Auto Racing
TALLADEGA, Ala. — Joey Logano grabbed a critical win to give Team Penske one car in the next round of NASCAR’s playoffs. Denny Hamlin edged Austin Dillon for the final spot in the field on a tiebreaker Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway.
Logano wasn’t in a must-win situation, but the victory gave him a guaranteed slot on a day when the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship field was cut from 12 to eight drivers.
Engine troubles for Martin Truex Jr. and Penske driver Brad Keselowski counted for two of the eliminations, and the race came down to a late battle for the final transfer spot between Hamlin and Dillon.
Hamlin finished third and Dillon was ninth. They ended the round tied in points, but the eighth and final slot went to Hamlin on a tiebreaker.
AUSTIN, Texas — Lewis Hamilton got the victory he needed to keep his Formula One championship hopes alive, winning the U.S. Grand Prix for the fourth time in five years Sunday.
Hamilton cut Mercedes teammate and championship leader Nico Rosberg’s points lead to 26 with three races to go. Rosberg finished second ahead of Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo to maintain a relatively comfortable cushion over Hamilton in the title chase.
Rosberg doesn’t have to win any of the final three races to get his first career Formula One championship, even if Hamilton wins all of them. Two more seconds and a third place will wrap it up.
Golf
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — Justin Thomas completed a fairytale return to the CIMB Classic with a successful title defense after eight birdies in the final round Sunday earned him a three-shot victory over closest rival Hideki Matsuyama.
The American did not match his record tournament score of 26-under 262 in 2015, but still finished with an impressive 23 under for only his second PGA Tour title.
Skiing
SOELDEN, Austria — Alexis Pinturault of France and Marcel Hirscher of Austria finished 1-2 in the first run of the season-opening World Cup giant slalom on Sunday.
Pinturault led the defending overall champion by 0.17 seconds, with Justin Murisier of Switzerland another 0.03 behind in third.
Pinturault and Hirscher each won four GS races last season, while the Austrian captured the season title in the discipline.
SOELDEN, Austria — For once, Ted Ligety could live with finishing fifth in an event he had won four times in the previous five years.
At least he’s back racing again.
The Olympic and world giant slalom champion returned to the Alpine skiing World Cup on Sunday, nine months after tearing the ACL in his right knee in a training accident.
In 14th place and 1.49 seconds off the lead after the opening run, Ligety vastly improved in the second and climbed nine spots in the traditional first race of the season on a mountain glacier in the Austrian Alps.
The knee injury occurred in Germany in January. After his season got off to a strong start by winning in Soelden and coming runner-up in a super-G in Beaver Creek, Colorado, in early December, the physical troubles took their toll and he failed to finish most races.
The training crash then caused the first season-ending injury in his 13-year-old career.
Associated Press
