MONTE CARLO – Lewis Hamilton survived a race-long duel with Max Verstappen to win the Monaco Grand Prix for the third time in his career Sunday at Circuit de Monaco.

Hamilton started from the pole and led from start to finish, but he did so with Verstappen filling his mirrors for three quarters of the race.

“That was definitely, for me, the hardest race I think I’ve had,” Hamilton admitted.

Verstappen started third and slotted in behind Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas, chasing the Mercedes pairing for the opening circuits. Behind them Charles Leclerc was trying to work through the field after a dismal qualifying effort, but contact with the wall while attempting an overtake cut down a tire and scattered debris across the track, requiring a safety car period.

All of the leaders hit the pits, but because Hamilton and Bottas were so close together the Mercedes crew was forced to doublestack the cars. Hamilton got away clean, but the delay for Bottas in the pits allowed Verstappen to get alongside him as they exited the pits. The two made contact leaving the pits, with Verstappen emerging in second place.

Hamilton restarted with the lead and he pulled clear of Verstappen, but the race was far from over. Mercedes had opted to put the Medium tires on Hamilton’s car while Red Bull put the Hard tires on Verstappen’s car, meaning Verstappen’s tires would have more life in them than Hamilton’s.

“I was never going to come in (to pit),” Hamilton acknowledged. “A couple of years ago I was in the lead and then I came in for a pit stop. I learned the hard way. I lost the race here. I wasn’t going to come in. I was either going to crash or finish.”

Slowly but surely Hamilton’s tires wore out and Verstappen got closer and closer, filling up Hamilton’s mirrors. However, officials soon announced that Verstappen had been penalized five seconds for an unsafe pit release. That mean that he had to get by Hamilton and pull clear by at least five seconds if he hoped to win the race.

With that in mind, Verstappen hounded Hamilton over the final 20 laps as he looked for a way past on the tight street circuit. Hamilton, clearly slowing as his tires wore out, struggled to keep Verstappen behind him lap after lap.

Finally, on lap 76, Verstappen made his move entering the chicane. He dove to Hamilton’s inside and locked up his tires, making contact with Hamilton’s left-rear tire and forcing both drivers to miss the chicane.

Despite the contact Hamilton held serve, holding the lead as Verstappen rejoined in second. Verstappen was never able to get close enough again to challenge him over the final two laps as Hamilton put Mercedes in victory lane less than a week after the passing of Mercedes Non-Executive Chairman Niki Lauda.

“I really was fighting with the spirit of Niki,” Hamilton said. “Niki’s been an influential person in our team helping us get to where we are. I know he’ll be looking down and I know he would take his hat off today. I just was trying to stay focused and trying to make him proud. That’s kind of been the goal all week and we’re going to try and continue that all week.”

Verstappen crossed the line second on track, but his five-second penalty for the pit road incident was enough to drop him off the podium to fourth. As a result, Sebastian Vettel finished second for Ferrari for the first time this year. Bottas was also elevated one position to third. Red Bull’s Pierre Gasly was scored fifth.

ANDERSON, Ind. – It was a performance that may never be equaled again in Pay Less Little 500 history turned in by Nolen Racing.

The two-car team of race winner Kody Swanson and Shane Hollingsworth led 499 of the 500 laps.

When told his team led 499 laps, team owner Gene Nolen was amazed at the feat.

“I didn’t realize that,” he said. “It was an incredible team effort.”

Swanson winning for the third time in four years and giving Gene Nolen a second career victory led 345 of the 500 laps.

The only time a Nolen car wasn’t on the point was when both drivers made their final pit stops on lap 354.

Swanson’s incredible performance of three wins in four races equaled the mark set by Tom Cherry from 1952 to 1955.

The California native has now led a total of 671 laps in his Little 500 career which places him 15th on the all-time leader board.

Swanson now joins Jeff Bloom, Jim Childers and Darl Harrison as three-time winners at Anderson Speedway. He trails Tom Cherry with four wins, Bob Frey with five victories and Eric Gordon at the top of the list with nine wins.

Swanson and Hollingsworth waged a spirited battle for the lead from laps 276 to 326.

“We were racing pretty hard, there was some bumping and banging,” Hollingsworth said. “I wasn’t going to let him get by, because I knew he would drive away.

“Kody and Bobby (Santos) right now are the best pavement racers,” he said.

