4.
U.S. women top Canada again
Julie Ertz, Alex Morgan and Carli Lloyd scored, and the U.S. women’s national soccer team closed out play this year with a 3-1 victory over Canada in San Jose, Calif.
The two teams also faced off in Vancouver, British Columbia, playing to a 1-1 draw. That tie snapped a six-game winning streak for the top-ranked Americans. The Canadians have not defeated the United States since 2001.
Make it a double for Sutherland
Kevin Sutherland finally broke through on the PGA Tour Champions circuit, taking the seasonending Charles Schwab Cup Championship and topping the yearlong competition, as well.
Sutherland closed a 5-under-par 66 for a onestroke victory over Vijay Singh at Phoenix Country Club.
Bernhard Langer, the winner of the first two playoff events, had a 64 to tie for 12th — five strokes back. Langer slipped to second in the season standings, missing a chance to win the title for the fourth consecutive year and fifth overall.
In other news:
• Patton Kizzire won his first PGA Tour title by beating Rickie Fowler in a 36-hole marathon in the rain-plagued OHL Classic at Mayakoba in Playa del Carmen, Mexico.
Kizzire closed with rounds of 66-67 for a oneshot victory over Fowler (67-67), who fell four shots behind at El Camaleon Golf Club until staging a late rally that fell short.
Croatia makes World Cup field
Croatia qualified for the 2018 World Cup after a 0-0 draw in the second leg of the playoffs against Greece in Athens . ... Felix Neureuther of Germany won the seasonopening men’s World Cup slalom at Levi, Finland, after first-run leader Dave Ryding skied out. Ryding, who is seeking to become the first British skier to win a race in the 50-year-history of the Alpine skiing World Cup, led second-place Neureuther by 0.14 seconds after the opening leg and stretched his advantage to 0.51 in the final run before a mistake forced him off the course.