Busch gets 1st RCR victory in Fontana's NASCAR farewell
Kyle Busch sent Fontana off in style Sunday, storming up from the back after an early penalty and earning his first victory for Richard Childress Racing while winning on this Southern California track for the fifth time.
Busch held off Chase Elliott and Ross Chastain in NASCAR's final race on the two miles of gloriously weathered asphalt at Auto Club Speedway, which will soon be demolished to make room for a half-mile track.
Busch drove his Chevrolet to victory in only his second race with RCR, which scooped him up in December after his 15-year tenure with Joe Gibbs Racing ended. This win was Busch's first since Bristol last season on a dirt track, and his first on pavement since Pocono in 2021.
With his 61st career victory, Busch earned a win in his record 19th consecutive Cup season, breaking a tie with Richard Petty.
Busch is a Las Vegas native who has enjoyed plenty of highlights just down the I-15 at Fontana: He got his first Cup victory at this speedway back in 2005 in a Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, and only Jimmie Johnson (6) earned more Cup victories at Fontana than Busch.
Busch was sent to the back early in the race for speeding on pit road. He drove all the way back up the field to pass Michael McDowell for the lead with 20 laps to go.
NHL
STARS ACQUIRE DADONOV >> The Dallas Stars acquired Evgenii Dadonov from the Montreal Canadiens for Denis Gurianov in a swap of Russian forwards designed to give the Central Division leaders an offensive boost.
Montreal is retaining half of Dadonov's $5 million salary cap hit for the rest of the season as part of the trade. That saves Dallas some money while it sheds Gurianov's $2.9 million.
Dadonov, 33, has 18 points in 50 games this season for Montreal, which is in the middle of a rebuild..
Golf
KIRK WINS HONDA >> Chris Kirk waited nearly eight years to win a PGA Tour event again. Waiting one more hole was no problem.
Kirk stuck his approach
to the par-5 18th to tap-in range, and his birdie on the first hole of a playoff lifted him past Eric Cole for the victory at the Honda Classic.
Cole had a chance, playing his third shot from the sand to just outside of 10 feet for a birdie that would have extended the playoff. But it lipped out, and Kirk nudged his ball in for his fifth career win — his first since prevailing at Colonial in 2015.
And he'll be the last Honda winner. The car company is ending its title sponsorship of the event after 42 years, with a new sponsor set to be in place — the PGA Tour hopes, anyway — in the coming weeks.
They finished 72 holes tied at 14-under 266, Kirk shooting 69 on Sunday, Cole shooting 67.
AMERICAN WINS LPGA >> American Lilia Vu rode a hot putter to claim her maiden LPGA crown with a one-shot victory over home favorite Natthakritta Vongtaveelap at the LPGA Thailand.
Trailing the local rookie by six strokes at the start of the day, 25-year-old Vu unleashed eight impressive birdies, including five straight from the eighth hole to end her campaign with an immaculate round of 8-under 64 for a 22-under 266 total at Siam Country Club Old Course.
NICKLAUS WANTS STRONGER FIELD >> Jack Nicklaus thinks the Honda Classic should have a chance at a stronger field because of looming changes to the PGA Tour, which he said would mean Pebble Beach getting elevated status and
the tour going to Mexico before the Florida swing.
Nicklaus, appearing at the final round at PGA National, said a reworked schedule in 2024 will give South Florida's lone tour event — by whatever name it will be known — a chance at attracting higher-ranked players.
None of the top 17 players in the world ranking played Honda this week.
Boxing
PAUL TAKES FIRST RING DEFEAT >> YouTube star Jake Paul took the first defeat of his professional boxing career, losing a split decision to Tommy Fury.
Paul (6-1) knocked down Fury with a short left hand early in the final round of their cruiserweight bout, but the younger halfbrother of heavyweight champion Tyson Fury controlled long stretches of the eight-round meeting at Diriyah Arena.
Two judges scored the bout 76-73 for Fury. The third favored Paul, 75-74.
Soccer
MAN UNITED WINS LEAGUE CUP >>
Manchester United's six-year wait for a trophy is over after beating Newcastle 2-0 to win the League Cup.
United manager Erik ten Hag has wasted no time in guiding the club to silverware just 10 months after being hired.
Casemiro headed United in front in the 33rd minute of the final at Wembley Stadium and Sven Botman's own-goal made it 2-0 in the 39th.
It is United's first trophy since winning a
League Cup and Europa League double under Jose Mourinho in 2017.
Skiing
OLSEN TAKES WIN >> Norwegian ski racer Alexander Steen Olsen earned his first World Cup win after A.J. Ginnis of Greece was disqualified for missing a gate in a slalom event held on a snowy day at the Palisades Tahoe resort.
With the visibility deteriorating as the snow picked up intensity, Olsen turned in a clean pass through the tricky course set to finish in a two-run combined time of 1 minute, 47.47 seconds. Fellow Norwegian racer Timon Haugan was 0.05 seconds behind in second. There was a tie for third between Bulgaria's Albert Popov, who made a charge from well back in the pack, and first-run leader Clement Noel of France.
The podium took several minutes to sort out as officials reviewed the run of Ginnis, who came down in first place but appeared to straddle a gate. In one video angle, it was tough to tell due to a cloud of snow near his carving ski. The missed gate was eventually confirmed.
GOGGIA WINS DOWNHILL >> Sofia Goggia raced toward another World Cup downhill title with a fifth win in her dominating season.
Goggia raced through lightly falling snow and was fastest on the lower section of the Mont Lachaux course to finish 0.15 seconds ahead of Federica Brignone, her Italy teammate who matched a career-best result in downhill.