Briefs
Auto racing
Kyle Larson traveled over 1,000 miles to run two races in one night.
After finishing sixth in Saturday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Richmond, Larson hopped on a plane for Iowa and made it in time to race and win the Knoxville Nationals sprint car race, which after a long rain delay finished in the early hours of Sunday morning.
Larson won his preliminary night at Knoxville on Thursday and earned the pole for the Saturday’s main event, but wasn’t going to run the main event Saturday because of a conflict with NASCAR at Richmond.
But the long rain delay at Knoxville made the double possible and Larson took advantage.
Larson arrived at Knoxville Raceway in time to jump in his Paul Silva owned No. 57 car for the main event. He led all 50 laps of the $250,000-to-win race to secure his fourth title at the Knoxville Nationals, which is sprint car racing’s most prestigious event.
Baseball
Reliever Dennis Santana has been called up by the Arizona Diamondbacks ahead of their game against the Atlanta Braves. The 30-year-old right-hander is joining his sixth big league team, having appeared with the Dodgers, Rangers, Mets, Yankees and Pirates over his nine-year career. He had 16 saves a year ago for Pittsburgh but was designated for assignment last month with a record of 2-5 with two saves and a 6.05 ERA in 44 games. Left-hander Philip Abner was designated for assignment by the Diamondbacks.
Football
The Seattle Seahawks and cornerback Devon Witherspoon have agreed to a four-year, $132 million contract extension with $101 million guaranteed, a person with knowledge of the deal told The Associated Press on Saturday.
In a television interview during Saturday’s preseason game against the Dallas Cowboys, Witherspoon said he was grateful.
“It feels good,” Witherspoon said. “Long time coming, but we had to get it done, though. I’m thankful. All glory to God. Shoutout to (general manager John Schneider) and all the people that are upstairs for making this happen.”
The Seahawks exercised their fifth-year option on Witherspoon back in March. They finalized his long-term deal on the same day they began their preseason.
Witherspoon, 25, was selected No. 5 overall by the Seahawks in the 2023 NFL draft. In the same round of that draft, the Seahawks took wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who in March agreed to a four-year, $168.8 million contract with $120 million guaranteed.
Witherspoon has been selected for the Pro Bowl in each of his three seasons. He was a second-team All-Pro and helped the Seahawks win the Super Bowl last season.
Witherspoon appeared in all three of Seattle’s playoff games during its Super Bowl run, making 17 tackles and defending four passes.
Tennis
Novak Djokovic’s stay at the Cincinnati Open was a short one. The 24-time major champion fell to Thiago Agustin Tirante 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 on Saturday in a match that took 2 hours, 44 minutes in hot and humid conditions. A 25-year-old from Argentina, Tirante is ranked No. 50 in the world. The 39-year-old Djokovic was playing for the first time since his loss to top-ranked Jannik Sinner in the semifinals at Wimbledon. Up next for Djokovic is the U.S. Open. Djokovic appeared to struggle physically in the heat and had his 10-match winning streak in Cincinnati snapped. He won the title in 2020 and 2023. In a rain-delayed match that ended at 2:15 a.m. Sunday, top-seeded Alexander Zverev beat Cameron Norrie 3-6, 6-3, 6-3.