ST. LOUIS -- Rookie goalie Jordan Binnington blamed himself after getting pulled for the first time in his NHL career as his St. Louis Blues were routed by the Boston Bruins 7-2 in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final on Saturday night.

"I gotta be better. I gotta do a better job giving my team a chance to win. They scored three goals in the first. That's never good," said Binnington, who gave up five goals on 19 shots before being replaced by Jake Allen at 6:29 of the second period, with the Blues down 5-1. "It is what it is, right? It's a loss. I'm not happy with that."

Binnington's teammates and coach were quick to defend him, saying it was a disastrous performance in front of the goalie that necessitated his departure.

"I don't think we played well enough in front of him," center Ryan O'Reilly said. "He made some huge saves early that gave us a chance. We just didn't play our usual selves the way we defended, and that's hard on any goalie. There's not much you can do when you give them that many PPs (power plays) and that many opportunities. It's not him; it's the guys in front of him. We have to do a better job."

The Bruins took a 3-0 lead in the first period on a power-play goal from Patrice Bergeron at 10:47, a wrist shot from Charlie Coyle at 17:40 and a goal from Sean Kuraly with 9.1 seconds left.

Binnington was chased at the 12:12 mark of the second period after Torey Krug scored the Bruins' third power-play goal of the game. He was replaced by Allen, the Blues' former starter, who last appeared in a game April 3.

Game 3 continued two systemic problems for the Blues, who trail in the series 2-1. Most concerning is their inability to stay out of the penalty box; the Bruins have had 14 power plays in the first three games.

"It's the major issue," O'Reilly said. "Keeping the 5-on-5 game and being more disciplined. It's tough to say [what's happened]. Maybe fatigue's kicking in. That can be an issue. But we all know we have to be better and not get sucked into stuff, and support each other better."

The Bruins were only 2-for-10 on power plays entering Game 3, but they found their groove Saturday, going 4-for-4 and needing just 2:06 for those tallies. Statistically, the Bruins' power play is the best in the playoffs since the New York Islanders in 1981. Boston showed it in Game 3.

"We know they have a dangerous power play, and we've been flirting with danger here the whole series and it burnt us tonight," Blues coach Craig Berube said.

The coaching staff helped light the fire. The Blues challenged Kuraly's goal with 9.1 seconds left in the first period, believing there was an offside. But since Blues defenseman Joel Edmundson played the puck into his own zone, the goal stood and St. Louis was given a delay-of-game penalty. On the ensuing power play, David Pastrnak scored just 41 seconds into the second period for the 4-0 lead.

Berube believed there was a "50-50" chance officials would overturn the call. O'Reilly defended the missed challenge.

"Obviously, them having a 3-0 lead, we want to wipe that period away and then you come out and you're killing. It's tough," he said. "I think they've got to make that challenge. It was close. It's unfortunate it puts them on the PP and then they get one again right off the bat. It took the wind right out and any chance of that early push that we needed at the start of the second."

Then there's Binnington.

He has given up five goals in the first period over the past two games. Binnington's .737 save percentage in Game 3 was his worst in any appearance in his NHL career, regular season or postseason. He's typically a model of cool during games, to the point where he sometimes doesn't even celebrate victories. But in Game 3, he bumped Boston goalie Tuukka Rask as the two skated to the benches during a TV timeout in the second period, and later admitted frustration.

"It was a 4-0 game. I wasn't happy. It's how I reacted. It's a long series, right?" he said. "It's something I did, and we're moving on."

Moving on is something Binnington and the Blues have done effectively during the playoffs, to the point where it's become the Calder Trophy finalist's calling card. Binnington is 6-2 with a 1.84 goals-against average and a .935 save percentage following a loss in these playoffs. Only five goalies in NHL history have posted more wins after defeats within a single postseason.

"My confidence level's really high [in Binnington]," Berube said. "Five goals he allowed, so he had seen enough. So we just wanted to pull him and get him ready for the next game."

Binnington said he'll be ready come Monday for Game 4.

