The morning began like any other at the Fort Bonifacio housing tenement in Taguig City, Philippines, just outside Manila. Caged roosters crowed on the rooftop. Seven floors below, bristles from an elderly resident's broom swept away the remnants of the city festival that rocked the building the day before.

Suspended behind the door of his 230-square-foot second-floor apartment, Mike Swift slept in the cocoon of his orange hammock. It had been a late night for the rap artist who was born in the Philippines and grew up in Brooklyn. At seemingly every turn during Sunday night's party, someone was waiting with a fresh drink. An early Monday morning start was not in his plans. Until Swift's cell phone rang with a call from a friend, hip-hop artist J-Hon.

"Kobe," J-Hon says. "It's f---ing Kobe."

Halfway around the world, a helicopter crash had killed nine people. Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna were dead, J-Hon explained. Swift refused to believe it. He hung up the phone and got online. There it was. Kobe. Everywhere.

"I was in complete shock," Swift says. "I just began bawling."

It was a little after 6 a.m. in Manila, some two hours after news of Kobe's death started to spread. Swift rolled out of his hammock, made a cup of coffee and tried to pull himself together. He opened his door and allowed the morning light to hit him in the face. On the basketball court below, people already had gathered. Mops already were out. The unspoken goal was clear: Produce a tribute to Kobe and Gigi that the world would never forget.

TO UNDERSTAND WHY Kobe Bryant meant so much to the residents of the Taguig Tenement, you must first understand the Philippine love affair with basketball. In the Philippines, you can find the game everywhere, from tiny fishing villages to congested urban intersections. Basketball is played in cemeteries, amid rice paddies, along train tracks and on street corners. Courts come in all shapes and sizes. Full courts, half courts, quarter courts. Sometimes a hoop with no court. On the best courts there are fading free throw and 3-point lines, but more often there are ankle-wrecking cracks and curbs and an edict to watch out for cars -- both parked and moving.

"Basketball is a religion to us," Swift says. "We put basketball courts wherever we want to, wherever we please. On gates, on trees, on top of sand, concrete, dirt, whatever. All you really need is a ring and a basketball and you can be by yourself and play this game peacefully and enjoy."

In election season, local politicians host basketball tournaments and fix crumbling courts to gain favor with voters. Officials have even postponed local elections that clash with the NBA Finals. As of last year, the NBA's Facebook, Instagram and Twitter accounts had more combined followers from the Philippines than from any other country outside the United States.

What soccer is to Brazil, basketball is to the Philippines. The sound of a bouncing ball is the country's unofficial soundtrack. Wagers are often placed on games, even by children. Many of the kids play barefoot -- some pour drops of soda pop on the playing surface to help their traction.

"When they win, of course they're happy," says Eddie Barbuena, who has lived his entire live in the Tenement and coaches the local basketball teams. "They have food. They feed their families."

So it makes sense that in the 1960s, a few years after residents first moved into the seven-story, 671-apartment concrete maze that is the Tenement, they used their own money to build the only thing they wanted in the building's courtyard: a basketball court. Since then, the court has become the social and recreational hub for the building's more than 1,500 residents.

"At the Tenement, basketball is life," Barbuena says. "This place is not perfect. But on the basketball court, we are one family, one community. Then you can forget your problems when you go home."

Tenement life is not easy. The rooms are less than 250 square feet. There are no elevators. There is no running water. The plumbing system broke years ago, forcing residents to traverse one of two sets of ramps to fill plastic water jugs. The jugs are put on carts and pushed back to their apartments, where they are emptied into large plastic drums, allowing residents to cook, clean, use the bathroom and bathe.

"Your first impression is a vertical slum," says Rommel Trinidad, who works as an engineer for the National Housing Authority and is a district manager responsible for the Tenement. Most of the apartments are roughly the size of an NBA lane and often are home to multiple families.

