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Busch wins Nationwide at Fontana

Kyle Busch’s victory in Fontana, Calif., is the ninth consecutive time a Joe Gibbs Racing driver has won on the two-mile oval. (Associated Press)
From Staff And Wire Reports
Kyle Busch’s victory in Fontana, Calif., is the ninth consecutive time a Joe Gibbs Racing driver has won on the two-mile oval. (Associated Press)

Auto Racing: Kyle Busch easily held off Sam Hornish Jr. to win Saturday’s Royal Purple 300 at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif.

Busch’s victory is the ninth consecutive by a driver for Joe Gibbs Racing at the 2-mile California track – a streak that dates to 2008 and covers three different drivers.

The last non-JGR driver to win a Nationwide event at ACS was Jeff Burton in 2007, driving for Richard Childress Racing.

• Power wins pole in St. Pete: Will Power will have some new faces right behind him today at St. Petersburg, Fla., in the season-opening IndyCar race, with Takuma Sato and Simona de Silvestro qualifying second and third.

• Vettel takes pole at Malaysian GP: Three-time defending Formula One champion Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull won pole position at the Malaysian Grand Prix in Sepang, Malaysia, edging the Ferraris of Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso just as the rain-affected qualifying ended.

Tiger takes lead, inches closer to No. 1

Golf: Tiger Woods is one round away from returning to No. 1 in the world.

With key par saves early in his round and an eagle for the third straight day at Bay Hill in Orlando, Fla., Woods seized control with a 6-under 66 to race by Justin Rose and build a two-shot lead going into the final round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

Woods was at 11-under 205, two shots ahead of Rickie Fowler (67).

• Four in lead in Mississippi: Corey Pavin, Bernhard Langer, Roger Chapman and Joe Daley sit atop the second-round leaderboard at 5-under 67 in the Mississippi Gulf Resort Classic in Saucier, Miss.

• Recari leads Kia Classic: Beatriz Recari drove the green on the 285-yard 16th hole to set up a 4-foot eagle putt and finished with a 3-under 69 for a two-stroke lead in the Kia Classic in Carlsbad, Calif.

Bayless’ 30 leads Grizzlies past Celtics

NBA: Jerryd Bayless scored a season-high 30 points and the Memphis Grizzlies weathered a fourth-quarter rally by Boston’s reserves to escape with a 110-106 victory over the visiting Celtics.

Both teams played without significant pieces. Kevin Garnett and Courtney Lee both sat out for Boston with left ankle sprains. Memphis center Marc Gasol is out indefinitely because of an abdominal tear.

• Nuggets win 15th straight: Danilo Gallinari scored 19 points to lead a balanced attack and the Denver Nuggets extended their winning streak to 15 games with a 101-95 victory over the visiting Sacramento Kings.

Canucks’ Schneider shuts out Kings

NHL: Cory Schneider made 20 saves en route to his sixth NHL shutout, Mason Raymond scored in the first period, and the visiting Vancouver Canucks beat the Los Angeles Kings 1-0 for their third straight victory.

Schneider has played the last three games for the Canucks, facing 88 shots and allowing only three goals.

• Backstrom earns first shutout: Niklas Backstrom made 33 saves for his first shutout of the season, and Ryan Suter had two more assists, leading Minnesota past San Jose in St. Paul, Minn., for the Wild’s season-high fifth straight victory.

Zach Parise and Jared Spurgeon, a former Spokane Chief, scored for Minnesota.

Brandenburg 2nd in slalom, 1st in combined

Miscellany: World Cup star Ted Ligety won the slalom in the U.S. Alpine Championships at Squaw Valley, Calif., sweeping both runs for a 1.48 second victory.

Ligety won his seventh U.S. title and first since 2007.

Will Brandenburg of Spokane was second, and Colby Granstrom of Lake Stevens, Wash., finished third. Brandenburg won the combined event with the fastest combined time from the super G and slalom.

• Back injury sidelines Venus at Sony Open: Venus Williams, a three-time Key Biscayne tennis champion, withdrew from the Sony Open because of a lower back injury before her match against fellow American Sloane Stephens.

Stephens will next play defending champion Agnieszka Radwanska.

• Bengals sign Johnson; Lechler to Texans: The Bengals have signed a quarterback, giving former Tampa Bay Buccaneer Josh Johnson a chance to back up Andy Dalton.

Also, the Houston Texans have signed punter Shane Lechler.

Terms of the contracts were not disclosed

• Stieglitz reclaims belt: Robert Stieglitz reclaimed his WBO super middleweight title from fellow German Arthur Abraham on a technical knockout after three rounds in Magdeburg, Germany.

• Unbeaten Minnesota to face Boston U for title: After breezing through the regular season unbeaten, Minnesota has needed overtime to win its first two games in the NCAA women’s hockey tournament.

The Gophers now play Boston University today for the title, taking a 48-game winning streak onto their home ice.

• Penn State on top of NCAA wrestling: In Des Moines, Iowa, Cornell senior Kyle Dake became the first wrestler in NCAA history to win four national titles at four weights, and Penn State won the national team title for the third year in a row.

• Georgia dethrones Cal: Georgia pulled away to dethrone two-time defending champion California at the NCAA women’s swimming and diving championships in Indianpolis.

• Former Knicks guard Williams dies: Ray Williams, the former New York Knicks guard who averaged 15.5 points and 5.8 assists in 10 seasons in the NBA, died Friday. He was 58.

The Knicks confirmed Williams’ death, but didn’t provide a cause.