I Dig Sports
After recording a 3-0 win in opposition to the pairing of Nigeria’s Taiwo Mati and Algeria’s Sala Foudia, a 3-1 success was recorded against Egypt’s Ammar Attia and Ziad Elshawa to secure first place.
The top two teams in each group advancing to the semi-finals, second position finished in the hands of Ammar Attia and Ziad Elshawa. In the concluding group stage contest they secured a 3-2 win when facing Taiwo Mati and Algeria’s Sala Foudia; the player to cause the problems being Taiwo Mati, he accounted for both Ziad Elshawa (13-11, 11-6, 11-5) and Ammar Attia (12-10, 11-4, 6-11, 11-8).
Meanwhile, in the corresponding group Filip Delincak and Adam Klajber finished ahead of the Czech Republic’s Jan Mokrejs and Dan Janovsky, a 3-1 victory margin being the outcome in favour of the Slovak duo when the teams met. Algeria’s Abdelbasset Chaichi, Azzeddine Lazazi and Meziane Belabbas finished in third position ahead of Morocco’s Sami Fahim and Chaibi Taha.
Success for Slovakia in the junior boys’ team event, it was the same in the cadet boys’ team competition. Jakub Goldir and Kristian Uherik concluded matters in first place in their initial phase group as did the Czech Republic’s Matyas Lebeda in partnership with Morocco’s Kamil Leroy. In the one remaining group it was first place for the Saudi Arabian combination of Khalid Alshareif, Salem Alsuwailem and Mahdi Al Huleal.
Play in the junior boys’ team and cadet boys’ team events concludes on Thursday 13th June.
Cast your mind back to the London 2012 Olympic Games, the semi-final women’s team event when Kasumi Ishikawa, Ai Fukuhara and Sayaka Hirano beat Singapore 3-0 to reach the final; thus Japan was assured of its first ever medal in the table tennis events at an Olympic Games.
Tears of joy flowed so fast they almost had to raise the flood barriers on the nearby River Thames.
The win in England’s capital city set the marker, now Kasumi Ishikawa remains but she is joined by a new selection; nowadays she lines up alongside teenagers Mima Ito and Miu Hirano with Hina Hayata, Miyu Kato and Saki Shibata very much knocking at the door.
Now can that group supersede the efforts of the London class? Japan secured the silver medal at the Liebherr 2018 World Team Championships. It is a possibility.
However, could it be the third group, the next down the line, the most recent that achieves even greater success? Could it be that the likes of Miyu Nagasaki, Miyuu Kihara and Haruna Ojio that excels all that has gone before?
Miyu Nagasaki will celebrate her 17th birthday on Sunday 15th June, the day the tournament closes in Sapporo. Miyuu Kihara and Haruna Ojio will mark their birthdays later in the year, on Saturday 3rd August. Miyuu Kihara will be 15 years old, on the same day Haruna Ojio will be 14 years of age. They are to the day one year apart.
In Sapporo, on the first day of action, Miyu Nagasaki kept her hopes of qualification alive by beating Chinese Taipei’s Su Pei-Ling (11-7, 11-6, 11-7, 7-11, 11-3), Miyuu Kihara accounted for Puerto Rico’s Melanie Diaz (11-9, 11-3, 11-5, 11-1). However, the performance of the day was that achieved by Haruna Ojio, the youngest member of the group, she came within a hair’s breadth of beating China’s He Zhuojia, the runner up at the Seamaster 2018 ITTF World Tour Grand Finals. She was beaten by the narrowest of decisions (5-11, 11-3, 11-8, 11-9, 8-11, 9-11, 11-9).
Impressive results, they support those already achieved this year. At the Seamaster 2019 ITTF Challenge Series tournaments, Haruna Ojio was a quarter-finalist in Croatia. In the same tournament Miyu Nagasaki reached the semi-finals as well as one week earlier in Slovenia progressing to the quarter-finals and winning the under 21 women’s singles title. Outstanding but arguably bettered by Miyuu Kihara, in Croatia she won the women’s singles event!
