Auto Racing
Larson fastest in practice; Harvick the man to beat
KANSAS CITY, Kan. – Kyle Larson was fastest in the final practice at Kansas Speedway on Saturday, though it was Kevin Harvick who confirmed his favorite status for Sunday’s Sprint Cup race.
Harvick, who won from the pole in last year’s Chase race, again will start on the pole after shattering his own Kansas track record in Friday’s qualifying. Harvick had a quick lap of 189.607 in final practice, just off the pace set by Larson midway through Happy Hour.
The points reset among the 12 drivers who advanced to the three-race “contender” phase of the Chase, which will begin with Kansas and will continue at Charlotte and Talladega.
Busch extends his record Nationwide wins to 69
KANSAS CITY, Kan. – Kyle Busch raced his sixth NASCAR Nationwide Series victory of the year Saturday, making a late pass on Kevin Harvick and holding on at Kansas Speedway.
Busch, also the winner last week at Dover, extended his series-record victory total to 69.
Harvick pulled away at the final restart with 40 laps to go, but Busch got around him with 20 to go and won by 0.767 seconds.
Chase Elliott tightened his hold on the points lead with four races to go, finishing 10th after avoiding a collision near the three-quarter mark in the 200-lap, 300-mile race.
Regan Smith, who came into the race 26 points behind Elliott, crashed in practice Saturday morning and finished 22nd in a backup car.
F1 runner-up Rosberg wins Japanese Grand Prix pole
SUZUKA, Japan – Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg claimed pole position Saturday for the Japanese Grand Prix, beating teammate Lewis Hamilton and putting himself in good position to regain the Formula One championship lead.
Rosberg claimed his eighth pole of the season with a time of 1 minute, 32.506 seconds at Suzuka, 0.197 seconds ahead of Hamilton, who was below his best all day, having crashed in morning practice.
With five races left, Hamilton leads Rosberg by three points in the overall title race – 241 vs. 238.
Vettel’s wings take flight from Red Bull to Ferrari
SUZUKA, Japan – Four-time defending Formula One champion Sebastian Vettel will leave Red Bull at the end of the season and is expected to soon announce a deal with Ferrari.
Red Bull immediately named a replacement, promoting Daniil Kvyat from its associated team Toro Rosso to join Daniel Ricciardo in a youthful 2015 lineup. Current Ferrari drivers Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen both are under contract with the Italian team for next season, but Alonso has been in talks with the team about his future; McLaren looms as the likely destination for Alonso should he leave Ferrari.
Basketball
Spain and the U.S. women will play for worlds title
ISTANBUL – Tina Charles scored 18 points, and Maya Moore added 16 to help the United States beat Australia 82-70 on Saturday night in the semifinals of the women’s world championship.
The U.S. will face Spain in the gold-medal game Sunday. Spain beat host Turkey 66-56 for its first trip to the championship game. The Spanish team won a bronze medal at the 2010 worlds.
The U.S. won its first four games of the tournament by an average of almost 48 points but couldn’t put pesky Australia away until the fourth quarter.
After failing to win a medal at the 2010 worlds, Australia will face host Turkey in the third-place game.
Associated Press
