Auto Racing
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Dale Earnhardt Jr. will miss the rest of the NASCAR season as he continues to recover from a concussion.
NASCAR’s most popular driver has already missed six races while undergoing treatment at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Sports Medicine Concussion Program and in Charlotte.
Jeff Gordon and Alex Bowman will continue to share seat time in the No. 88 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports. Gordon will drive four races, while Bowman will finish the year with eight more starts.
Cycling
URDAX, Spain – Valerio Conti of Italy successfully broke away Friday to win the Spanish Vuelta’s long 13th stage, while Nairo Quintana kept his overall lead.
Conti, riding for Lampre-Merida, separated from a small group of escapees and rode alone to finish the hilly 213.4-kilometer (132.6-mile) route in 5 hours, 29 minutes, 4 seconds.
The stage started in Bilbao and ended in Urdax after a brief dip into France.
Quintana has a 54-second advantage over Chris Froome heading into Saturday’s daunting 196-kilometer (121.7-mile) course through the Pyrenees.
Golf
NORTON, Mass. – Ryan Moore and James Hahn each shot a 6-under 65 to share the lead Friday at the Deutsche Bank Championship on a day when no one was too far away.
The scoring was so consistently good at the TPC Boston that after one round, 37 players were separated by three shots.
As usual, there were more Ryder Cup implications.
J.B. Holmes, Jim Furyk and Daniel Berger were among those at 67, all trying to make an impression to get one of three captain’s picks that Davis Love III makes in 10 days.
NFL
SAN JOSE, Calif. – The union for police officers who work San Francisco home games says its members may boycott policing the stadium if the 49ers don’t discipline Colin Kaepernick for refusing to stand during the national anthem.
A letter sent to the 49ers from the Santa Clara Police Officers Association was obtained Friday by KNTV-TV, the NBC affiliate in San Jose. It says that if the team “fails to take action to stop this type of inappropriate behavior it could result in police officers choosing not to work at your facilities.”
The quarterback has refused to stand for the anthem at the team’s preseason games in protest of issues including racial injustice and police brutality. He said he plans to continue into the regular season.
Soccer
Matt Besler scored his first international goal just hours after the birth of his daughter, 17-year-old Christian Pulisic added two late strikes and the United States routed St. Vincent and the Grenadines 6-0 on Friday to move into prime position to advance to the final round of World Cup qualifying.
Bobby Wood scored in the 28th minute, Besler doubled the lead in the 32nd and Jozy Altidore converted a penalty kick in the 43rd as the Americans built a 3-0 halftime lead at the Arnos Vale cricket ground in St. Vincent.
Pulisic and Sacha Kljestan entered in the second half and combined for three goals.
The 26th-ranked United States (3-1-1) moved into first place in Group C on goal difference over Trinidad and Tobago (3-0-1), which hosted Guatemala (2-2) later Friday.
Associated Press
