DETROIT -- Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert, who is the Quicken Loans founder and chairman, is slowly returning to work eight months after he had a stroke.

Gilbert, 58, returned to his Detroit office early this year. He's there one or two days a week, using a wheelchair and accompanied by a service dog named Cowboy. He also spends three or four hours a day working with physical and occupational therapists at his home.

"When you have a stroke, here's the problem with it: Everything is hard. Everything," Gilbert told Crain's Detroit Business in his first interview since the stroke. "Like, you wake up, getting out of bed is hard, going to the bathroom is hard, sitting down eating at a table is hard. You name it. You don't get a break. You're, like, trapped in your own body."

Gilbert is scheduled to give his first public speech since the May 25 stroke this Friday at the Crain's Newsmakers of the Year luncheon in Detroit.

It's a change of pace for the hard-charging executive, who also owns the American Hockey League's Cleveland Monsters and the NBA G League's Canton Charge. Right before his stroke, Gilbert was texting Michigan's governor about a deal to get long-term funding for road repairs.

Gilbert was hosting a party just before Memorial Day when his vision seemed suddenly blurry. His wife and a physician friend persuaded him to go to the hospital after he started showing other signs of a stroke, including facial asymmetry, arm drift and speech difficulty.

Gilbert said he had a blood clot in his carotid artery that was cutting off the blood supply to his brain. Doctors implanted seven stents inside his carotid artery to open the blood vessel.

"If that artery was blocked more minutes than it was, it would have been much worse," Gilbert said.

Gilbert spent eight weeks at a rehabilitation center in Chicago last summer. He is able to walk with a cane but still struggles to move his left arm.

Gilbert said his current priority is the construction of a skyscraper in downtown Detroit. His real estate company, Bedrock Detroit, broke ground on the building in 2017.

The Milwaukee Brewers signed left-hander Brent Suter to a two-year contract Sunday, avoiding an arbitration hearing that was scheduled for Monday.

Though financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, the deal is worth $2.5 million, according to the Associated Press. Suter had been seeking $1.25 million for the 2020 season while the Brewers had offered $825,000.

Suter, 30, was 4-0 with an 0.49 ERA in 18 1/3 innings over nine appearances last year after returning from Tommy John surgery in 2018.

He pitched a career-high 101 1/3 innings and made 18 starts in 2018 before tearing his elbow ligament in July 2018. He also made 14 starts in 2017.

He is 17-11 with a 3.63 ERA in 223 innings over four seasons with the Brewers.

JUPITER, Fla. -- St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Miles Mikolas was scratched from his second bullpen session of the spring because of a flexor tendon issue.

"Best-case scenario is probably just a couple more days before he starts playing catch, starts his bullpens again," Cardinals manager Mike Shildt said. "I can't say that's going to happen one way or the other."

Mikolas said his arm felt "tender from time to time" last season, but he was able to manage it.

"I do not know what the full clinical term is," Mikolas said. "I can tell you my elbow is a little sore."

Shildt said the Cardinals hope to have a more concrete time frame for Mikolas to return to the mound in a day or two.

"Is he behind? Yeah, he's behind," Shildt said. "He's not being able to get on the mound, but he's still doing some of the things mentally and physically that he can do."

Should Mikolas only need a couple of more days of rest, he expects a brief layoff wouldn't significantly hamper his preparation for the season.

"I've already been throwing and throwing bullpens," Mikolas said. "Once I feel good and get cleared to re-ramp back up, it shouldn't be a super-long process."

Mikolas signed with St. Louis prior to the 2018 season following a successful stint in Japan. He was 18-4 with a 2.83 ERA during his first season with the Cardinals and earned a trip to the All-Star Game.

Mikolas struggled last season as he went 9-14 with a 4.16 ERA in 32 starts in the regular season, but he was 1-1 with a 1.50 ERA in three appearances in the postseason.

Mikolas received a platelet-rich plasma injection as treatment for his arm soreness after the Cardinals were eliminated from the playoffs.

"It's been a long couple of seasons for me," Mikolis said.

