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A5 S PORTS THE BULLETIN • MONDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2021 bendbulletin.com/sports NBA NASCAR Cup Series | Daytona 500 Lillard, Blazers top Mavs 121-118 McDowell beats 100-1 odds for upset victory Chris O’Meara/AP Racers crash during the last lap in the NASCAR Cup Series Daytona 500 auto race at Daytona International Speedway on Monday morning in Daytona Beach, Florida. Michael McDowell stunned NASCAR by scoring his first career victory in the Daytona 500 BY JENNA FRYER AP Auto Racing D AYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Mi- chael McDowell stormed through a crash scene to win the Daytona 500, snapping an 0-for-357 streak with a fiery pileup in his rearview mirror. McDowell led just the final lap — maybe half of it, really — when Brad Kes- elowski turned teammate Joey Logano as the Team Penske drivers jockeyed for the victory. McDowell stayed flat in the gas and plowed past the two spinning cars to the lead, then won a three-wide drag race un- til NASCAR threw a race-ending caution. It was mayhem behind McDowell as a huge pack of cars could not avoid Kes- elowski and Logano. The collisions were one on top of another, flames erupting all over Daytona International Speedway as the race came to a close early Monday morning, nearly nine hours after it began. McDowell, a 36-year-old journeyman from Arizona, was a 100-1 underdog at the start of the race and seemed in disbe- lief after taking his first checkered flag. “So many years just grinding it out hop- ing for an opportunity like this,” McDow- ell said. “We’re the Daytona 500 champi- ons. I cannot believe this. Luckily was able to make it through.” A rain delay of almost six hours pushed the race into the night and under the lights, albeit without almost half the field. A 16-car accident just 15 laps into the race — moments before the rain — thinned the contenders and set up a showdown be- tween Kevin Harvick and Denny Hamlin. Hamlin and Harvick had the two best cars but pit strategy ended Hamlin’s shot at winning a record third-consecutive Daytona 500. Reigning Cup Series champion Chase Elliott finished second and 2018 Daytona 500 winner Austin Dillon was third. Har- vick finished fourth, and Hamlin was fifth after leading a race-high 98 laps. WORLD CUP SKIING LIKE A LEGEND: Kriechmayr wins 2 speed golds at ski worlds BY ERIC WILLEMSEN Associated Press ORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy — Hermann Maier. Bode Miller. Vincent Kriechmayr. A feat previously achieved only by two legends of men’s Alpine skiing was matched by Austrian skier Kriechmayr at the world championships on Sunday. Kriechmayr added downhill gold to the super-G title he won three days ago to complete the so-called speed double. Fellow Austrian Maier had done the same in 1999, American standout Miller six years later. “Hermann Maier is an Austrian leg- end and Bode Miller is a legend, too. To be on the same step is really amazing,” Kriechmayr said. “I don’t compare myself to Hermann or Bode Miller, they were also Olym- pic and World Cup overall champions,” said the Austrian, adding it would take time to sink in. “I’m rather someone who enjoys this quietly, who reflects on it later.” By winning the most important downhill of the season, Kriechmayr presented the outgoing president of the Austrian winter sports federation with an ideal gift. C Gabriele Facciotti/AP Austria’s Vincent Kriechmayr speeds down the course on his way to win the men’s down- hill, at the alpine ski World Championships in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, on Sunday. For Peter Schröcksnadel, who is ex- pected to step down in June after 31 years, no races are more important than the downhills at the major champion- ships. “Downhill gold is what’s the most im- portant in Austria,” Schröcksnadel said. The race against the backdrop of snow-covered peaks in the Italian Dolo- mites lived up to its billing as one of the most eye-catching downhills of the sea- son, with spectacular crashes, faltering favorites, a surprise medalist, and the smallest possible winning margin. Kriechmayr edged Andreas Sander of Germany to the gold by one-hundredth of a second, with 2017 world champion Beat Feuz finishing 0.18 behind for the bronze. Sander earned the German team its third silver medal at these worlds, after second-place finishes for Romed Bau- mann in super-G and Kira Weidle in women’s downhill. “It’s a mega feeling,” Sander said. “We have a great atmosphere in the team af- ter Romed got silver and Kira as well.” Baumann was in the spotlight again right after he finished Sunday’s race but this time for a nasty fall, sliding skis first into the protective banners and com- pletely disappearing beneath them. Freed by coaches and officials, he came out with blood on his face and race suit. German ski federation sports direc- tor Wolfgang Maier said Baumann sus- tained a cut on his face but escaped se- rious injuries. In another frightening incident, Max- ence Muzaton avoided a serious crash when he caught a bump and fell head- first after losing control over his right ski at 120 kph (75 mph). See Ski worlds / A6 Portland star Damian Lillard didn’t wait until just before the buzzer for another game-defining shot, or get anywhere close to the career high he tied in the previous meeting with Dallas. The dynamic guard still carried his team late, overcoming another daz- zling performance by Luka Doncic. Lillard hit a tiebreaking 3-pointer in the final min- ute after a big Dallas rally, and the Trail Blazers held off Doncic and the Maver- icks for a 121-118 victory Sunday night. “I think we earned this win,” said Lillard, who fin- ished with 34 points and 11 assists. “We played the kind of game we played, against what we’ve been up against through the game, it’s rewarding in the end.” Doncic scored 44 points two nights after getting a career-high 46 in a victory over New Orleans, but it wasn’t enough to extend the Mavericks’ four-game winning streak, tied for their longest this season. Lillard connected on the go-ahead 3 after Doncic assisted on a ty- ing 3-pointer from Dorian Finney-Smith after the Mavericks trailed by 13 midway through the fourth quarter. The Mavericks were down three again when Doncic missed a potential tying shot from beyond the arc with less than five seconds left. Doncic was 14 of 20 from the field, including 5 of 8 from deep, and 11 of 12 on free throws. He also had nine assists and seven re- bounds. PAC-12 MEN9S BASKETBALL ASU survives wild finish, beats OSU Despite an off-shoot- ing night, Remy Martin scored 23 points and his 3-pointer with 37 seconds left broke a 68-all tie and Arizona State held on to beat Oregon State 75-73 in a wild finish on Sunday night. Martin’s go-ahead 3 was the only one he made in a 1-for-6 effort from behind the arc; part of a 5-for-18 overall effort. He made up for it, how- ever, sinking 12 of 16 free throws. Martin and Holland Woods each sank a pair of foul shots in a 13-sec- ond span to seal the win for Arizona State (7-9, 4-6 Pac-12 Conference). Oregon State’s Ethan Thompson made the first of two free throws with 13 seconds left to bring the Beavers within 73-71. Rodrigue Andela secured the offensive rebound and threw it out to Thompson, but a heads-up steal by Jalen House forced a tie-up between Woods and Thompson and the pos- session arrow favored Ar- izona State. Woods sank a pair of fouls shots with five seconds to go. With the win, head coach Bobby Hurley hit the century mark in vic- tories as the Sun Devils’ coach. Hurley is 100-78 in six seasons at ASU. The win was the Sun Devils’ 12th straight at home against Oregon State (10-10, 6-8). Thomp- son led Oregon State with 18 points. Oregon State returns home to face Utah on Thursday. The Sun Devils next head to Los Ange- les to face 20th-ranked Southern California on Wednesday. — Associated Press