A Sports Filled Weekend

The finish was so close that no one, in the immediate aftermath, knew who had won. TV showed the replay, photos were examined, and Denny Hamlin was declared the winner of the Daytona 500 on Sunday in the narrowest finish in the history of The Great American Race.

Hamlin, a first-time winner of the Daytona 500, edged Martin Truex Jr. by ten hundredths of a second – or about a foot in distance – for the title. This marked the first time in 23 years that Joe Gibbs Racing had won NASCAR’s season-kickoff race.

“I knew it was really close,” Truex said. “I didn’t think either way, just said, ‘Man that was really close.’ I have a feeling I’ll be seeing a picture of that (finish) for a long time.”

Golf

Bubba Watson birdied two of the final three holes to earn a win by one stroke over Adam Scott and James Kokrak at the Northern Trust Open in Los Angeles. Watson had set a career goal of winning 10 tournaments and now has bagged his ninth.

College Basketball

No. 1 Villanova beat Butler 77-67 on Saturday, while No. 3 Oklahoma held off pesky West Virginia 76-62. No. 5 North Carolina laid a beating on No. 11 Miami, 96-71. In Sunday’s action, No. 6 Maryland staved off stubborn Michigan 86-82. No. 21 SMU topped East Carolina 74-63.

ElseWhere

Playing outdoors in a Stadium Series game, the Minnesota Wild defeated the Chicago Blackhawks 6-1 in the NHL’s first outdoor hockey game in Minnesota. The game at TCF Bank Stadium at the University of Minnesota drew 50,426 fans. … Anthony Davis scored a club-record 59 points and added 20 rebounds as the NBA’s New Orleans Pelicans defeated the Detroit Pistons 111-106. Davis joined Shaquille O’Neal and Chris Webber as the only NBA players with 50 points and 20 rebounds in a game since 1983 – not bad company. … Former Dallas Cowboys running back Joseph Randle was arrested for the fifth time in 17 months. He was booked into the Sedgwick County (Kansas) Jail at 8:03 early Sunday on charges of aggravated battery, possession of hallucinogens/marijuana and criminal damage to property. Bond was set at $100,000. … The United States Women’s National Team beat Canada 2-0 at the CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying Championship final. Both teams had already qualified for 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro this summer.
 
 
Post By: Larry Weisman, a longtime sportswriter for USA TODAY, blogs for Twistity.com. Follow him on Twitter @MrLarryWeisman