ARAB TIMES, MONDAY, JUNE 28, 2021 SPORTS 14

Nemechek claims Truck race Bowman ‘zips past’ Larson after late fl at tire and wins at Pocono

LONG POND, Pa., June 27, (AP): for consecutive wins set in 2007. Alex Bowman made it six straight Bowman won the first of two Cup wins for Hendrick Motorsports, races this weekend at Pocono. when teammate Kyle Larson’s Larson faded to ninth. Chevrolet blew a tire on the final lap, “Disbelief, still,” Larson said. and he took the checkered flag at Po- “Hate that we didn’t get another win. cono Raceway for his third Cup win It would have been cool to win five of the season. in a row. I felt something in the mid- Larson had won three straight dle of the tunnel. I wasn’t sure what Cup races and was in prime position it was yet. It finally kind of shred- to take this one at Pocono when he ded halfway through that little short passed Bowman with three laps left shoot there.” in the race. Larson was maybe a mile John Hunter Nemechek won the away from becoming the first driver Truck race earlier Saturday to kick since former Hendrick driver Jimmie off a packed Pocono schedule. The Johnson in 2007 to win four consec- Xfinity Series races Sunday fol- utive Cup races. Instead, a blown left lowed by the second Cup race. Po- front tire on the last corner of the last cono the site of the only NASCAR lap knocked Larson out of conten- doubleheader this season (325 miles tion and Bowman stunningly made Saturday; 350 Sunday). England captain Eoin Morgan holds the trophy after England won the series 3-0 after the third T20 international cricket match between England and Sri the most of his second chance. NASCAR will invert the order Lanka at The Ageas Bowl in Southampton, England, on June 26. (AP) “I hate to win one that way, but of the top-20 hell, yeah, I’ll take it,” Bowman said. finishers for the start of England thump Sri Lanka in 3rd T20 and sweep series Sunday’s race. CAR RACING Chris Buescher England sealed a clean sweep in the Twenty20 made 51 off 43 deliveries, put on 105 in 11.4 England was collectively excellent with the ball, starts on the series against Sri Lanka with a thumping 89-run overs, before Dushmantha Chameera’s career- David Willey taking 3-27 while fellow left-armer victory at the Rose Bowl. Sam Curran collected two wickets. Bowman, who recently signed pole. The bot- tom 18 finish- Dawid Malan returned to form with a classy 76 CRICKET Sri Lanka started the day by winning the toss a two-year contract extension at from 48 balls after single-figure scores in the back- for the third time and this time handed over to Hendrick, took his turn to keep the ers will start in to-back wins at Cardiff. With just one fifty in his last Bairstow and Malan after electing to field. team’s hot streak alive. the same spot. seven innings, the world No. 1-ranked T20 bats- best 4-17 restricted England to 180-6. Malan was shoulder-barged to the floor by Larson said he might have run Bowman is man sparkled in a knock containing five fours and Sri Lanka ultimately capitulated to 91 all out in Binura Fernando while attempting a quick single over debris to cause the tire issue. Nemechek in his sixth full four sixes after being promoted to open the batting. 18.5 overs and it lost the series 3-0. and while there were no cross words between Bowman was in the right spot to take season of Cup Jason Roy’s tight hamstring led to a batting In what has been a recurrent theme of the them, the England batsman clipped the left-arm advantage and win for the third time racing and his fourth with Hendrick. reshuffle and Malan and Jonny Bairstow, who series, Sri Lanka lacked scoring options and seamer off his toes for the first six. (AP) in his last 10 races. He never had more than one win in a “I’m kind of in shock,” Bowman season. He wasted little time in the said. “I don’t know what to say.” No. 48 Chevrolet validating Hen- For team owner Rick Hendrick, drick’s decision to extend his deal the wins keep coming. for another two seasons. Verstappen dominates Styrian GP Bowman started the streak in Kyle Busch was second, followed May at Dover and Chase Elliott by William Byron, Denny Hamlin followed the next week at Texas. and Ryan Blaney. Larson then ripped off three straight Larson starts Sunday in a backup Red Bull and Mercedes occupy top four points victories - and the $1 million car and will drop to the rear of the All-Star race for four wins, total - field. He’s scheduled to visit with all while Hendrick Motorsports be- students from the Urban Youth Rac- came the winningest organization in ing School, the Philly-based pro- SPIELBERG, Austria, “It was a bit of a lonely race, really. gram that creates opportunities in I was trying to keep up with those guys NASCAR history. All eyes were on June 27, (AP): Formula but the speed they have... They obvi- Larson as he tried to match Johnson racing for minorities and extended One championship leader ously made some big improvements for the longest winning streak this an olive branch last year to Larson Max Verstappen dominat- over the last couple of races,” Hamil- century. when he was suspended for using ton said. “It was impossible to keep up. Hendrick has nine wins overall a racial slur while racing online in ed the Styrian Grand Prix I don’t know where we are losing all this season and tied its team record April 2020. on Sunday to win back-to- this time.” back races for the first time Losing 0.25 seconds on Verstappen on the straights left Hamilton with few in his career. options. He pushed and reduced the With a clean start from pole, deficit on some laps, but then had to be the Red Bull driver denied Lewis more cautious on others to protect his Hamilton an early attack and he tires from overheating. remained ahead for the entire race, Racing on its home track in the Aus- trian Alps, Red Bull stretched its win- MOTOR RACING ning streak to four races, as