But on weekend mornings, basketballs begin bouncing by 5 a.m. and don't stop until a 10 p.m. curfew. Players are young and old, male and female. With a ball in their hand and the Tenement court at their feet, they are Kobe, Jordan, Kyrie, LeBron. One Tenement couple named two of their children Antawn Jamison and Anfernee Hardaway. Hardaway's dad even calls him "Penny." "For me, my everyday life is not complete without basketball," says the dad, William Victore, who has lived his entire life in the Tenement. "Even before we had our first child, I told my wife, 'I will use the name Anfernee Hardaway Victore for our first child.' She didn't even disagree."

LIKE JAPAN, NEW ZEALAND and the U.S. Pacific Coast, the Philippines sits in the seismically active Pacific Ring of Fire, where 90% of the world's earthquakes occur. Worse yet, the Tenement sits directly above the West Valley Fault, where seismologists say a 7.0 or greater earthquake occurs every 350 to 400 years. It last happened 362 years ago, in 1658.

In 2010, the government conducted structural tests on the Tenement's beams, columns and flooring and said that more than 60% of the samples came back as unstable. That prompted the government to condemn the building, cease its lease agreements and demand residents to vacate the property immediately out of concern of a "tragic disaster." The National Housing Authority planned to transfer the residents to another government-owned housing complex 30 miles outside Manila.

But the majority of residents didn't budge. Their home was here. Their jobs were here. They wanted to stay closer to the city. Many believed the government wanted to push them out to gain access to the Tenement property, a parcel of land whose value had increased thanks to plans for a nearby retail and residential complex. Tenement residents say they were told by the Japanese company that built the building that it would last another 30 years. The builders, they say, acknowledged that the Tenement wasn't in perfect condition but insisted it merely needed some retrofitting and rehabilitation, not a complete teardown.

"We were told the building would last at least 80 years," says 59-year-old Lorenzo Calaminos, one of the Tenement's elder statesmen. "So we have 30 more years to go. If it was true the building was going to come down, I would be the first to say everybody needs to leave. But every time there is an earthquake, the building only shook a little, unlike other areas where earthquakes collapse the building."

Four years after the first notice, the government added more teeth to its warning, giving residents 30 days to remove their belongings and vacate the premises before it would forcibly remove them. Tenement residents dug in for a battle.

"I live here. I die here," Barbuena says. "We fight for it. They said they bring lots of soldiers to take us out of here. If they do that, we fight. We fight for our rights."

BY THE TIME Mike Swift made it down to the Tenement court the morning Kobe Bryant died, his team of visual artists had begun prepping the court for a mural of Kobe and Gigi Bryant. Swift grabbed a mop and began squeegeeing, removing dust and ash that had accumulated on the court since the Taal Volcano, some 35 miles away, erupted two weeks earlier.

"I was tired. I was crying. I was still kind of hazy from the night before," Swift says. "But my mind was racing. 'What are we going to paint? What are we going to paint? What type of paint do we have? This is the f---ing Tenement, man. We are going to be expected to paint something. What are we going to do?'"

Swift, himself, created those expectations over the previous six years through a calculated social media campaign that put the Tenement on the worldwide basketball map, transforming it from a building that was all but buried to one that is beloved.

The idea was born in disappointment. Swift, a respected Filipino hip-hop artist, had failed in his quest to host an all-Filipino hip-hop show at Smart Araneta Coliseum, home of the 1975 "Thrilla in Manila" boxing match. The failure gutted him and left him deep in debt and a punchline in the music community. He found solace by roaming the basketball-crazed country and photographing unique courts for an anonymous Instagram account he started, @pinoyhoops. ("Pinoy" means Filipino.)

The account, which included shots of the Tenement, quickly gained traction. When Swift heard about the government's forced eviction order in October of 2014, he organized a celebration at the Tenement he called "Picnic Games." It was part basketball tournament, part hip-hop festival, part dance competition and part barbecue.

"My initial thing was not 'Yo, save the Tenement, politics, we ain't going nowhere,'" Swift says. "My thing was to help those people get their mind off everything they were going through."

The event was a huge success. Tenement residents lined the court and filled the building's walkways to take it all in. The eviction never happened. Four months later, in February of 2015, Swift hosted a second Picnic Games. Two months after that he did it again, this time working with others to paint the 4,600-square-foot court pumpkin orange with a massive white swoosh in hopes of catching Nike's attention.