"Your approach is the same," he said. "It's the Stanley Cup Final. Lots to play for. You prepare the same way. Believe in your teammates. And believe in yourself. Gotta do your job."

NEW YORK -- It may not go down as an upset the magnitude of Buster Douglas knocking out Mike Tyson for the heavyweight world title, or even Hasim Rahman drilling Lennox Lewis to do the same, but Andy Ruiz Jr. knocked out Anthony Joshua in the seventh round to take his three heavyweight belts in an absolute shocker on Saturday night.

Sold-out Madison Square Garden was packed with 20,201, including many of Joshua's British countrymen who had made the trip across the pond expecting to see him smoke Ruiz, who closed as an 11-1 underdog, according to Caesars. But it became Joshua's waterloo and crushed the chance of an undisputed championship fight between Joshua and Deontay Wilder that so many have wanted for so long.

"I just feel so good, man. This is what I have been dreaming about," Ruiz said. "This is what I have been working hard for. I can't believe I just made my dreams come true. I just want to thank my team and my family. The sky is the limit, baby."

Ruiz survived a knockdown in the third round and rallied to drop Joshua twice later in the round and then twice more in the seventh before stopping Joshua in a shocking scene.

Ruiz became the first fighter of Mexican descent to win a heavyweight world title and did so in the most dramatic fashion.

"That was my first time getting dropped on the floor. It just made me stronger," Ruiz said. "It just made me want it more. I just had to knock him down back. [I took his power] because of the Mexican warrior I am. I have that Mexican blood in me. Talking about the Mexican fighting style, I just proved it."

A Mexican fighter had tried but failed to win a heavyweight title seven times before. That list included Ruiz, who lost an extremely close majority decision to Joseph Parker when they met for a vacant title on Parker's home turf in New Zealand in December 2016. Chris Arreola lost three tries, Eric Molina two and Manuel Ramos one. But now the flabby 6-foot-2, 268-pound Ruiz, who looks anything like a fighter and eats a Snickers bar before every fight, has a claim on boxing's biggest prize after he dethroned its biggest star this side of Canelo Alvarez.

"This is for all of Mexico. Mexico has its first heavyweight champion of the world, and we made history," Manny Robles, Ruiz's trainer, said.

The chiseled 6-6, 247-pound Joshua (22-1, 21 KOs), 29, was making his seventh title defense and his much-anticipated United States debut after regularly selling out stadiums in the United Kingdom. He came to these shores hoping to build his brand in America and because streaming service DAZN put up tens of millions of dollars to lure him here.

He was classy in defeat.

"Heavyweight boxing, baby. Thank you to the people who came out this evening. That's No. 1," Joshua said. "Heavyweight boxing is on fire. I just have to turn it around a few notches and bring it back my way. I don't want people to drown in their sorrows. This will show I have the power and the strength. It just wasn't my night. But listen, it is good for the TV. Good for DAZN and the people watching."

Joshua wasn't even supposed to face Ruiz (33-1, 22 KOs), 29, of Imperial, California. He was scheduled to fight undefeated New Yorker Jarrell "Big Baby" Miller, but Miller was bounced from the fight about a month ago after failing four Voluntary Anti-Doping Association-administered random drug tests for three different banned substances -- GW1516, human growth hormone and EPO -- and being denied a boxing license by the New York State Athletic Commission.

After heavy hitter Luis "King Kong" Ortiz turned down the fight -- he will instead get a rematch this fall with Wilder -- Ruiz was the best available opponent who was willing, and anxious, to fight Joshua. So he took the fight fresh off a strong performance in a fifth-round knockout of Alexander Dimitrenko on April 20 and kept the momentum going.

Wilder shared his thoughts on Joshua's loss via social media.

He wasn't a true champion. His whole career was consisted of lies, contradictions and gifts.
Facts and now we know who was running from who!!!!#TilThisDay

— Deontay Wilder (@BronzeBomber) June 2, 2019

Ruiz-Joshua began as a feeling-out process with almost nothing happening in the opening round other than Joshua landing a few jabs. A hard jab rocked Ruiz's head back at the start of the second round and Joshua continued to jam his jab at the much shorter Ruiz, who could not get past it.

