Kyle Busch sent Fontana off in style Sunday, storming up from the back after an early penalty and earning his first victory for Richard Childress Racing while winning on this Southern California track for the fifth time.

Busch held off Chase Elliott and Ross Chastain in NASCAR’s final race on the two miles of gloriously weathered asphalt at Auto Club Speedway, which will soon be demolished to make room for a half-mile track.

Busch drove his Chevrolet to victory in only his second race with RCR, which scooped him up in December after his 15-year tenure with Joe Gibbs Racing ended. This win was Busch’s first since Bristol last season on a dirt track, and his first on pavement since Pocono in 2021.

With his 61st career victory, Busch earned a win in his record 19th consecutive Cup season, breaking a tie with Richard Petty.

“I think it ranks high, just because it ranks to the fact of, ‘I can do it,’ ” Busch said. “You never doubt yourself, but sometimes you do ... when you put yourself in a different situation. I’m going to enjoy it for sure, and hopefully there’s many more to go.”

Busch is a Las Vegas native who has enjoyed plenty of highlights just down the I-15 at Fontana: He got his first Cup victory at this speedway back in 2005 in a Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, and only Jimmie Johnson (6) earned more Cup victories at Fontana than Busch.

Busch was sent to the back early in the race for speeding on pit road, and the penalty infuriated a driver whose favorite fuel often appears to be anger. He drove all the way back up the field to pass Michael McDowell for the lead with 20 laps to go.

Men’s college basketball

Jones helps Stanford top Washington >> Spencer Jones hit four 3-pointers and scored 21 points, Brandon Angel added 14 points, seven rebounds and four assists and Stanford (12-17, 6-12 Pac-12) notched an 81-69 win over Washington (16-14, 8-11) at home to snap a three-game losing streak.

Maxime Raynaud made 7 of 12 from the field and finished with 15 points for Stanford. Harrison Ingram added 11 points, six rebounds and six assists and Michael Jones scored 10 points, including three 3-pointers.

NO. 4 UCLA 60, COLORADO 56 >> Jaime Jaquez Jr. scored 17 points and Tyger Campbell had 13 of his 14 points in the second half as UCLA (25-4, 16-2 Pac-12) hung on to beat Colorado (15-15, 7-12) and claimed the Pac-12 regular-season title.

Women’s college basketball

Duke’s ACC title hopes denied >> Three players scored nine points and No. 22 North Carolina (20-9, 11-7 ACC) went 9 of 9 from the foul line in the fourth quarter to deny No. 11 Duke (24-5, 14-4) a share of the ACC championship with a 45-41 win, the lowest scoring game in the 105 meetings of these bitter rivals.

Combined with No. 10 Notre Dame coming from behind to win at Louisville, the Irish win the conference title outright.

NO. 1 SOUTH CAROLINA 73, GEORGIA 63 >> Aliyah Boston had 25 points and 11 rebounds, and Zia Cooke added 12 points as South Carolina (29-0, 16-0) completed a perfect Southeastern Conference season with a victory over Georgia (20-10, 9-7).

Boston and Cooke, part of “The Freshies” top-ranked 2019 recruiting class, celebrated their Senior Day with pre-game tears, then followed with another fabulous showing as the Gamecocks won their 35th straight and their seventh SEC title in the past 10 seasons.

NO. 6 IOWA 86, NO. 2 INDIANA 85 >> Caitlin Clark’s buzzer-beating 3-pointer lifted Iowa (23-6, 15-3 Big Ten) to a win over Indiana (26-2, 16-2), which saw its 14-game winning streak end.

Clark, who scored 34 points and added nine rebounds and nine assists, took the inbound pass from Kate Martin with 1.5 seconds left, dribbled once, and took an off-balance shot from the right side that rolled in as the horn sounded.

NO. 5 LSU 74, MISSISSIPPI STATE 59 >> Angel Reese had 23 points and 26 rebounds to tie Sylvia Fowles’ LSU record of 27 double-doubles in a season, and the Tigers (27-1, 15-1 SEC) topped Mississippi State (20-9, 9-7).

Golf

Kirk wins Honda in playoff >> Chris Kirk waited nearly eight years to win a PGA Tour event again. Waiting one more hole was no problem.

Kirk stuck his approach to the par-5 18th to tap-in range, and his birdie on the first hole of a playoff lifted him past Eric Cole in the Honda Classic at Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. for his fifth career win.

Howell picks up first LIV title >> Charles Howell III shot an 8-under 63 to win the LIV Golf Invitational by four shots over Peter Uihlein in Mexico.

Vu closes strong for first LPGA win >> Former UCLA star Lilia Vu rode a hot putter to claim her maiden LPGA title, closing with an 8-under 64 for a one-shot victory over home favorite Natthakritta Vongtaveelap in the LPGA Thailand.

Boxing

Fury hands Jake Paul his first loss >> YouTube star Jake Paul took the first defeat of his professional boxing career, losing a split decision to Tommy Fury in Saudi Arabia.

Paul (6-1) knocked down Fury with a short left hand early in the final round of their cruiserweight bout, but the younger half-brother of heavyweight champion Tyson Fury controlled long stretches of the eight-round meeting at Diriyah Arena.

Two judges scored the bout 76-73 for Fury (9-0, 4 KOs), while the third favored Paul, 75-74.

Tennis

Norrie outlasts Alcaraz at Rio Open >> Cameron Norrie waited a week for his revenge against top-seeded Carlos Alcaraz, rallying from a set and 3-0 down to beat the Spanish teenager in the Rio Open final for his first title of the year.

Second-seeded Norrie won 5-7, 6-4, 7-5 after losing to Alcaraz in the Argentina Open championship match last weekend.

Men’s skiing

Olsen gets World Cup win at Tahoe >> Norwegian ski racer Alexander Steen Olsen earned his first World Cup win after AJ Ginnis of Greece was disqualified at Olympic Valley for missing a gate in a slalom event held on a snowy Sunday at the Palisades Tahoe resort.

The men’s World Cup circuit was making a stop at the Palisades Tahoe resort for the first time since 1969. The last racer to win a men’s World Cup slalom race at the venue was Billy Kidd.