Despite last season's struggles, Mikolas entered this spring as one of four pitchers expected to be in the Cardinals' rotation, joining Jack Flaherty, Dakota Hudson and Adam Wainwright.

Carlos Martinez, Korean offseason signee Kwang-Hyun Kim, Alex Reyes and Daniel Ponce de Leon entered camp as the leading candidates for the fifth starting spot. An extended layoff for Mikolas could allow two of those pitchers to break camp in the starting rotation.

MESA, Ariz. -- Add Chicago Cubs righty Yu Darvish to the list of those that believe the Houston Astros should be stripped of their 2017 World Series title.

"It's like the Olympics," Darvish said from Cubs camp on Sunday. "When a player cheats, you can't have a gold medal, right? But they still have a World Series title. It (feels) weird."

Pitching for the Los Angeles Dodgers in that World Series, Darvish previously said he doubted himself after getting rocked in Games 3 and 7. At first, he was told he was the one tipping his pitches but now wonders if the Astros stole the signs.

"Was I tipping, or were they stealing?" Darvish asked last month.

On Sunday, he said he wasn't angry but felt for opposing pitchers who lost their jobs due to the Astros scandal while telling Houston players it might be better to be quiet right now.

"So they cheat, I think they shouldn't talk right now," Darvish said referencing Carlos Correa's comments about Cody Bellinger. "Some people lost their job. They have to show more apology. I don't feel anything from those guys."

Darvish compiled a 21.60 ERA over his two games pitched just before going to free agency after the 2017 season. He ended up signing a six-year, $126 million contract with the Cubs who admitted they may have taken advantage of other teams being scared off after his World Series performance.

"I know they were stealing signs, but at the same time, I was not good during the World Series," Darvish said. "I'm better for what I went through. But, yeah, everyone is wondering about (their numbers) pitching against them."

Darvish is just the latest in a long line of players to criticize the Astros after it was revealed they were stealing signs electronically in 2017. No players were punished in the scandal while Houston's apologies have been widely criticized as well.

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- The camps have opened. Left-handers and right-handers are building their pitch counts. New gloves are being oiled, bent and broken in. Some players are learning new positions. Hitters have worked offseason swing changes into their first rounds of spring batting practice. Opening Day is 39 days away, meaning little more than a month for final adjustments.

But there is really no way for the Houston Astros to prepare for what looms this year when they leave their Minute Maid Park cocoon, and perhaps even in moments when they are in that safe zone of home.

Set aside the question of on-field retaliation for the Astros' sign stealing that has been raised by Mike Clevinger, Ross Stripling and others, prompting Dusty Baker to push back Saturday on the hints at violence. What the Astros seem destined to experience is a most extreme form of negative reinforcement.

Thousands upon thousands of fans heaping anger, frustration, bitterness and whatever other emotions they care to temporarily eject from their lives at a small group of men in orange uniforms, tearing at whatever mental scar tissue each of the Astros players can construct day to day.

Over the past week, some players on other teams have watched the backlash to the Astros' repeated public relations debacles and observed the avalanche of fan response on Twitter -- undoubtedly fueled by the unprecedented verbal attacks of the Astros' professional peers -- and have wondered about the impact on the players who must try to work within that fan reaction.

And there is no escape. Carlos Correa pushed back against some of the criticism in a series of interviews Saturday, aiming to absolve teammate Jose Altuve while absurdly trying to separate moments when the 2017 Astros cheated from when they did not -- a futile exercise.

TAMPA, Fla. — Round seven brought forward a new points leader in the Monster Energy AMA Supercross, an FIM World Championship series.

Monster Energy Kawasaki rider Eli Tomac grabbed his 30th career win on track conditions that challenged athletes and forced mistakes in front of 46,173 fans inside Raymond James Stadium.

Smarttop/BullFrog Spas/Motoconcepts Honda’s Vince Friese crossed the holeshot line first but before the second corner Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Adam Cianciarulo sailed past.

