Denny Hamlin wins on a long day at Homestead
By TIM REYNOLDS AP Sports Writer
HOMESTEAD, Fla. (AP) — Denny Hamlin found the magic at Homestead-Miami Speedway, once again. Hamlin went to the lead for the final time with 30 laps left and held off Chase Elliott for his record-tying third NASCAR Cup Series victory at Homestead. Former drivers Tony Stewart and Greg Biffle are the other three-time winners. Hamlin is in the club now, after battling Elliott most of the night. Hamlin raced to his third victory of the season and 40th overall. He opened the season with a victory in the Daytona 500 and won at Darlington last month. At Homestead, he led 137 of 267 laps on the 1 1/2-mile track in Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 11 Toyota, finishing 0.895 ahead of Elliott.

Schauffele leads Colonial over host of stars in tour return
By DOUG FERGUSON AP Golf Writer
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — The PGA Tour has returned after three months because of the pandemic, and it hasn’t taken long for fans to see what they were missing. Xander Schauffele made a 12-foot birdie putt on the last hole for a 66 and a one-shot lead over an All-Star cast at the Charles Schwab Challenge. Among those one shot behind were Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas and U.S. Open champion Gary Woodland. Among the 14 players separated by three shots were Rory McIlroy and Justin Rose. That sets up what should by a dynamic Sunday with no spectators allowed on the course.

Kyle Busch wins trucks race at Homestead
By TIM REYNOLDS AP Sports Writer
MIAMI (AP) — Kyle Busch’s slump wasn’t much of a slump. And it’s over now anyway. Busch won the NASCAR Trucks Series race at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Saturday night, his 58th career win on the circuit and his eighth victory in his last 10 series starts. Busch had to start at the back of the field, then serve a pass-through penalty on top of that, after failing pre-race inspection. But he managed to stay on the lead lap, then worked his way to the front and made it all seem easy.

Earnhardt returns; Burton wins Xfinity race at Homestead
By TIM REYNOLDS AP Sports Writer
MIAMI (AP) — A late caution flag gave Harrison Burton new life, and he took advantage. Burton took the inside line on the way to the lead in the final lap, and held on to win the Xfinity Series race at Homestead-Miami Speedway — denying, among others, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Noah Gragson, who seemed to be in full command with seven laps remaining. Burton, Gragson and Austin Cindric were three-wide going into that last lap, and it was Burton who wound up winning what turned into a wild finish. Cindric got second and Gragson finished third, two spots ahead of Earnhardt — part of his car’s JR Motorsports ownership.

Austin Dillon welcomes baby, will race Sunday at Homestead
HOMESTEAD, Fla. (AP) — Austin Dillon announced Sunday morning that he and his wife Whitney are now parents. The NASCAR driver said in a post on Instagram that Whitney Dillon gave birth to a boy named Ace. Austin Dillon is scheduled to start 16th in the No. 3 car in Sunday’s Cup Series race at Homestead-Miami Speedway. AJ Allmendinger had been on standby to drive if needed, but Dillon indicated in the post that he would get behind the wheel as planned.

Harvick cherishes Atlanta win, looks to help off the track
By PAUL NEWBERRY AP Sports Writer
HAMPTON, Ga. (AP) — Kevin Harvick turned in another dominating run at Atlanta Motor Speedway, cruising to victory over Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr. in the NASCAR Cup race. Competing again in front of empty grandstands, Harvick won for the second time since NASCAR returned from the shutdown caused by the coronavirus pandemic. He added to his victory at Darlington in the first race back. Harvick came into the day having led 1,138 laps on the Atlanta trioval, far more than any other driver in the field. This was more of the same, giving Harvick his third career victory in Atlanta.

Oval master: Allmendinger wins on NASCAR oval for 1st time
By PAUL NEWBERRY AP Sports Writer
HAMPTON, Ga. (AP) — A.J. Allmendinger won a NASCAR oval race for the first time in his long career. Taking advantage of mistakes by the three leaders, the 38-year-old Californian cruised to victory by nearly 2 seconds over pole-sitter Noah Gragson in the Xfinity Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Allmendinger claimed a single victory during more than a decade in the top-level Cup series, and he had three previous Xfinity wins _ all on road courses. Now, he’s filled in a big hole on his resume. Pole-sitter Noah Gragson took the runner-up spot, followed by Justin Haley.

NASCAR underway at Darlington for rare midweek Cup race
DARLINGTON, S.C. (AP) — The first Wednesday race in NASCAR’s Cup Series since 1984 has started after a rain delay of about 90 minutes. The event is the second at Darlington Raceway in four days after racing was suspended March 13 because of the coronavirus pandemic. NASCAR successfully made its return Sunday by using a a strict health protocol and limiting those in attendance to only the most essential for conducting a race. NASCAR used an inversion system based on the results of Sunday night’s race to set the field and winner Kevin Harvick started 20th. Ryan Preece started from the pole.