Recap NASCAR And More From Weekend Sports

There’s a first time for everything, and there’s no telling how good it will feel until it happens.

Chase Elliott, the son of racing Hall of Famer Bill Elliott, collected his first victory in NASCAR’s Monster Energy Cup Series on Sunday at Watkins Glen, N.Y. Chase Elliott battled defending Cup Series champ Martin Truex Jr. valiantly for the final 32 laps, before Truex ran out of fuel and Elliott came home 7.560 seconds ahead, where he too promptly ran out of fuel. Jimmie Johnson nudged Elliott’s car to Victory Lane.

Elliott got his first victory in his 99th start – he’d had eight second-place finishes –and pronounced himself “so thrilled and so emotional.”

NFL:

Preseason play begins in earnest this week. On Saturday night, the Pro Football Hall of Fame enshrined eight new members – contributor Bobby Beathard, linebacker Robert Brazile, safety Brian Dawkins, guard Jerry Kramer, linebacker Ray Lewis, wide receiver Randy Moss, wide receiver Terrell Owens, and linebacker Brian Urlacher.

Golf:

Five straight pars were enough to cement Justin Thomas’ victory on Sunday in the World Golf Championships – Bridgestone Invitational. Thomas finished four shots ahead of Kyle Stanley. Tiger Woods had a terrible weekend, shooting 73 on both Saturday and Sunday to finish in a tie for 31st.

Boxing and MLB:

Trailing on all three scorecards, Eleider “Storm” Alvarez knocked down Sergey Kovalev three times in the seventh round to get the stop and take his light heavyweight world title in Atlantic City, N.J.

The Boston Red Sox scored three times in the bottom of the ninth to tie the game and won it 5-4 in the 10th to sweep a four-game set with the New York Yankees, now known as the Bronx Bummers.

The Los Angeles Dodgers staved off a sweep by the Houston Astros with a 3-2 win that moved them back into a first place tie in the National League West with the Arizona Diamondbacks.

The Atlanta Braves spotted the New York Mets a 3-0 lead and then beat them 5-4 in 10 innings as Nick Markakis hit a solo home run.

Trevor Cahill struck out 10 and the smoking Oakland A’s (33-10 since June 16) beat the Detroit Tigers 6-0. It was Oakland’s sixth straight victory.

 
 
Post By: Larry Weisman, a longtime sportswriter for USA TODAY, blogs for Twistity.com. Follow him on Twitter @MrLarryWeisman