Team Honda HRC’s Ken Roczen, the points leader going into this round, was buried in the pack; last weekend’s winner, Cooper Webb of the Red Bull KTM team ran just outside the top five at the holeshot line.

The racers on the move early trying to chase down Cianciarulo were Tomac, Smarttop/BullFrog Spas/Motoconcepts Honda’s Malcolm Stewart, Webb and Roczen who’d made his way to fifth after five minutes of racing.

The track was slick in areas with a challenging sand section, and Tomac used the split lanes in the sand to rail an outside berm and take the lead away from Cianciarulo on lp 11.

With just over eight minutes and one lap of racing left Webb jumped past Stewart into third. Roczen passed Stewart next, but a tip over allowed Stewart by at about the same time Cianciarulo crashed in the whoops, dropping from second to 10nth.

Roczen made it back around Stewart and the top three riders in points held onto the podium positions.

Also establishing a new points leader by virtue of it being the starting round of the Eastern Regional 250SX Class series, Monster Energy/Star Yamaha Racing’s Shane McElrath took an impressive win, leading the pack nearly from the start.

With 11 points now separating Tomac, Webb and Roczen in the 450SX  lass, the series heads to Arlington, Texas next weekend, February 22, where AT&T Stadium will host the second Triple Crown event of the year in which riders compete in three 10-Lap Main Events.

BARBERVILLE, Fla. – When the sun rose and heated up the Florida air Saturday morning, 50 laps at Volusia Speedway Park were all that separated Larry Wight from his third DIRTcar Nationals presented by Bozard Ford Big Gator championship.

Wight needed to finish 15th or better to prevent teammate Billy Decker from taking the title for himself, and he did much more than that when all was said and done.

Wight finished sixth, sandwiched between Decker in fifth and his other teammate Pat Ward, to secure a hat trick of Big Gators at Volusia and establish himself as an early-season favorite.

Championships are often won in the shop, as well as the race track, and the Gypsum Racing team knows that well.

“It’s a combination of good preparation, a good car, a good motor, and a phenomenal crew. Having a family to back that up and allow us to put in the hours and put in the time at the track and come down here,” noted Wight.

The Super DIRTcar Series pounded the Florida clay five nights in a row, and the track was different every night, which created challenging and dynamic racing.

“The track threw us for a loop tonight. We didn’t think it would get as slick,” said Wight. “We thought the top would be a little bit better so we tried to get the car freed up versus last night. I guess we should have left it a little bit snugger.”

Wight hopes he can bring home momentum and race data from Volusia to Can-Am Speedway to start another run at the Super DIRTcar Series championship.

Although it’s not the Big Gator, defending Super DIRTcar Series titlist Mat Williamson was more than happy the Buzz Chew Racing team’s efforts were rewarded with two feature wins during the week, including Saturday night’s $5,000 grand prize.

The race for the Big Gator championship probably would have come down to Wight and Williamson, had the No. 88 not suffered a broken left-rear shock on Thursday, which resulted in a 15th-place finish for the defending series champion.

“That Buzz Chew Chevrolet was pretty good. I think everyone in our pit area was disappointed with what happened Thursday night,” said Williamson. “It just made us work harder and show everyone what we’re made of.”

Only Williamson and Wight found Victory Lane at this year’s DIRTcar Nationals, but Williamson’s broken shock on Thursday and the Gypsum team’s dominance tipped the championship scales in Wight’s favor.

“That’s what championships are made of,” Williamson said. “Hats off to Larry [Wight] and his guys, they had a solid week. We tried our best and couldn’t beat them. It goes to show how good they are,” Williamson said.

The Buzz Chew Racing team struggled at the DIRTcar Nationals in 2019. They’ve been bound and determined to come back and succeed at Volusia. Bookending the week with wins and competing for the overall points title felt like redemption.

Runner up Jimmy Phelps and his HBR crew worked hard all week on their new Bicknell chassis and set up package.

“This is a new program for us with the chassis and coil-over suspension. We came down here with some stuff in mind that we wanted to play with,” said Phelps. “We got ourselves a little off track Wednesday and Thursday. It took until Thursday or me personally to figure out where I wanted to be on the race track. A top 5 last night and a podium tonight, we’re pretty happy with our progress.”