But the fight changed dramatically in the third round, a clear candidate for round of the year. Joshua looked like he was going to end the fight when he blasted Ruiz with an uppercut and a left hook that dropped him hard. But Ruiz made it to his feet and went after Joshua and knocked him down twice in a wild round.

Ruiz nailed him with a right hand on top of the head, and Joshua's legs betrayed him before he went down. He got to his feet, but his legs were gone and he was wobbling all over the place as Ruiz went after him. He dropped Joshua for the second time under a hail of punches, and Joshua looked like he might not be able to recover.

"As soon as Andy dropped him, he really slowed down," Robles said.

But by the start of the fourth round, Joshua seemed OK as he lashed Ruiz with a left hook that buckled him.

Ruiz landed a left hand early in the sixth round that buzzed Joshua, who backed up and looked to stay away. He flicked his jab hoping to keep Ruiz at bay, but Ruiz worked his way inside and fired a combination. And then another. And another.

"I could [sense he was hurt] but I just didn't want to throw away what I had. I just wanted to hunt him down even more and work the body," Ruiz said. "I just wanted to listen to the game plan."

In the seventh round, they were both in attack mode when Ruiz hurt Joshua and unloaded a dozen unanswered punches that finally dropped an exhausted Joshua.

He managed to beat the count, but Ruiz floored him again, sending him to one knee. He had his head down as he listened to referee Michael Griffin's count and barely beat it. He walked to the corner, where Griffin said something to him, but Joshua put his arms on the ropes with his back leaning on the corner post and Griffin waved off the fight at 1 minute, 27 seconds, leaving the crowd in shock.

"I want to fight. I don't do his job," Joshua said of Griffin. "I am never one of those fighters to disrespect a referee like he should have done this or he should have done that. He called it off when he thought I couldn't fight. It's a shame. But I don't want anyone to drown in their sorrows. It's the long game, not the short game."

Robles disagreed.

"He didn't want to continue," he said. "We had a great game plan -- to stay low, not fight tall and work behind the jab. Hit the chest, the body. I told him to either fight inside or stay outside. I did not want him to fight at midrange and put himself in front of the big punches."

Ruiz jumped up and down and celebrated wildly in the ring with Robles and the rest of their team after having authored one of the biggest upsets in recent boxing history.

According to CompuBox, Ruiz landed 56 of 206 punches (27 percent) and Joshua connected with 47 of 176 (27 percent).

At the time of the stoppage, Ruiz led 57-56 on two scorecards and Joshua was up 57-56 on the third card.

Joshua has the contractual right to a rematch and said he wants it.

"One-hundred percent. One-hundred percent," he said.

Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn, who promotes Joshua, said the rematch would be held in the U.K.

"AJ got sloppy. It was a beautiful combination in the third round," Hearn said. "He was in total control of the fight, but he got sloppy and never recovered. Listen, tonight was [Ruiz's] night, but AJ will come back 100 percent and we will make the rematch in the U.K. in November or December.

"But this night now belongs to Andy Ruiz. He made history in the heavyweight division. It will go down in history as a very big one. AJ has the heart of a lion and will come back stronger. Now at least we know the opponent for the end of the year in the U.K. Absolutely we will enact the immediate rematch. He will be devastated when it sinks in. It makes the fall fight a must win."

Ruiz said he is game for a second go with Joshua as much as he campaigned for the shot on Saturday after Miller fell out. But Ruiz had another plan before any of those rematch details are dealt with.

"Right now, I just want to celebrate," Ruiz said. "I just made history for Mexico. This is what I have been dreaming about since I was 6 years old."

And sometimes dreams do come true.

WASHINGTON -- President Donald Trump says that Jerry West, the pro basketball great, will receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

"The Great Jerry West will be receiving our Nation's highest civilian honor, The Presidential Medal of Freedom, for his outstanding career, both on and off the court," according to the Trump tweet Saturday night.