At the time, Nike was preparing to launch its first prime-time television show, "Nike Rise Philippines," following 24 Filipinos as they moved to Manila and chased their basketball dreams. Swift knew the visually stunning Tenement, with its stark cement walls closely surrounding the court, was too unique of a backdrop for Nike -- and the basketball world -- to ignore.

He was right. In July of 2015, Paul George visited the Tenement to play ball and promote "Rise." One Tenement resident even swiped the ball from the NBA All-Star during a game of one-on-one.

"When he tried to cross over, I waited for him, tapped the ball away, and he was running without the ball because the ball was in my hands," John Carlo Belvis says. "I felt goosebumps all over and the crowd was deliriously screaming with delight."

Swift shared all of it on social media, and momentum continued to build. Later that summer, Swift and his team set their sights even higher and painted a giant mural of a dunking LeBron James on the Tenement floor. "We were getting people's attention by doing Nike stuff even though it wasn't a Nike project," he says. "We wanted to make a statement. We took that shot in the moon."

And on Aug. 21, 2015, surrounded by security, LeBron James walked into the Tenement. Residents flooded the court and stood four- and five-deep on every one of the building's seven floors, marveling that the NBA legend had come to see their court.

"It was the most amazing thing I've ever witnessed," Belvis says. "Just overwhelming. He passed right in front of me ... I was able to embrace him."

Before James departed, he made handprints on a slab of wet concrete, cementing the Tenement's status as a place that mattered. In May of 2016, Jordan Clarkson, the only current NBA player of Filipino heritage, dropped by to continue the hype. Over the next several years, with the help of local tattoo artist Maya Carandang, Swift and his team covered the court with rotating murals of everyone from Michael Jordan and Manny Pacquiao to Jimi Hendrix and Steph Curry. Extra paint was used to brighten the Tenement's fading interior walls. Each holiday season brought with it a Christmas-themed mural, be it NBA stars wearing Santa hats or a full-court Christmas tree. With each mural and accompanying photo, the Tenement became a must-see destination for any hoops junkie.

"Basketball was the turning point," Calaminos says. "If basketball is not with us today, we would probably have been thrown out and relocated in far distant places. When the basketball enthusiast and basketball world come here ... people realize the government is tearing it down. And they want to join the cause, to save the Tenement."

In 2017, Nike released a low-top version of its Hyperdunk sneaker called "The Tenement." The next year, the Tenement became the setting for a Filipino daytime soap opera. The opening scene of the pilot featured police fighting with residents during a forced eviction. That same year, EA Sports featured the Tenement as one of 14 street courts where gamers could compete in the video game "NBA Live."

More recently, the Nippon Paint company sponsored Swift, giving him the directive to paint more than 1,000 courts as part of an "Every Court Can Dream" campaign. Another paint company has sponsored Carandang, who already has moved on to other projects.

"That court saved me," Swift says. "No matter how much people say that I'm part of why it got saved, no way. My gratitude is to that court because it saved me. Nobody was believing in the things I was doing, and that court changed everything."

ON THE MORNING Kobe Bryant died, Swift's new primary artist, Jerry Gabo, narrowed down his mural options to two before settling on a picture of Kobe holding Gigi in his arms during the 2016 NBA All-Star Weekend in Toronto. Swift, Gabo and the rest of the group, who now called themselves the Tenement Visual Artists, would paint Kobe and Gigi in black and white. Swift knew there wasn't enough paint. He called the local Nippon warehouse, fixed a flat tire on his van and drove 45 minutes to get additional supplies.

At the same time, Gabo began making the on-court grid he would use to transfer the portrait to the court. That's the secret. The artist breaks the 92x50-foot court into 4,600 equal squares. That same grid is then applied to the photo the artist wants to use. From there, the team snaps screenshots of the grid and then replicates the photo on the court square by square.

