Around sports: Kurt Busch dominating in Sprint Cup win at Richmond

RICHMOND, Va. - Kurt Busch was hard to catch once he took the lead and won the rain-delayed NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Richmond International Raceway on Sunday.

Busch led 291 of the 400 laps on the 0.75-mile oval and outran Stewart-Haas Racing teammate Kevin Harvick over the final dozen laps to end a 35-race winless streak.

The race looked much like the Xfinity Series event Friday night in which Denny Hamlin led 248 of 250 laps and only lost the lead during green-flag pit stops. This time, there were actual green-flag lead changes, but only two - when Busch passed Joey Logano after 94 laps to take the lead and when Jamie McMurray passed Busch after 262 laps. Busch regained the lead under caution and never relinquished it.

The driver, who was suspended for three races after being charged with domestic violence in an alleged incident with a former girlfriend, won for the 26th time in his career and secured a spot in the 10-race Chase for the championship.

"It's an unbelievable feeling when you pull deep from within and you go through troubles and you know, when you're accused of something and things go sideways, your personal life doesn't need to affect your business life," Busch said.

Harvick finished second, and Jimmie Johnson rallied from a No. 36 starting spot to grab third.

In other motor sports news:

Josef Newgarden held off hard-charging Graham Rahal in the Indy Grand Prix of Alabama at Birmingham for his first IndyCar Series victory. Rahal finally slipped past Scott Dixon on the final lap after several tries to finish second.

PRO HOCKEY

Wild, Canadiens wrap up series

Minnesota and Montreal won their respective NHL playoff series to advance to the second round:

Zach Parise scored twice to give the Wild a 4-1 at St. Paul, Minn., as St. Louis was ousted in the first round for the third consecutive year.

Carey Price made 43 saves, and Brendan Gallagher scored in the first period as the Canadiens won at Ottawa to eliminate the Senators.

Golf

Rose captures

Zurich Classic

Justin Rose birdied the final two holes to win the Zurich Classic.

Rose, who entered the week ranked ninth in the world, completed a 7-under-par 65 in the rain-delayed third round and closed with a 66 at TPC Louisiana at Avondale for his seventh PGA Tour title.

Playing aggressively on a soggy course, Rose made six birdies in the final round and played the last 66 holes without a bogey. He finished at 22-under 266.

Rose's final two putts from 10 and 131/2 feet allowed him to hold off Cameron Tringale by a stroke. Tringale birdied the 18th for a 65.

In other news:

Lydia Ko won the Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic at Daly City, Calif., for the second consecutive year, beating Morgan Pressel on the second hole of a playoff. Ko, 18, never had the lead until she rolled in a 5-foot birdie putt on the par-5 18th hole for her seventh career victory. She also made birdie on the 18th in regulation for a 2-under 70 to force a playoff. Pressel closed with a 72. She missed three birdie putts on the 18th hole - from 15 feet in regulation, from 10 feet on the first playoff hole and from 8 feet on the second playoff hole.

Joe Durant had a hole-in-one and teamed with Billy Andrade to win the Champions Tour's Bass Pro Shops Legends of Golf at Ridgedale, Mo. Andrade and Durant closed with a 9-under 45 at the par-3 Top of the Rock course. The winners finished at 19-under 159 in the 54-hole event. The Champions Tour moves to The Woodlands Country Club this week for the Insperity Invitational.

Wu Ashun became the first Chinese player to win a European Tour title on home soil when he beat David Howell by one stroke to capture the Volvo China Open at Shanghai. Wu, 29, who plays primarily on the Japan Tour, shot a 1-under 71 to finish at 9-under 279.

COLLEGE BASEBALL

Strong pitching

keeps UH in first

Seth Romero struck out nine batters in six innings, and Aaron Fletcher pitched three innings of scoreless relief to help Houston defeat South Florida 6-2 at Tampa in American Athletic Conference play. Kyle Survance went 3-for-5 and drove in three runs for the Cougars (29-15, 9-6), who are tied for the league lead.

In other games:

Rice held off Western Kentucky 3-2 at Bowling Green, Ky., to sweep their Conference USA series and improve to 29-16 overall and 11-7 in C-USA.

TCU defeated Texas 7-1 at Fort Worth to sweep their Big 12 series and improve to 34-8 and 10-5 in conference play. Texas falls to 22-22 and 8-10.

Pro baseball

Skeeters suffer

their first loss

Matt Packer allowed only two hits in six innings to lead Lancaster to a 6-0 victory over the Skeeters in Atlantic League play at Constellation Field in Sugar Land. It was the first loss of the season for the Skeeters (3-1).

Pro Soccer

Own goal sends

Dash to defeat

Jessica McDonald scored twice as the Dash battled back from a two-goal deficit but conceded a late own goal and lost to Boston 3-2 in a National Women's Soccer League.

MIXED MARTIAL ARTS

Johnson keeps

flyweight crown

Demetrious Johnson retained his UFC flyweight champion title fashion at Montreal on Saturday night, controlling Kyoji Horiguchi for nearly the entire five-round bout before scoring the latest submission win in UFC history - tapping out his opponent with a second left. In the co-main event, Quinton "Rampage" Jackson earned his first UFC win since 2011, scoring a unanimous decision over Brazilian slugger Fabio Maldonado

From Web and wire reports