DaMarcus Beasley scored his first international goals in 16 months, Landon Donovan added his record 37th goal for the United States and the Americans breezed past Cuba into the final round of World Cup qualifying with unusual ease.

"It's never easy," Donovan insisted after a 6-1 rout yesterday in Washington.

After Beasley scored the first two goals, Donovan and Kamehameha Schools alum Brian Ching padded the lead early in the second. Jozy Altidore and Oguchi Onyewu added goals in garbage time.

With two semifinal-round matches remaining, the Americans (4-0) already have secured a berth in next year's six-nation finals of the North and Central American and Caribbean region. The top three teams in the finals qualify for the 2010 World Cup, and the No. 4 nation goes to a playoff against the fifth-place team in South America for another berth.

Ranked 21st in the world, the United States is seeking its sixth straight appearance in soccer's showcase event.

The Cubans (0-4) dressed only five substitutes after Pedro Faife and forward Reynier Alcantara went missing Friday, a sign that they may be defecting.

AUTO RACING

BURTON ENDS DROUGHT, WINS BANK OF AMERICA

One by one the title contenders dropped out last night, giving Jimmie Johnson a clear shot at widening his lead in the Chase for the championship.

Not so fast, thought Jeff Burton, who used three gas-only pit stops to pull off a victory in the Sprint Cup's Bank of America 500 at Concord, N.C., that catapulted him into championship contention.

Burton culminated savvy pit strategy on a final stop, going into the pits with the lead and taking fuel only to make sure he was still out front on the restart with 34 laps to go at Lowe's Motor Speedway. Johnson staged a brief battle for the lead, but Burton held steady to snap a 25-race winless streak.

The victory, his second of the season, pushed Burton from fourth to second in the standings with five races to go to decide the title. He trails Johnson by 69 points.

BOXING

KLITSCHKO WINS WBC HEAVYWEIGHT CROWN

Vitali Klitschko reclaimed the WBC belt and fulfilled a self-proclaimed dream to hold a heavyweight title at the same time as his brother, stopping Samuel Peter with a technical knockout last night in Berlin.

Peter chose not to come back out after eight rounds that saw him weaving and occasionally wobbling as Klitschko landed a persistent stream of heavy left jabs to Peter's head in front of more than 12,000 people at the new O2 World Arena.

The 37-year-old Ukranian fighter (36-2, 35 KOs) used his height — he's 6 feet 7 — and reach to keep Peter crouched and defensive.

Wladimir Klitschko, considered the most talented among the chaotic field of so-called heavyweight champions, holds the IBF, IBO and WBO heavyweight belts — and dealt Peter (30-2) his only previous loss, in September 2005.

LIGHT HEAVY CHAMP DAWSON STILL UNBEATEN

Chad Dawson finally has a victory over a notable opponent.

Dawson entered his IBF-IBO light heavyweight title fight last night at the Pearl inside the Palms in Las Vegas with questions that his unblemished record was the result of victories against inferior competition.

Thoroughly dominating three-time champion Antonio Tarver, Dawson silenced critics with a unanimous decision to capture both titles.

The 26-year-old Dawson, 27-0 with 17 knockouts, won by the scores of 117-110 from two judges and 118-109 from the other. The 39-year-old Tarver fell to 27-5.

AND WHAT'S MORE ...

Monta Ellis, who seriously injured his ankle in a moped accident and then lied to the Golden State Warriors about it this summer, was suspended for 30 games without pay by team president Robert Rowell. ... To a mixture of boos and cheers, Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin dropped the ceremonial first puck last night at the Philadelphia Flyers' home opener against the New York Rangers.