PORTLAND, Ore. -- When the confetti was finally released from the rafters and the final buzzer sounded on Game 3, the Portland Trail Blazers and Denver Nuggets had played 68 minutes of basketball -- and they might have played 68 more had Nikola Jokic not missed a fatigued-induced free throw with 5.6 seconds left.

The Blazers had outlasted the Nuggets 140-137 in a three-and-a-half hour, four-overtime marathon, a grueling, exhausting, test of will. You could've watched "Avengers: Endgame," including the credits, and had time to spare. The landing gear would've been out on your flight from Portland to Denver. CJ McCollum ran 4.38 miles in the game. Jokic played the most minutes in a playoff game in the shot clock era. The only other time four overtimes were played in a playoff game, Red Auerbach was coaching -- and was four years away from winning his first championship.

It was a game that seemed to be over 20 different times, with each team taking its turn as the winner.

"I have no idea what happened in the first half or the second half," Blazers coach Terry Stotts said, "or the first three overtimes."

So, what exactly did happen?

7:46 p.m. PT/10:46 p.m. ET

That's when the game started. Remember that? The Blazers won the tip. Little did they know, four more of them at midcourt were coming. Al-Farouq Aminu scored the first points of the game on a free throw. The first quarter score was 23-17, with the Blazers surging with a 7-0 run over the final three minutes. It felt like a big moment.

8:44 p.m. PT/11:44 p.m. ET

Halftime: The Blazers led 48-47. Pretty close game despite Portland leading by as many as 10. Jamal Murray (16 points) and Damian Lillard (10 points) were the only players in double figures as both teams were under 40 percent shooting from the field.

9:12 p.m. PT/12:12 a.m. ET

Jokic was playing somewhat passive, and Nuggets coach Mike Malone challenged him in a timeout.

"I said listen, we've gotta get this big fella going, we've gotta start getting him the ball," Malone said. "I don't care if they were double-teaming him or not, let's keep getting him the ball, let him make plays, let him be aggressive and score and he was able to do so."

Midway through the third, Jokic had only six points. He scored 17 in the quarter and 27 of his 33 after halftime, finishing with a monster triple-double that included 18 rebounds and 14 assists.

Jokic was all that was keeping the Nuggets in it, too. The Blazers were starting to separate, and after playing facilitator and decoy for much of the first three quarters, Lillard came alive. He slithered off a high screen and popped a 30-footer from straightaway and the Blazers led by eight with 2:44 left in the third. He made two free throws a possession later and it was a 77-67 Portland lead with 2:13 left in the third quarter. Jokic answered back with seven in the final 90 seconds of the third to cut it to five heading to the fourth.

9:56 p.m. PT/12:56 a.m. ET

Murray, who was playing with an injured thigh and shoulder, hit a vicious step-back 3 to put the Nuggets up five with 1:56 to go. Maurice Harkless answered it with a 3 a few seconds later, then had an and-1 chance that would've put the Blazers up with 1:04 left. He missed the free throw, but the Nuggets turned it over and Lillard hit what seemed to be a trademark Dame Time kind of shot -- a running floater with 31.6 seconds left to put the Blazers up two. Before the play, it looked as if Stotts wanted a timeout, but Lillard waved it off and wanted the ball inbounded. The Nuggets had been bracketing and trapping him the entire game, and he didn't want to let them scheme the ball out of his hands again.

The Nuggets called timeout and Malone drew up a beauty. Jokic hit a weaving Will Barton on a backcut for a layup and it was tied again with 28.6 seconds left. The Nuggets got it out of Lillard's hands this time, with Aminu missing an open 3 with 6.7 seconds left. The Nuggets grabbed the rebound but took a dribble before the timeout meaning they couldn't advance the ball. They didn't even get a shot off. End of regulation.

10:20 p.m. PT/1:20 a.m. ET

McCollum was cooking in overtime, throwing haymakers. Everything was running through him.

