Kyle Larson raced to his Cup Series-high sixth victory of the season Sunday to easily advance to the third round of NASCAR’s playoffs, winning on The Roval — the hybrid road course/oval at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Larson led a race-high 62 laps in the No. 5 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports to win in a runaway. He beat longtime rival and title contender Christopher Bell by 1.511 seconds.

“It was good to have a little bit of a stress-free weekend,” Larson said.

It was Larson’s second victory of the playoffs, but he’s the first championship-eligible driver to win in the round of 12.

The elimination race cut the field from 12 drivers to eight, and among those knocked out of title contention was Hendrick driver Alex Bowman, who was disqualified for failing post race inspection.

Bowman’s disqualification was for not meeting minimum weight, NASCAR said. It knocked him out of the playoffs and moved Joey Logano back into title contention. Austin Cindric, Daniel Suarez and Chase Briscoe were eliminated.

Three Hendrick drivers — Larson, William Byron and Chase Elliott — advanced into the round of eight. Joining them for the next three-race series are reigning Cup champion Ryan Blaney of Penske, Joe Gibbs Racing drivers Denny Hamlin and Christopher Bell in Toyotas, and Tyler Reddick, the regular-season champion who squeezed through in a Toyota for 23XI Racing.

College football

Oregon climbs to No. 2 in AP poll >> Oregon and Penn State each moved up a spot in The Associated Press college football poll following thrilling wins in high-profile games, and Top 25 newcomers Navy and Army are in the rankings together for the first time since 1960.

Texas strengthened its hold on No. 1 with its 31-point victory over Oklahoma. The Longhorns received 56 of 62 first-place votes, four more than last week and their most since they were a unanimous No. 1 in October 2008.

Oregon’s 32-31 home win over Ohio State featured seven lead changes and moved the Ducks to No. 2 with the other six first-place votes. It’s their highest ranking since they ended the 2014 season at No. 2 after losing to the Buckeyes in the inaugural College Football Playoff championship game.

Penn State rose to No. 3 with a 33-30 overtime win at Southern California, the Nittany Lions’ highest ranking in seven years.

Ohio State dropped two spots to No. 4 and Georgia remained No. 5. Miami, Alabama, LSU, Iowa State and Clemson rounded out the top 10.

Basketball

West inducted into Hall of Fame again >> Jerry West made history by becoming the first three-time inductee to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

This honor for West, who died in June at 86, was for his work as a contributor, largely recognizing the eight championships he helped the Los Angeles Lakers win as an executive.

“Contributor to the game of basketball, that is you in every single sense and that will live on forever,” said West’s son, Jonnie, Warriors executive.

He had already been inducted for his playing career with the Lakers, and then again in 2010 as a member of the 1960 U.S. team that won an Olympic gold medal.

Michael Cooper, another of West’s former Lakers players, also was enshrined as part of the 13-member class led by Vince Carter and Chauncey Billups.

NBA

Embiid out for rest of preseason >> Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid will not play the rest of the preseason as part of what the team calls left knee management.

Embiid did not travel with the Sixers for two road games last week. The Sixers have three preseason games left.

Golf

McCarty earns first PGA Tour win in Utah >> Matt McCarty started the year on the Korn Ferry Tour and now is headed to the Masters, winning his first PGA Tour title at the Black Desert Championship in Ivins, Utah with a 4-under 67.

McCarty won three times on the Korn Ferry Tour to earn an instant promotion in August. In his third start on the PGA Tour, he made winning look just as easy. Staked to a two-shot lead going into the final round, he never trailed at Black Desert Resort and won by three shots.

The victory means the 26-year-old left-hander from Arizona is assured of being in three of the majors next year. He gets into the Masters and PGA Championship with his PGA Tour title, and McCarty already earned a spot in the U.S. Open as the Korn Ferry Tour points leader.

Yin earns LPGA victory in China >> Ruoning Yin shot an 8-under 64 to win the LPGA Buick Shanghai tournament, the fourth career LPGA victory for the Chinese golfer.

Yin trailed third-round leader Mao Saigo of Japan by one stroke, but rallied with birdies on five of the final six holes.

Kelly wins Champions tourney >> Jerry Kelly closed with a 5-under 67 and won the SAS Championship in Cary, N.C. when Padraig Harrington narrowly missed an 8-foot par putt that would have forced a playoff, giving Kelly his first PGA Tour Champions title in two years.

NHL

Jets win on Connor’s OT power-play goal >> Kyle Connor scored a power-play goal 51 seconds into overtime and the Winnipeg Jets beat the Minnesota Wild 2-1 at home for their third straight win.

Tennis

Sinner beats Djokovic for Shanghai title >> Top-ranked Jannik Sinner beat Novak Djokovic in straight sets to win the Shanghai Masters, giving the Italian his tour-leading seventh title of the season.

Sinner bettered the 24-time Grand Slam champion 7-6 (4), 6-3 and never faced a break point in the outdoor hard-court tournament.

Djokovic was aiming for his 100th tour-level title and his fifth in Shanghai. Only Jimmy Connors with 109 titles and Roger Federer with 103 have hit the century mark in men’s tennis.

In women’s action, second-ranked Aryna Sabalenka won the Wuhan Open for a third year in a row by beating Zheng Qinwen 6-3, 5-7, 6-3.