West, a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame, played guard for the Los Angeles Lakers and played college basketball at West Virginia University. No date was announced for the award for the 81-year-old West, who also has worked as a basketball executive.

Trump recently gave the Presidential Medal of Freedom to golfing great Tiger Woods and plans to give one later this month to Arthur Laffer, the economist known as a leading proponent of supply-side economics.

NEW YORK -- In a season that has so far been defined by the contributions of a medley of once mostly unknown New York Yankees, it can be hard singling out one player. But nearly 20 homers into a season that isn't even 60 games old yet, here we are.

The big slugger whom general manager Brian Cashman calls "the Kraken" has been unleashed -- and he is having quite the impact.

If 2017 was the year of Aaron Judge on the Yankees' lunar calendar, and 2018 was the year of Giancarlo Stanton, then it's starting to look like it's safe to call -- even at this very early juncture -- 2019 the year of Gary Sanchez.

"The guy's got a really good swing, and it's been an impressive result this last May and June now -- these last six weeks -- he's been really hot," Yankees first baseman Luke Voit said. "He's probably one of the best power hitters in the game, and he's going to make you pay if you leave it up in the zone."

Actually, as Boston Red Sox starter Rick Porcello learned in the Yankees' 5-3 win in the Bronx on Saturday night, even if you don't leave a pitch up in the zone, Sanchez still can hurt you.

With a swing that was one part awkward, another part majestic, Sanchez proved yet again that his surprising yet historically strong start is no fluke. As long as he stays healthy, swings like the big one he had to help secure yet another Yankees series win show that he might be regarded as one of the game's top power hitters by season's end.

"When he gets locked in, and he's in a good position to hit and when he's healthy, he's just very, very dangerous," said Yankees veteran outfielder Brett Gardner.

It was in the bottom of the fifth on Saturday when, in a tie game, Sanchez reached all the way across home plate, connecting with an 84.4 mph Porcello slider that ultimately slid a couple of inches out of the strike zone. Just not far enough to escape Sanchez's swing.

The two-run homer put the Yankees out in front for good. It proved to be the game-winning hit that would give them their ninth straight series win. It's the first time since August 1998 that they've won that many consecutive series. The Yankees claimed their 24th World Series that season.

Because of how far off the plate Porcello's pitch was, and because of how slightly out in front of it Sanchez was, the Yankees catcher ended up making contact with one hand, muscling a powerful, opposite-field drive 403 feet into the Yankees bullpen beyond the wall in right-center. It was as impressive a home run as Sanchez has had all season, and that's before noting that he already has hit seven farther than 430 feet with two hands.

"Not many guys are capable of doing that," Gardner said. "Gary is one of the most talented hitters in the league, and he continues to find ways to impress us."

Rare feat of strength or not, New York manager Aaron Boone wasn't shocked to see the ball leave the field.

"Don't think anyone out there looking at me is surprised," Boone said, addressing reporters from his podium. "He's a special talent, and tremendous power, obviously -- to kind of reach out and flick that out one-handed shows that."

Sanchez considered the circumstances that led to his comparatively unorthodox swing to be quite normal.

"When I started swinging, it was in the strike zone and then kept on going out," Sanchez said through an interpreter. "That's how baseball is. Sometimes you're going to swing at pitches that are not going to be in the zone, and you're still going to be able to connect."

The homer was Sanchez's 18th this season. He launched it in just his 147th at-bat. Last year, he totaled 18 homers, and he hit them in 323 at-bats, while sporting a .186 batting average.

What has helped make the powerful, .264 hitting, .987 OPS-having Sanchez so improved at the plate this year?

His health.

While he did have a brief injured list stint due to a left calf strain earlier this season, Sanchez has had markedly better injury luck than he did in 2018. Much of his previous year was derailed by a pair of trips to the disabled list with groin strains. He also spent the season playing through a shoulder injury that ultimately required offseason surgery.

"Looking back at last year, I dealt with that and it was tough," Sanchez said. "I still thought that I was able to play with the discomfort in the shoulder, but that's not an excuse. You can never use that as an excuse, and it feels good right now."

