NASCAR-DAYTONA-GORDON
Fans shower Gordon with praise before final Daytona race
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) β As rain delayed his final race at Daytona International Speedway, four-time NASCAR champion Jeff Gordon was showered with cheers during driver introductions Sunday.
Speedway officials handed out thousands of placards commemorating Gordon’s milestones at Daytona, dating to his victory in a Daytona 500 qualifying race in 1993. By the time he was introduced in front of the grandstands near Turn 1 more than two decades later, many of those cards were soggy from the rain.
That didn’t dampen the enthusiasm of some fans as Gordon walked on stage without an umbrella. Rain-soaked fans cheered while waving the commemorative cards.
Gordon, a three-time Daytona 500 winner, announced in January that he will retire from fill-time racing and become part of Fox’s broadcasting crew in 2016.
NASCAR-CONFEDERATE FLAG
NASCAR fans defend, display Confederate flags at Daytona
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) β Fans at Daytona International Speedway defended and displayed their Confederate flags.
At NASCAR’s first race in the South since the racing series and its tracks urged fans to no longer wave the banner, dozens of Confederate flags were scattered throughout the vast infield.
The first motorhome inside the Turn 4 tunnel has one flying high above it, and it doesn’t take long to reach double figures when counting them on a stroll through the infield. They’re on clothing, coolers and cars, and even tattooed on skin.
NASCAR took a stance on the Confederate flag after last month’s South Carolina church massacre. The series stopped short of banning fans from displaying the flag at its events, but Daytona and 29 other tracks asked fans to refrain from flying them.
Not everyone obliged.
PHILLIES-BRAVES
Phillies beat Braves 4-0 in 10th to stop 6-game skid
ATLANTA (AP) β Ryan Howard hit a tiebreaking sacrifice with the bases loaded in the 10th inning, and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Atlanta Braves 4-0 Sunday to stop a six-game losing streak.
Odubel Herrera singled off Nick Masset (2-2) leading off the 10th and broke for second when Cesar Hernandez lined a single into left field for his third hit. Masset walked Mikael Franco, loading the bases, and Howard’s fly ball to right field off left-hander Dana Eveland scored Herrera.
Carlos Ruiz hit a two-run double to off rookie Jake Brigham and scored on a single by Freddy Galvis.
Luis Garcia (3-3) pitched out of a first-and-third, one-out jam in the ninth. With left fielder Cody Asche positioned beside second base in a five-man infield, Pedro Ciriaco flied to Herrera in shallow center. Asche returned to his normal position, and pinch-hitter Juan Uribe struck out.
STORM-DREAM
McCoughtry leads Dream over Storm 72-64
ATLANTA (AP) β Angel McCoughtry scored 23 points and the Atlanta Dream held off the Seattle Storm 72-64 on Sunday.
Tiffany Hayes, returning to the Dream (5-6) along with Aneika Henry after the pair missed five games while playing for Azerbaijan in a 3-on-3 tournament in Europe, added 12 points.
Jewell Loyd scored 12 points for Seattle (3-9), which has lost seven of its last eight. Alysha Clark, Ramu Tokashiki and Sue Bird added 11 each. Bird was just 4 of 15 shooting while leading scorer Crystal Langhorne was limited to five points.
The Storm, trailing by 15 late in the third quarter, rallied to within 63-62 on Clark’s 3-pointer with 2:11 left. But McCoughtry turned in a three-point play and Sancho Lyttle, who grabbed 15 rebounds, had a pair of steals which led to four Dream free throws in the final 21 seconds as Atlanta finished on a 7-2 run.
The Dream announced before the game that they had traded guard Samantha Logic to San Antonio for the Silver Stars’ 2016 second-round pick. Logic, selected No. 10 overall in this year’s draft, appeared in four games, averaging 0.8 points.
GREENBRIER CLASSIC
Danny Lee wins Greenbrier Classic in 4-man playoff
WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.Va. (AP) β Danny Lee parred the second hole of a four-man playoff to win The Greenbrier Classic on Sunday for his first PGA Tour victory.
The South Korean-born New Zealander earned $1.2 million and became the ninth first-time winner on the tour this season.
Lee, David Hearn, Kevin Kisner and Robert Streb were tied at 13 under after four rounds on the Old White TPC course in West Virginia.
Lee and Hearn both made birdie putts on the first playoff hole on the par-3 18th, eliminating Streb and Kisner.
Hearn then drove behind a tree on the par-5 17th and made bogey. Lee reached the green in three shots and two-putted for par.
It marked the third playoff in the tournament’s six-year history. A week ago, Bubba Watson won the Travelers Championship in a playoff.
