Auto Racing
Gordon and Keselowski are a strong 1-2 in Loudon, N.H.
LOUDON, N.H. – Jeff Gordon denied Brad Keselowski’s shot at a perfect weekend with a late run in the final practice Saturday at New Hampshire that put him at the top of the chart at 135.357 mph.
Keselowski had the fastest practice speed Friday, won the pole, and topped the first practice chart Saturday. Keselowski and Gordon finished 1-2, respectively, in the last two Sprint Cup races. They reversed the order headed into the second Chase for the Sprint Cup championship race Sunday.
Keselowski is coming off consecutive victories at Richmond and the Chase for the Sprint Cup opener last week at Chicagoland. He swept the Cup and Nationwide races at New Hampshire in July. He also can become the first Ford driver to win three consecutive Cup races since Rusty Wallace in June 1994. The 2012 champion, Keselowski has stamped himself as an early favorite to win it all again.
Chase drivers took the top seven spots: Kevin Harvick was third, followed by Joey Logano, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jimmie Johnson and Matt Kenseth, respectively.
Gaughan goes three wide to shock Nationwide field
SPARTA, Ky. – Brendan Gaughan surged past rookies Ty Dillon and Chase Elliott in a wild three-wide run after a final restart for a hard-earned victory in Saturday night’s 300-mile Nationwide Series race at Kentucky Speedway.
Dillon and Elliott initially battled for the lead on Lap 192 before Gaughan’s No. 62 Chevrolet rocketed forward on the outside to make it three abreast, getting past both drivers a couple of laps later, with Brian Scott in tow. Gaughan went on to his second career victory by .878 seconds over Scott, followed by Dillon, Elliott and Regan Smith in a top-five sweep by Chevys.
Gaughan’s surprising finish denied Dillon’s quest for a dominant victory after he started on the pole and led 155 laps. Dillon seemed destined to fight Elliott in the closing laps, but Gaughan, who led 22 laps, stayed within reach and used a great restart to snatch the lead and the win.
2nd-place Hamilton beats 1st-place Rosberg to pole
SINGAPORE – The margin was closer than ever, and their rivals a tougher challenge, yet the outcome was the same as usual Saturday, as Mercedes locked out the front row for the Singapore Grand Prix, with Lewis Hamilton edging Nico Rosberg by a mere seven thousandths of a second.
Hamilton claimed his sixth pole of the season with a time of 1 minute, 45.681 seconds in the qualifying session, and those few yards of advantage between first and second on the grid could prove crucial in Sunday’s night race on a tight and twisty Marina Bay circuit with few passing opportunities.
Rosberg leads Hamilton by 22 points in the overall title race, 238 to 216.
Red Bull driver Daniel Ricciardo, who is the only genuine threat to the Mercedes pair for the Formula One championship, qualified third – less than two tenths of a second off Hamilton. Ricciardo was ahead of his teammate and three-time defending Singapore champion Sebastian Vettel.
Basketball
Ogwumike’s 16 points lead the U.S. to a 24-point victory
PARIS – Nneka Ogwumike scored 16 points, and Jantel Lavender added 14 to help the United States’ women’s national team beat China 99-75 on Saturday in an exhibition game.
The U.S. scored nine of the first 11 points and led 27-10 after the first quarter, thanks to Tina Charles and Diana Taurasi, who combined for 19 points in the period.
The Americans, who will play France on Sunday, extended the advantage to 51-24 at the half and never looked back in the second half.
Lavender made all seven of her shots, and Ogwumike only missed one of her eight attempts from the field for the U.S., which shot 53 percent from the field.
Wen Lu and Liting Zhang each had 10 for China.
The two teams will meet again in pool play at the world championships in Turkey.
Associated Press