With four guys working 10 to 16 hours a day, the average job takes three to seven days to complete, depending on the complexity of the design. It takes roughly 35 gallons of paint to cover the court, at a cost of roughly $400. During one reporting trip, ESPN purchased the paint so residents could demonstrate the process.

With the mural of Kobe and Gigi, the group worked around the clock, except for a break during the hottest part of the afternoon. Swift said they finished the portrait in 24 hours before surrounding the image with handwritten tributes around the sidelines.

"All these years we had trained for this," Swift says. "But this time the energy was different. There was this purpose. Emotionally, you're so up and down. People are celebrating what you created, but at the same time you're mourning. It's not fun. It's not cool. And then all of the sudden it's world mainstream."

Almost instantly, images of the portrait went viral. It even was shown on the Staples Center video board in Los Angeles during the Lakers' tribute to Kobe prior to the first game after his death.

Strangers started flocking to the Tenement to pay their respects to Bryant and his daughter. One young woman named Britney stuck with Swift. She lived in Los Angeles and was visiting Manila for work. The photo found her. She knew she had to come by.

"The emotion she came in with, that's when I knew we touched a lot of people," Swift says. "This was not just a Filipino thing."

Even Taguig government officials visited, placing "I love Taguig" benches around the court and bringing a purple floral bouquet. The government would later add purple disco lights as well as loop "See You Again" by Wiz Khalifa featuring Charlie Puth. There were some residents who welcomed the government and others who found it disingenuous -- that officials showed up now for what they saw as nothing more than a photo op.

With all the commotion on the floor, Swift eventually put on his headphones and headed for the Tenement roof, where he painted the basketball jerseys of Kobe and Gigi as well as nine roses, one for each of the victims of the helicopter crash.

Swift says the Kobe mural will be his last project at the Tenement. He looks at the work of Gabo and the rest of the team with pride. To him, the Kobe and Gigi tribute proves they no longer need his leadership. He wants to focus on helping other courts across the country as well as other ignored parts of the Tenement.

"The biggest thing to me is the water," he says. "Some of these folks are really old, dragging this water all the way up. The cement is bumpy. We've got to figure out a way to help these people with their water. On one hand, I don't want to use somebody's death for that sort of thing, but I won't be ashamed if that's the case. That's how much I f---ing love this place."

What will become of the Tenement from here is anyone's guess. Nearly a decade has passed since the government first told residents to leave. Since then, everything has changed. The court has become the heartbeat of basketball in this hoops-crazed country.

It's easy to say that basketball saved the Tenement and its residents. But what if the opposite is also true? What if the game and this hallowed court have actually put thousands of lives in danger? The government has all but neglected the building since terminating its lease agreement a decade ago, prompting a different set of fears among the building's residents.

"There is no more talk of eviction," Barbuena says. "They are totally quiet. But that's not really good either. There is no plan for us. And there are things that we need. But maybe now that is their way. Maybe they want to make this place so it is eventually unlivable.

"Then what will we do?"

The Scottish record-holder tells Katy Barden how she is learning all the time when it comes to marathon training

A Scottish record and Olympic qualifying time of 2:26:40 in Frankfurt in October transitioned Steph Twell from a marathon hopeful to a serious contender, but the former world junior 1500m champion is the first to admit she is still learning the event.

“I’ve got quite a limited number of marathon sessions in my training,” she admits. “That’s something I’m looking to explore this year.”

AW: What are the essential components of training at this time of year?
“I typically see winter as a real window of opportunity before my specific marathon build-up starts,” says Twell. “It’s about tackling all the little bits that help see you through the year; making sure you’re doing the strength and conditioning, the yoga, and for me, hills…I keep that up my sleeve and can really capitalise on it at this time of year. It gives me a strength and resistance base but with no impact on my performances.

“I’ve also had to learn how to recover from a marathon, so that’s looking after my arches, my single leg loading and single leg exercises, just to get me robust enough to take on the mileage.”

She adds: “I’m learning that singles (running once a day) in marathon training can sometimes be productive for the recovery window before another bigger volume the next day.”