Also you can add the fact that in both Croatia and Slovenia Miyuu Kihara and Miyu Nagasaki won the women’s doubles titles.
Now let’s add one more to the list, a young lady with a brother who delights in setting youngest ever records, on the first day of play at the 2019 China Junior and Cadet Open, Miwa Harimoto who marks her 11th birthday on Monday 16th June, finished in first places in her cadet girls’ team group in partnership with Rin Mende.
I wonder at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games, could those names be members of a team that reaches the highest pinnacle; the team to surpass the trio of 2002, the outfit that set the benchmark.
Update qualification day two: Seamaster 2019 ITTF World Tour Platinum Lion Japan Open
Yuki Hirano beats Tiago Apolonia
The host nation’s Yuki Hirano was very much the man in form in the third preliminary round of the men’s singles event. He beat Portugal’s Tiago Apolonia in five games (11-6, 11-8, 10-12, 11-5, 12-10).
Presently Yuki Hirano is listed at no.126 on the men’s world rankings, Tiago Apolonia at no.43.
Sun Wen causes major upset
Beaten in the second round in Portugal earlier in the year by Sweden’s Truls Moregard (11-5, 11-5, 7-11, 11-6, 11-8), his one and only prior open international tournament appearance; most adept returning service over the table in the modern day backhand top spin manner, China’s Sun Wen caused a major third round qualification upset.
Listed at no.599 on the current men’s world rankings; he beat Egypt’s Omar Assar, named at no.65 in five games (13-15, 12-10, 11-3, 11-4, 11-8).
Compatriots but no love lost
Yang Heng-Wei caused a major third preliminary round upset. He beat Chinese national team colleague, Chen Chien-An by the very narrowest of margins (11-9, 7-11, 8-11, 3-11, 11-6, 12-10, 13-11) after having led 10-7 and 11-10 in the seventh.
Currently, Yang Heng-Wei is listed at no.228 on the men’s world rankings, Chen Chien-An at no.36.
Top name progresses
Japan’s Yuya Oshima, the leading name on qualification stage duty, reserved his main draw place.
He beat Korea Republic’s Choi Deokhwa (11-9, 11-9, 11-6, 9-11, 11-7).
Commonwealth Games champion departs
China’s He Zhoujia, runner up at last year’s Grand Finals, beat India’s Manika Batra, the reigning Commonwealth Games champion, to reserve her main draw place.
She won in six games (11-5, 11-6, 8-11, 14-12, 9-11, 11-8).
Wang Yidi departs
Winner of the women’s singles event four days earlier in Hong Kong, in Sapporo it was a third preliminary round exit for Wang Yidi.
She was beaten by colleague Wu Yang (11-7, 11-4, 11-7, 8-11, 11-9).
Success for Hong Kong
Hong Kong’s Minnie Soo Wai Yam and Lee Ho Ching both emerged successful in the third preliminary round of the women’s singles qualification event.
Lee Ho Ching saved match point after match point in thr sixth game before beating Korea Republic’s Kim Hayeong (11-9, 13-15, 11-6, 10-12, 6-11, 16-14, 11-7), the win coming after Minnie Soo Wai Yam had rather more comfortably beaten Norway’s Ma Wenting (6-11, 11-5, 11-5, 11-8, 11-4, 11-5).
Sun Yingsha succeeds but tested
Women’s Singles: Qualification
Winner in 2017, China’s Sun Yingsha duly booked her place in the main draw but she was tested.
She needed the full seven games to beat Portugal’s Shao Jieni (11-2, 11-1, 5-11, 7-11, 11-6, 9-11, 11-4).
Puerto Ricans in harmony
Success for Brian Afanador and Daniel Gonzalez against the Korea Republic’s Kim Daewoo and Kim Donghyun (11-9, 11-7, 11-9) was very much a performance that caught the eye; the Puerto Ricans were in harmony.
Defeat for Kim Daewoo and Kim Donghyun but not in the corresponding men’s doubles qualification round contest; Kim Byunghyeon and Kim Minhyeok accounted for the Greek partnership of Panagiotis Gionis and Ioannis Sgouropoulos in straight games (11-7, 11-6, 11-9).