"I always enjoy when CJ gets rolling because it's not just the fact he's doing it for our team, it's the way it looks," Lillard said. "Guys like him and Kyrie Irving, they have the game that just look good, just smooth. Crossovers, crafty, tough shots so to just to watch it was great as a teammate and as a friend. Just the time that it came, It was just big shot after big shot after big shot after big shot and for me my job is to allow that. When he's rolling, let him keep rolling."

But as they did all night, the Nuggets responded. Paul Millsap took advantage of Rodney Hood in the paint and put Denver up two with 47.1 seconds left. Lillard missed a step-back, but stole it back from Torrey Craig with 16 seconds left. Lillard airballed a layup -- really -- but the Blazers kept it alive, and after some madness and chaos, McCollum hit a composed runner with 8.7 seconds left. The Nuggets got the final look, a 27-foot 3 from Jokic that hit back iron. Double overtime.

10:32 p.m. PT/1:32 a.m. ET

Lillard made a 28-foot 3 to put the Blazers up five with 2:50 left in the second overtime, and all that was missing was some wrist tapping. It felt as if it were that time. Barton, though, had other ideas. He answered with a 3, then Millsap finished a short runner to tie the score again. McCollum hit a pull-up jumper, and Gary Harris finished a reverse layup. There was a jump ball between Lillard and Murray with 4.1 seconds left, and the toss by the referee was comically bad, tilted completely toward Lillard. The Blazers won the tip and called timeout.

The last shot was almost from the same spot Lillard ended the series against the Oklahoma City Thunder, 30 feet away from the right wing, near the Moda Center logo. Craig contested it and Lillard missed it to the left. Neither team scored in the last minute of the second overtime.

10:36 p.m. PT/1:36 a.m. ET

McCollum reheated in the third overtime. A 19-foot pull-up, a 22-foot step-back, a 26-foot ruthless 3-pointer. The Nuggets answered. Murray hit two free throws with 1:25 left to put Denver up two, then Millsap hit a gorgeous turnaround jumper that had the look of a shot that would settle things. The Nuggets led 129-125 with 32.2 seconds left, and the Blazers called timeout.

Lillard darted for a layup in less than five seconds, and with only a three-second difference between the shot and game clock, the Blazers tried to force a steal. McCollum pressured Murray, and pinned him up against the sideline, McCollum poked the ball away. In real time, it appeared the ball was obviously off McCollum, but fingers twirled in the air asking for a review, and with the footage grainy as it rolled through frame by frame, it was clearly off of Murray's fingertips.

After the ensuring inbounds play, Lillard went straight back to the rim with 8.4 seconds left and tied it. The Nuggets got another last crack, and after drawing a switch with Enes Kanter on him, Murray missed a 31-footer than banked off the backboard and rim.

Game 3 was now officially tied as the longest playoff game ever.

10:53 p.m. PT/1:53 a.m. ET

When the fourth overtime started, Jokic had already logged 60 minutes, including 39 consecutive without a break. It was so many that Malone apologized to Jokic after the game in the locker room.

"To be honest in that moment, in that time you don't even think about how much minutes you are playing," Jokic said. "You're just trying to win a game. After the game of course, I mean I think it's a lot, but I'm not going to go out in the fourth overtime."

Both teams were, understandably, gassed. Barton had a little juice and scored the first points of the fourth overtime. Kanter answered after collecting an airballed Aminu jumper. Barton hit a pull-up jumper with 2:49 left, and after a minute passed, the game finally had its answer.

Rodney Hood hadn't played since the last minute of the first overtime but checked in for Harkless with 1:59 left. The Blazers have been trying to exploit mismatches, particularly with Murray as the defender, during the series so they went straight to Hood on the block. He backed down Murray and hit a turnaround jumper. Lillard said to run that back.

"I think it was at one point we were down two and coach called a play for him and he scored it," Lillard said. "And then the next time I was like same play, and he looked at me like what we doing, and I was like, same thing. Let's keep it rolling and he hit another one."

