Auto Racing
LAS VEGAS – Martin Truex Jr. passed Brad Keselowski with two laps to go and avoided a last-lap wreck that led to a pit-road brawl and left Kyle Busch bloodied in a wild finish to the NASCAR Cup race Sunday.
An aggressive Joey Logano spun out Busch, sending him spinning down pit road at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Moments later, Busch and Logano tangled, with crew members pulling Busch away as blood ran down his forehead.
Keselowski appeared to be pulling away on a restart when he ran into mechanical problems. Truex shot past and held on to become the first driver to win all three segments in NASCAR Cup’s new stage racing.
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Sebastien Bourdais pulled off a major upset Sunday by driving from last place to win the IndyCar season-opener.
Bourdais made an offseason move to Dale Coyne Racing, convinced he could help turn around the small team. The French driver brought two engineers from his glory days and was determined to recreate his early success.
But few expected it to come Sunday on the temporary street course in St. Pete, the town Bourdais calls home. Team Penske was seeking its fourth consecutive victory in the event. A problem in qualifying meant Bourdais started last in the 21-car field.
Cycling
NICE, France – History cruelly repeated itself for Alberto Contador as the Spaniard missed out on a third Paris-Nice victory by just two seconds on Sunday.
Colombian rider Sergio Henao clung on to his dwindling overnight lead to win the biggest race of his career.
Last year, Contador lost the race by four seconds.
Contador was in third place overnight – 31 seconds behind Henao – heading into the eighth and final stage, which was the third straight day of tough climbing.
Contador came agonizingly close to adding to his wins from 2007 and 2010. He finished the stage in second place behind countryman David De La Cruz and missed out on the crucial extra seconds of time bonus that a stage win would have given him.
FERMO, Italy – World champion Peter Sagan sprinted to another victory in the Tirreno-Adriatico race, while Nairo Quintana retained the overall lead after the fifth stage Sunday.
Sagan, who was also fastest on Friday, edged out Thibaut Pinot and Primoz Roglic on the narrow, cobbled climb to the finish of the 130-mile ride from Rieti to Fermo
Bora-Hansgrohe’s Sagan worked his way back up to the front bunch with 2 kilometers left and easily won out of a group made up largely of riders targeting overall victory.
Several riders were dropped on the short, steep climbs in the second half of the route.
Golf
PALM HARBOR, Fla. – Adam Hadwin of Canada overcame a late double bogey to win the Valspar Championship for his first PGA Tour title and a trip to the Masters.
Hadwin had a two-shot lead with three holes to play when he hit his tee shot into the water on the 16th hole and made double bogey to fall into a tie with Patrick Cantlay.
Down to the final hole at Innisbrook, Hadwin went just over the green against the collar and used the leading edge of his wedge to putt the ball down to a few feet. Cantlay came up short into the bunker, blasted out 15 feet short and missed the par putt.
Associated Press
