Biffle remains Chase perfect

"That was probably the best race I've seen in a long time," Kenseth said. "You hate to get beat when you're in those battles."

Biffle, the winner last week at New Hampshire after passing Jimmie Johnson with 12 laps to go, is third in the Chase points standings. Biffle and Johnson are both 10 points behind Edwards for the lead, but Johnson holds the tiebreaker.

Kenseth was second and Edwards third in a wildly successful day for Roush Fenway. Kenseth had a disastrous Chase opener when an accident forced him out of the race and he began the race at Dover in 12th place in the standings. He moved to 10th.

Kyle Busch, the regular-season points winner, was knocked out of the race early because of a blown engine in his Toyota. He finished 43rd and dropped to 12th and last in the Chase field.

"We're out of the title hunt, that's for sure," Busch said.

J.R. Todd beat Tony Schumacher in the top-fuel final, one of an unprecedented four final-round losses for reigning NHRA Powerade Series champions in the NHRA Fall Nationals at Texas Motorplex in Ennis.

Todd earned the first victory for the two-car Lucas Oil team on a hole-shot, turning in a 0.068-second reaction time at the starting line to Schumacher's 0.084. He drove his dragster to a 3.912 at 309.84 mph to Schumacher's 3.910 at 310.63.

In funny car, Tim Wilkerson dealt Tony Pedregon his first loss of the year in five final rounds with a 4.172 at 297.55 to a 4.206 at 295.98.

In pro stock, Greg Stanfield beat Jeg Coughlin Jr. to stay in contention for the world title. Stanfield and Coughlin were tied at the gate with equal 0.015 reaction times, but Stanfield ran the defending NHRA Powerade Series world champion down to reach the finish line first in 6.678 at 206.35.



TENNIS

U.S. loses to Spain in Davis Cup semifinal

The U.S. reign as Davis Cup champion ended, with Rafael Nadal beating Andy Roddick in straight sets that sent Spain to the final for the sixth time.

The top-ranked Nadal won, 6-4, 6-0, 6-4, in front of 21,000 on a clay court at the Las Ventas bullfighting arena in Madrid, giving Spain an insurmountable lead in the best-of-five format.

Nadal said after the match that he nearly didn't play because an MRI exam Saturday showed a strained buttock muscle.

Feliciano Lopez defeated Sam Querrey, 7-6 (3), 7-6 (4), in a meaningless match to complete a 4-1 victory.

Nadal broke Roddick five times, saved all seven break points and served eight aces. He won on his sixth match point by slicing a backhand winner across court from deep behind the baseline.

Juan Martin del Potro defeated Igor Andreev, 6-4, 6-2, 6-1, to give Argentina a 3-2 win over Russia and set up a Davis Cup championship showdown with Spain in November at Buenos Aires.

In the first reverse singles, Russia's Nikolay Davydenko beat David Nalbandian, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (2), 6-0, to tie the match, 2-2.