Hamilton’s wait for his 99th career victory reached the seven-week mark. Red Bull driver Max Verstappen of the Netherlands raises the trophy after The last time Hamilton went with- beating his Mercedes rival by more winning the Styrian Formula One Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring racetrack out a win in four straight races came than 35 seconds. in Spielberg, Austria, on June 27. (AP) more than three years ago, spanning Hamilton’s teammate Valtteri Bot- the last three races of 2017 and the first tas finished third ahead of Sergio Perez of Hamilton after 10 laps. pion in the drivers’ standings to 18 three of the following season. as Red Bull and Mercedes occupied “Straight away I felt good balance in points after eight races. A race win is Red Bull squandered a potential 1-3 the top four places for the second con- the car,” he said. “It was good to man- worth 25 points. finish with a slow pit stop for Perez, secutive time. age the tires basically from the start. Left with no chance to overtake Ver- which lasted for nearly five seconds “The car was on fire,” Verstappen We just kept on going, trying to hit our stappen, Hamilton pitted again in the due to an issue with the left-rear tire. said over the team radio after crossing lap times and that worked really well penultimate lap and successfully beat Williams driver George Russell, the finish line. today.” the fastest lap time held by Perez at who is a candidate for Mercedes from Verstappen won a few tenths from It was Verstappen’s 14th career win that time, earning him a bonus point 2022 if Bottas were to leave the team, Alex Bowman, (center), driver of car 48, celebrates with his crew after win- Hamilton in most of the laps and was and fourth of the season, increasing his though the deficit to Verstappen grew had to retire after two-thirds of the race ning the NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Pocono Raceway, on June 26, already more than three seconds ahead lead over the seven-time world cham- to over half a minute. with a power-unit issue. in Long Pond, Pa. (AP) Fiji men & New Zealand women Gymnasts Malone, Moldauer punch tickets to Tokyo Olympics perfect in Oceania Sevens event 13th FIG World Cup concludes in Qatar TOWNSVILLE, Australia, June 27, Zealand beat Fiji 27-12, Australia (AP): Defending men’s Olympic defeated the Oceania Barbarians DOHA, June 27, (Agencies): The 13th spot on the U.S. Olympic men’s gym- The victory, on top of the NCAA heading to Japan and beyond. champion Fiji and the New Zealand 32-7 and Fiji beat the Barbarians FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Cup nastics team on Saturday, earning an crown the Stanford junior won in April , the 2017 national women’s side were both undefeated 14-12. which was held at Aspire Dome in Qatari automatic berth on the five-man team and the national title he won earlier champion and a three-time world in six matches at the Oceania Sev- The Fijian men’s side concluded capital Doha over four days concluded. by capturing the Olympic Trials with this month cemented Malone’s status championship team member, is head- ens tournament, the last major tune- its perfect tournament with a 33-5 The Qatar Gymnastics Federation a two-day all-around total of 171.600. as the leader of the men’s program ing to Tokyo next month too after up for the leading teams heading win over the Oceania Barbarians on (QGF) said in a statement that Japan’s finishing runner-up to Malone while into the Tokyo Olympics beginning Sunday, followed by a 17-7 win over Hidenobu Yonekura won the gold medal also ranking in the top three on four next month. New Zealand. In other Sunday men’s of the men’s contest and qualified events. for the Tokyo Olympics. Turkey’s Fer- The two other spots will be decided Despite playing at home, Olympic matches, New Zealand beat Australia hat Arican grabbed the gold medal of champion Australia women lost to 17-5 and Australia defeated the Bar- by a selection committee later Satur- the competition and Cypriot day afternoon, though six-time nation- both New Zealand and Fiji and fin- barians 28-12. Marios Georgiou snatched the gold med- al champion and two-time Olympian ished with a 3-3 record. al of the category. and seem The Australian women lost 34-5 RUGBY In women’s competitions, Ukrainian like virtual locks after steady and oc- and 26-5 to New Zealand in their athlete Diana Varinska came first in the casionally spectacular performances matches. Australia beat New Zealand completion and Italy’s 24-17 in the gold medal final at Rio. There will be 12 teams each in the 2006 world all-around champion Vanes- GYMNASTICS Australia women’s head coach rugby sevens competition at the To- sa Ferrari won the WAG Exercise John Manenti said he saw some posi- kyo Games, with the men’s tourna- gold medal. tives in the squad’s performance. ment being played from July 26-28 Meanwhile, Brody Malone grew up in inside The Dome at America’s Center. “We worked really hard and made and the women’s from July 29-31. northwest Georgia and spent part of his Malone, however, took his choice them work hard for their tries... we All matches will be played at To- childhood tinkering around as a rodeo out of the selection committee’s hands asked a few questions to them and kyo Stadium, which hosted eight rider before finally committing full-time with a confident and controlled dis- probably probably should have matches during the 2019 Rugby to gymnastics. It’s a decision that’s car- play. He hardly seemed bothered by asked a couple more,” Manenti said. World Cup, including the bronze ried him all the way to the Olympics. Brody Malone competes on the during the men’s U.S. Olym- the stakes, improving his score on five In other women’s matches, New medal final. The 20-year-old locked down a pic Gymnastics Trials, on June 26, in St. Louis. (AP) of six events compared to Day 1.