Power takes splash of gas, wins IndyCar race at Gateway
5:30* European PGA Made In
Denmark, first round 9:00* European PGA Made In Denmark, first round Web.com DAP Championship, first round
LPGA Cambia Portland Classic, first round 3:00 7:00 AUTO RACING: Sebastian Vettel won the Belgian Grand Prix in Spa-Francorchamps and trimmed rival Lewis Hamilton’s overall lead to 17 points heading into next weekend’s Italian Grand Prix at Monza.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL: Michigan WR Tarik Black is out indefinitely with an injured right foot. Black was hurt during practice Saturday . ... True freshman Adrian Martinez was named Nebraska’s starting QB for Saturday’s opener against Akron.
GOLF: Staked to a four-shot lead, Bryson DeChambeau never let anyone closer than two shots at the Northern Trust and closed with a 2-under 69 for a four-shot victory in the FedEx Cup playoff opener in Paramus, N.J. His second victory of the year moved DeChambeau to the top of the FedEx Cup standings and boosted his bid to be in Paris at the end of next month for the Ryder Cup. ... Brooke Henderson, 20, became the first Canadian to win the country’s national championship in 45 years, closing with a 7-under 65 for a four-stroke victory in the CP Women’s Open in Regina, Saskatchewan . ... Robert Streb won the Web.com Tour Finals-opening Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship in Columbus, Ohio, to regain full PGA Tour status, beating Peter Malnati with a par on the first hole of a playoff . ... Andrea Pavan shot a 5-under 67 to win the Czech Masters for his first European Tour title.
LITTLE LEAGUE: Mana Lau Kong homered to center field on the first pitch his team saw and Ka’olu Holt pitched a complete game to lead Hawaii to a 3-0 victory over South Korea in the Little League World Series championship in South Williamsport, Pa. It’s the first Little League World Series title for Hawaii since 2008. Hawaii is one of seven U.S. states with at least three LLWS championships.
NFL: Adam “Pacman” Jones is reuniting with Vance Joseph, who was his Bengals secondary coach during the veteran CB’s best seasons in the NFL. Jones signed a one-year deal with the Broncos after visiting the team Sunday. To make room, the Broncos waived ILB Bo Bower . ... The Vikings acquired C Brett Jones in a trade with the Giants for a 2019 draft pick. The 6-foot-2, 312-pound Jones started 13 games for the Giants last season . ... QB Andy Dalton threw two TD passes in leading the Bengals to a 26-13 preseason win over the Bills in Orchard Park, N.Y . ... One day after incumbent RT Denzelle Good left the third preseason game with a knee injury, Colts coach Frank Reich said Good would not play in Thursday’s preseason finale at Cincinnati and could miss several games . ... The Eagles signed rookie free agent LB Jaboree Williams and released LB Corey Nelson . ... WR Eric Decker said he is retiring from the league after an eight-year career with the Broncos, Jets and Titans.
SOCCER: Marco Reus scored his 100th Bundesliga goal to seal a 4-1 victory for Borussia Dortmund over Leipzig.
WNBA: Elena Delle Donne had 32 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Mystics past the Dream 87-84 in Atlanta in the first game of a best-of-five semifinal . ... Storm F Breanna Stewart was named league MVP before she scored 19 of her 28 points in the first half to help defeat the Mercury 91-87 in Game 1 of their semifinal series.
MADISON, Ill. Will Power used to hate racing on ovals about as much as he hates conserving fuel.
The oval part has changed considerably this season. The fuel part?
“I was justA, `h! Come on! Let’s race this properly!“’ Power said Saturday night, after some of his closest rivals began saving every last drop as they tried to finish on one less pit stop.
“I was just so stoked,” Power said, “when they saidL, `et’s just go hard.“’
With a splash of fuel in the tank and the encouragement of team owner Roger Penske over the radio, Power drove wide open to the checkered flag, beating fuel-conserving Alexander Rossi and series leader Scott Dixon to claim the victory at Gateway Motorsports Park.
Rossi wound up second but still took a nibble out of Dixon’s point lead — the difference between them is down to 26 points with races left at Portland and Sonoma.
Simon Pagenaud was fourth and Zach Veach, who led an IndyCar race for the first time, was fifth.
“The Andretti guys and Rossi did a fantastic job making that no-stop situation work,” Dixon said, “and big congrats to Will. He was fast at the end of the race.”
Power is another 42 points back but can’t be counted out yet, given the double points at the season finale and his prodigious talent on road courses. He won the Grand Prix of Indianapolis this year, just before his big oval breakthrough at the Indy 500, and his win at Gateway was the 35th of his career — moving Power into a tie with Bobby Unser for seventh on the career list.
“I was kind of mad at Dixon. He pushed me out in the marbles. It kind of gave me motivation to get him back,” Power said. “Man, I never had so much fun and passed so many cars.”
It was the first race for IndyCar since Robert Wickens was involved in a terrifying wreck last Sunday at Pocono. His car touched had Ryan Hunter-Reay’s early in the race, sending the Canadian driver spinning into the catch fence and obliterating his car.
Wickens underwent surgery to insert titanium rods and screws to stabilize his spine, and he had another procedure later in the week to his extremities. But while his prognosis is still unclear, his Schmidt Peterson Motorsports team announced shortly before the green flag that Wickens was breathing without medical assistance and had talked to his family for the first time since the wreck.