
I Dig Sports

CONCORD, N.C. – The 2020 World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model Series season opener at Vado Speedway Park just got even bigger.
Set for Jan. 2-5, RVB Transport is awarding a $25,000 bonus to any driver who can win all three features during the Battle at the Border event.
That bonus bumps the purse during the four-night event to a potential of more than $150,000. The Battle at the Border starts with a full practice session on Thursday, Jan. 2, before three consecutive days of racing, starting with two $5,000-to-win features followed by a $15,000-to-win, 50-lap feature on Sunday, Jan. 5.
That means somebody could start their season off with $50,000 in the bank.
“We wanted to raise the stakes even more, and this bonus is going to increase the intensity of the racers right from the start of the year,” said Vado Speedway Park GM Rue Stone. “We’re excited to showcase our track to a whole new group of fans in January, and we’re definitely eager to see the biggest names in Dirt Late Model racing chasing that $25,000 award.”

GRAY COURT, S.C. – Chris Madden, one of the hottest dirt late model racers in the country, was injured in a golf cart accident Tuesday.
Madden fell off a golf cart near the pit area at Mansfield (Ohio) Motor Speedway early Tuesday afternoon. He was taken to Avita Hospital in Mansfield, Ohio, where he was diagnosed with a fractured left eye socket according to a statement from Scott Bloomquist Racing.
Madden has since been transported to Ohio State Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, where he is expected to undergo surgery. As a result of the injury, Madden will be unable to take part in the Dirt Million event this weekend at Mansfield Motor Speedway.
Asking all to lift up Chris in prayer, he was in a accident. He is being transported to Ohio State
University. His mom and I are flying out tonight I will update when I know more. As of right now we just ask everyone to pray for him.Stephanie ?
— Chris Madden (@chrismadden44) August 20, 2019
Scott Bloomquist Racing manager Cody Sommer told Dirt on Dirt that the team does not expect to put a replacement driver into the No. 0m to substitute for Madden in the Mansfield event.
A timetable for Madden’s return to racing is not known at this time.
Madden joined Scott Bloomquist Racing mid-season after parting ways with the Skyline Motorsports operation earlier in the year. Since then, he’s been on a tear in crown-jewel events, winning five of his last six starts and earning more than $155,000 in prize money.
Madden’s recent victories include the USA Nationals at Wisconsin’s Cedar Lake Speedway, worth $50,000; the Sunoco North/South 100 at Kentucky’s Florence Speedway, worth $50,000; and the Comp Cams Topless 100 at Arkansas’ Batesville Motor Speedway, worth $40,000.
VIDEO: The Ralph Sheheen Show – Dr. Terry Trammell

On this week’s episode of The Ralph Sheheen Show Presented by Lucas Oil, Ralph has an interesting conversation with veteran IndyCar Series Safety Team member, Dr. Terry Trammell.
Over the past few decades, Trammell has helped lead the charge in safety in motorsports, primarily in open wheel racing. As an orthopedic surgeon, he is a founding member of the International Council of Motorsports Science and a founding fellow of the FIA Institute for Motorsport Safety.
The two chat about a variety of topics ranging from the progression of safety in the sport to saving driver lives at the track such as Alex Zanardi’s traumatic accident in Germany in 2001.
Catch this week’s full episode on SPEEDSPORT.com or listen to the audio podcast on popular apps like iTunes, SoundClould, Spotify, Stitcher, iHeartRadio and more.