Controlled defence
Classic defensive play, exquisite movement, the host nation’s Haruna Ojio and Yumeno Soma emerged successful in the one required women’s doubles qualification contest.
They beat Serbia’s Sabina Surjan and Izabela Lupulesku in five games (9-11, 11-3, 9-11, 11-8, 11-8).
Mixed fortunes for Poland
It was mixed fortunes for Poland in the qualification round to determine mixed doubles places in the main draw.
Jakub Dyjas and Natalia Partyka lost to Korea Republic’s Cho Daeseong and Shin Yubin (11-9, 16-14, 14-12); conversely Marek Badowski and Natalia Bajor overcame Portugal’s Tiago Apolonia and Shao Jieni (8-11, 11-5, 11-9, 11-6).
We meet again
They met in the qualification stage of the mixed doubles event one week earlier in Hong Kong, in Sapporo they met again; the verdict the same.
In the Queen Elizabeth Stadium Tomokazu Harimoto and Hina Hayata had beaten Puerto Rico’s Daniel Gonzalez and Melanie Diaz in four games (11-7, 9-11, 11-4, 11-6); on home soil they prevailed in straight games (11-8, 11-7, 11-9).
Seamaster 2019 ITTF World Tour Platinum Lion Japan Open: Qualification Schedule – Wednesday 12th & Thursday 13th June
Mike Harris (centre) and the victorious Devon team
Nottingham host 19 teams on tough weekend
By ALAN THATCHER and MARK FULLER
Much as the team at Squash Mad detest the ridiculous name thrust on racketball by a drunken think-tank committee, we salute the efforts being made to repair the damage. This culminated in the introduction of the first combined inter-county finals competition at Nottingham SRC, with 19 teams representing 12 counties.
The event was played over two days, with a total of 29 fixtures throughout the weekend, with the teams and spectators being treated to some top-class racketball with the likes of Tim Vail, Mike Harris, Fiona Moverley and Zoe Fennell all competing.
Fiona (pictured in action) deserves a special T-shirt for her efforts for Yorkshire. It was great to see her playing in the Open event as Yorkshire upset top seeds Sussex with a 3-2 win.
However, with Yorkshire unable to convert their earlier match against Oxfordshire, it saw them finish as the eventual losers of Group A.
A notable match in this tie was between Fiona and Ben Hedger which turned into a gruelling five-setter. Hedger was the eventual winner with two tins from Moverley at 10-10. Not sure what wording should go on that T-shirt…
Group B, the ‘group of death’, saw some great battles, in particular between Buckinghamshire and Dorset. However it was Warwickshire who proved too strong and too consistent for their opponents and they qualified with Dorset into the semi-finals. Group C again saw a very strong Devon side take their group by storm, followed by Essex and then Wiltshire.
The Women’s event was a simple round robin competition between Essex, Devon and Yorkshire and took place on the Saturday. Despite some quality play for Essex by Zoe Fennell, it was Yorkshire and Devn who contested the final, with the Yorkshire trio of Elspeth Edwards, Paula Arrowsmith and Rosie Connell triumphing 3-0 against Karen Bealey, Caroline Wright and Jo Perriam.
The triumphant Yorkshire women’s team
The Over 50s event saw six counties competing in a format that had three singles and one doubles match.
Group A top seeds Essex were too strong for Norfolk and Kent, and were able to bypass the quarter finals stage to go straight through to the semi-finals. A notebale result here was an upset caused by Rob Hanbrook of Norfolk, who performed out his skin to overcome Essex’s Fred Cooke in three games.
Group B was fiercely contested, with 3/4 seeds Buckingahmshire beating No.2 seeds Devon to automatically qualify for the semi-finals. Yorkshire and Devon battled it out and were the first fixture to draw their match and triggered the games countback rule, which thanks to Adrian Henley and Pete Doman taking the first game 11/6 in the doubles, they became eventual overall winners of the tie, 7-6 on games count back.