Hood isolated on Murray and hit a baseline step-back. The Nuggets were up 136-135, though, with 27.6 seconds left. McCollum missed a jumper coming out of a Portland timeout, but he followed his shot and tracked a rebound. He spotted Hood open on the wing.

"I see him out of the corner of my eyes when I rose, and I was like OK, if I do miss this, it's probably going to come back to me," McCollum said. "So I followed, and I jumped and right when I jumped I looked and I was like, 'Uh-oh.' ... I got excited so I tried to throw it as fast as possible. And when he pump-faked it, I was like, 'Uh-oh' ... and he sidestepped and cashed out. I was like big, big shot Rodney, We needed that. Because I don't know what was going to happen down the stretch in a fifth or sixth overtime."

Coaches often don't like to sub in overtime situations, preferring to stick with the players in the flow of the game because they're worried guys on the bench might be too stiff or cold to be ready. It looked as if Stotts had bucked that logic and found some fresh legs, and a matchup issue for Denver. Not quite.

"I'd like to take credit for that," Stotts said, "but Moe was cramping up a little bit. That was the reason for the substitution."

For Hood, it was a triumphant moment of redemption after his last postseason was one of disappointment and difficulty. Traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers midseason from the Utah Jazz and seen as a key part to help LeBron James, Hood fell out of favor and was effectively benched in the playoffs.

"I stayed patient, didn't get down on myself even when a lot of people did," Hood said with the emotion obvious on his face. "I just didn't give up, I didn't give up on myself and I just kept playing, kept working. And I had no idea that I would end up here in Portland in this type of situation. But to be here, to have my family in the crowd when I saw a lot of sad faces last year, last go-around ... to be here is very emotional for me, to be quite frank. A lot more basketball to go through, but it feels good right now.

"I was telling Gary Trent and [Anfernee Simons] that if I got a chance, I was gonna end it."

Of course, Game 3 wasn't quite over with, though. Hood's shot put Portland up two, and Denver had another shot. Jokic was fouled, and with the Moda Center crowd quaking, he missed the first free throw. He made the second, but Seth Curry subsequently made both of his, and a desperation toss was picked off by McCollum and finally, Game 3 ended at 11:13 p.m. local time, 2:13 a.m. on the East Coast.

Lillard pulled in Aminu and Harkless, two of his closest teammates and players he always feels are undervalued, and hugged them. He then gathered the entire team at midcourt. Fans poured into the concourses, chanting and high-fiving one another. Game 4 was set to tip off in a little more than 36 hours and both teams were already in recovery mode. The Blazers had already canceled Saturday's practice.

For both teams, losing was going to be mentally anguishing, a hurdle in and of itself to know that much work went in to come out empty-handed. Lillard said he had thought about the consequences of losing and what kind of effect that could carry.

"I just remember the third overtime, we was down four with 30 seconds left, and I was just like I know it's not a lot of time, probably going to end of having to foul," he said. "Like something is going to have to work out because I started thinking about how I would feel when I got home tonight. And I was just like, 'We just can't have this right now.' I'm sure everyone was thinking that same way about how they would feel if they went home tonight and know that we went home and left this game out there and didn't take care of business, so we got it done."

It's only one game. It's now 2-1 in favor of the Blazers, with a critical Game 4 ahead soon.

"Well, it's one and a half, since we played a game and a half," Stotts said. "So let's get [credit for] 1.5. But we still have to get to four."

CINCINNATI -- The crowd was energized for Nick Senzel's debut. A pair of three-run homers by Derek Dietrich helped the Reds surge ahead by eight runs. It looked as though the San Francisco Giants were headed for yet another horrid outcome at Great American Ball Park.

Instead, the Giants pulled off an against-the-odds comeback, led by a player who has been through one of his own.

Stephen Vogt hit a tying, two-out homer in the ninth inning, and Evan Longoria connected in the 11th for a 12-11 victory on Friday that ended San Francisco's streak of seven straight losses at Great American Ballpark since 2016.

It was the fifth time in franchise history that the Giants overcame an eight-run deficit for a win. The last time was 1989, also in Cincinnati.

