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KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Denny Hamlin had walked out of Victory Lane after winning a thrilling NASCAR Cup Series duel over Kyle Larson with a last-lap pass at Kansas Speedway on Sunday just in time to hear his crew chief, Chris Gabehart, make a bold proclamation.

“He’s the most talented race car driver in the world,” Gabehart was saying.

Awkward, because Gabehart wasn’t talking about his own driver.

“Tells you what he thinks about me,” Hamlin said with a wry grin.

Gabehart was talking about Larson, who was leading in the closing laps on a sizzling day in the heartland. But it was Hamlin who was better this time. He spent about 30 laps stalking Larson before making a couple of failed attempts at the lead in the closing laps. Finally, heading onto the backstretch on the final one, Hamlin pulled alongside Larson and made the slightest of contact, sending him bumping into the outside wall and giving Hamlin a clear path to the finish line.

The victory ended a 33-race winless drought for Hamlin dating to last year’s Coca-Cola 600. And along with giving Hamlin a record fourth win at Kansas, it gave Joe Gibbs Racing its 400th win overall in NASCAR’s top series.

“I was sideways. He was sideways. I knew it was going to be close whether he could clear me,” Hamlin said. “I was grinding his left side, trying to keep the side-draft as much as I could. It’s such a super-sensitive part and I hooked him at the end.”

Hamlin said he planned to speak with Larson about the finish at some point.

“I was really loose,” Larson said. “He was able to finally get my inside off two. It seemed he was side-drafting me aggressively. I don’t know if he finally got me turned sideways, but turned me into the outside wall and he got the win.”

So what does Gabehart think of his own driver?

“I’m so proud of Denny to work over — in my view — the most talented race car driver in the world,” he said.

Larson finished second and William Byron, who was two laps down for more than 50 laps during the middle portion of the race, rallied to join his Hendrick Motorsports teammate in the top three. Bubba Wallace, who won the fall race at Kansas, was fourth while Ross Chastain rounded out the top five before tempers flew on pit road.

Chastain, who has drawn the ire of many drivers this season with his aggressiveness on the track, found himself in another heated confrontation Sunday. He had gotten into Noah Gragson with about 60 laps to go and sent him for a spin, and Gragson walked up to the Trackhouse Racing driver afterward to make his displeasure known.

Gragson put his hands on Chastain, who responded with a sweeping right hook that appeared to connect. Gragson tried to return the punch, but he was pulled away by security and NASCAR officials.

“I’m sick and tired of it,” Gragson said of Chastain’s driving style. “The guy runs into everyone. When you have guys like Chase Elliott and other guys telling you to beat his ass, everyone is just sick of him.”

Chastain accepted some of the blame for the spin but didn’t have much to say about the punch.

“I got tight off four for sure,” Chastain said. “Noah and I have a very similar attitude on the race track. We train together, we prepare together, we know every little bit about each other. I definitely crowded him out of four.”

Kyle Busch had railed against Chastain over the radio before crashing out of the race on a restart. Afterward, Busch seemed to take aim at the performance of the Next Gen car, which he said made it too difficult to pass.

“Not racing like it once used to be,” he said after dropping an on-air expletive. “You’re faster than a guy, you run him down three-tenths a lap and you stall when you get there. Part of it’s the car. They can aero-block you, pinch you, burn up your tires and do everything else to hold their position and then you get passed from behind. Very frustrating.”

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Journalism opens as 8-5 favorite for Preakness

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Journalism opens as 8-5 favorite for Preakness

HALETHORPE, Md. — Journalism is the morning line favorite for the 150th running of the Preakness Stakes.

The Kentucky Derby runner-up to Sovereignty opened at odds of 8-5 on Monday night when post positions were drawn for the middle leg of horse racing’s Triple Crown. Journalism is again set to be ridden by jockey Umberto Rispoli and leave the starting gate from the No. 2 post.

Post time is set for 7:01 p.m. EDT on Saturday.

No. 7 Sandman is the 4-1 second choice in the field of nine, which does not include Sovereignty after his owners and trainer decided not to run the Derby winner two weeks after his triumph at Churchill Downs. The Preakness goes on without a true shot at a Triple Crown winner for a fifth time in seven years since Justify swept all three races in 2018.