AW: Favourite session at this time of year?
“My favourite marathon session so far is Mara Yamauchi’s ‘killer’ session (as previously featured in AW and available to read here) – 3x5km. I use her blueprint and I love that it’s about rhythm and relaxing. It’s only three reps but they’re big ones and within it you’re looking at the pace you’re hitting for each mile. I love my long runs, too – as long as I can make them social and bribe people with brunch afterwards!”

AW: Least favourite?
“Recovery runs. They’re just so short and slow. I prefer to get the big base work done.”

Working to increase confidence

Twell’s primary focus is to remain happy and healthy, but to train with the confidence that she’s ready to give even more.

“I’m definitely still on the cautious side,” she admits. “I know that I can do the distance, but after two marathons I still haven’t managed to do the long runs really fast, so I’m just trying to extend the efforts and I have to do that before I can lay on the additional layers of quality. I’m basically trying to keep the units of training the same, but now it’s time to ramp it up a little bit.”

A TYPICAL JANUARY TRAINING WEEK

Twell’s generic base work through December and into January included three sessions per week – one hill session, one tempo session and one e.g. 8km session – to slowly build up quality while maintaining a good average mileage. She’ll then start to focus on marathon-specific training, which changes to two sessions per week and one slightly faster longer run.

MONDAY: am – 8-10 miles; pm – 4-5 miles plus gym/conditioning. “I might not run in the afternoon – it depends on my morning run and how I feel. Monday is more of an active recovery day as I listen to my body after a big weekend of work.”

TUESDAY: Interval session – 10km focus; pm – possible second run (depends on recovery)

WEDNESDAY: Midweek longer run building up to 12-13 miles

THURSDAY: am – 6 miles approx.; pm – 6 miles approx. (will include strides, 200m reps or short hill sprints in the evening). “The emphasis here is to go a bit faster after the midweek longer run.”

FRIDAY: Session day (with mileage built on warm up and warm down) – marathon session building from 15 miles up to 18 miles eventually, including for example 3x5km

SATURDAY: 8-10 miles recovery run

SUNDAY: 18-22 miles run

In addition to her core training, Twell does yoga once a fortnight as well as sand drills which she believes have strengthened her feet and helped with the transition from track to road.

‘I’m ready to peak in final’ says ElSherbini
By MATT SCHOCH – Squash Mad Correspondent

Bloomfield Hills, Michigan – In his sixth trip to the Birmingham Athletic Club, Diego Elias is one win away from his first title at the Motor City Open presented by Sturbridge Capital.

Only unseeded Mohmaed ElSherbini stands in the top-seeded Peruvian’s way.

ElSherbini will try to be the eighth Egyptian to win the Motor City Open in the past 11 years – and the third unseeded player to ever win the 21st annual event when he meets Elias at 5:30 p.m. Sunday.

“If he’s the Peruvian Puma, I’m the wild shark,” said ElSherbini, with a wink. “I want to prove myself that I am one of the top players, and it’s just a matter of time until I make it to the top 10. (Diego) hasn’t been tested in the tournament at all. Nobody’s played good attacking squash on him. So he’s been very comfortable until the final. (Sunday) is going to be a real test, so let’s see what happens.”

World #6 Elias quickly dispatched 70th-ranked Frenchman Benjamin Aubert in Saturday’s first semi-final.

After Aubert won a 100-minute quarter-final match against Qatar’s Abdulla Mohd Al Tamimi, the 22-year old lasted just 34 minutes against 23-year-old Elias who rolled, 11-4, 11-6, 11-3.

“He’s a good player and good mover,” Elias said. “He’s coming to the top really strong, and I think he’s going to keep doing well.”

The 6ft 2in tall Elias never trailed in any of the three games. Meanwhile Aubert’s hands went to his knees between points, hunching over on his fourth straight match day.

After Aubert’s final shot found the tin, Elias was off to the finals for the second straight year. Egypt’s Mohamed Abouelghar defeated him last year in five games.

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In Saturday’s second semi, ElSherbini took out seventh-seeded Leo Au of Hong Kong 11-9, 11-8, 11-9 in 49 minutes.