Even if Sanchez doesn't like using his past health as a crutch, his teammates could see the limitations it still had on him.

"Last year was kind of a weird year for him," Voit said. "[But] he's raking right now, and it's really impressive. That's why I get so hyped.

"He's being Gary Sanchez. Release the Kraken, man."

It was Cashman who back in 2015 and 2016 initially started referring to Sanchez as the Kraken, a nod to the sea monster in the 1981 movie "Clash of the Titans." Since then, the nickname has stuck, and Sanchez has firmly embraced it.

One of two catchers since 1900 to hit 17 home runs before June 1, Sanchez inked his name in the history books on Wednesday when he launched one of his 430-plus-foot bombs off the San Diego Padres' Eric Lauer. With that blast, Sanchez joined Roy Campanella from 1953 as the only catchers in the past 119 years to have 17 or more homers before the start of June. (Ivan Rodriguez and Ozzie Virgil both had 16 before the start of June in 2000 and 1987, respectively.)

What also has made Sanchez's power-hitting run so special this season is that it has come at a time when the Yankees have been without sluggers Stanton, Judge, Didi Gregorius and Miguel Andujar, due to injuries. Aaron Hicks also missed the first month and a half of the season due to his own ailment that began in spring training. All five of those players hit 27 or more home runs last season.

"Gary has really stepped up and filled that void in the middle of the lineup that we've been missing lately," Gardner said. "So, when you're missing some important guys like that out of the middle of the lineup, obviously it's important to find guys to not necessarily fill those shoes, because they're pretty big shoes to fill, but just to step up and get the job done."

The Kraken has done all of that.

As the Yankees eye not only a series sweep of the Red Sox on Sunday and another intradivision series win this upcoming week at the Toronto Blue Jays, expect Sanchez to be right there continuing to contribute. To do that, he just has to stay on the field.

Jessica Ennis-Hill believes her fellow Briton can challenge the Olympic heptathlon champion after her strong showing in Götzis

After seeing Katarina Johnson-Thompson (pictured above) claim a dominant victory in the Götzis Hypo-Meeting heptathlon, Jessica Ennis-Hill says her fellow Briton is ready for the next challenge of taking on Olympic and world champion Nafissatou Thiam this summer.

Johnson-Thompson improved her personal best to a world-leading score of 6813 points at the prestigious multi-events competition in Austria last weekend, winning by 337 points ahead of Latvia’s Laura Ikauniece.

That mark consolidates the Commonwealth and world indoor champion’s third place on the UK heptathlon all-time list, with only British record-holder Ennis-Hill and Sydney Olympic champion Denise Lewis having ever scored higher thanks to their respective best tallies of 6955 and 6831 points.

“Absolutely incredible,” replied London 2012 Olympic champion Ennis-Hill when asked about Johnson-Thompson’s performance.

“She has started her season in the best way possible. A personal best score, she put some great performances together.

“She’s just holding that dominance there and the next challenge is to take on Thiam later on in the summer but I think she’s definitely ready for it.”

Britain’s world under-20 champion Niamh Emerson was also competing in Götzis and Ennis-Hill had visited the 20-year-old at her base in Loughborough in the lead-up to the competition.

Emerson was unable to prove what she might have been capable of, however, as the recurrence of a knee injury forced her to withdraw after two events.

“Obviously devastated for Niamh,” added Ennis-Hill, who was speaking with AW after her official race starter duties at the Vitality London 10,000.

“I went up to Loughborough to interview her a few weeks ago and I know she was very much looking forward to her first competition out there in Götzis but these things aren’t always meant to be.

“As a heptathlete you can have so many injuries and setbacks,” added the three-time world champion, who herself was forced to miss the 2008 Olympics because of injury.

“This is just part of her journey and hopefully she’ll go back home, recover well and prepare for the rest of the season.”

MADRID -- Defeat on the biggest stage can trigger two responses: The losers either allow the disappointment to drag them down to the realms of the also-rans, or use it as inspiration to go again and come back stronger.

