I Dig Sports
World Squash has announced a new partnership with sports equipment specialists Head.
Head works with a number of the worlds best players, including mens former World No.1 Paul Coll and current womens World No.3 Hania El Hammamy.
The partnership will see World Squash and Head cooperate in the development of squash and will include the establishment of a global marketing strategy that will grow the sport in the lead up to squashs Olympic debut at LA28.
As a partner of World Squash, Head will assist the growth of squash worldwide from juniors to masters by providing equipment to Member National Federations and Continental Federations, with a particular focus on underserved territories.
World Squash CEO William Louis-Marie said: A warm welcome to our new partner. This cooperation marks a significant step forward for World Squash, benefiting our entire squash community and its stakeholders.
By working together and utilising Heads expertise and status as a market leader amongst racket sports, I am confident that we can continue to grow our sport by reaching new audiences, elevating the sports visibility and strengthening the future of squash worldwide.
For Pasquale Ruzicka, Heads Global Business Manager Indoor Court Sports, this cooperation is a milestone: As I have been a very ambitious squash player myself for decades, it makes me extremely proud to be working with the global association for this fascinating sport. Especially in this hot phase, in which squash will become an Olympic sport for the first time.
Ireland's French test a game 'you live for' - Hansen
Wing Mack Hansen says the Ireland squad are excited by the challenge of welcoming France to Dublin for Saturday's highly-anticipated Six Nations game (14:15 GMT).
The hosts top the championship table with 14 points, three ahead of the French, and are targeting a historic third outright title in succession.
The pair have developed a keen rivalry in recent seasons, finishing first and second in each of the previous three Six Nations campaigns, while Saturday's encounter will have the added emotion for Ireland of being a final home Test for retiring centurions Peter O'Mahony, Conor Murray and Cian Healy.
"One to 23 are world class players. It's a big challenge and we're excited for it," said Hansen.
"These are the sort of games that you live for, being able to send some guys off with their last home game and put a stamp on the Six Nations.
"It's really exciting and I think we're ready for the challenge."
The 26-year-old Connacht player, who signed a new contract this week through to 2027, added that the squad knew this was to be final Six Nations for Murray, Healy and O'Mahony before the announcement and that they have attempted to make "this whole campaign special" for the trio.
"They're such big parts of the team. Talking about it before, they bring so much experience on the field, but off the field as well. They bring so much craic, laughter and good times.
"It's more about making it as special for them as possible as a whole, the whole campaign.
"Obviously, yeah, we're going to try and get a win for them."
Jones believes this Wales team can win at Murrayfield and record a first international victory since October 2023.
"There's no point going up there and being in awe of them," said Jones.
"They've got a good side with some standout players. You've just got to rip into them as much as you can and I'm sure the boys will.
"I know I said they're the best Scottish team ever, but there's a bit of confidence and feel-good factor now with us.
"We want to get the monkey off our back, we're going up there to win. We're not going up there to make up the numbers."
Jones says Wales sides have previously enjoyed playing in the Scotland capital.
"It's a good place to play, so let's get one over on them," said Jones.
"The Welsh travel well. Max Boyce wrote a song about it so they always travel well up there. Traditionally we've done well against them, home and away.
"I played 12 games against them and lost one, although that was a long time ago now. We're not going to go up there daunted."
"I still think we're way off the potential of this team and let's just hope we start seeing that," added Carling, who had a part-time mentoring role with England under Borthwick's predecessor Eddie Jones.
England vice-captain Ellis Genge said last week former players such as Carling were "out of touch" in their criticism of the team, failing to give them due credit for turning around a run of six defeats in seven Tests earlier in the year.
"I wouldn't necessarily agree with him," Carling said. "A lot of ex-players are hugely experienced and have a lot of knowledge.
"But I understand that when you're a current player you're highly sensitive.
"You're trying as hard as you can to win games [and] they've had a tough run. Let's be honest, we're talking a tough run for three or four years now. That's where players have to understand people will have opinions.
"I remember all these times we had some very ugly wins and you watch the reaction of the media and the fans.
"It is a bit frustrating but you have to take a deep breath and accept that's part and parcel of it."
Carling captained England 59 times, leading them to three Grand Slams and a Rugby World Cup final during the 1990s.
Larson & Byron To Split Trio Of Truck Races With Spire
MOORESVILLE, N.C. Hendrick Motorsports drivers Kyle Larson and William Byron will split time behind the wheel of Spire Motorsports No. 07 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Silverado in a trifecta of NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series races this year.
Larson will race the No. 07 Chevy Silverado in the March 21 Baptist Health 200 at Homestead-Miami Speedway and return to the cockpit two races later for the April 11 event at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway.
