MOTOR SPORTS
Buescher wins Daytona
Chris Buescher won the NASCAR Cup Series regular-season finale at Daytona International Speedway, eliminating fan favorite Chase Elliott from the playoffs and sending Bubba Wallace into the postseason. Buescher and teammate Brad Keselowski finished 1-2 for RFK Racing as Buescher won for the third time in the last five races. Because Buescher already had won, Wallace got the 16th and final playoff spot on points. Drivers had to regroup in the waning laps after Ryan Preece flipped about a dozen times and came to a halt in his mangled No. 41 Ford. The Stewart-Haas Racing driver was able to get out with help before emergency personnel put him on a gurney and into an ambulance for a quick trip to the infield care center. He was later transported to a hospital for further evaluation. Preece made contact with SHR teammate Chase Briscoe, and his car started flipping when he slid onto the infield grass. The crash sent the race into overtime. Buescher was out front for the restart with two laps to go, and Keselowski stayed in line to keep them 1-2 at the checkered flag.
Kurt Busch retires
Kurt Busch said goodbye to Cup Series racing on the same stage where he celebrated one of his most memorable NASCAR victories. It was an emotional farewell for sure. Busch, 45, held back tears as he announced his retirement Saturday at Daytona International Speedway. The 2004 series champion and 2017 Daytona 500 winner called it quits mostly because he's been unable to shake lingering effects of a significant concussion that rocked stock car racing a year ago. "My body is just having a battle with Father Time," Busch said. "I've had arthritis ever since I can remember. My gout has flared up where I can barely walk in some days. Just pushing to get through physical therapy and continuing to work out." Busch joins a short list of drivers in recent years whose bodies helped prompt decisions to walk away: Dale Earnhardt Jr. (concussions) and four-time champion Jeff Gordon (lower back). Busch said he was taking prerace shots last summer -- before his concussion -- "just so I could move my knee and move my feet." His younger brother, two-time Cup Series champion Kyle Busch, sat at the back of Daytona's media center during the announcement.
Allgaier wins a close one
Justin Allgaier won the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Daytona International Speedway in double overtime Friday night for his first victory in 26 starts at the famed track. The 37-year-old Allgaier had finished second at Daytona twice and even had the lead on the final lap in the season opener in February. He looked like he might have to settle for another runner-up, but he held off Sheldon Creed by 0.005 seconds after several late crashes led to two overtime restarts and 10 extra laps. It was the fourth-closest finish in the history of the second-tier series. Allgaier took JR Motorsports and team owner Dale Earnhart Jr. to victory lane. It's a familiar spot for Earnhardt. Not so much for Allgaier, who was winless in four Cup Series starts at Daytona.
HORSE RACING
Travers winner: Arcangelo
Arcangelo won the $1.25 million Travers by a length at Saratoga on Saturday, giving trainer Jena Antonucci her second major Grade 1 victory after the colt won the Belmont Stakes. "I guess the more this horse does, the more we're going to keep writing some history," Antonucci said. The day was marred by the deaths of two horses, including New York Thunder in the $500,000 H. Allen Jerkens Memorial. Ridden by Javier Castellano, Arcangelo ran 1 1/4 miles over a muddy track in 2 minutes, 2.23 seconds, and paid $7.40, $5.30 and $3.90. Castellano won his seventh Travers. The 45-year-old jockey won the Kentucky Derby with Mage in May and then the Belmont with Arcangelo.
BASEBALL
Orioles place reliever on IL
All-Star reliever Felix Bautista was placed on the 15-day injured list Saturday by the Baltimore Orioles, who can only hope his ailing elbow won't keep him sidelined for the rest of the season. The injury occurred Friday night in Baltimore's 5-4 victory over Colorado. Bautista retired the first two batters in the ninth inning and had a 2-2 count on Michael Toglia before the right-hander walked off the mound in obvious discomfort following his 12th pitch. The 28-year-old has 110 strikeouts and just 26 walks in 61 innings over 56 games.
BASKETBALL
U.S. wins Cup opener
Paolo Banchero scored 21 points off the bench, Anthony Edwards added 14 and the U.S. shook off a slow start to beat New Zealand 99-72 on Saturday in Manila in the Basketball World Cup opener for both teams. Jaren Jackson Jr. and Austin Reaves (Cedar Ridge) each scored 12 for the Americans, who remained unbeaten in six games this summer -- the first five of them exhibitions. This game was the first that counted for the Americans, who are trying to win the World Cup for the sixth time and erase the memory of finishing seventh in FIBA's biggest tournament four years ago in China. It wasn't easy for the pre-tournament favorites: Their lead was only 12 with 2:01 to go in the third before Banchero hit three-pointers on back-to-back possessions to give the U.S. its biggest edge of the night to that point, and the Americans kept control from there. Reuben Te Rangi led New Zealand with 15 points.
Hornets, Washington reach deal
The Charlotte Hornets have agreed to a three-year, $48 million contract with starting forward P.J. Washington, a person familiar with the situation told The Associated Press. The 25-year-old Washington was a restricted free agent and his new deal prevents him from hitting the unrestricted free agent market next summer. The 12th pick in the 2019 draft, Washington has spent all four seasons with the Hornets following his career at Kentucky. He is coming off a season in which he started 73 games for Charlotte and averaged a career-high 15.7 points to go along with 4.9 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.1 blocks per game.
GYMNASTICS
Hong earns men's title
Asher Hong won his first men's national gymnastics title on Saturday night in San Jose, Calif., posting a two-day total of 170.930 to edge college teammate Khoi Young and Fred Richard. The 19-year-old Hong, a sophomore at Stanford, is the first teenager to win a men's all-around national championship since John Orozco in 2012. Hong, who finished third behind two-time national champion Brody Malone a year ago, led after the opening night on Thursday but fell behind early in the finals after a so-so performance on the pommel horse.
TENNIS
Tormo claims Cleveland title
Sara Sorribes Tormo of Spain, who received a lucky loser berth into the tournament, captured her second career singles title with a 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 victory over fourth-seeded Ekaterina Alexandrova of Russia at Tennis in the Land on Saturday. Tormo, ranked No. 95 in the world, overcame a 4-2 deficit in the second set and trailed 4-3 in the third before storming back. She broke No. 22 Alexandrova twice to close out each set, finishing the 2 hour and 27 minute match on her fourth match point at the WTA 250 event.