Liverpool, having suffered a painful and comprehensive 3-1 defeat against Real Madrid in last season's Champions League final, took the latter option. The Anfield club invested wisely in the likes of Alisson and Fabinho and, having almost won the Premier League with 97 points, ended this campaign with a 2-0 victory over Tottenham Hotspur that delivered the club's sixth European Cup.

Tottenham face that same fork in the road, but there are too many question marks hanging over Mauricio Pochettino's team -- not least that of the manager's own future -- to suggest with any conviction that the North London outfit will follow Liverpool's example this summer. In the aftermath of this defeat, deep inside the Wanda Metropolitano, Pochettino was again careful not to banish the questions marks.

"I think it's not a moment now to talk too much," he said. "You can interpret things in different ways. After five years in Tottenham, it was so clear the project. Our ambition was amazing and the commitment of our players amazing, providing us with our first ever Champions League final. But now it's time to be calm, change our mind and have time to talk."

Pochettino has three years to run on his contract at Tottenham, but recent non-committal remarks about whether he will stay or go after five years in charge have created doubt where there needs to be absolute certainty.

If he does leave, then Tottenham will be back to the drawing board, but even if Pochettino can be persuaded to stay for another crack at turning the club into trophy winners, the job he faces will be a big one, both in terms of finance and ambition.

Tottenham must somehow square a circle that has seen initial projections of the club's new stadium costing £400 million, rise to an eventual £1 billion. They have to pay for the ground at the same time as investing in a squad that has not had a penny spent on it since Lucas Moura arrived from Paris Saint-Germain for £25m in January 2018.

Pochettino's ability as a coach has seen him work wonders overcoming that competitive disadvantage, guiding Tottenham to this final and a top-four finish in the Premier League once again. However, the lack of investment is why his line-up in Madrid featured two half-fit Harrys -- Kane and Winks -- and out-of-form right-back Kieran Trippier, whose dip since the World Cup last summer has seen him dropped from England's squad for next week's Nations League finals in Portugal.

"We looked at the qualities of our players, but it would have been incredible to have won this trophy because Tottenham prioritised their stadium and spent zero on transfers," Pochettino said. "We're not the smartest in the class but not the stupidest either."

- Marcotti: Journey for Liverpool's European champions is not over
- Liverpool ratings: 8/10 Alisson, Van Dijk set foundation for victory
- Tottenham ratings: 5/10 Kane, Alli struggle as Spurs fall short

Tottenham maximised every resource to reach the Champions League final, but if this run is to act as a springboard, rather than a high watermark, things have to change. They must spend to build, but also show the ambition that will convince the likes of Kane, Son Heung-Min and Dele Alli that they can win silverware.

Kane, who will turn 26 next month, is approaching the peak years of his career, yet the man who won the Golden Boot at last year's World Cup does not have a winners' medal of any description to his name.

Tottenham's homegrown poster-boy tasted the biggest stage as a runner-up in Madrid, albeit short of fitness following a seven-week injury layoff, and Kane has to decide whether he wants to fast-track himself to the winners' podium by following the likes of Gareth Bale and Luka Modric from North London to a club of Real Madrid's stature.

The same applies to Alli -- younger than Kane at 23 -- and Son, 26. Both have their admirers, even though Alli has had a disappointing season, and Tottenham could face a battle to convince both that they should reject interest from elsewhere to stay. Meanwhile, Christian Eriksen is refusing to sign a new contract to replace his current deal that expires in June 2020 and might be the first to move on.

One way to banish doubts over the futures of star players and manager would be for Daniel Levy to sanction the major spending required to maintain an upward trajectory. The chairman has never put the club's financial well-being in jeopardy, though, so if the numbers do not add up, big spending will not happen any time soon.

Liverpool never looked like being a team at the end of its journey last year, but it is hard to see how Tottenham can emulate them by bouncing back to win the Champions League in Istanbul 12 months from now. After the biggest night in club history, arguably their biggest summer lies ahead.

"We need to be clever now and, after a very painful game like this, it's about building for the next period of your life," Pochettino said. "Of course it's going to be tough."