Byron, will thread the needle between Larsons two stints and handle the driving chores for the Allen Hart-led program March 28 at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway. Byron returns the site of his most recent Craftsman Truck Series win where, ironically, he collected Spire Motorsports inaugural victory in the division.
Both Hendrick Motorsports drivers have picked up checkered flags in Truck Series competition for the Mooresville, N.C., organization over the last three seasons.
One of the coolest things of having a Craftsman Truck Series team is to have the crossover from Hendrick Motorsports and Hendrick Automotive Group, said Spire Motorsports co-owner Jeff Dickerson. Weve had all their drivers in our trucks from time to time, and to have two guys in William (Byron) and Kyle (Larson), who have won races with us back in the seat, certainly gives the team a little more pep in our step.
It also raises the bar for those races to win or bust. You dont show up with those guys to do anything else but win.
Larson and Byron will be part of a HendrickCars.com trio of Spire Motorsports-prepared entries at all three events. In addition to the No. 07 machine, Rajah Caruth will sport his traditional HendrickCars.com paint scheme aboard his No. 71 Chevy while Larsons fellow Hendrick Motorsports stablemate Corey Day will pilot the teams No. 7 Chevrolet Silverado, featuring an identical livery.
The 32-year-old Larson, often referred to as Yung Money, owns three Homestead Craftsman Truck Series starts where he tallied one pole and a pair of top fives, including a second-place finish in the 2014 season finale.
Larson made his lone Bristol start in Truck Series competition in 2021 when the famed half-mile was covered in dirt. Regrettably, he was saddled with a 35th-place after being collected in an incident just past the halfway mark of the 150-lap event.
I love racing at Homestead-Miami (Speedway) and Bristol (Motor Speedway), so Im excited to add those Truck races to my schedule, said Larson. Hopefully, we can put on a great show with HendrickCars.com on board and battle for the victories in the Spire truck.
In addition to his success in the Cup Series, Byron was highly accomplished on the Craftsman Truck Series side of the sport and lays claims to eight victories across 29 starts seven of which came during the 2016 season.
Meanwhile, the Charlotte, N.C., native owns two Martinsville wins on NASCAR grandest stage, where he secured the historic half-miles famed grandfather clock trophy in spring of 2022 and 2024.
Im excited to get back to the Truck Series, said Byron. Its been a couple years for me so Im ready to try it again. Plus, the last time I ran a truck at Martinsville we won. Hopefully, we can do that again because it really paid off for us on the Cup side of things. Spire is a great group, and Im excited to work with them again.
Appalachian Sucker Punch has been named the official title sponsor of the ASA STARS National Tour, the series revealed Tuesday morning.
This multi-year partnership marks a new era of growth and excitement for short-track racing across the United States.
The series will be officially branded as the Appalachian Sucker Punch ASA STARS National Tour.
We are thrilled to welcome Appalachian Sucker Punch and the entire Appalachian Heritage Distillery family as the title sponsor of the ASA STARS National Tour, said Marty Melo, Director of Operations & Sales of the ASA STARS National Tour.
Their passion and support for the motorsports community make them a perfect fit for our growing national tour. This partnership will enhance the experience for our fans, teams, and drivers alike.
As part of this collaboration, Appalachian Sucker Punch will be featured prominently throughout the ASA STARS National Tour, including trackside branding, broadcast integration, event title sponsorship and exclusive fan experiences.
Motorsports and the Appalachian Sucker Punch community share the same DNAthrill-seekers who arent afraid to push the limits, said Wade Lopez, Owner of Appalachian Sucker Punch. We couldnt be more excited to align our brand with the ASA STARS National Tour and its dedicated fan base.
This is more than a sponsorship, its a commitment to supporting the sport we love and bringing excitement to race events across the country.
The 2025 Appalachian Sucker Punch ASA STARS National Tour season continues at Floridas Five Flags Speedway on March 23 with the Sunshine State 200 presented by Appalachian Sucker Punch.
In life, we run into certain circumstances that are constants. Everybody knows about the death-and-taxes one. The sun coming up in the morning, hopefully, is another. And in Pennsylvania, another rock-solid given in this world is that Lance Dewease is going to be in the hot seat of a sprint car, up on the wheel, and winning races.
At age 59. You look at that number and youre startled for a minute when you realize how long Dewease has been a continuous, triumphant presence on the Pennsylvania scene.
How important is this guy? Dewease is enshrined in the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame in Knoxville, Iowa, as a driver. Hes a three-time winner of the Williams Grove National Open. The Tuscarora 50 at Port Royal Speedway has been his seven times. He is a three-time champion of Pennsylvania Sprint Speedweek.
Twenty times, he has defeated the World of Outlaws, with another 46 victories scored against the All-Star Circuit of Champions. He has also claimed sprint car wins in Florida, Ohio, Michigan and even a weekly show at Knoxville Raceway. Based on his calculations, Deweases win total comes to 376 features in a career that began in the early 1980s. Incidentally, his first win aboard a sprint car came in yet another place, Hagerstown, Md., back in 1986.