In the final, Fred Cooke continued his good run of form from Essex’s semi final victory over Devon defeating Simon Martin 2-1. Pascual Dibattista then extended Essex’s lead with a straight forward 2-0 over a tired looking Dave Evans who had yet to recover from his 11/9 in the 5th match in the semi final.
With Essex 2-0 up going into the final two it was still theoretically possible that Buckinghamshire could finish with a win. If the match score was 2-2 then it would go on countback.
The number ones and doubles were on at the same time. After Fernandez went 1-0 up at one and MacDonald and Townsend, after a tough start, fought back level in the doubles ,it looked like the big comeback might just be on the cards.
It was not to be, however. Marc Thornley played a tremendous second game winning it 11-1 and continued his form into the third taking the game 11-7 and deciding the match. With the doubles teams unaware of what had already transpired on the other court it remained tremendously competitive right to the end with Osborn and Fennell finally closing off the weekends Racketball with an 11-9 victory in the decider.
Essex celebrate their Over 50s title
In Sunday’s Open play-offs, Paul Norton’s Yorkshire side, having come into the competition with very few expectations, almost took fifth place but in the end narrowly lost out to Oxfordshire. Two matches went all the way to deciding tiebreaks with Fiona Moverley narrowly defeating Mike Edwards and Glynn Saunders beating Darren Rix 2-1, 13-11.
The Open final was kicked off with a battle between Luke Bishop and Marc James of Devon and Dorset. Despite some close rallies, Bishop came out on top with a 3-0 win to get the ball rolling for the favourites.
The No.1 seeds then followed on the show court, which saw current racketball National Champion, Mike Harris, take on Gus Bell. The underdog Bell played some accomplished rallies and his finishing was lethal as he surprised Harris to take the first game 11-6.
Harris was eventually able to take control with superior length and width as he clawed his way back into the match and showed us why he is the current champ. His victory gave Devon a 2-0 lead.
Meanwhile Christian Turner on the back courts took a tight 3-1 against David Lobo, to secure Devon their first Racketball/Squash57 National Title. Convincing wins from James Snell and Mike Gregory cemented Devon’s status as the National Champions by making the tie an emphatic 5-0 victory.
Harris, the Devon captain, told us: “We are very happy to be county champions and it’s been great to play everyone over the same weekend. The atmosphere has been good, the venue has been good, and this is a great start for what will hopefully be a long standing event that will continue to grow.”
UK Racketball-England Squash National Racketball and Squash 57 Inter-County Finals, Nottingham.
Open Final, Devon 5-0 Dorset:
Mike Harris 3-1 Gus Bell 6/11 11/8 11/2 11/7
James Snell 3-0 Neil Chambers 11/5 11/5 11/3
Luke Bishop 3-0 Marc James 11/6, 11/3, 11/4
Mike Gregory 3-0 Andy Metcalfe 11/7, 11/3, 11/6
Christian Turner 3-1 David Lobo 11/6 12/10 9/11 11/5
Over 50s Semi Finals:
Buckinghamshire 2-2 (9-6) Norfolk (Buckinghamshire win on games count back)
Simon Martin 1-3 John Cordeaux 13/11 7/11 10/12 9/11
Dave Evans 2-3 Rob Hanbrook 11/6 4/11 11/9 5/11 9/11
Andy MacDonald 3-1 Robin Chipperfield 12/10 11/9 8/11 11/8
Dan Fernandez & S Townsend 3-0 Mark Campbell & James Murphy 11/7 11/4 11/8
Essex 3-1 Devon:
Mark Thornley 3-0 Bruce MacDonald 11/3 11/6 11/6
Fred Cooke 3-0 Tim Gillingham 11/7 11/4 14/12
Pascual Dibattista 2-3 Martin Glover 11/8 11/8 5/11 8/11 10/12
Patrick Osborn & Paul Fennell 3-0 Andy Henley & Pete Doman 11/4 11/9 11/7
Final, Buckinghamshire 0-4 Essex:
Dan Fernandez 1-2 Mark Thornley 11/8 1/11 7/11
Simon Martin 1-2 Fred Cooke 9/11 11/5 7/11
Dave Evans 0-2 Pascual Dibattista 8/11, 7/11
Andy MacDonald & S Townsend 1-2 Patrick Osborn & Paul Fennell 5/11 11/6 9/11
Full results and report here
Next up is the HEAD National Championships at Edgbaston Priory. Preview here
Pictures courtesy of UK Racketball
World champions Ali Farag and Nour El Sherbini crash out in Cairo
Tarek Momen dominates the middle of the court against Diego Elias of Peru
Abouelghar powers through with seven Egyptians in last eight
By SEAN REUTHE in Cairo
Men’s World No.1 Ali Farag and defending women’s champion Nour El Sherbini saw their title challenges at the 2018-2019 CIB PSA World Tour Finals come to an end as group stage action drew to a close on day four of the season-ending spectacular at Cairo’s Mall of Arabia.
