TAMPA, Fla. -- On the other side of the state, Astros players remained under guard, cordoned away from reporters in advance of what is expected to be an orchestrated organizational message, in a first collective response to their sign-stealing scandal.

At Yankees camp, however, there are no signs of group-speak, no guardrails placed around the players in how they react to one of the most notorious episodes in baseball history.

Catcher Gary Sanchez cracked a joke here Wednesday related to the theory that the Astros used a buzzer system.

Luis Severino acknowledged that he has more context about his supposed pitch-tipping problem from a couple of years ago -- maybe it wasn't that -- but said he doesn't need any apologies from his Houston peers.

Earlier this week, Masahiro Tanaka said, in his usual understated manner, that, yes, he feels cheated out of the 2017 World Series.

And manager Aaron Boone admitted that while he has exchanged text messages with AJ Hinch, a longtime friend and the former Astros manager, he's not sure if he's ready to go beyond that yet.

Boone sees all of this as healthy, that it's a good thing that players are expressing their feelings about how they may have been impacted by the Astros' illicit sign stealing. When news of it first broke, he said, he shared raw text messages and conversations with players. "The range of emotions is huge -- mad, frustrated, disappointed," he said.

At some point, Boone said, it'll be time for all of them to move on, to set that conversation about the Astros aside and focus on the 2020 season. "Some guys will want to talk about it and give you [reporters] a lot," he said. "Some guys have already moved on."

Surrounded by a horseshoe of reporters, Sanchez was asked about Jose Altuve's game-winning home run to clinch the 2019 American League Championship Series against the Yankees and the viral video of Altuve clutching his uniform top and screaming at teammates not to tear off his jersey. Questions have been raised on social media about whether this was because Altuve was wearing some kind of wiring related to sign stealing.

"I can tell you if I hit a homer," Sanchez said through his interpreter, "and I get my team to the World Series, they can rip off my pants. They can rip everything off."

Boone addressed Hinch's interview with MLB Network last week, and Hinch's stilted, lawyerly answer to a question about whether the Astros used a buzzer system.

Rather than say yes or no, Hinch referred to the commissioner's investigation and that he believed the finding that there was no evidence of buzzers.

Boone acknowledged that he's not fully convinced that the Astros weren't wearing buzzers. "That's certainly one of those great unknowns," Boone said. "Certainly I've spent time, as I'm sure a lot of people have, wondering all the things that could have potentially been going on... I've spent time wondering, and we'll probably never know for sure."

Boone and Hinch were born a year apart and have known each other since they were teenagers, playing with and against each other. They managed against each other the past two seasons, including the ALCS this past fall that the Astros won in six games.

The Yankees went into that playoff assuming the worst about the Astros and their sign stealing, arming their pitchers with a computer-generated system of signs. "Nobody was stealing our signs," said one staffer.

But during the series, the Yankees became aware of whistling from the Astros' side of the field, bringing it to the attention of the umpires. In a news conference before Game 4, Hinch mocked the Yankees for their concerns. "Man, I'm glad you asked that question," Hinch said, "and I thought it would come up today. And we talked about this the other day. And, in reality, it's a joke."

He added: "When when I get contacted about some questions about whistling, it made me laugh because it's ridiculous. And had I known that it would take something like that to set off the Yankees, or any other team, we would have practiced it in spring training. ... It apparently works, even when it doesn't happen."

Since then, Mike Fiers revealed to The Athletic that the Astros systematically stole signs using fixed cameras. Hinch was found to have knowledge of that system and was suspended for the 2020 season by Major League Baseball and fired by the Astros. Shortly after Hinch was fired, Boone sent Hinch a text; Hinch responded immediately with a text, but they have not spoken. "At some point," said Boone, "I just haven't been ready to go there."

Boone also worked at ESPN alongside Alex Cora, who was the bench coach of the 2017 Astros and then the manager of the 2018 Boston Red Sox who knocked Boone's Yankees out of the playoffs. The commissioner's office is currently investigating the '18 Red Sox for sign stealing, and Cora was fired as Boston manager. Carlos Beltran, a special assistant in the Yankees organization in Boone's time as manager, was on track to be the Mets' manager before he was implicated in the Houston scandal -- and then let go by the Mets.

Boone paused for a few seconds when he was asked about the state of those friendships. "Look, those are guys I still consider to be friends," he said. "I've struggled to make sense of it.

"Hopefully I treat people with grace. But it's been a little bit of a struggle for me."

British number one Johanna Konta suffered her fourth straight singles defeat as she was knocked out of the St Petersburg Ladies Trophy.