Down 9-6 in the third game, ElSherbini turned the tide by winning five straight points to close the match.

ElSherbini, a 27-year-old who stands out in pink shorts, gave the crowd a wink and salute as he exited the court. He quickly found local Egyptian-American businessman Magdy Talaat and his wife, Azza, after the match to accept congratulations. He gave thanks to the ex-Egyptian squash player for the hospitality Talaat gives his countrymen.

Sunday’s finals will be the first career meeting between Elias and ElSherbini. “I will give my best performance of the tournament,” the confident ElSherbini said. “I think my curve is going up and slowly I’m peaking into my best performance.”

ElSherbini, ranked No. 47 in the world, won last April in Pakistan and said a win could help catapult his career to a new level.

“I’ve made a lot of sacrifices that I’m not used to,” said ElSherbini, who has lived in Boston for three years. “I hope it pays off. I’m just doing my best, putting in the effort and the work and the results are going to happen regardless.”

While three former MCO champions went down earlier this week at the MCO, Elias is trying to join his coach, ex-World #1 Jonathon Power of Canada, as an event champion. Power took the title in 2003 and 2005.

“I’m feeling great, and hopefully I can play the same (Sunday),” Elias said. “I’ve always wanted to win this tournament. I think this is a good opportunity, and hopefully I can play my best squash.”

History will be on the line for ElSherbini, who is trying to join Peter Marshall in 1999 and Ong Beng Hee in 2012 as unseeded champions at the MCO.

“I really like it, it’s such a good tournament with a lot of history,” ElSherbini said. “I’m so glad to be part of it. I hope I can make history.”

PSA World Tour Silver $76,000 Men’s Motor City Open 2020 presented by Sturbridge Capital, Birmingham Athletic Club, Bloomfield Hills, Detroit, USA.

Semi-Finals:
[1] Diego Elias (PER) beat Benjamin Aubert (FRA) 11-4, 11-6, 11-3 (34m)
[9/16] Mohamed Elsherbini (EGY) beat [7] Leo Au (HKG) 11-9, 11-8, 11-9 (49m)

Final:
[1] Diego Elias (PER) v [9/16] Mohamed Elsherbini (EGY)

Pictures by HENRY PAYNE courtesy of MCO 

Ireland send out a statement of intent as they run in four tries to end Wales' hopes of consecutive Grand Slams with a deserved 24-14 win in Dublin.

MATCH REPORT: Ireland 24-14 Wales

WATCH MORE: I'm not being stubborn, I'm playing a straight bat' - Jones' playful BBC interview

Available to UK users only.

AUSTIN, Texas – The Hoosier Racing Tire SCCA Super Tour season continued Saturday at Circuit of the Americas during a weekend hosted by SCCA’s Lone Star Region.

The first day of the two-day event featured qualifying, followed by 10-lap or 25-minute races on the 20-turn, 3.4-mile circuit famed for the Formula One U.S. Grand Prix.

– For 33.95 miles, Grayson Strathman sat behind Dave Ogburn and Richard Stevens in the Spec Racer Ford Gen3 race on Saturday, only to learn that a race isn’t over until the first car crosses the checkered flag.

Strathman’s No. 119 Shock Top Beer Spec Racer Ford was in third on the final lap, chasing Ogburn and Stevens into the final corner. When Stevens tried to dive to the inside, both he and Ogburn pushed wide, opening the door for Strathman, who beat the duo to the line by .217 second seconds.

“I just tried to keep calm and stay in position, hoping that something would go wrong because Dave was way faster,” Strathman said. “Richard was setting an awesome pace the whole race. Richard made a move in the last corner and it didn’t work out for them, and I was able to go up the inside and take the win.”

– Sports Car Club of America added two classes to the Hoosier Super Tour/U.S. Majors Tour roster in the past couple seasons for former professional race cars and those vehicles that didn’t fall directly into established classes. The new Prototype X (PX) class is, naturally, for Prototype cars that fit the rule set; GT-X does the same for cars with fenders.