BROWNSBURG, Ind. – Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing has come to the defense of driver Takuma Sato following the opening lap crash in Sunday’s NTT IndyCar Series event at Pocono Raceway.
Sato was one of five drivers involved in an opening lap crash, which was triggered following contact between Sato and Alexander Rossi when Sato appeared to try and cut in front of Rossi as they raced three-wide with Ryan Hunter-Reay towards turn two.
The crash also included Hunter-Reay, James Hinchcliffe and Felix Rosenqvist, with Rosenqvist being taken to a local hospital for further checkups before being released.
Sato, the 2017 Indianapolis 500 winner, has been the subject of harsh criticism following the crash, with Rossi laying the blame for the crash squarely on Sato’s shoulders.
“I can’t even begin to understand how after last year, how Takuma Sato thinks any sort of driving like that is acceptable,” Rossi said. “To turn across two cars at that speed in that corner at the start of a 500-mile race is disgraceful, upsetting and probably cost us a championship.
“It’s upsetting because this team works hard. We’ve got a couple of days to rebound and we’ll just go for wins from this point on.”
On Tuesday, in response to the criticism of Sato, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing issued a lengthy statement defending their driver. The team indicated in the statement that onboard telemetry proved Sato did not turn down on Rossi to cause the crash.
“Following the events on lap one of Sunday’s IndyCar race at Pocono Raceway, we are relieved that all drivers emerged unhurt from the crash. Normally in a situation of this nature it is not necessary for a team to comment but following the accusations levied at Takuma, and after reviewing Takuma’s onboard data and camera, we feel that a clarification is necessary. The data and video clearly shows that Takuma did not turn down the track into Alexander in this incident and in fact the first steering wheel movement made by Takuma was to the right, as he tried to correct his car after the initial contact.
“This sort of accident is part and parcel of this type of racing and with track position being vital at every stage of each race is, in our view, a part of the sport. It’s a racing incident and we as a team wish to publicly state that we stand behind our drivers and have absolute faith in their ability to race and perform at the highest level for RLL.
“This was a racing incident which unfortunately may have some championship implications. A crash at Pocono impacted our title aspirations in 2015 while second in the standings so we know the frustration drivers and teams experienced. As always, we are thankful for the quick response of the AMR Safety Team.”

PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. — Eric Rudolph got the best of home-track hero Lance Willix II on a late-race restart to win Tuesday night’s DIRTcar 358 Modified Series feature at Airborne Speedway.
Tim Fuller battled hard inside the top five all race and finished on the final step of the podium.
Rudolph and Mike Mahaney brought the 30-car field to the green flag. Mahaney got the initial jump on the outside and powered away from Rudolph. The No. 25r battled back and traded blows with Mahaney. Then on a restart, Plattsburgh regular Lance Willix II passed both of the dueling leaders in one shot.
The No. 31 used a unique racing line where he entered the corners low and hooked the left side tires on the edge of the track. This seemed to rotate the car and allow Willix to get on the throttle earlier than Rudolph or Mahaney.
Willix kept up his pace and maintained the lead until a dramatic incident on the front stretch brought out the red flag.
As witnessed, Kyle Dingwalll made contact with the frontstretch wall and veered in front of oncoming race traffic. Several cars, including Steve Bernier and Jessey Mueller, slid through the infield, which caused Mueller’s car to flip and land on top of Bernier.
The battle at the front was far from over.
“We had a lot of time to sit there and think. I didn’t know if I’d have an opportunity to pass him,” said Rudolph.
Throughout the race the implement tires at the inside of the track get clipped and can change the preferred racing line depending on where they move,
When the field went back to green on lap 90, Rudolph had to make a calculated move.
“That tire down there was in the infield for a long time and it had everyone glued to the bottom. It moved up a bit and made the track racy again. We were able to make the move around him [Willix],” Rudolph said of his racing-winning move.
That move made Rudolph and his team $4,000 richer. This was the second time the No. 25r has visited victory lane in series competition in 2019.
Plattsburgh still a very new track for Rudolph.
He noted, “I’ve only been here three times. I did a race here one time when it was asphalt. Track time helps anywhere you go.”
It’s not how Willix II wanted this one to end but a second-place finish with the best DIRTcar 358 modified drivers around is a great accomplishment
“This is the way we want to end the year. On a high note. We have momentum going into these big races at the end of the year. To be able to compete with Erick and Timmy and all these guys, it means something to us,” said Willix.
Fuller powered his way up to finish in third.
“I had the second-best car on the track. Erick and Lance did a really good job. It was a long race and fortunately, we ended up in the top three which is good any time you get into what of these deals,” Fuller said.
The finish:
Feature (100 laps) 1. Erick Rudolph 2. Lance Willix II 3. Tim Fuller 4. Jordan McCreadie 5. Mike Mahaney 6. Mike Maresca 7. Michael Parent 8. David Marcuccilli 9. Rocky Warner 10. Corey Wheeler 11. Demetrios Drellos 12. Ryan Bartlett 13. Mike Stacey 14. Yan Bussiere 15. Matt Woodruff 16. Jeremy Roy 17. Matt Depew 18. Dany Gagne 19. Kyle Dingwall 20. Steve Bernier 21. Danny Johnson 22. Jessey Mueller 23. Mathieu Boisvert 24. Preston Forbes 25. Louie Jackson Jr. 26. Chris Raabe 27. Mario Clair 28. Ronnie Davis III 29. Perry Francis 30. Ran McLean

