Biffle remains Chase perfect

Greg Biffle made it two for two in the Chase for the championship, making another late pass in his Ford, this time with nine laps to go, and holding off Matt Kenseth and Carl Edwards on Sunday in the Camping World RV 400 at Dover International Speedway.

Roush Fenway Racing teammates Biffle, Kenseth and Edwards engaged in a thrilling run over the last 20 laps at the Delaware track, but Biffle made another textbook move to the outside late to pull away.

“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.

Dinara Safina will move up to No. 3 in the women’s world rankings after beating Svetlana Kuznetsova, 6-1, 6-3, to win the Pan Pacific Open at Tokyo.

The victory gave the fourth-seeded Safina her fourth WTA singles title this season, tying her with No. 1 Serena Williams for the most this year.

Top-seeded Vera Zvonareva won her seventh WTA Tour singles title, beating Peng Shuai, 6-7 (4), 6-0, 6-2, at the Guangzhou International in China.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

Notre Dame players arrested on alcohol charges

Notre Dame tight end Will Yeatman and center Mike Golic Jr., son of ESPN television host Mike Golic, were among 41 people arrested on misdemeanor alcohol charges at a home in South Bend, Ind., police said.

Yeatman, 20, and Golic, 18, were charged with being minors consuming alcohol, police said.

Police said they were targeting businesses that reportedly had sold alcohol to minors when they received a report about the party.

Neither Yeatman nor Golic remained in jail Sunday evening.

Coach Charlie Weis said he was “made aware of the situation late this afternoon and am currently looking into the matter.”

Quarterback Mike Teel will not be punished for throwing a punch at teammate Glen Lee in the waning seconds of Rutgers’ loss to Navy on Saturday.

Coach Greg Schiano said in a telephone conference call that the incident “was over and done with.”

Shortly after host Navy kicked a go-ahead field goal, Teel had a pass intercepted that secured the Midshipmen’s 23-21 win.

As Teel was coming off the field, Lee, a reserve defensive back, was trying to encourage him to keep his head up and come off the field.

Teel apparently took exception to what Lee said and threw a punch at the sophomore.

After the game, Teel told reporters that he was truly sorry for going after his teammate.

Lee said he has put the incident in the past, calling the Scarlet Knights “a family.”