DETROIT – Juan Pablo Montoya and Dane Cameron, co-drivers of the No. 6 Acura Team Penske ARX-05 DPi, accomplished something in Saturday’s Chevrolet Sports Car Classic that hadn’t been done since IMSA began racing on Detroit’s Belle Isle Park.

Before Saturday, General Motors race cars won their class in all nine IMSA races held on Belle Isle from 2007 through 2018, including overall victories from 2012 through last year.

On Saturday Montoya and Cameron came away with their second consecutive IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship victory in a tight, 100-minute battle on the 2.3-mile street circuit.

RELATED: Hawksworth & Heistand Stand Tall In Belle Isle Brawl

After claiming the Motul Pole Award in qualifying Friday, Montoya got a fantastic jump at the start to take the lead, which he held for the first 19 laps of what would be a 58-lap race before pitting under the second of the race’s five full-course caution periods to turn the car over to Cameron. Montoya’s stop turned the lead over to Tristan Nunez, who was on a different pit-stop strategy in the No. 77 Mazda Team Joest RT24-P DPi.

Following the ensuing restart, however, Cameron picked up where Montoya left off, taking the lead away from Nunez on the first green-flag lap. Cameron surrendered the lead for one more lap when he came in for his final pit stop but retook the lead on lap 35.

Cameron led the field to the green flag for the final restart with just under 22 minutes remaining, but he quickly had last year’s Detroit winner, Felipe Nasr in the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac DPi-V.R, right on his tail. Nasr filled Cameron’s mirrors all the way to the checkered flag, but never could get quite close enough as Cameron crossed the stripe .820 of a second ahead of the No. 31 to take the victory.

“Certainly, we’ll take that,” said Cameron, who won at Detroit in 2015 in the Whelen Engineering Corvette DP with then-co-driver Eric Curran. “It’s a little bit unexpected for us. Usually the street course is pretty good for the Cadillac, so we knew they were going to competitive here, but obviously we were looking for more of a podium than wins here and get some good points.

“I’m super excited to win here and get two in a row. Lots of people who get two wins in a row get championships, so hopefully that’s a good omen for the balance of the season.”

Cameron and Montoya also won last month’s Acura Sports Car Challenge at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. It was Acura’s second overall victory in Detroit, the first coming in the 2008 American Le Mans Series (ALMS) race on Belle Isle when James Rossiter and Franck Montagny won for Andretti-Green Racing.

It was Montoya’s fifth IMSA win (two WeatherTech Championship and three Grand-Am) and was Cameron’s 14th (12 WeatherTech Championship, one Grand-Am, one ALMS).

“To win in Detroit finally, it’s good,” said Montoya. “It’s nice to be here. It’s nice to be here with Acura – it’s an amazing program – and Team Penske. [Team owner] Roger [Penske]’s home race. I felt yesterday I did a really good job in qualifying. To convert that into a win, Dane did an amazing job out there today too. We did everything we needed to do again. We just need to keep doing that every week.”

The victory moved Cameron and Montoya into second in the WeatherTech Championship DPi standings, but Nasr and co-driver Pipo Derani slightly extended their lead to five, 152-147, with the runner-up result. The No. 31 duo came up just short of extending General Motors’ hometown win streak.

The run included back-to-back American Le Mans Series GT1 class wins by Corvette Racing in 2007 and 2008. Corvette Daytona Prototypes won overall in the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series in 2012 and 2013, as well as IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship races from 2014 through 2016. Cadillac DPi race cars won in both 2017 and 2018.

Helio Castroneves and Ricky Taylor picked up their third podium result in five races this season and made it two Acura Team Penske DPis in the top three with a third-place showing. They are third in the DPi championship standings at the halfway point of the 10-race season for the DPi class, trailing Montoya and Cameron by just one point.

Simon Trummer and Stephen Simpson came home fourth in the No. 84 JDC-Miller Motorsports Cadillac DPi-V.R for their best result of the season to date. Misha Goikhberg and Tristan Vautier finished one spot behind their JDC-Miller teammates with a fifth-place showing in the No. 85 Cadillac DPi.