LAWRENCE, Mass. -- Russ Conway, a hockey writer who was a Pulitzer Prize finalist in 1992 for his stories about corruption in the NHL Players Association that helped bring down union head Alan Eagleson, has died. He was 70.
His death was reported by the Eagle-Tribune of Lawrence, Massachusetts, where he started at the age of 18 and later served as sports editor.
A longtime Boston Bruins beat writer, Conway published a series of articles that exposed Eagleson's lucrative conflicts of interest as the union boss, player agent and organizer of international tournaments. Conway's reporting spawned investigations in both the United States and Canada that resulted in Eagleson serving six months in prison and forfeiting his Order of Canada.
The Hockey Hall of Fame kicked Eagleson out and gave Conway its Elmer Ferguson Memorial Award in 1999 for bringing honor to journalism and hockey.
A few more queasy days before U.S. Solheim Cup team settled

The American Solheim Cup effort is down to one final, grueling week of qualifying and a couple of tough choices for the team captain.
Seven spots are set on the team that Juli Inkster will take to Gleneagles in Scotland to meet the Europeans Sept. 13-15. Five spots are still up for grabs, including Inkster’s two captain’s picks.
“This year is really hard,” Inkster said Tuesday at the CP Women’s Open. “It’s almost like I wish I had zero picks. I've not been sleeping great, just because I'm trying to figure out what's best for the team.”
There’s one opening left off the American points list and two still to be confirmed via the U.S. Rolex World Rankings list, all three of which will be finalized after this week’s event in Canada. Inkster will make her two captain’s picks official on Monday.
“I’m just kind of waiting to see someone really step up,” Inkster said. “I hate to come down to the last tournament, but it’s pretty much coming down to the last tournament.”
The captain’s picks may be among the most highly anticipated in team history, with so many decorated American veterans not yet qualified to make the team. Whomever Inkster names as her picks, the team is looking at a major overhaul, with three Solheim Cup rookies already qualified and the possibility three more could secure spots this weekend.
Michelle Wie is out with an injury, and Brittany Lincicome is out after giving birth to her first child last month.
Cristie Kerr, Stacy Lewis, Gerina Piller, Paula Creamer, Morgan Pressel, Angela Stanford and Brittany Lang haven’t qualified to make the team, but are all teeing it up at the CP Women’s Open this week.
Kerr and Lewis are the most proven winners in this generation of American players, tough-minded and strong-hearted fighters who have both distinguished themselves in the game’s crucible, winning multiple majors, ruling in their time as world No. 1s and helping the United States win multiple Solheim Cups, but neither is at top form.
Pressel, another major championship winner, made a hard run at winning the AIG Women’s British Open three weeks ago.
“Really, my job is to take the next two best players, that are playing the best, that can help the team,” Inkster said.
Lexi Thompson, Nelly Korda, Danielle Kang, Lizette Salas, Jessica Korda, Marina Alex and Megan Khang have already qualified for the team on points. Nelly Korda, Alex and Khang will be Solheim Cup rookies.
Brittany Altomare holds down the eighth and final spot on the U.S. points list. She would also be a Solheim Cup rookie.
Only four players can overtake Altomare for that last spot and three of them have to win to have a chance.
Ally McDonald can overtake Altomare with a finish of 17th place or better, depending what Altomare does.
Kerr, Lewis and Angel Yin have to win to have a chance to overtake Altomare.
Yin and Austin Ernst hold the two spots off the Rolex World Rankings list, but Annie Park is just .01 average points behind Ernst. Also, Altomare is in the mix to grab one of these spots if she doesn’t make the team on points. Stanford, Amy Olson, Pressel, McDonald, Kristen Gillman, Kerr, Ryann O’Toole and Lewis can potentially make the team through the rankings, depending on what the final strength of field factor turns out to be at tournament’s start.
U.S. Rolex Women’s World Rankings
(*The top two not otherwise qualified via the U.S. points list will make the team. Altomare is currently within the qualifying standard via points but hasn’t yet secured that spot.)
32. Angel Yin, 2.684
40. Brittany Altomare, 2.317*
41. Austin Ernst, 2.227
42. Annie Park, 2.2175
49. Angela Stanford, 1.975
50. Amy Olson, 1.966
52. Morgan Pressel, 1.908
60. Ally McDonald, 1.857
65. Kristen Gillman, 1.760
68. Cristie Kerr, 1.684
70. Ryann O’Toole, 1.655
75. Stacy Lewis, 1.537
Inkster can't sleep at night, wishes she had more picks for U.S. Solheim Cup team