Konta, 28, stepped up her return from a knee injury with a doubles win on Monday and, as the fourth seed, had a bye to the last 16 of the singles.

The world number 14 faced Oceane Dodin of France in just her third singles match since September's US Open.

But Dodin, ranked 145 places below Konta, won 6-3 6-4 in Russia.

The first seven games went with serve before Dodin took control by winning five straight games.

Not only did that run earn Dodin the first set but the French number six, it also enabled her to take the decisive break in the first game of the second set.

Konta and Caroline Garcia, the French number two, will face Sweden's Cornelia Lister and Renata Voracova of the Czech Republic in the doubles quarter-finals.

She opted to sit out Great Britain's Fed Cup defeat by Slovakia at the weekend to protect her body.

But captain Anne Keothavong has said she will try to persuade Konta to make herself available for the play-off against Mexico on 17-18 April.

Scotland centre Nick Grigg has agreed a two-year contract extension at Glasgow Warriors, saying "it was an easy enough decision to stay".

The New Zealand-born 27-year-old made his club debut in March 2016 after a spell with Stirling County.

He has gone on to score 16 tries in 66 appearances for the Pro14 side.

"It has been an amazing journey so far," he told the Warriors' website. "I just want to play as well as I can for this club."

Capped nine times, Grigg was not selected for last year's World Cup and is not in the current Six Nations squad.

"Nick is a powerful ball carrier and an aggressive defender," said Danny Wilson, who will take over as Warriors head coach at the end of the season.

"He has contributed a lot over the last four years and we're delighted he's going to continue his career in Glasgow."

OCALA, Fla. – The Don Garlits Museum of Drag Racing, home of the International Drag Racing Hall of Fame, has announced the latest class of inductees.

Additionally, the recipients of the Founder’s Award and the Patricia Garlits Memorial Award were named.

The inductees for 2020 are (in alphabetical order): Robert “Bones” Balogh, Lee Beard, Don Enriquez, Roy Hill, Billy Meyer and Larry Minor. The Founders Award is being presented to Don Prieto and Etta Glidden will be honored with the Patricia Garlits Award.

Balogh was one of the most respected drivers and engine builders during the period of drag racing’s infamous Gasser Wars of the 1960s. Balogh became well-known on the West Coast as an engine builder and driver before retiring from driving at the end of the 1960s, though he continued to use his race-winning engine building talents for many years thereafter.

Beard has created an enviable record of accomplishments in the drag racing world as a crew chief, engine tuner and team manager. He’s worked with a number of competitors, including Jerry Ruth, Don Schumacher, Kenny Bernstein, Gary Ormsby, Cruz Pedregon, Whit Bazemore and even NFL and NASCAR Hall of Famer Joe Gibbs.

Enriquez has long flown under the radar when considering racers who were dominant at one point or another of drag racing history.  His racing career has been linked with his friend and fellow Hall of Famer Gene Adams in the late 1960s-early 1970s in what was collectively known as Junior Fuel Dragsters. Enriquez raced with Adams for 33 years.

Hill has been hailed as one of the stalwarts of the Mountain Motor Pro Stock class during its heyday on the International Hot Rod Ass’n circuit from the early 1970s into the 1990s. Hill began his racing career in Super Stock class, but when the Pro Stock class was born in the early 1970s, Hill started his illustrious Pro Stock career in a Dodge Dart.

When the IHRA unveiled the unlimited displacement engines rules for their Pro Stock class, Hill was one of the earliest to embrace the emerging class. While he never logged World Championship as a driver, Hill recorded 28 IHRA national event victories and 31 runner-up finishes as a driver and team owner. He later launched his Roy Hill School of Drag Racing out of his home base in Sophia, N.C.

Meyer’s drag racing career actually began in the seat of a go-kart at the age of nine. At the age of 16, Meyer sought and got his Funny Car license. While he never won a championship in the NHRA, he finished second three times, and was third three times across his 15 years of competition. He competed in 112 NHRA National events, and reached the final round 22 times and won 12 of those. He retired from driving in 1989 and later built the Texas Motorplex, which he still owns to this day.

Minor is a gearhead, perhaps a wealthy one, but a true gearhead nonetheless. Aside from overseeing his family’s vast agri-business ventures in California’s Imperial Valley, Minor has been deeply involved with drag racing, off-road racing and sand drag racing in one form or another since the late 1950s.