"We've had a tough time here. You come in here, and it's the first game ,and you get down by eight runs, and you say, 'Oh, man, there's something about this ballpark,'" manager Bruce Bochy said.

The Giants put together by far their best offensive game of the season, led by their backup catcher.

Vogt was called up earlier in the week, completing a long comeback from shoulder surgery that wiped out his 2018 season. He got into the game as part of a double switch after the Giants fell far behind. Vogt singled and scored in a three-run rally in the eighth inning, then tied it 11-11 in the ninth with his two-out homer off Raisel Iglesias.

"It kind of felt like my first career homer. I kind of blacked out," Vogt said. "There were a lot of emotions going around the bases, mostly pure joy."

Longoria led off the 11th with a homer off Jared Hughes (2-1) just inside the left-field foul pole, allowing San Francisco to get the better of a matchup between the NL's two worst offenses.

Reyes Moronta (1-2) escaped a threat in the 10th inning. Will Smith retired the side in the 11th for his eighth save in eight chances.

Cincinnati surged ahead 8-0 as Dietrich hit a pair of three-run home runs off Tyler Beede, a former first-round pick who lasted only 2 1/3 innings. A big night for the majors' worst offense -- Cincinnati came in batting .207 -- wasn't enough.

"Incredible, honestly," Beede said. "I put us in quite a hole there."

Senzel played a small role in a wild game. The second overall pick in the 2016 draft was called up and started in center field. He got the loudest cheers in pregame introductions and went 1-for-5 with a pair of walks. He also got an ovation for running down a fly ball on the warning track.

"I've been dreaming about it, and it was nothing like that," Senzel said. "Walking to the plate, hearing my name being called, hearing the crowd -- the city of Cincinnati having my back was something special."

The Giants have struggled to hit, batting .214 as a team, and made a move pregame to help the offense. Outfielder Mike Gerber was called up from Triple-A. He doubled and walked in four plate appearances.

BIG 8 COMEBACKS

The Giants' other wins after erasing eight-run deficits were in 1947 at Pittsburgh, 1970 at Atlanta and 1970 at the Dodgers.

FAMOUS COMPANY

Dietrich became the first major league second baseman to hit a pair of three-run homers in the first three innings of a game since Reds Hall of Famer Joe Morgan on Aug. 19, 1974, according to STATS.

HITLESS VOTTO

Reds leadoff hitter Joey Votto made a pair of outs as the Reds sent 10 batters to the plate in the third inning, only the second time in his career that he made two outs in an inning. He also did it against the Mets on July 18, 2008. Votto went 0-for-7 overall, dropping his average to .217.

STREAKING

Buster Posey singled in the fourth inning, extending his hitting streak to a season-high nine games.

PARRA FAREWELL

The Giants designed outfielder Gerardo Parra for assignment to open a spot for Gerber. Parra signed a minor league deal in February and made the Opening Day roster but batted only .198 with one homer.

TRAINER'S ROOM

Giants: Catcher Erik Kratz went on the 10-day injury list with a mild strain in his left hamstring.

Reds: Third baseman Eugenio Suarez got a planned day out of the lineup. He pinch hit in the ninth and flied out.

UP NEXT

Giants: Dereck Rodriguez (3-3) is coming off one of his worst starts, allowing a career-high six runs in an 11-5 loss to the Yankees.

Reds: Tanner Roark (1-1) is 6-1 in eight career starts against the Giants with a 2.59 ERA.

CHICAGO -- Desperate to get in the win column, Red Sox ace Chris Sale finally found a victory in the place where he has won the most.

Sale threw six scoreless innings in his sharpest outing of the season and picked up the decision in Boston's 6-1 win over the Chicago White Sox on Friday. Sale (1-5) won his first game of the season and earned his first regular-season victory since Aug. 12 of last year.

"It's nice to feel like I'm back on track and actually help this team win a ballgame," Sale said. "Just kind of got back to some old things I used to do."