By any measure, thats a Hall of Fame career. Which Dewease intends to continue, even if its on a necessarily reduced basis for a racer of his seniority.
Im with Barry Shearer now at Shearer Motorsports, he explained. Billy Dietrich was in the car before I got in it. I think well probably do 40 or 50 races this year, Port Royal, Williams Grove, and all the local big shows. I really dont think were going to be traveling much. Thats kind of what Id been doing the last six or seven years in Donald Kreitzs car, probably only running about 40 shows a year.
At my age, its hard to do 80 races a year, or 90. It just takes a toll on your body, and it doesnt recover like it used to. I can be at 40 or 50 races and stay fresh, so you dont get beat up as much. When you show up, youre ready to go.
One could make a strong argument that Dewease was born ready. Now living in Fayetteville, in south-central Pennsylvania, Dewease dates his career to the early 1980s when he started out driving 270cc micro sprints and by his own admission, never won a race. Undeterred, he did the same thing any number of young Keystone Staters have decided to try, moving up.
The options back then were super sportsman and sprint cars, he explained. The super sportsman are great but they can get 80 cars a night, so its really tough. We had a sprint car that my father, my brother and a friend or so could work on, and back then, you could still do it on a workingmans paycheck.
Dewease migrated to a smorgasbord of the very best sprint cars that the brutally competitive Pennsylvania circuit had to offer. He did a single race in the cattle car of Bob Weikert before spending time with the late Carl Harz, the late Al Hamilton and the Dietz family. In a real sense, Deweases Hall of Fame success can be traced to two rides: First, the famed Brickmobile of Hall of Fame car owner Walter Dyer, in which Dewease enjoyed years of dominance at Port Royal.
In his Hall of Fame induction, which came as part of Knoxvilles Class of 2018, Dewease singled out Dyer as one of the great influences on his life, and his career, stating that if it wasnt for him, I wouldnt be where Im at. He took a shot and gave me my first big break with a good car and a good owner. For seven and a half years, it was a good relationship and I owe everything to him.
The other was the robins egg-blue No. 69k of Kreitz, another Hall of Famer, with the Hall of Fame mechanic Davey Brown Sr. handling mechanical matters. Before he exited the ride, Dewease combined with Kreitz and Brown to form a powerhouse team that scarfed up victories across Pennsylvania despite the fact all three principals wanted to run a lighter schedule of 40 to 50 races a year. Its still a viable plan for a racer, even one approaching the eventual end of his driving days.
In Pennsylvania, you take someone like Anthony Macri or Danny Dietrich and they run 100 races a year, 85 percent of them in Pennsylvania, with a lot of good-paying, big shows, Dewease said. Youve got two at Port Royal paying 50-something and another one that pays $75,000 to win. The National Open pays $75,000 to win. Theres also six Outlaw shows here and another six or seven High Limit shows around Pennsylvania. Its always been a viable thing here because you can race so much and not really have to travel.
To achieve proper perspective on Deweases career, perhaps its best to ask another Hall of Famer. In this case, its Alan Kreitzer, who went from driving race cars to being an acclaimed promoter at Keystone tracks including the Grove and Silver Spring Speedway. Hes had a unique view of the entirety of Deweases exploits.
Lance is really one of the greats in Pennsylvania, Kreitzer said. The races hes won, the big races, is really what sets him apart. He kind of had a resurgence with Donald Kreitz, and when he got hooked up with them, it was like a whole new world.
I think the thing that makes Lance stand out is the fans, and the way they react to him, Kreitzer continued. A lot of guys, when they win a lot, people become polarized. You love em or hate em. Lance never got that. He was always extremely popular with the fans no matter how much he won. I think a lot of it is because of the way he represented our area in the big events against the invaders. Lance was truly one of Pennsylvanias chosen ones. The fans loved him, and they still do.
Dewease skipped the annual odyssey to Florida this year, just because. Hes beginning to get his son, Cole, acclimated to micros in anticipation of his eventual transition to sprint cars. Dewease is both satisfied and proud of owning one of central Pennsylvanias most historically successful driving careers.
Im a pretty laid-back guy but Im just always trying to win and be better, he said. Ive raced against some of the best drivers to have ever driven a sprint car: Steve Kinser, Sammy Swindell, Fred Rahmer, Greg Hodnett.
Whats neat about my career is that I raced against Steve Kinser, best sprint car driver who ever lived, and against Kyle Larson, whos the best driver Ive ever seen. Ive raced against some of the best drivers to ever race sprint cars. Its been good.
Sprint Rankings: Gravel Tops Eastern Region As Western Opens
Ten 410 winged sprint car races are in the books this season and two regions of the National Sprint Car Rankings have begun competition.
