Auto Racing
FONTANA, Calif. – Kyle Larson turned a lap in 38.493 seconds Friday to claim the pole for the NASCAR race at Fontana.
Denny Hamlin clocked in at 38.507 seconds to earn the fifth front-row start of his career at Auto Club Speedway. Brad Keselowski was third, and Martin Truex Jr. was fourth.
Larson has finished second in three consecutive races, and he kept up his early-season surge with an impressive performance in his home state. He finished second at Fontana in 2014 in just his ninth career Cup race.
Golf
RIO GRANDE, Puerto Rico – Bryson DeChambeau ran off four straight birdies in a stop-and-start round and finished with a 7-under 65 to share the lead with D.A. Points in the rain-delayed Puerto Rico Open on Friday.
Points closed with a birdie for a 69 and joined DeChambeau at 11-under 133.
CARLSBAD, Calif. – Top-ranked Lydia Ko missed the cut for just the second time in 91 LPGA Tour starts when she bogeyed two of her final three holes Friday at the Kia Classic.
Ko, the defending Kia champion, fell apart on the last three greens. She missed short putts on 16 and 17 for a bogey and par, and three-putted No. 18.
Cristie Kerr, the 2015 Kia champion, shot a 3-under 69 to take a one-shot lead over Mo Martin and Mirim Lee.
MLB
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – Colorado Rockies hard-throwing righty Jon Gray left his spring training start in the third inning with soreness in his left foot.
The team said Friday it was for precautionary reasons.
Gray went 2 2/3 innings against San Francisco and gave up five runs before exiting the game. He could be the team’s starter when the season opens April 3 in Milwaukee.
NBA
INDIANAPOLIS – Nikola Jokic had 31 points, 17 rebounds and a big 3-pointer to turn back a late Indiana rally, and the Denver Nuggets beat the Pacers 125-117 on Friday night.
Wilson Chandler scored 12 of his 24 points in the opening quarter, and Danilo Gallinari added 21 points and 11 rebounds for the Nuggets.
Jokic had 21 points and 12 rebounds by halftime, helping Denver open an 11-point lead, but Indiana staged a furious rally in the final minutes to trim a 23-point deficit to five before Jokic’s 3-pointer with 1:28 remaining.
NFL
With the Raiders gazing at Las Vegas and sticking one foot out the door, Oakland is making a last-minute plea to hang on to them.
Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf on Friday shared details of investors’ plans for the first time for a stadium on the current Coliseum site, and vowed that she and the city are doing all they can to keep the team.
In a letter to the NFL, Schaaf shared new, detailed renderings of what the $1.3 billion, 55,000-seat football-only stadium would look like.
Schaaf wrote that the New York hedge fund Fortress Management Group is willing to work on terms for a $600 million contribution similar to the one Bank of America is offering for the Las Vegas stadium.
The NFL says it is reviewing the letter. The league is expected to vote on the Las Vegas move at its annual owners meetings that start Sunday in Phoenix.
Associated Press