– Of the six former winners of the Pay Less Little 500 only two were running at the end.

Chris Windom, coming off three crashes in two days in USAC Silver Crown and IndyLights competition, was able to drive to a fifth place finish.

“I’m just looking to finish,” Windom said before the start of the Little 500.

Gordon’s bid for a 10th Little 500 victory came to an end on lap 222 with an engine failure and was credited with a 19th place finish.

Kyle Hamilton the 2017 champion tangled with Aaron Pierce on lap 154 while battling for third. He was able to complete another 11 circuits before retiring in 23rd with a suspension problem.

Three-time winner Jeff Bloom, making his record 41st start, retired with a mechanical problem in lap 61.

Shane Cottle’s night came to an end against the turn two outside retaining wall on lap 30.

– Mississippi driver Joey Schmidt, driving a team car of Aaron Pierce, earned rookie of the race honors with a seventh-place finish after starting 31st and having to bump his way back into the field on Friday.

Trey Osborne, a former Mel Kenyon Midget Series champion, finished 28th after losing a right front tire following a pit stop.

Justin Grant’s night ended on lap 78 after making contact with the turn two wall after slight contact with another competitor.

ATTICA, Ohio – California native and Indiana resident Chad Boespflug showed up for the Ollie’s Bargain Outlet All Star Circuit of Champions race at Attica Raceway Park to kick off the Memorial Day weekend on Friday evening.

It was a rough night for Boespflug, who failed to advance past the B-Main. However, it was a good learning experience for the 2011 Lawrenceburg Speedway track champion.

With more than 35 sprint car victories under his belt, Boespflug figures its time to bolt on the wing and get some winged racing experience.

“I want to do this some more,” said Boespflug. “The All Stars are a tough field, but I want to do some more wing racing, got to race with the best to get better. Definitely got better as the night went on, we had the car good, in the heat race I felt like a race car driver again. I was able to drive the car and do what I needed, we just did not make the good calls in the B-Main. We know where we need to be, just from the start of the night we got a lot better. Its fun, I was smiling, it’s something different, I been racing Sprint Cars for a while now and to do something different is just fun. No high expectations, just come have fun, get better, and make some laps. I passed some cars tonight.

With his usual crew working at the Little 500 at Anderson (Ind.) Speedway, Boespflug saw Friday’s race at Attica as an opportunity and have fun and try something a bit different.

“It’s a family affair tonight and this weekend as well,” Boespflug. “All my crew guys are busy this week at the Little 500 and stuff like that, so it was a chance to get out with my family, fiancée, and her parents as well and just have a good time.

“The track (Attica) is awesome, it’s a little dirty made it a little tuff for a guy like me who is not used to stuff like this starting in the back. Being in the back of the B-Main was a lot of dirty air, made it a little more difficult. I just don’t have much experience with this, and going from USAC to this, there’s not much that translates. I was telling Dad earlier, if the car gets really good around the bottom, that’s probably the only thing that translates from USAC is being able to turn the race car. But, typically, you don’t want to turn the race car. That’s why tracks (like) Haubstadt are tough for the a lot of those Outlaw guys, because they are not used to turning the race car and non-wing guys are used to turning the race car.”

Boespflug, who is chasing the USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car Series championship this year, said he hopes to hit a few more winged races this season as his schedule allows.

“Our primary focus is the USAC National Sprint Car tour, but we are going to keep dabbling with the wing stuff when nothing conflicts with that schedule and have some fun,” said Boespflug. “Contemplating right now going down to Nashville next week, but we will see. Just a great get away have fun weekend with the family, but learning a lot.”

Boston Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said Brad Marchand took a maintenance day off from practice Sunday and is good to go for Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final on Monday against the St. Louis Blues.

Marchand did not practice with the rest of the team, and Karson Kuhlman took his spot in line rushes.

Marchand injured his left hand in the team's intrasquad scrimmage Thursday but practiced Saturday.

Lionel Messi has won the European Golden Shoe for the sixth time overall and third year in a row.

Barcelona star Messi, who retains the award after his record-breaking fifth win last season, ended the champions' La Liga campaign with 36 goals, three ahead of second-placed Kylian Mbappe, who scored once in PSG's 3-1 loss to Reims on Friday.

Sampdoria forward Fabio Quagliarella finished third in the rankings with 26 Serie A strikes.