To date in the Hoosier Super Tour, the concept has been successful. On Saturday at COTA, Judd Miller won overall in the big bore group driving his PX No. 64 Radical SR8 ahead of multi-time National Champion Mike Lewis’ No. 12 Goodyear Jaguar XJR GT-1 race car.

GT-X was full of World Challenge-level former and current professional cars, with the class win going to Sean Young in the No. 134 KINGSRIDE Resources LLC/Heirloom Woodworks, LLC/ Ebay.com/ STR/ Coolclothes2you/ GT Aviation Aston Martin Vantage.

– Aaron McSpadden made a last lap pass around Tony Roma to take the B-Spec win on Saturday and did it all in his maiden voyage in the No. 75 Honda Fit.

“Yesterday was the first time I drove it,” McSpadden said after the race. “I set him up in the Esses over there and we got alongside each other on the back straight. We were braking at the same time and I held him next to me and was able to hold him off the rest of the way.”

– It’s been a long time since Tim Hollowell has been in a race car. Six years, in fact.

After the backing for his USF2000 effort fell away, Hollowell stepped away from the race car. He kept his kart, but largely was out of the car until a set of circumstances aligned to climb aboard the No. 37 Alliance Autosport Formula Enterprises/Mazda in the Formula Enterprises 2 class.

Hollowell returned in a big way, claiming the win on Saturday at COTA.

Those circumstances? He borrowed the car that belongs to his sister, Amy. Amy, with the help of their father, recently purchased the Formula Enterprises 2 machine. But with the spring semester of college in full swing, Amy was unable to make it to Austin for this weekend’s race. That left big brother Tim an open seat to bring home a trophy.

And yes, she knows he took the car. Or, at least, she will now.

– Tim Kezman and Mike Lewis both saw their trophy case grow by two trophies each on Saturday. Lewis won in GT-1 and, later, in GT-Lite driving the No. 132 Goodyear Mazda RX-7. Just for good measure, he added a runner-up for the RX-7 in GT-3 trim.

Kezman swept the field in his Fall-Line Porsche 911 in both Touring 2 and GT-2.

“It’s fun to come,” Kezman said about the Hoosier Super Tour at COTA. “It’s a great track. As always, the car was flawless. The Fall-Line guys do a great job.”

– When we last saw Andrew Whitston, he was standing atop the podium at the Runoffs at VIRginia Int’l Raceway, holding his gold medal with Hunter Phelps-Barron and his brother, Zachary Whitston, right there with him.

You’ll forgive anyone, then, for wondering if they stepped into a time warp on Saturday in Austin. Andrew once again headed the podium in Formula Vee, with – you got it – Phelps-Barron and Zachary following behind.

Whitston’s No. 12 Rocket Motors/Subway/Hoosier Protoform P2/Volkswagen scored a narrow .029-second win over Phelps-Barron on Saturday, crossing the stripe just inches in the lead in a classic Formula Vee battle.

That margin of victory means that, in two races, Phelps-Barron has lost twice to Whitston by a combined .109-second. Stay tuned for Sunday’s race, and look for yet another classic.

