In closing laps of the Pit Boss/FoodMaxx 250 at Sonoma Raceway, the pupil schooled the master.

Taking shot after shot from JR Motorsports teammate Shane van Gisbergen over the final two laps, Connor Zilisch held off the more experienced driver to claim his third NASCAR Xfinity Series victory of the season and the fourth of his career.

In what was a two-driver show from start to finish, Zilisch and van Gisbergen, the pole winner, combined to lead 70 of the 79 laps, surrendering the top spot only when they short-pitted the first and second stages to recover track position at the stage breaks.

For Zilisch, the victory was revenge for last Saturday’s Xfinity race at the Chicago Street Course, where the 36-year-old van Gisbergen ran his 18-year-old teammate wide in Turn 2 to take the lead and win a two-lap shootout for the victory.

But this Saturday, Zilisch survived contact from van Gisbergen’s front bumper in Turn 7 on the final lap and won the race to the finish line, as the New Zealander tried in vain to cross over to the inside in hairpin Turn 11 on the final lap.

Zilisch powered off the corner and won the race to the finish line by 0.438 seconds.

“First, hats off to Shane,” Zilisch said after climbing from his car. “That was awesome. All race long, I felt like we were racing each other with respect. … it was awesome to get to race against him finally and battle with him the whole race long.”

William Sawalich, who won Friday’s ARCA race in a thrilling finish, was the best of the rest, coming home third, 13.668 seconds behind Zilisch. Nick Sanchez ran fourth, followed by Riley Herbst, series leader Justin Allgaier, Taylor Gray, Carson Kvapil, Sammy Smith and Sheldon Creed.

SOCCER

Tani Oluwaseyi had a goal and two assists, Anthony Markanich scored a goal for the third consecutive game and Minnesota United beat the San Jose Earthquakes 4-1 at home.

Minnesota (11-4-7), which also beat the Earthquakes 1-0 on the road on March 8, is unbeaten in four straight.

Bruno Wilson scored his first goal of the season, and the second of his career, for San Jose in the 70th minute.

San Jose (7-8-7) had its four-game unbeaten streak snapped.

Chelsea midfielder Enzo Fernández heads into today’s Club World Cup final in East Rutherford, N.J., wary of the weather, along with Paris Saint-Germain.

“Honestly, the heat is incredible,” Fernandez said. “The other day I got a little dizzy during a play. I had to lie down on the ground because I was really dizzy. Playing in this temperature in very dangerous.”

FIFA slashed ticket prices again ahead of the final, as it has throughout the tournament.

Chelsea and PSG play starting at 3 p.m. EDT in MetLife Stadium, also site of next year’s World Cup final. Because of the heat, Fernandez recommended FIFA avoid afternoon kickoffs at the 2026 tournament.

GOLF

Masters champion Rory McIlroy took another step toward emerging out of the doldrums with two big shots at the end of his round that led to a 4-under 66 and gave him a share of the lead with Chris Gotterup in the Scottish Open.

Two closing pars put McIlroy at 11-under 199. That was enough to catch Gotterup, a big athlete with big power who had gone 34 holes without a bogey until the second hole Saturday. He fell into a tie with a three-putt from 60 feet for bogey on the 14th and failed to birdie the 16th.

Gotterup, who tied the course record with a 61 on Friday, had to settle for a 70. He will be in the last group with McIlroy, a daunting task given McIlroy already won at The Renaissance Club and is the biggest draw in most parts in the world.

NBA

Cooper Flagg’s second Summer League outing was far better than his first.

Though he more than lived up to expectations this time out, it still wasn’t enough to get past reigning No. 2 overall pick Dylan Harper and the San Antonio Spurs.

The Spurs jumped ahead to grab a 76-69 win over the Dallas Mavericks in the Las Vegas Summer League on Saturday afternoon in Nevada. That dropped the Mavericks, who edged out the Los Angeles Lakers in their debut on Thursday, to 1-1 on the outing. Flagg finished with 31 points and four rebounds, and shot 10 of 20 from the field and 3 of 8 from behind the arc.

After a slow first quarter, the reigning No. 1 overall draft pick finally came alive. He dropped 12 of his 15 first-half points in the second quarter while leading the Mavericks out of a double-digit hole. He shot 4 of 10 from the field and 1 of 3 from behind the arc.

Though it was only halfway through the game, his numbers were already significantly better than his debut earlier this week. Flagg dropped just 10 points, went 5 of 21 from the field and didn’t make a single 3-pointer in the Mavericks’ win over the Lakers Thursday.

NFL

Luis Sharpe, a three-time Pro Bowl selection at left tackle for the Cardinals during the franchise’s time in both St. Louis and Arizona, has died. He was 65.

The Cardinals confirmed Sharpe’s death through his family, a team spokesman said. Sharpe’s wife, Tameka Williams-Sharpe, also posted about her husband’s passing on social media.

The 6-foot-5, 275-pound Sharpe played all 13 of his NFL seasons with the Cardinals, spanning from 1982 to 1994. He made three straight Pro Bowls from 1987 to 1989 and was a second-team All-Pro selection in 1988 and 1990.

Ndamukong Suh officially announced his retirement from the NFL. The defensive tackle’s announcement was timed to commemorate a year passing since his father died.

The No. 2 overall pick by the Detroit Lions in the 2010 NFL Draft out of Nebraska, Suh played 13 seasons in the league.

He was named first-team All-Pro three times and earned five Pro Bowl berths. Suh played in three Super Bowls and won a championship with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2020.