The Golden Shoe table is ranked on points rather than goals, with goals scored in Europe's top five leagues worth two points. However, strikes in the Turkish Super Lig are worth 1.5, which is why Kasimpasa's Mbaye Diagne finished fourth with 30 goals.

In addition to Messi's six triumphs, Juventus star Cristiano Ronaldo has won it four times -- the first coming with Manchester United in 2007-08 and the final three with Real Madrid.

Since 2008, La Liga has now provided 13 of the 14 winners, with Atletico Madrid striker Diego Forlan the other player from Spain to top the chart in 2008-09.

The U.S. wrapped up their preparations for the Women's World Cup on Sunday with a 3-0 win over Mexico on a sweltering day in New Jersey.

The U.S., who will go to France undefeated since January, struggled for much of the game against a resolute Mexican side but scored two late goals to put a more convincing sheen on the scoreline.

Tobin Heath got her 30th international goal in her 150th game when she put the home side ahead after 11 minutes following sloppy play from the Mexican defence.

Carli Lloyd had a goal chalked off for offside midway through the second half but made amends with a quarter of an hour to go when she set up substitute Mallory Pugh to double the U.S. lead with a scrappy tap-in.

Another substitute, Christen Press, rifled home to make it 3-0 with two minutes of the game remaining.

Cecilia Santiago was excellent in goal for the young Mexican side but neither team had their most inspiring afternoon in front of 26,332 fans at the Red Bull Arena.

The result means the U.S. are now undefeated in their last nine games with four consecutive clean sheets.

The current world champions open the defence of their title against Thailand on June 11 and then face Chile and Sweden in their remaining group fixtures.

The tournament kicks off in Paris on June 7 when hosts France face South Korea.

If something can be taken from a match where the scoreline meant little but which resulted in a possible spanner in the works for the World Cup favourites, England's Jonny Bairstow did a good job of finding it.

Speaking after a 12-run defeat at the hands of Australia in Saturday's warm-up match at Southampton - in which Mark Wood, Jofra Archer and Liam Dawson all suffered injury scares - Bairstow could see the value in his side having to perform no matter what is thrown at them, given that the World Cup is just days away and anything could happen during the tournament.

Asked if the result meant anything, Bairstow said: "I don't think so. We had people missing, they had people missing so you try and get out of it what you can. As a result you can't look at it as a defeat with 12 playing and 11 batting. You take it for what it is. It felt like a friendly. The intensity was still there but naturally there was a slight drop.

"I think we got enough out of it. A lot of different things happened. In many ways, it was very good because it at least gave us clarity of what we can do when things don't go according to plan. That is the way we have to look at it because we could have things go wrong in a World Cup game ... we just hopefully get through these without anymore injuries."

England went into the match having already suffered a setback, with captain Eoin Morgan out nursing a minor finger fracture. And Joe Root came in as a late substitute at the Ageas Bowl amid England's injury woes after expecting to have the day off as he mourned the death last week of one of his grandparents.

Wood is the most serious injury concern as he awaits the results of scans on his left foot. Dawson's cut finger is not expected to cause him major problems, while Archer returned to bat briefly in England's innings on Saturday before being run out for 1.

Potential costs aside, there are, of course, other benefits to playing warm-up matches, like building the buzz around the World Cup and giving fans who were unable to buy tickets to the main event a chance to see their teams in action. Meanwhile, England's final warm-up at The Oval on Monday will showcase Afghanistan - a team with a smaller cricketing profile and which plays fewer fixtures - on a big stage for their players and supporters alike.

But it is easy to see how a team like England, which already has a packed schedule year-round, might just want the real deal to start, now. It was a senitment expressed by more than one of Morgan's counterparts at the pre-tournament captain's call last week.

"We want the World Cup to start as soon as possible, the guys are ready," Bairstow said. "You have to get what you can out of them [warm-up matches]. It is a good chance to face the opposition with most of our guys having not faced Afghanistan before. That is something we can get out of the next game."

Bairstow "will pass on some personal knowledge" of Rashid Khan, with whom he is more familiar than many of his countrymen as a team-mate of the Afghanistan legspinner at Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL.

"We have not spoken about it yet but for me he is a very dangerous bowler," Bairstow said. "His wrist comes over that quickly, there is a reason why he is the No. 1 T20 bowler in the world. We need to negate that because he will be a big threat. He bowls quick, tries to hit the stumps. Try to play him as straight as possible will be key."