His drag racing efforts got underway in 1978, teaming with Gary Beck in a Top Fuel dragster. In 1983 the pairing set 17 of 18 quickest runs in the sport’s history to that point, and won the NHRA’s Top Fuel World Championship. That was just the tip of the iceberg, as a pairing with Ed McCullough would deliver an IHRA World Championship in 1988 and a prestigious U.S. Nationals win in 1990 and Cruz Pedergon would win the NHRA Winston World Championship in Funny Car in 1992, and won the U.S. Nationals three times in four years (1992, ’93 and ’95).

As a journalist, Prieto was nicknamed “The Louisiana Lip” for prodding at some of the sacred cows of drag racing and the emerging performance automotive aftermarket.  The nickname changed to “The Wavemaker,” and his very pointed critiques were both lauded and hated, but their points were most often on target. Prieto was a fixture at the drag strips writing and editorializing for first Drag Digest and then Drag Racing magazines.  This was followed by a stint at Petersen Publishing Book Division, editing drag racing-related titles, plus Hot Rod Industry News, a trade publication for the performance parts aftermarket.

Glidden stood beside her legendary husband, Pro Stock superstar and Hall of Fame driver Bob Glidden, throughout his checkered career of 85 NHRA class wins, and 10 NHRA Winston World Championships. She was a fixture at the starting line and in the pits as the Glidden family raced their Ford Pintos, Fairlanes, Mustangs and Thunderbirds (as well as one year with a Plymouth Arrow) against some of the very toughest competitors in Pro Stock class history.

As the Glidden Family’s race program developed, Etta served as crew chief – keeping the team organized and was there to assist in any way possible, working on the car with her sons with Bob’s direction, yet being a mother at the track and at home.  She is one of the Founding Mothers of the Drag Racing Ass’n of Women  with several of the wives of the leading drivers and personalities of the sport in 1984 following Shirley Muldowney’s life-threatening crash pointed to the need for support of drag racing families following accidents.

The Patricia Garlits Memorial Award is given out annually to a woman who has “contributed to the sport of drag racing through their professional activities- at the track-and/or their personal activities-off the track-which promotes the sport in a positive manner or to the success of the sport.”

The event is being sponsored by Summit Racing Equipment (Rings), Jerry and Pat Baltes (Trophies) and Total Impact Wear (Commemorative t-shirts).

FREDERICKSBURG, Va. – ProCharger, a manufacturer of centrifugal superchargers, has signed on as the presenting sponsor of the PDRA Fall Nationals presented by ProCharger, which will take place Sept. 10-12 at Darlington Dragway in Hartsville, S.C.

As a part of their marketing partnership, ProCharger is also a new contingency sponsor with the PDRA, offering contingency support to racers in eligible classes at all eight races. The eligible classes are Penske Racing Shocks/Precision Racing Suspension Pro Boost presented by WS Construction, MagnaFuel Top Sportsman, Lucas Oil Top Dragster, and the PDRA’s new class, Pro Street.

“ProCharger and its racers made big waves in the PDRA pond last season,” said Will Smith, marketing director, PDRA. “ProCharger was involved with a few of our top drivers in 2019, and we’re thrilled to see them step up their involvement with the PDRA as an event presenting sponsor and new contingency sponsor.”

For over 25 years, ProCharger has offered powerful, reliable, and advanced centrifugal supercharger systems and kits. Invented, engineered, and made in the USA, ProCharger provides the most power per pound of boost for automotive, truck/SUV, sport compact, motorcycle, UTV, and marine applications.

“[PDRA Series Director] Tyler Crossnoe and [PDRA owner] Tommy Franklin and their team are really good folks and we appreciate what they do,” said Walt Sipp, technical service manager, ProCharger. “It’s going to be an exciting year. PDRA is doing good things and gives us a good place to race, so it just made sense to come on board as the presenting sponsor.”

Sipp and his colleagues on ProCharger’s Motorsports technical support team plan to attend a handful of PDRA races to support their growing base of ProCharger-boosted racers in the PDRA.

“We have one of the largest dedicated motorsports teams in the industry, so we have a lot of our guys, myself and the rest of the folks on our motorsports team, traveling to the races to support our racers,” Sipp said.

In 2019 alone, ProCharger-equipped racers won 21 national championships and major events, set 25 national records and qualified No. 1 98 times. That list includes the PDRA Pro Boost world championship and elapsed time world record (3.597 seconds).

“Last year is going to be hard to top,” Sipp said. “We set the ET record with Randy Weatherford and we won the championship with Kevin Rivenbark. It’s going to be tough to back up that level of success, but that’s our plan. With the stacked field of ProCharger racers in Pro Boost this year, it’s going to be an exciting year and we’re looking forward to it.”