Juli Inkster joked that making her two U.S. Solheim Cup captain’s picks are so difficult this year, she wished she didn’t have any picks at all, but the truth is that she would like more.
Inkster said Tuesday at the CP Women’s Open that she wished she had three picks.
“Two picks don’t really do much for me,” Inkster said. “If I had four picks, it would be great, but I do think we need one more pick in there.”
Inkster’s automatic qualifiers will be determined with Sunday’s finish to the CP Women’s Open. She’ll announce her two captain’s picks on Monday. European captain Catriona Matthew made her four captain’s picks last week. Inkster said another pick would help her with pairings.
“I've been not sleeping great just because I'm trying to figure out what's best for the team,” Inkster said.
The captain’s picks are especially difficult because so many proven American veterans haven’t yet qualified for the team. Cristie Kerr, Stacy Lewis, Gerina Piller, Paula Creamer, Morgan Pressel, Angela Stanford and Brittany Lang are all teeing it up at the CP Women’s Open this week in hopes of showing they’re worthy of making the team.

ATLANTA – This was not your normal weekend game at the club.
For starters, the group included six players, which at most clubs is not allowed, as well as President Donald Trump and some of golf’s most high-profile executives last Saturday at Trump Bedminster in New Jersey.
The president was teamed with PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan and Augusta National chairman Fred Ridley against a threesome that included NBC Sports president Pete Bevacqua, Jay Clayton, the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, and Andrew Giuliani, a public liaison assistant for Trump.
“So, the team of Trump, Ridley, and Monahan defeated the team of Bevacqua, Giuliani, and Clayton, 2 and 1,” Monahan said on Tuesday at the Tour Championship. “[The president] loves the game of golf, and that's very apparent. As his teammate, that's a little bit of extra pressure, but it was a nice day.”
Trump has been involved in the golf industry for a long time, well before becoming president, and regularly plays golf with high-profile players and industry executives.
“You always have to honor the office of the presidency,” Monahan said. “I’m concerned about criticism for everything. But in this instance, he has been a great supporter of the Presidents Cup. He loves our game. He has a relationship with a lot of our players.
“I'm not there for political reasons. I'm there to support him. He's asked me to be there and be there along with other peers in our industry. It's a chance for us to spend some time together and have a wonderful time.”
Liu, 12, to become youngest player to compete in CPWO

Vancouver’s Michelle Liu will become the youngest player to compete in the CP Women’s Open when she tees it up Thursday at Magna Golf Club in Ontario, Canada.
She’ll be 12 years, 9 months and 6 days old.
She earned an exemption into the field as the top Canadian finisher at the Canadian Women’s Amateur last month. She tied for 12th at 1-over for the 72-hole tournament.
The extra thrill for Liu in becoming the youngest to compete in the 47-year history of Canada’s national women’s championship is that she will be breaking the mark set by Brooke Henderson, who was 14 when she first played in the event in 2012.
“I look up to Brooke Henderson, just because she's a great player, great personality, Canadian,” Liu said Tuesday in a news conference at the event.
Liu said she met Henderson Monday on the driving range.
“I took a picture with her,” Liu said.
Liu was asked if it’s been a crazy leap this week, practicing alongside LPGA players.
“I definitely say crazy is a good word for it,” Liu said. “Yeah, I would say I've got to play with some really nice and really good LPGA players. Christina Kim, M.J. [Hur], and all of them. I think I really get to learn something from them, and especially how warm and welcoming they are to me.”