The first four days of the tournament have been held using a round-robin, best-of-three games format in the qualifying group stages, and Farag bowed out despite a 2-1 victory over New Zealand’s Paul Coll. His compatriot, Mohamed Abouelghar, defeated World No.4 Karim Abdel Gawad 2-0 to ensure that both him and Gawad qualify for the semi-finals with eight points, one more than last year’s runner-up Farag.
Egypt provide all four of the men’s semi-finalists, with Camille Serme of France preventing a scene of total domination by the home nation by booking her place in the women’s semis.
Abouelghar controlled his match against an off-the-pace Gawad, who had already qualified before stepping foot on court, winning 11-9, 11-3 to finish top of Group A and mark his World Tour Finals debut with a semi-finals spot.
“I was watching Ali’s match with Paul Coll,” said Abouelghar. “We were both joking about it, but I didn’t know the calculations before. I had it in my mind, like the Liverpool (Football Club) scenario (when they came back from a 3-0 defeat in the first leg to beat Barcelona), that anything can happen in sport and if I have the right attitude, then I can pull anything through, and I’m happy I did.
“I think the motivation for both of us was different. I came here to give myself one more chance and he was already qualified, so I think the motivation was different. I was happy I took advantage of that and I’m so happy to be in the semis. I’ve never had a good win in Egypt, so to have it now and on a big stage like this then I hope it doesn’t stop here and keeps going.”
Mohamed Abouelghar (left) tops his group after beating Karim Abdel Gawad
World No.3 Tarek Momen was the other man to earn his spot in the semi-finals after he dispatched Peru’s Diego Elias. Momen, the 31-year-old from Cairo, dominated his opponent in the opening game and recovered from a second game blip to win 11-2, 4-11, 11-8 in 46 minutes, booking a spot in the last four of this tournament for the first time.
He finishes second in Group B behind defending champion Mohamed ElShorbagy, who maintained his 100 per cent record with a comfortable win against Germany’s Simon Rösner yesterday (June 11).
Momen said: “I was really happy I remained calm, I kept talking positively to myself, I kept telling myself to forget about the lead and the physical advantage, forget about everything, it’s just two points so [I had to] fight for them and get the win.
“I’m happy with that and how I recovered after playing a perfect first game. Then I kind of played too much to the front and he capitalised on that. I saw the momentum shift, and I’m very happy I was able to get the win eventually.”
Nouran Gohar puts out world champion Nour El Sherbini
In the women’s event, British Open champion Nouran Gohar continued her superb form to send El Sherbini to a shock group stage exit, recovering from a game down to win 6-11, 11-5, 11-7 and secure top spot in Group B.
The pair come from different parts of Egypt – Gohar from Cairo and El Sherbini from Alexandria – and it was the former, playing in her home city, who established her hard-hitting style on the match to ensure she will face France’s Camille Serme in the semi-finals, which will be a repeat of the British Open final.
“I have so much respect for Nour, and the way she is playing recently is unbelievable,” said 21-year-old Gohar.