Bob Baffert, who trained Justify and 2015 Triple Crown champion American Pharoah, is entering Goal Oriented looking for a record-extending ninth victory in the race. Fellow Hall of Famer D. Wayne Lukas can tie Baffert if he wins the Preakness back-to-back, this time with American Promise a year after Seize the Grey ended Mystik Dan’s Triple Crown bid.

There are three Derby horses running in the $2 million Preakness at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore: Journalism, American Promise and Sandman, the latter of whom will be ridden by John Velazquez for trainer Mark Casse. American Promise drew the No. 3 post and opened at odds of 15-1.

New to the Triple Crown trail, along with No. 1 Goal Oriented (6-1), are No. 4 Heart of Honor (12-1), No. 5 Pay Billy (20-1), No. 6 River Thames (9-2), No. 8 Clever Again (5-1) and No. 9 Gosger (20-1).

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U.S. shut out by Switzerland at hockey worlds

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U.S. shut out by Switzerland at hockey worlds

HERNING, Denmark — Switzerland, last year’s runner-up, shut out the United States 3-0 and handed the Americans their first loss at the ice hockey world championship Monday.

Damien Riat, Jonas Siegenthaler and Dean Kukan scored in the Group B game in Herning. Netminder Leonardo Genoni stopped 23 shots for the shutout.

“Give credit to Switzerland,” U.S. coach Ryan Warsofsky said. “But I know our group has a lot more in them. We’ll regroup and get ready to play Norway.”

Riat put Switzerland ahead with 7:14 remaining in the first period, redirecting the puck into the goal from the air. It was the first goal the U.S. conceded at the tournament.

The second followed 3:13 later by Siegenthaler from the blue line. Kukan’s came halfway through the final period from the top of the left circle.

“After the first goal we did a better job,” Swiss forward Kevin Fiala said. “We got into it more and more, and shut them out.”

Fiala recorded an assist in his first game at the worlds. He joined the Swiss late after his Los Angeles Kings were eliminated from the NHL playoffs in the first round.

U.S. goalie Joey Daccord made 24 saves.

The U.S., which beat Denmark 5-0 and Hungary 6-0 in its first two games, will next face Norway on Wednesday.

In other games, Martin Necas had two goals and David Pastrnak had a goal and two assists as the defending champion Czech Republic used a four-goal middle period to ease past Denmark 7-2.

Nick Olesen also had a goal and an assist for Denmark.

In Stockholm, Sweden topped archrival Finland 2-1 on goals from Leo Carlsson and Jonas Brodin for a third victory in regulation from three games.

Austria defeated Slovakia 3-2 in a penalty shootout.

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Leafs’ Domi fined $5K for hit to Panthers’ Barkov

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Leafs' Domi fined K for hit to Panthers' Barkov

Toronto Maple Leafs forward Max Domi was fined $5,000 — the maximum amount allowed by the league’s collective bargaining agreement — for boarding Florida Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov as time expired in Game 4 of their second-round Eastern Conference playoff series Sunday.

Toronto was trailing 2-0 when the final buzzer sounded, and Domi hit Barkov from behind, sending him headfirst into the boards. Domi was given a minor penalty for boarding at the time while several other scrums broke out before officials moved players off the ice.

Florida’s victory evened the best-of-seven series at 2-all. Game 5 is set for Wednesday in Toronto.

Toronto coach Craig Berube didn’t comment on the Domi hit directly Monday, but he did say he thought Dmitry Kulikov‘s hit on Mitch Marner “was way worse”

On that play, the Panthers defenseman caught Marner up high with an elbow, leaving the Leafs forward momentarily dazed. No penalty was called on Kulikov.

It wasn’t the first elbowing incident to draw attention in the series.

In Game 1, Panthers forward Sam Bennett sent an elbow to the head of Leafs netminder Anthony Stolarz shortly before Stolarz left the game. He was later hospitalized for further evaluation and hasn’t been able to resume skating since. There is currently no timeline for his return.

The physical intensity of the series might continue to rise now that it’s down to being a best-of-three. Based on how Game 4 played out, the Leafs are prepared to push back when they host Florida on Wednesday.

“We expected [the physicality], and I think we’re fine with it,” Berube said. “We’re handling it. We’re physical. I thought we were the more physical team [in Game 4].”

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