DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) -- Tony Stewart usually takes every win any way he can. After wrecking Kyle Busch on the last lap at Daytona International Speedway, he didn't much feel like celebrating. sent Busch hard into the wall right before the finish line.

Busch passed Stewart right before the final lap to take the lead Saturday night, but Stewart chased him down and calculated his next move. He closed in on Busch's bumper, and slight contact sent Busch drifting up the track.

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SEATTLE (July 4) -- Playing without its top stars, there was some concern that the United States would struggle to generate offense during the heading CONCACAF Gold Cup. That doesn't look like a problem anymore.

The Americans, fresh off a stunning runner-up finish at the FIFA Confederations Cup, thoroughly dominated Grenada, 4-0 on Saturday night, as they began their quest for a third straight Gold Cup title.

BETHESDA, Md. (AP) -- Anthony Kim finally gets a crack at Tiger Woods, and when he says he has been practicing for a moment like this all his life, Kim isn't kidding.

As a 10-year-old growing up in Los Angeles, in those final hours of twilight as he waited for his father to pick up from the golf course, Kim imagined he was in the final pairing with Woods and had a 10-foot putt for the victory, with the world's No. 1 player watching.

"Man, they were going in a lot," Kim said, laughing.

He can only hope fantasy meets reality Sunday in the AT&T National.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Embattled driver Jeremy Mayfield released a statement two hours before the start of Saturday's NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Daytona International Speedway, thanking fans who have stood behind him and promising to do everything possible to make next week's race in Chicago.

"Last Wednesday's ruling by Judge Mullen was a giant step towards clearing my name and getting the 41 Car back on the track,'' Mayfield said. "For those who know me well, there is nothing in the world that I would rather do than race for you all on the Fourth of July.

"Following Judge Mullen's ruling, we had less than 24 hours to prepare the car, assemble a team, get sponsorship and travel to Daytona. Ultimately, we were unable to get this done in time ... We've decided that our time is best spent back here in North Carolina working around the clock to try and secure the funding needed to get the 41 Car to Chicago and beyond.''

MONACO (AP) -- Seven-time champion Lance Armstrong went out early and put up a solid time in the opening stage of the Tour de France on Saturday, then was upstaged by Fabian Cancellara of Switzerland.

Cancellara finished the 9.6-mile time trial in 19 minutes, 32 seconds, beating 2007 Tour winner Alberto Contador by 18 seconds to capture the yellow jersey.

It's not often you hear of a contract extension to a manager who is 11 games under .500 and 16 1/2 games out of first place on July 3. The San Diego Padres, however, aren't in position to complain about the job done by Bud Black up to this point. Thus, the Padres are planning to extend his contract in the coming weeks, though there is no word for how long.

Heading into the season, expectations were at a probable all-time low in San Diego. Under new ownership, management has been ordered to trim payroll, which led the expectation that ace pitcher Jake Peavy would be traded. The team, notably the back-end of the pitching rotation, seemed to be a patchwork group.

Quite frankly, to use her own words, Serena Williams really is the best. She said so a few months ago, when the computer dropped her from the No. 1 ranking, and then embarrassed herself a few times, even losing to a journeyman hours after her self-proclaimed greatness.

But on Saturday, she proved it. She's right. Serena beat her sister, Venus Williams, 7-6 (7-3), 6-2 to win Wimbledon.

Serena is the best.

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Wolfing down an incredible 68 hot dogs, Joey Chestnut defeated Japan's Takeru Kobayashi at the 2009 edition of the Fourth of July Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest.

It was the third consecutive victory for Chestnut, and Kobayashi, the six-time champion, once again finished in second place. Last year, Chestnut and Kobayashi tied at 59 dogs in the 10-minute regulation time, and then Chestnut won in overtime. This year Kobayashi improved, eating 64 dogs, but he didn't improve as much as Chestnut did.

LONDON (AP) -- Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone faced criticism from politicians and Jewish groups Saturday after being quoted as saying that Adolf Hitler "got things done."

In an interview with London's The Times newspaper, Ecclestone expressed a preference for "strong leaders," citing former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher and Max Mosley, outgoing head of Formula One's governing body, as examples.

He was quoted as saying that democracy "hasn't done a lot of good for many countries -- including this one."

There have been plenty of moments in baseball involving steroids that stand out in our memories, but one that's always stuck in the back of my mind was Rafael Palmeiro sitting in front of Congress back in March 2005. There he was wagging his finger at Congress and saying "I have never used steroids. Period. I don't know how to say it any more clearly than that."

Then five months later Palmeiro was being suspended 10 games by Major League Baseball for failing a steroid test. Of course Palmeiro then began backtracking and saying that he'd never "knowingly" taken any steroids in his life, and he wasn't changing his story on Friday as he was inducted into the College Baseball Hall of Fame.