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AUTO RACING • Matt Kenseth and his Joe Gibbs Racing team took a huge step away from their bad performance last week by winning the pole Friday at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Florida for the championship-deciding race.
Kenseth turned a lap at 177.667 mph in his Toyota to claim the top starting spot for Sunday's race. He called it "a confidence booster" after his 23rd-place finish at Phoenix essentially ruined his title chances. He was trailing Jimmie Johnson by seven points going into Phoenix and left the race down 28 with just one race to decide the Chase.
• Matt Crafton won the NASCAR Truck Series championship, his first in 13 seasons. He only needed to start the 200-mile season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Friday night to win the title.
Davis Cup final tied
TENNIS • Serbia's Novak Djokovic and Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic each won their singles matches, resulting in a 1-1 tie on the first day of the Davis Cup final in Belgarde, Serbia.
From wire reports