“We learned a lot. We got beat by the hottest guy on dirt right now,” Phelps added. “There’s nothing to hang our heads about. We learned a ton that we can take back north with us.

Another driver with early-week woes was seven-time Super DIRTcar Series champion Matt Sheppard. The driver from Waterloo, N.Y., recorded finishes uncharacteristically down the order throughout the week, but showed improvement every single night.

“We had a really good car tonight. We’ve been chasing this thing all week and we made a big stride tonight. We had a good car all night. Track position was very key,” said Sheppard.

And of course, there’s the part that no one from the northeast is looking forward to.

“Now we make the long trip home back to the snow.”

Brett Hearn also knows the fast way around Volusia Speedway Park. In fact, The Jet holds the record for consecutive victories, with five at the Florida oval.

While he didn’t win Saturday night, Hearn did pick up 12 positions to finish 11th after starting 23rd.

The first Super DIRTcar Series points race of the year takes place on Saturday, April 11 at Can-Am Speedway in Lafargville, N.Y. The event is a $7,500-to-win, 100-lap feature.

The finish:

1. 88-Mat Williamson [2][$5,000]; 2. 98H-Jimmy Phelps [1][$2,500]; 3. 9S-Matt Sheppard [4][$1,500]; 4. 49-Billy Dunn [5][$1,000]; 5. 91-Billy Decker [7][$800]; 6. 99L-Larry Wight [3][$700]; 7. 42P-Pat Ward [10][$650]; 8. 4-Andy Bachetti [19][$600]; 9. 25R-Erick Rudolph [11][$550]; 10. 19-Tim Fuller [15][$500]; 11. 20-Brett Hearn [23][$475]; 12. 44-Stewart Friesen [6][$450]; 13. 7MM-Michael Maresca [8][$425]; 14. 44P-Anthony Perrego [16][$400]; 15. 19M-Jessey Mueller [9][$375]; 16. 21A-Peter Britten [24][$350]; 17. 30-Ronnie Johnson [21][$325]; 18. 3-Justin Haers [18][$300]; 19. 23-Kyle Coffey [13][$300]; 20. 111-Demetrios Drellos [28][$300]; 21. 83-Brian Swartzlander [12][$300]; 22. 46-Jeremy Smith [14][$300]; 23. 32-Jim Rasey [25][$300]; 24. 8-Rich Scagliotta [26][$300]; 25. 1G-Darwin Greene [17][$300]; 26. 30M-JoJo Watson [22][$300]; 27. 1-Billy Pauch [20][$300]; 28. 7-Rick Laubach [27][$300].

Hard Charger: 20-Brett Hearn (+12)

GIBSONTON, Fla. — The 2020 Winternationals concluded with a new winner’s name being added to the prestigious list of past winners of the King of the 360s.

Texas racer Aaron Reutzel honored the memory of fellow Lone Star racer Ronald Laney, winning the memorial race named in Laney’s honor.

Reutzel was among the six drivers locked in to compete in the 40-lap feature, due to the points accumulated on Thursday night. The standard format calls for points to be accrued through Thursday and Friday action, but, for the first time in 18 years, one of those events was rained out, forcing track officials to honor points from a single night.

Thursday winner Mark Smith, along with top finishers Terry McCarl, Dylan Westbrook, Carson McCarl and Brock Zearfoss joined Reutzel in the elite group.

The remaining 47 competitors were lined up in five heat races with the top two finishers advancing to the A-main. A pair of B features brought eight more into the field and the final spot was dedicated to the winner of the Wetherington Tractor Service dash, setting the stages for 25 racers.

The top six drivers drew for their starting spots and Reutzel, who chose fourth, pulled the No. 1 box to set himself on the inside of two-time defending champion Terry McCarl for the start of the race.

At the green flag, it was McCarl who would move to the early advantage. A lap three caution for a stalled Max Stambaugh bunched the field. On the restart, Mark Smith shot past Reutzel for second and held the spot as the next caution flew for a Jason Sides spin.