West Indies women 139 for 4 (Taylor 75, Raack 1-16) beat Ireland women 75 (Garth 46, Fletcher 4-14) by 64 runs

Captain Stafanie Taylor's half-century and legspinner Afy Fletcher's four-wicket haul helped West Indies women cruise to a 64-run victory over Ireland in the first game of the three-match T20I series in Dublin.

Batting first, Taylor led from the front with 75 off 53 balls, laced with 11 fours and a six. Britney Cooper (17) and Shemaine Campbelle (20) gave Taylor the required support. West Indies didn't have a great start as Hayley Matthews was run out for 3 in the fourth over of the match. But Taylor and Cooper took the side past 50 in the tenth over. Sophie MacMohan broke the stand in the next over by dismissing Cooper with her medium pace.

Taylor then joined hands with Campbelle and the two added 75 in just 47 balls for the third wicket to give impetus to the innings as West Indies finished with 139 for 4.

In response, Ireland were bundled out for 75 in 18.4 overs as Fletcher and medium pacer Chinelle Henry shared six wickets. Kim Garth was the only one to reach double figures, scoring 46 off 55 balls, and when she fell as the ninth wicket, Ireland's innings came to an end as their captain Laura Delany wasn't available to bat after being hit on the right ankle by a Campbelle shot during the first innings.

Just like the visitors, Ireland lost their first wicket cheaply with Gaby Lewis walking back in the first over the chase. Mary Waldron and Garth took the side to 32 before Waldron was run out. In the next over, Henry dismissed Shauna Kavanagh and Una Raymond-Hoey to reduce Ireland to 34 for 4.

Garth held one end together but the wickets kept tumbling at the other. Fletcher cleaned up the middle and the lower-middle order, taking four of the next five wickets to fall, including that of Garth, as Ireland failed to last the full 20 overs.

Thanks to the finger injury that kept him out of Bangladesh's tour of New Zealand, the recently concluded tri-series in Ireland was Shakib Al Hasan's first taste of ODI cricket in nearly five months. He recovered from that injury in time for the IPL, but only got to play three matches for Sunrisers Hyderabad in the tournament.

In Ireland, Shakib played an important role in Bangladesh winning their first ever non-bilateral ODI tournament, scoring two unbeaten fifties and bowling economically. Though he missed the final with a side strain, the performance was enough to move him back up to the top of the ICC rankings for ODI allrounders, 20 points clear of Afghanistan's Rashid Khan.

Shakib is fit again in the lead-up to the World Cup, and, according to Bangladesh coach Steve Rhodes, is looking to prove a point.

"Shakib is fine," Rhodes told the ICC in Cardiff, after Sunday's warm-up match against Pakistan was washed out. "He's in a great position physically. He had a little problem in Ireland but he's got over that and is raring to go.

"He's looking forward to a wonderful tournament. I think he's got a bit of a point to prove and he probably thinks that as well. He seems to have been a little bit forgotten but now he's back as the world's No.1 allrounder in ODI cricket - and that's where we think he belongs.

"But he's got a point to prove to make sure everybody else believes that."

Another Bangladesh player who hasn't been at full fitness of late is Mahmudullah, who has been playing as a specialist batsman in recent matches thanks to a shoulder issue that is keeping him from bowling his offspin. While admitting that the injury was affecting the balance of the side, Rhodes was confident Mahmudullah would be back to bowling in matches at some point during the World Cup.

"Mahmudullah's shoulder is coming along a little slowly," Rhodes said. "I don't think it would have been possible for him to bowl against Pakistan. We're very optimistic that we can get him up and running for the early stages of the World Cup.

"It may affect our balance slightly, but the good thing about Mahmudullah is that he doesn't need a lot of practice to be good at bowling."

Bangladesh's squad is among the most experienced at the World Cup, featuring five players with 175 or more ODIs under their belt.

"People keep telling me that to win a world tournament you need experience," Rhodes said. "I'm glad because we've got a wealth of experience there. I listen to them a lot because why wouldn't you with that vast experience?

"It will be a good thing when it gets a little tight towards the end of the group. There are 10 teams in this World Cup, but when I looked at the odds, we were ninth favourites and Afghanistan were tenth favourites - but on our day we both could beat the favourites.

"There's going to be a lot of winning and losing by all teams."