For Sale, the setting was familiar. He was the first-round draft pick of the White Sox back in 2010 and played his first seven big league seasons in Chicago. He owns the White Sox's season strikeout record (274 in 2015). Friday's win was Sale's 44th career victory at Guaranteed Rate Field; that's 32 more than he has at any other venue. Sale has 12 career wins at Fenway Park in Boston.

"It's never not going to be weird [pitching in Chicago]," Sale said. "It's never not going to be something, I guess. Obviously, I've pitched here seems like a million times. I like this place. I've always liked pitching on this mound. Being here is special to me."

Even more than the win, Sale's dominance was a welcome sight for the defending champs. He allowed just three hits and matched his season high with 10 strikeouts. Sale walked one batter and hit two, but even that was perhaps a sign that his former nastiness is returning.

Among a string of puzzling performances for the defending champion Red Sox in the season's opening weeks, Sale's struggles were the most head-scratching. His diminished velocity was a hot topic after his first two outings, and even after the buzz on his fastball began to bounce back, the positive results didn't. He entered Friday's game with an unsightly 6.30 ERA, a number that will drop quickly if Sale keeps pitching like he did in Chicago.

"Wasn't it last year he took off May 6 in Texas?" Red Sox manager Alex Cora asked rhetorically after the game. He was referring to a seven-inning, 12-strikeout performance against the Rangers that kicked off a stretch in which Sale went 9-3 with a 2.00 ERA over 15 starts.

Maybe the star lefty is ready to go on another such flurry. Sale's average velocity on Friday (86.6 mph) was a season high, as his fastball topped out at 96.5, according to Statcast. He threw 37 four-seam fastballs and 10 two-seamers, both season highs in an attacking performance. All in all, it was vintage Sale and another happy omen for a Boston rotation that, after a shaky start, has the American League's best starting pitcher ERA since April 12.

"Just pitching stuff," Sale said of his adjustments over the season. "More just kind of being in the zone with quality pitches, just executing in certain counts and being where I need to be."

Now that Sale has piggybacked his seven-inning outing in a no-decision against Tampa Bay on April 28 with Friday's start, perhaps the Red Sox can turn their attention to their climb to break even. Despite the victory over the White Sox, Boston (15-18) remains three games under .500. If the Red Sox are going to get back in position to defend their crown, they will need a dominant Chris Sale.

Perhaps Friday's gem was evidence that version of Sale has returned.

"Command was really good," Cora said. "He was able to use the inside part of the plate against righties. Kept them off balance, slider was good, was consistent with his delivery. It was good to see him that way."

Spanish eyes are smiling in Birmingham
By JULIE O’HARE

The Spanish men’s team created history on semi-finals day of the European Team Championships at Edgbaston Priory Club in Birmingham, as they sensationally beat defending champions France in a long and dramatic match to reach the final for the first time.

In tomorrow’s final they’ll play many-time champions England, who beat Spain 4-0 in their pool match and tonight ousted local rivals Scotland in a late-night encounter.

The women’s final will be between top seeds England and France, for the sixth year in a row, as they beat Belgium and Scotland in contrasting style.

England’s women have only lost once in the 41-year history of the event and extended their winning run against third seeded Belgium as Victoria Lust and Sarah-Jane Perry won the opening two matches. Lust was tested in the first two games by Yara Delagrance before easing through the third, while Perry was taken to four by Nele Gilis – who led 9-7 in two of the games she lost. Laura Massaro won the dead rubber, coming from a game and 8-3 down to beat Tinne Gilis.

France had to come from behind after Scotland’s Georgia Adderley battled her way to a 3-2 win over Melissa Alves, recovering from losing the fourth 11-2 to take the decider 13-11 on her fourth match ball.

Camille Serme and Coline Aumard repaired the damage for France with three-nil wins to take them through to a sixth successive final against England.

Spain’s astonishing win came after Gregoire Marche had put the French ahead with a tough four-game win against Borja Golan, the 16-time Spanish champion playing his 21st European Team Championships. The rest of the Spanish team are more youthful, and they needed all their energy and determination to complete a stunning comeback.

