Auto Racing
Dillon edges Hornish for Nationwide title
HOMESTEAD, Fla. – Austin Dillon won the NASCAR Nationwide Series championship, holding off Sam Hornish Jr. in a wild season finale Saturday.
Sprint Cup regular Brad Keselowski won the race after moving up 10 spots in the final few laps.
Dillon, driving the famed No. 3 for his grandfather, Richard Childress, held off Hornish by three points in the points standings.
Hornish looked as if he would overcome an eight-point deficit for much of the 200-lap race, but a lengthy caution late posed problems. Hornish dropped from third to ninth on the final restart with five laps to go, ending his chances at getting a title in what could be his final NASCAR race.
Vettel usurps Webber for another pole
AUSTIN, Texas – Once again, Sebastian Vettel got the better of Red Bull teammate and rival Mark Webber.
Vettel’s late surge in qualifying allowed him to take the pole position from Webber for Sunday’s U.S. Grand Prix. That puts the four-time world champion in the prime spot to go after a record eighth consecutive victory this season and a title that escaped him last year.
Webber appeared set to earn his third pole position in the last four races until Vettel lapped the Circuit of the Americas in 1 minute, 36.338 seconds, pushing the Australian into second.
Tennis
Czechs win doubles, lead Serbs 2-1
BELGRADE, Serbia – The Czech Republic is one win from winning a second consecutive Davis Cup.
The defending champions defeated Serbia in doubles for a 2-1 lead in the Davis Cup final Saturday when Tomas Berdych and Radek Stepanek beat Nenad Zimonjic and Ilija Bozoljac 6-2, 6-4, 7-6 (4). The victory by the Czech pair on the indoor hard court at Belgrade Arena improved their Davis Cup doubles record to 14-1.
Berdych will play Novak Djokovic, who is on a 23-match winning run, in the first reverse singles Sunday. The final could be decided when Stepanek likely meets Cup rookie Dusan Lajovic in the final match of the best-of-five series.
World Cup Skiing
18-year-olds go 1-4 in the women’s slalom
LEVI, Finland – Mikaela Shiffrin sent an unmistakable message leading to the Sochi Olympics: The 18-year-old American easily won the World Cup slalom opener Saturday, beating reigning Olympic champion Maria Hoefl-Riesch of Germany by more than a second.
Shiffrin, the slalom world champion, led by half a second after the first run and raced seamlessly at the top of the hill in the second to extend her advantage. She overcame a mistake near the end to finish in a combined time of 1 minute, 55.07 seconds.
Hoefl-Riesch, tied for third place after the first run, skied a nearly flawless second run but still finished runner-up, 1.06 seconds behind. Tina Maze of Slovenia, last year’s overall World Cup champion who struggled in the giant slalom opener in Soelden last month, was third, 1.61 back.
Another 18-year-old, Christina Ager of Austria, finished fourth in her first career World Cup start. Ager started with bib No. 53 but was fifth after the first run – in part because of favorable wind – and then missed the podium by just 0.07 seconds.
Associated Press
