Hamlin bumps way to victory

Denny Hamlin bumped Kyle Larson off the lead heading onto the backstretch of the final lap Sunday, giving him a clear path to the finish line at Kansas Speedway and ending his 33race winless drought in the NASCAR Cup Series.

Hamlin went to the front on the record 38th lead change of a chaotic race at Kansas for his fourth victory at the track and the 400th win overall for Joe Gibbs Racing. It was Hamlin’s first trip to victory lane since last year’s Coca-Cola 600.

“I was trying to side-draft him and clipped his left rear,” Hamlin said of the last-lap pass. “I’m glad he was able to finish.”

Larson had held off Hamlin for about 30 laps, despite fighting a rapidly loosening car. Hamlin had pulled up to his bumper with three laps to go but fell away crossing the start-finish line, then lined up for one more try that he made stick.

“I was really loose,” Larson said. “He was able to finally get my inside off two. It seemed he was side-drafting me aggressively.”

William Byron spent more than 50 laps riding around two laps down before rallying onto the lead lap, and even fighting for the lead down the stretch before finishing third. Bubba Wallace, who won the fall race at Kansas, was fourth and Ross Chastain fifth.

Chastain, who has drawn the ire of many drivers this season with his aggressiveness, found himself in another heated confrontation on pit road after the race. He had gotten into Noah Gragson with about 60 laps to go and sent him for a spin, and Gragson walked up to the Trackhouse Racing driver afterward to make his displeasure known.

Chastain threw a right hook, Gragson tried to throw a punch and crew members had to separate them.

Red Bull dominant again in Miami GP

Max Verstappen used an easy Sunday drive to keep Red Bull undefeated this season, as the reigning twotime Formula One champion drove from ninth to the win at the Miami Grand Prix.

Red Bull has won all five races this season, and teammate Sergio Perez’s secondplace finish in Miami was the fourth 1-2 finish for Red Bull this year. Verstappen has three wins this season, while Perez, the pole sitter in Miami, has two.

The win was the 38th of his career for Verstappen, who tied Sebastian Vettel for most victories for Red Bull. At this pace, he’ll smash Vettel’s record by the end of what many critics already are complaining is a boring Red Bull-dominated season.

“I call that simply f— lovely,” Verstappen said on his radio.

“That was a good race, a good race all around, so thank you very much. That was really, really good ... good for the team.”