Provisional race results from Saturday’s Hoosier Racing Tire SCCA Super Tour at Circuit of the Americas with Class: Name; Hometown; Region; Car follow.
American Sedan: Brian Himes; Slidell, La.; Delta Region; Ford Mustang
B-Spec: Aaron McSpadden; Austin, Texas; Lone Star Region; Honda Fit
E Production: Matt Reynolds; Fair Oak, Texas; Alamo Region; Mazda Miata
F Production: Neal Frank; Santa Fe, N.M.; Rio Grande Region; Mazda Miata
H Production: Neil Verity; Grey Forest, Texas; Alamo Region; MG MGB
Formula Atlantic: Hans Peter; Olathe, Kan.; Kansas City Region; Swift 016/Mazda
Formula Continental: Robert Allaer; Grosse Pte. Woods, Mich.; Central Florida Region; Van Diemen/Ford
Formula Enterprises 2: Tim Hollowell; Greenwood, Ind.; Indianapolis Region; Formula Enterprises/Mazda
Formula F: Matt Round-Gorrido; Stourbridge, England; Blackhawk Valley Region; Mygale/Honda
Formula Vee: Andrew Whitston; Neenah, Wis.; Milwaukee Region; Protoform P2/Volkswagen
Formula X: Robert Wright; Valatie, N.Y.; Mohawk Hudson Region; Elan DP08
GT-1: Michael Lewis; Poway, Calif.; San Diego Region; Jaguar XJR
GT-2: Tim Kezman; Franksville, Wis.; Milwaukee Region; Porsche 911
GT-3: Luis Rivera; Angleton, Texas; Houston Region; Mazda RX-7
GT-X: Sean Young; Austin, Texas; Texas Region; Aston Martin Vantage GT4
GT-Lite: Michael Lewis; Poway, Calif.; San Diego Region; Mazda RX-7
Prototype 1: Chip Romer; Lake Havasu City, Ariz.; Las Vegas Region; Elan DP02
Prototype 2: Robert Iversen; Gulf Breeze, Fla.; Gulf Coast Region; Ligier JS 49
Prototype X: Judd Miller; Katy, Texas; Houston Region; Radical SR8
Spec Miata: Jim Drago; Memphis, Tenn.; Memphis Region; Mazda Miata
Spec Racer Ford 3: Grayson Strathman; Sand Springs, Okla.; Kansas Region; Spec Racer Ford
Super Touring Lite: Danny Steyn; Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.; Florida Region; Mazda MX-5
Super Touring Under: David Fiorelli; Coppell, Texas; Texas Region; Subaru BRZ
Touring 1: Tim Myers; San Antonio, Texas; Lone Star Region; Dodge Viper ACRX
Touring 2: Tim Kezman; Franksville, Wis.; Milwaukee Region; Porsche 911
Touring 3: Breton Williams; Clinton, Iowa; Mississippi Region; Nissan 370Z
Touring 4: Nick Leverone; Mendon, Mass.; NorthEast Region; Subaru BRZ

SYLVANIA, Ga. – Brandon Overton banked more than $20,000 for his victory in Saturday’s Winter Freeze super late model finale at Screven Motor Speedway.

Starting from the pole, Overton led every lap of the 60-lap feature, at least that’s what the scoring results will show.

In reality, Overton actually lost the lead in traffic to Ross Bailes on lap 49, but a timely caution reverted the field to the last lap completed and gave Overton the lead back.

When racing resumed Overton pulled clear of Bailes and led the remainder of the race, finishing more than 1.5 seconds clear of Bailes to pocket $20,010 for the victory. The win, combined with a $10,000 preliminary win on Friday at Screven, meant Overton earned more than $30,000 for two days of work.

Michael Page finished third, followed by Jason Covert and Dale McDowell.

The Winter Freeze event was unsanctioned this year after previously being sanctioned by the World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model Series.

The finish:

Brandon Overton, Ross Bailes, Michael Page, Jason Covert, Dale McDowell, Casey Roberts, Brent Dixon, Kyle Hardy, Gregg Satterlee, Chris Ferguson, John Henderson, Cla Knight, Coleby Frye, Dustin Mitchell, Tyler Millwood, Ahnna Parkhurst, Greg Oakes, Tim Vance, Brian Connor, Jimmy Sharpe Jr., Johnny Pursley, Josh Bishop, J.R. Moseley, Trent Ivey.

GIBSONTON, Fla. – Hudson O’Neal was taken to a local hospital for x-rays Saturday night after a crash during the finale of the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Wrisco Industries Winternationals at East Bay Raceway Park.

The incident took place during one of the two B-Main features on Saturday night. The resulting incident sent O’Neal to a local hospital as a precautionary measure. It was confirmed on O’Neal’s official Facebook page that doctors were concerned about one of he knees.

He has been advised by doctors to see a bone specialist upon his return home. He will not compete in Sunday’s Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series race scheduled for All-Tech Raceway in Lake City, Fla.

Below is the full Facebook post from O’Neal’s official Facebook page.