David Gravel tops the Eastern region standings, while Sam Hafertepe Jr. leads the Western region points.
Gravel swept a pair of World of Outlaws races at Volusia Speedway Park to move to the top of the Eastern rankings while Hafertepe won one out of three events for the Elite Outlaw Sprints in Texas.
The National Sprint Car Rankings will not open until drivers start reaching the 20-start plateau later this spring. It is the 17th season the National Sprint Car Rankings have been administered by Gary Spaid.
Eight different drivers have won the 10 races run so far this season.
The points:
Eastern Region
- David Gravel 330
- Carson Macedo 284
- Logan Schuchart 282
- Donny Schatz 232
- Kyle Larson 228
LAS VEGAS The 2025 BFGoodrich Tires Mint 400 makes its triumphant return to Las Vegas this week, with events taking place from March 5-9.
The Mint 400 is the oldest and most prestigious off-road race in America, and is held each March in the treacherous foothills of Sin City.
Watch this years Mint 400 races LIVE on SPEED SPORT 1.
The multi-day event features a massive vehicle parade down the world-famous Las Vegas Strip, a two-day festival on historic Fremont Street, and two days of grueling off-road racing on a desolate and punishing 400-mile race course.
Nearly 65,000 off-road and recreational enthusiasts come to watch 500 race teams in 50+ classes from around the world race door-to-door, while the Livestream airs live on SPEED SPORT 1.
No other off-road race allows fans the thrilling experience of watching the top off-road race teams from around the world battle for fame and glory, in a festival setting complete with a luxury VIP section. The Mint 400 is The Great American Off-Road Race.
The BFGoodrich Tires Mint 400 festivities officially kick off on Wednesday, when the Mint 400 Vehicle Parade sends hundreds of off-road cars, trucks, motorcycles and UTVs down the Las Vegas Strip.
On Thursday, the Mint 400 Off-Road Festival will take over Fremont Street East from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m, with a full day of events that are free and open to the public.
As well, numerous classes will partake in qualifying in the desert in Primm, Nev.
Races for multiple classes and qualifying for the Mint 400 occurs on Friday, with the Mint 400 motorcycle and unlimited classes contesting the Mint 400 on Saturday. A banquet is planned for Sunday.
The Mint 400 is the second race of the season for the UNLTD Off-Road Racing Series.
Adam Householder and Trevor Ellingham are the defending winners in the Unlimited Truck division and the pair is among this years entries. Preston Campbell will also defend his title in the motorcycle class.
Householder also enters the Mint 400 on a winning streak, having captured Januarys Parker 400 that opened the UNLTD Off-Road Racing season.
Racing legends dot the winners list of the prestigious event, including Parnelli Jones, Rick Mears, Malcolm Smith, Larry Ragland, Mark McMillin, Ivan Stewart, Robby Gordon, Bryce Menzies and Rob MacCachren.
This years entries include Tim Herbst, Ryan Arciero, Tracy Poole and Nic Whetstone.
Watch Fridays action LIVE on SPEED SPORT 1 from 10:30 a.m. ET until 8:30 p.m. ET, while Saturdays races will air from 01:15 p.m. ET until 11:15 p.m. ET
Boston Bruins captain Brad Marchand is officially out and "week-to-week" with an upper body injury, interim coach Joe Sacco announced Tuesday.
Marchand missed Sunday's 1-0 loss to the Minnesota Wild one day after being injured on a hit by Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman P.O Joseph, with Marchand's head hitting the boards. After receiving attention from a trainer for several minutes, Marchand was helped from the ice.
Sacco would not specify whether it was a head injury for Marchand, 36, who has a history of concussions. The winger has 47 points in 61 games this season, second on the Bruins.
"Obviously, a hard guy to replace. We're going to miss him. But it creates opportunities for other guys now to step up," Sacco said.
Georgii Merkulov, a 24-year-old rookie, skated in Marchand's place on Boston's No. 2 line next to Charlie Coyle and Elias Lindholm.
"It's not one guy that's going to come up and be Marchy. No one's going to do that," Coyle said. "He brings so many elements to the game that we're going to miss. So we can all take a piece of that and help out that way."
The timing of the injury couldn't be worse for the Bruins. There was talk that Marchand, in his 16th season with Boston, could be moved before Friday's NHL trade deadline, as he's in the last year of his contract. But the Bruins are also in the Eastern Conference wild-card race, two points in back of Detroit for the final playoff berth, although the Red Wings have two games in hand. Stathletes currently gives the Bruins just a 4.9% chance of making the postseason.
Marchand won gold with Team Canada at the 4 Nations Face-Off last month.
"He's disappointed. Any time a player is injured and misses time, they're disappointed. But he'll be back," Sacco said.
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