Current national champion Edmon Lopez fought back from one-two down to beat Victor Crouin, blitzing the decider 11-1, and Bernat Jaume put Spain 2-1 up with a three-nil win over Benjamin Aubert.

This left France’s Lucas Serme needing a 3-0 win, while Spain’s Iker Pajares needed to take two games. Serme took the lead, Pajares levelled and then had an effective match ball before Serme regained the lead 12-10.

The Spaniard now needed just 6 points in the fourth game to give Spain the win but he did better than that, taking the game 12-10 to put Spain through on games countback after 104 minutes.

“It’s unbelievable,” said Golan. “In an individual sport, to play for a team in events like this is the best squash has given me. This is a great event every year, but to make the final after so many years, with a group of players like this, I’m so proud.”

Spanish manager Jonas Gonerup, who won the European Team Championships title with Sweden in 1982, said:

“Not bad, but they need to go one better to equal me! Seriously, they’re such a good team. After losing the first match and Edmon being 1-2 down in the second they fought back so well. After Edmon won, Bernat knew he needed a 3-0 to put us in the driving seat and he did just that. We knew Iker could win, but Lucas played so well but so did Iker.

“It’s a great team effort, they were all very strong physically and mentally when it came to the crunch and I’m very proud of what they’ve achieved tonight.”

England won through to their 27th consecutive final with an assured win over Scotland, who were back in the semi-finals after missing out last year. Greg Lobban took the first game against Declan James, but thereafter it was all England as James took the next three, Tom Richards beat Angus Gillams in three – coming from 0-6 in the third – and Daryl Selby took the two games that England needed against Rory Stewart to end a long day at Edgbaston Priory Club.

Finals are at 11.00 and 13.30 tomorrow with the women’s 3rd/4th play-offs at 9am on the glass court.

European Team Championships Women’s Semi-Finals Results:

[1] England 2-0 [3] Belgium

Victoria Lust 3-0 Yara Delagrance 11-7, 11-9, 11-1 (19m)

Sarah-Jane Perry 3-1 Nele Gilis 11-13, 11-5, 11-4, 11-9 (43m)

Laura Massaro 2-1 Tinne Gilis 8-11, 11-9, 12-10 (46m)

[2] France 2-1 [8] Scotland

Melissa Alves 2-3 Georgina Adderley 7-11, 11-9, 9-11, 11-2, 11-13 (50m)

Camille Serme 3-0 Lisa Aitken 11-5, 11-6, 11-5 (25m)

Coline Aumard 3-0 Alison Tomson 11-7, 11-5, 11-1 (29m)

European Team Championships Men’s Semi-Finals Results:

[1] France 2-2 [3] Spain (7-9)

Gregoire Marche 3-1 Borja Golan 11-7, 9-11, 11-3, 11-6 (67m)

Victor Crouin 2-3 Edmon Lopez 11-9, 7-11, 11-8, 7-11, 1-11 (65m)

Benjamin Aubert 0-3 Bernat Jaume 7-11, 8-11, 7-11 (36m)

Lucas Serme 2-2 Iker Pajares 11-7, 8-11, 12-10, 10-12 n/p (104m)

[2] England 3-0 [5] Scotland

Declan James 3-1 Greg Lobban 9-11, 14-12, 11-6, 11-8 (57)

Tom Richards 3-0 Angus Gillams 11-7, 11-6, 11-6 (30m)

Daryl Selby 2-0 Rory Stewart 11-8, 13-11 (40m)

James Willstrop v Alan Clyne

Pictures courtesy of : Edgbaston Priory Club

LAS VEGAS – During Friday’s pre-race press conference for the AMA Supercross season finale at Las Vegas’s Sam Boyd Stadium, American Honda announced that Ken Roczen has renewed his contract with Team Honda HRC.

The deal will have the German campaigning a CRF450R in AMA Supercross and AMA Pro Motocross for the next three years.

A World and National Motocross Champion and a native of Germany, Roczen originally signed with Honda ahead of the 2017 season. After that, he enjoyed early dominance followed by serious injury, grueling rehabilitation and improbable comeback.