Riggins displaced Reutzel four laps later in the early stages of a long green-flag period. Smith closed the gap on McCarl, attempting a pass on lap 13 and finally completing it on lap 14. Meanwhile, Reutzel found something to his linking on the high side of the race track and started the march to the front. He pulled into second by the 20th lap. Four laps later, he shuffled past Smith to take the lead.

On lap 26, a red flag was displayed for a Derek Hagar flip. McCarl slipped into second and the red flag reappeared when Washington racer Trey Starks climbed the backstretch wall on lap 28.

On the restart, Reutzel moved out to a lead but encountered lapped traffic with seven laps to go. Despite finding slower cars in his groove, Reutzel was able to adjust and maintain the effort necessary to pick up his win.

Reutzel had appeared at East Bay earlier in the week to compete with the All-Star Circuit of Champion, winning the opening night feature. He is the two-time defending series champion of that series.

Jim Young made it a clean sweep in the mini sprints with his second triumph, while Paul Seburn won the micro sprint feature.

The finish:

Aaron Reutzel, Terry McCarl, Mark Smith, Brock Zearfoss, Eric Riggins Jr., Tim Shaffer, Dylan Westbrook, Sam Hafertepe Jr., Brett Wright, Danny Martin Jr., Jason Sides, Parker Price-Miller, Cale Conley, Danny Sims III, Ben Brown, Carson McCarl, Cory Eliason, Trey Starks, Derek Hagar, Max Stambaugh, Dustin Gates, Matt Kurtz, Johnny Gilbertson, Dale Howard, Danny Smith.

OCALA, Fla. — Brady Bacon may want to petition USAC to let him start ninth all season after once again driving from the fifth row to claim back to back AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship series wins at Bubba Raceway Park Saturday night.

Just like Friday night, Bacon’s Hoffman/Longworth No. 69 was the class of the field, as he nearly won his heat before slowing a lap prematurely, came back to handily claim the semi-feature and then ran down early leader Chase Stockon to claim the $5,800 win.

Chris Windom was a close second after a series of slide job challenges to Bacon on the black, dusty three-eighths-mile oval, with Logan Seavey rallying for third ahead of Stockon and Justin Grant.

Seavey and Stockon led the field to green, with Stockon using his outside starting position to blast to the lead over Seavey and Windom.  A lap-two yellow flag for a harmless spin kept the field closed up and allowed Windom to shoot by Seavey on the restart. They were still in that order when Sterling Cling went around on lap seven, but by then Bacon stood fifth, ready to work on the heavy hitters.

The restart saw Bacon dispose of Carson Short in turns one and two, then dive under Seavey as they hit turn three to show third.  He continued his charge, disposing of Windom on lap 12, then used his trademark top to bottom drive off turn four a lap later to take command from Stockon.

Bacon was lapping cars in bunches through the late teen’s as Windom and Seavey dueled behind him and by lap 25, he’d pulled out to a full straightaway lead.  But a frontstretch melee on lap 28 that saw Katlynn Leer flip at the flagstand brought a red flag, negating Bacon’s solid lead.

Windom mounted a huge charge into turn one on the restart, sliding in front of Bacon only to lose the lead again when Bacon crossed under him down the backstretch. Windom made the same daring move the next time around, with the same result, and Bacon was home free.

“I thought I’d hold the bottom and he couldn’t slide me, but he got it in there,” said Bacon.  “Luckily I was really good off the top and could turn back under him.”

“I figured he’d do that,” added Windom. “It’s a hard move to pull off here.  I was just hoping he’d make a mistake when I took his line away, but it didn’t happen.”

As for Seavey, the young Californian said “the track came to me and I finally figured out where to run. The bottom slowed down, so I moved to the top and got going forward again. Unfortunately, Brady figured out all that before the rest of us.”

Short led the second five that included fast-timer C.J. Leary, Kevin Thomas Jr., Kyle Cummins and Dennis Gile.

To see full results, turn to the next page.