“I think there is [a slight rivalry between the different cities in Egypt], especially the club where Nour comes from as it is a big club and has had very good juniors in the past such as ElShorbagy and Nour and they have a really tough game to play against. There is always a rivalry between Cairo and Alexandria, and this competitive thing, I think it’s the main reason we are good at squash in Egypt.”
Camille Serme topples Tesni Evans to become the only non-Egyptian in the semi-finals
El Tayeb finished second in Group B after dismantling England’s Sarah-Jane Perry 11-0, 11-5, while Serme dispatched Wales’ Tesni Evans 11-5, 13-11 to ensure she finished second in Group A behind World No.1 Raneem El Welily, who had already qualified for the semis before today.
“From the beginning, I saw that Tesni was not moving as well as usual,” said 30-year-old Serme.
“But she is such a fighter and whatever happened I knew she was going to give it her all in the second. She tried to find some good solutions and it almost worked, it was a good tactic, but I’m happy that I found my solutions in the end. Every match is tough and everyone deserves to be in the semis, but I feel lucky that it’s me and I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”
The semi-finals will continue with the best-of-three games format, before the final reverts to the traditional best of five scoring. The semi-final fixtures begin at 19:00 (GMT+2) on June 13, with live action broadcast on SQUASHTV (rest of world), Eurosport Player (Europe only) and the official Facebook page of the PSA World Tour.
Nour El Tayeb celebrates after beating Sarah-Jane Perry
CIB PSA World Tour Finals 2019, Mall of Arabia, 6th of October City, Cairo, Egypt.
DAY FOUR
Men’s Group A:
[1] Ali Farag (EGY) bt [5] Paul Coll (NZL) 2-1: 9-11, 12-10, 11-9 (69m)
[8] Mohamed Abouelghar (EGY) bt [4] Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY) 2-0: 11-9, 11-3 (24m)
Men’s Group B:
[3] Tarek Momen (EGY) bt [7] Diego Elias (PER) 2-1: 11-2, 4-11, 11-8 (46m)
Women’s Group A:
[4] Camille Serme (FRA) bt [8] Tesni Evans (WAL) 2-0: 11-5, 13-11 (28m)
Women’s Group B:
[6] Nouran Gohar (EGY) bt [2] Nour El Sherbini (EGY) 2-1: 6-11, 11-5, 11-7 (33m)
[3] Nour El Tayeb (EGY) bt [7] Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG) 2-0: 11-0, 11-5 (15m)
Men’s Semi-Finals:
[2] Mohamed ElShorbagy (EGY) v [4] Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY)
[8] Mohamed Abouelghar (EGY) v [3] Tarek Momen (EGY)
Women’s Semi-Finals:
[1] Raneem El Welily (EGY) v [3] Nour El Tayeb (EGY)
[6] Nouran Gohar (EGY) v [4] Camille Serme (FRA)
Report by SEAN REUTHE (PSA PR and Media Manager). Edited by ALAN THATCHER.
Pictures and graphics courtesy of PSA
Israel Folau: Tonga keen for full-back to switch allegiance to them from Australia
Tonga coach Toutai Kefu says he would "love" to have Israel Folau available for his country at the 2023 World Cup.
Full-back Folau, who has Tongan heritage, was sacked by Rugby Australia for a homophobic social media post.
He has played 73 Tests for Australia but could switch allegiance if he sits out three years of international rugby and then represents Tonga at sevens in an Olympic qualifying event.
"The next World Cup, he'd be available for us hopefully," said Kefu.
"It's a long time away, so we'll let the dust settle a bit after his most recent issues.
"We don't even know if he's going to play again. He hasn't indicated where he is going, so we'll wait until the dust settles and then look at those options."
Speaking to the Sydney Morning Herald, he added: "He'd have to sit out three years and then even after that we'd have to re-qualify him through a sevens Olympic qualifying tournament."
Folau, 30, also had his contract with Super Rugby team New South Wales Waratahs terminated following his social media post.
He is taking legal action against Rugby Australia and has filed a case with the country's Fair Workplace Commission, an industrial relations tribunal, claiming his employment was unlawfully terminated.
What are World Rugby's rules over switching allegiance?
