San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Allmendinger splashes to win
AJ Allmendinger drove through a torrential rainstorm that turned Charlotte ( N. C.) Motor Speedway into a slipandslide Saturday to win the Xfinity Series race on the hybrid road courseoval “Roval.”
The Los Gatos native won for the second time this season in 10 starts for Kaulig Racing. He’s easily the most experienced NASCAR driver at both road course racing and driving in wet conditions — Allmendinger has a long career in multiple formulas, including sports cars and openwheel, which both race in the rain.
“I don’t know what we just witnessed,” Allmendinger said. “I was complaining the whole race. That was miserable. Crazy. Those conditions, to me, it’s not a lot of fun. I thought at times it was dangerous, the hydroplaning. At times I thought we should have stopped it.”
Allmendinger’s victory in near darkness on a soaking wet track ended a sloppy race marred by multiple slides through standing water. It was an elimination race for the Xfinity Series playoffs and Harrison Burton, Brandon Brown, Michael Annett and Riley Herbst were knocked from title contention.
Soccer: Two Minnesota United players, an Orlando City player and two Columbus Crew staff members tested positive for the coronavirus, forcing the postponement of two MLS games — Saturday’s match between Columbus and Orlando City and Sunday’s match between Minnesota and FC Dallas. In Saturday’s MLS highlights, Caden Clark, 17, scored in his MLS debut, leading the New York Red Bulls to a 10 victory at Atlanta United. ... Lewis Morgan scored on a penalty kick in the 57th minute as host Inter Miami beat the Houston Dynamo 10. Christine Sinclair scored on a pair of penalty kicks and the Portland Thorns downed OL Reign 21 in Tacoma, Wash., to claim the National Women’s Soccer League’s Community Shield in the fall series. ... Paige Monaghan scored two goals and Sky Blue beat the Chicago Red Stars 31 in Montclair, N. J. In Nations League play, Spain parlayed a passing blunder by Switzerland goalkeeper Yann Sommer into a 10 win.