Sports briefs

Ragan takes checkered flag at Nationwide

TALLADEGA, Ala. — David Ragan earned his first NASCAR victory by passing Ryan Newman right before the finish line in the Nationwide Series race Saturday at Talladega Superspeedway.

Ragan won for the first time in 196 starts — 85 in Nationwide — spanning all three of NASCAR's top series.

"We've been waiting for this for a long time," Ragan said. "I didn't know if it would come this weekend or not. A lot of fun. A lot of emotions. We've got 500 miles to do it again tomorrow."

Carver resigns as Toronto FC coach

TORONTO — Toronto FC coach John Carver resigned Saturday for personal reasons from a team with a 2-2-2 record.

Assistant coaches Chris Cummins and Nick Dasovic will handle the coaching duties until a replacement is selected next week, the team said in a statement. Toronto FC will host Kansas City today.

Glatch leads U.S. to tie at Fed Cup

BRNO, Czech Republic — Just three years ago, Alexa Glatch broke both arms in a motor scooter accident and her tennis future looked bleak.

On Saturday, the 19-year-old pulled off a major upset in her Fed Cup debut, dominating Iveta Benesova 6-1, 6-2 to lift the United States to a 1-1 tie with the Czech Republic in the semifinals.

"It took me a while to recover from that," Glatch said. "I was out of tennis, I didn't hit the ball for about eight months. It's been a long journey."

American Bethanie Mattek-Sands lost to Petra Kvitova 6-3, 7-6 (2) in the opening match on the indoor hard court at Rondo Arena. The United States is playing without No. 2 Serena Williams and fifth-ranked Venus Williams, who are sitting out this Fed Cup matchup.