If Folau wants to play for Tonga, he could benefit from World Rugby rule 8.7.2.
It reads: "The player will be required to observe and demonstrate a stand-down period of at least three years since the time the player last represented their former union and the time the player first plays for the second union or country, which must be in an Olympic event.
"The player may not represent the second union in any other form of the game until after they have participated in such Olympic event."
SALEM, Ind. – The Mel Kenyon Midget Series will not be a part of Saturday’s Casey’s General Store Salute To Fathers Classic at Salem Speedway due to a lack of entries.
Salem Speedway track management was informed on Wednesday morning by Kenyon Midget officials that only four cars were expected for what was going to be the first Salem visit by the Kenyon Series.
“We’re certainly disappointed by this unexpected turn of events,” said a Salem Speedway track spokesperson. “We apologize to our fans and those that were looking forward to seeing the midgets return to Salem.”
The Lucas Oil Great American Stocks and Towzone Kentuckiana Legends Series are still slated to race at Salem on Saturday.
Spectator gates open at 4 p.m., with practice at 4:15, qualifications at 6 p.m. and the first race at 7:15 p.m.
CONCORD, N.C. – Elevated in an atmosphere of drifting confetti, an exultant Logan Schuchart stood atop his winged chariot, throwing his arms in the air.
From below, his Drydene-clad crew members cheered with the same energy and enthusiasm.
The Shark Racing team won their fourth World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series race of the year at River Cities Speedway on June 7 – becoming the winningest team of the year so far.
While the accolade took minutes to celebrate, hours and days of preparation and hard work went into achieving their few minutes of fame.
“It’s a good two full days (of work),” Schuchart said. “Eight hours each day. We usually start at nine or 10 (in the morning) and work until five, six in the afternoon.”
Work for Friday’s race at River Cities Speedway started Wednesday afternoon in the back parking lot of the Grand Forks, N.D., Canad Inns.
It was less than 24 hours after the Tuesday night race at Fairbury Speedway in Fairbury, Ill. – about a 12 hour drive to Grand Forks.
The team’s No. 1a and No. 1s cars were rolled out of the trailer to an empty parking lot and attended to by each car’s three-man crew – including drivers Jacob Allen and Schuchart.
Some teams have the budget for a four-man crew of a driver, crew chief, car chief and tire specialist. But for Shark Racing, Allen and Schuchart get their hands just as dirty as the rest of the crew.
Day one of preparation started with a wash. Each car was stripped down, and pressure washed to remove the dirt from the night before. Then, regular maintenance, which continued on through Thursday and the beginning of race day.
“There’s maintenance we’ll do from one race to the next, like over the weekend from a Friday to a Saturday. But usually during the week, we’ll do a little more extensive maintenance to the cars,” said Tyler Garber, car chief for Allen.
There’s not an area of the car that doesn’t get touched. Teams will take the top end of the engine apart, clean it and make sure everything, such as the valves, is working properly. Garber said they’ll do an oil change and install new spark plugs, as well.
The rear end will be removed and inspected, and the birdcage greased. The front end receives the same treatment. It’s checked over for bent parts and the hinges are greased.
To keep track of what needs to be done, both Schuchart and Allen have their own checklist posted on the inside of the team’s trailer. It lists what needs to be changed and when, how many races each part has on it, when the last oil change was, when the birdcage was greased last and how long the rear end has been in the car.
“That’s how we stay organized,” Schuchart said.
Along with the car, the team’s trailer needs to be kept clean and organized, too, Garber said.
Some days, it’s simple work. Other days, like the day before the race at River Cities Speedway, it can become complicated.
Schuchart said the team found broken valve springs and bent torque tubes.
“Some days are easy, and some there’s a lot more going into it,” Schuchart said. “Everybody’s car might be different. But once you race for so long, you kind of know your car and what needs more attention than others.”
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CONCORD, N.C. – Hendrick Motorsports officials confirmed late Wednesday that Nationwide Insurance will end its sponsorship of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series organization at the end of the season.