PINELLAS PARK, Fla. – Kyle O’Gara is the latest driver to throw his name into the mix for the Dave Steele World Non-Wing Sprint Car Championship 125 at Showtime Speedway in Pinellas Park, Fla., on Feb. 20

The 25-year-old Beech Grove, Ind., driver will be making his first sprint car start in the state of Florida.

O’Gara, who also competes regularly in dirt midget competition, explained his reasons for wanting to compete in the event.

“The sprint car is our favorite car to get out of the stable, its been a while since I’ve been on the pavement, and I wanna get out of the house to warmer weather,” O’Gara said. “It’s for a good cause really, we were good friends with Dave Steele and his family. We were teammates at RWB Motorsports in 2013 and I got to know him pretty well.”

“When the race was first announced last fall, O’Gara knew he wanted to be a part of it.

When we found out they were putting this race on we put it on our schedule,” O’Gara said.

The experience he has gained the past two seasons has led to confidence that he can bring home a good showing. The young driver came of age in his first full season of asphalt sprint car competition in 2019. He nearly won an Auto Value Super Sprint event at Kalamazoo, Mich., this past June 14.

O’Gara led most of the event and appeared as if a victory would be in the cards. He got tied up with a lapped car with two laps remaining and Aaron Pierce squeaked by for the win while the duo battled in traffic. O’Gara opened a lot of eyes that day and proved that he would be a forced to be reckoned with in future asphalt sprint car races from there on out.

O’Gara will be driving for a team owned by his brother and sister-in-law Sarah Fisher of IndyCar fame. The Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing Development team currently fields cars in USAC Midget and Silver Crown competition, as well as select non-winged pavement events, that includes the annual Little 500.

The team has one goal entering next week’s race and O’Gara was quick to explain that goal.

“We’re going down to win. We put a lot of effort into the car this offseason. We’ve taken our game to the next level and we hope it shows starting next weekend,” O’Gara said.

The inaugural Dave Steele World Non-Wing Sprint Car Championship 125 will kick off with a 30-lap tune-up race the night before on Feb. 19. The following afternoon between 2:30-4 p.m., a qualifying session similar to that used at the annual Little 500 will be used to set the line-up for the possible 26-car starting field for the 125-lap event. During the qualifying session, teams will make a four-lap qualifying attempt and their four-lap average will determine their starting position in that evenings event.

Both days of the event will be streamed live via SPEED SPORT Network partner Low Budget TV. Click here for pay-per-view and Low Budget TV subscription options.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — NASCAR and the U.S. Census Bureau announced today an official partnership designed to spread awareness and encourage participation in the once-a-decade national census.

The 2020 Census counts every person living in the U.S., across all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and five U.S. territories. Beginning in mid-March, most homes will receive an invitation to respond to a short questionnaire — online, by phone, or by mail.

As part of the strategic partnership, the Census Bureau will become the race entitlement partner of the March 21 NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

“The 2020 Census is here, and we are excited to partner with NASCAR to help spread the word about the importance of the census to shaping the future of communities across the country,” said Dr. Steven Dillingham, Director of the Census Bureau. “To ensure a complete and accurate count, we need everyone. NASCAR provides us with an excellent platform to educate the public and encourage them to respond this spring.”

The 2020 Census, which is mandated by the U.S. Constitution, is conducted by the Census Bureau, the federal government’s largest statistical agency.

The statistics can be used to inform more than hundreds of billions of dollars to states and communities for services like fire stations, schools, and clinics every year for the next 10 years. It also determines how many seats in Congress each state receives.

“We are honored to partner with the Census Bureau to educate our fans about the importance and benefits of participating in the U.S. Census,” said Jill Gregory, NASCAR executive vice president and chief marketing and content officer. “NASCAR is a highly effective marketing platform that reaches millions of fans residing in communities across the country. We look forward to informing our fans how they will be invited to respond to the 2020 Census online, in addition to by phone or by mail, for the first time in history.”

In addition to its race entitlement sponsorship at Homestead-Miami Speedway, the Census Bureau will have at-track activation at Phoenix Raceway, Auto Club Speedway and Richmond Raceway.

“Partnering with the U.S. Census Bureau for our NASCAR Xfinity Series race gives Homestead-Miami Speedway another tremendous opportunity for our 25th anniversary,” said Homestead-Miami Speedway President Al Garcia. “We’re honored to serve as a host track for such an important initiative that affects our entire country. We also look forward to our fans experiencing all the amenities our facility has to offer, as well the exciting racing, which will feature Dale Earnhardt Jr.”