AUTO RACING
Valtteri Bottas won the Russian Grand Prix after his Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton’s race was ruined by penalties, in front of the largest crowd of the pandemic-hit season.
Hamilton had been looking to match Michael Schumacher’s record of 91 wins in Formula One but had to settle for third behind Bottas and Max Verstappen. Bottas built a sizeable lead over Verstappen with ease and cruised to his first win since the season-opening Austrian Grand Prix.
Hamilton was already under investigation by the stewards when he started the race from pole position. Before the race he twice stopped to perform practice starts at the exit of the pit lane, rather than in the designated area. That eventually earned him two five-second penalties, dropping him as low as 11th at one stage.
NASCAR Xfinity Series: Chase Briscoe routed the field in the playoff opener for his eighth win of the season, the number he’s said should earn him a promotion to NASCAR’s top level.
Briscoe, in a Ford for Stewart-Haas Racing, won all three stages of the Alsco 300 late Saturday night at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, then beat hometown driver Noah Gragson on a late restart to grab control of the race.
NHRA: Two-time defending Top Fuel champion Steve Torrence took the points lead in the AMALIE Motor Oil Gatornationals, beating father Billy in the final round in Gainsville, Florida.
Torrence had a 3.809-second run at 322.11 mph to win for third time this year and 39th overall.