Nationwide is one of the anchor sponsors of Alex Bowman’s No. 88 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 and has been with the team since 2014, when the company backed Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the Spetember race at Richmond (Va.) Raceway.
Adam Stern of the Sports Business Journal first reported the move.
“Since 2015, Nationwide has had the pleasure of being the primary sponsor of the No. 88 team — first with Dale Earnhardt Jr. as the driver and then with Alex Bowman. In that time, the platform has played a valuable role in building the Nationwide brand, sharing with NASCAR fans our noble purpose of protecting what matters most to our members and raising money and awareness for Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio,” said Nationwide in a statement.
“As Nationwide’s business needs evolve, we are adjusting our marketing resources to ensure that we are aligning to those new business priorities. With that in mind, we have informed Hendrick Motorsports of our decision to step away from our sponsorship of the 88 team at the end of the year,” the statement continued. “We have not made this decision lightly, given our 20-plus year involvement in NASCAR and our deep appreciation for Rick Hendrick, Alex Bowman, Hendrick Motorsports, and the millions of NASCAR fans we have engaged with over the years. Nationwide will continue to leverage our sponsorship for the rest of 2019 and have many special activations planned. In 2020, we will host partners at select NASCAR races and continue our relationship with Dale Earnhardt Jr.
“We thank Mr. Hendrick for a wonderful five years and wish him and the entire Hendrick Motorsports organization the very best in their future endeavors.”
Team owner Rick Hendrick was quick to note that Bowman is signed with Hendrick Motorsports through the end of next year and that Bowman is a large piece of the team’s plans going forward.
“We understand the changing dynamics of business, and we’re grateful to the entire team at Nationwide for their wonderful partnership over the past five years,” said Hendrick. “Whether it’s been winning races, competing in the NASCAR playoffs or our recent on-track performance, we have accomplished so much together. Off the track, we have been just as successful, from collaborating on national advertising campaigns to supporting the important mission of Nationwide Children’s Hospital. It has been a pleasure to work with all of their people and to help drive Nationwide’s business forward.
“Alex (Bowman) is having a breakout season and showing the world just how talented he is. He’s signed through next year (2020) and will be a big part of our future,” Hendrick added. “The momentum we’re building as a sport is due in large part to NASCAR’s leadership and a unique combination of emerging personalities like Alex, established stars and the exciting shows our racing is putting on. There’s tremendous confidence in the product we have to offer our fans and partners.”
Bowman recently had a stretch of three-straight second-place finishes in Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series action and sits 10th in points more than halfway through the regular season.
Nationwide has been Bowman’s primary sponsor for 10 of the first 15 races this year.
“I owe a lot to Nationwide. They wanted me as their driver and have supported me from the beginning, which I can’t thank them enough for,” noted Bowman. “I’m proud to represent them and have a lot of appreciation for all the awesome people I’ve met and worked with. I couldn’t be more positive about my No. 88 team and what the future holds for us this year and beyond. I know we’re just scratching the surface, and I’m pumped for what’s ahead.
“We appreciate the role Nationwide has played in our success.”
CANEY, Kan. — Frontrunners continued their dominance with the Lucas Oil National Open Wheel 600 Series presented by Tel-Star Technologies on Wednesday during the opening night of Sooner 600 Week.
Frank Flud won his sixth Stock Non-Wing main event and his eighth Winged ‘A’ Class feature and Ryan Timms posted his seventh Restricted ‘A’ Class triumph during the first of five straight nights of competition.
Flud capitalized on garnering the pole position to win the Stock Non-Wing A Main. Jeffrey Newell advanced from seventh to second place with Shawn Wicker third, Chase Randall fourth and Preston Perlmutter fifth.
Flud also took advantage of the pole starting spot to earn the Winged ‘A’ Class win. Cole Roberts scored a second-place finish with Randall in third. Riley Goodno finished fourth and Wicker was fifth.
Timms posted his third straight NOW600 Series Restricted ‘A’ Class points race win after starting fourth. Ryder Laplante finished second with Conner Thomas third, Conner Long fourth and 13th-starting Kayden Cole fifth.
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