Roczen earned third place in last year’s AMA Pro Motocross final points standings, and with one round remaining this AMA Supercross season, he has earned six podium finishes and sits fourth in the points standings. Through it all, he has been a model of professionalism while inspiring legions of fans.

“Re-signing with Honda was a no-brainer for me,” Roczen said. “I owe the team a lot and I feel like we have a lot of good days ahead of us. Three years is a long time, so when I signed, I was beyond stoked and it was a big pressure relief for me. The guys that I work with on this team are like a big family. Over the last two and a half years, the team and I have been through a lot. We’ve had some incredible highs but we’ve also hit rock bottom, and one thing that Honda always did—no matter what—was believe in me. They never gave up. The team also does whatever it takes to make a rider happy, which is huge because it brings comfort, and I want to win just as bad as they do. I know we haven’t done that in a while, but our work and what we do together isn’t done. Them standing behind me through thick and thin, the good times and the bad times, is what makes a great team, so I’m excited to continue our relationship.”

“During his time with Honda so far, Ken’s dedication has been exemplary,” said Lee Edmunds, American Honda’s Manager of Powersports Marketing Communications. “The tenacity with which he pursues success is exceeded only by the resolve with which he approaches challenges. We firmly believe that attitude will help him — and us — get back on top. Ken is our guy, and we’re thrilled to continue together.”

DOVER, Del. – Johnny Sauter continued his mastery of Dover Int’l Speedway Friday afternoon.

Driving the No. 13 Ford for ThorSport Racing, Sauter held off reigning NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series champion – and the man who replaced him at GMS Racing – Brett Moffitt to earn his third-straight victory at the Monster Mile.

Sauter had to rebound from a late-race pit road speeding penalty to earn the victory, his first of the season and the 24th of his Truck Series career.

During a caution period with less than 40 laps left following a crash by Austin Wayne Self, Sauter was busted for speeding on pit road. The resulting penalty dropped him outside the top-10, but the veteran racer would not be denied.

Shortly after the restart, which saw Ben Rhodes leading the field, Sheldon Creed crashed his No. 2 Chevrolet in an incident that also damaged the trucks of Todd Gilliland and Tyler Ankrum. Sauter was now sixth for the ensuing restart and he quickly went to work passing the trucks in front of him.

On lap 169 Sauter moved by Harrison Burton to take over second and one lap later Sauter dispatched Rhodes to take over the lead.

Sauter continued to lead the way until the final caution flag of the race waved with 10 laps left when Brennan Poole found the outside wall in turn one. That set up one final restart with five laps left with Sauter leading Moffitt and Burton.

Moffitt tried to hang with Sauter on the restart, but Sauter’s Ford F-150 was just too much for the reigning series champion. Sauter pulled clear and pulled away to what the Wisconsin native called one of his favorite victories of his career.

“When you get kicked to the curb you feel like you have a lot to prove,” said Sauter, who was released by GMS Racing prior to the 2019 season in favor of Moffitt. “A couple months ago I didn’t know if I’d be racing. To get three in a row here is extra special.

“This is so special. This ranks right up there as one of the best wins of my career.”

Moffitt, in his first season driving for GMS Racing after winning the Truck Series title last year for Hattori Racing Enterprises, is still searching for his first victory of the year.

“It’s all about track position here at Dover now,” said Moffitt, who started from the pole after setting a track record in qualifying. “Restarting on the outside is key and he obviously got the outside. I was lucky enough to get into second without the 98 (Grant Enfinger) filling the gap.

“We had a good ISM Connect Chevy. When we were out front we could lead. We won the first stage. Lapped traffic kind of cost us track position we never got back.”

Burton came home third in the Kyle Busch Motorsports No. 18 Toyota, followed by ThorSport’s Grant Enfinger and Matt Crafton. Rhodes, Austin Hill, Derek Kraus, Ankrum and Ross Chastain completed the top-10.

For complete results, advance to the next page.