DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — NASCAR has changed the NASCAR Hall of Fame nomination and induction processes, reducing the annual number of inductees from five to three and splitting potential nominees into two separate ballots.

One ballot will feature contemporary stars and the second will be reserved for the sport’s pioneers.

Starting with the upcoming Class of 2021, the existing Nomination Committee will provide 10 nominees for the Modern Era Ballot.

Meanwhile, a new Honors Committee – largely comprised of all living Hall of Famers, Landmark Award winners and Squier-Hall Award winners – will evaluate and provide five nominees for the Pioneer Ballot.

The Voting Panel will meet in Charlotte on May 20 to debate, discuss and ultimately vote for the three-member Class of 2021 – two from the Modern Era Ballot and one from the Pioneer Ballot.

All three are inducted equally, with no distinction between inductees from either ballot.

Competitors are eligible for the Modern Era Ballot if their career started within the past 60 years (1961 for Class of 2021). Nominees can stay on the Modern Era Ballot for up to 10 years.

Those whose careers began more than 60 years ago or who have been on the Modern Era Ballot for 10 years will be eligible for the Pioneer Ballot.

“When we opened the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2010, we had to catch up on more than 60 years of NASCAR history,” said NASCAR President Steve Phelps. “Our plan has always been to evaluate the process as the Hall of Fame matured. With 55 of the sport’s greatest competitors enshrined, we felt the time was right to move to three inductees, which will help maintain the high standard of enshrinement that’s been set.”

“From the time I first learned of the selection process NASCAR developed in 2009 and through the evolutions implemented as we gained valuable experience, I have been a huge proponent of our process,” added NASCAR Hall of Fame Executive Director Winston Kelley. “I feel our process is as strong as any Hall of Fame, sport and entertainment alike. I am equally enthusiastic about these changes to our process and concur wholeheartedly that now is the right time to transition to fewer inductees and establish a process dedicated to NASCAR’s iconic pioneers.”

Twelve representatives from the Honors Committee, including seven new voters – Richard Childress, Rick Hendrick, Ron Hornaday Jr., Dale Jarrett, Roger Penske, Darrell Waltrip and Rusty Wallace – will serve on the Hall of Fame Voting Panel.

Changes have also been made to crew chief eligibility to align it with driver eligibility. In addition to the requirement to participate in NASCAR for 10 years, crew chiefs must now also be retired for two years.

Competitors with 30 years of NASCAR experience and those aged 55 or higher are also eligible.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The 11th season of the eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series will mark the largest calendar of races in the history of the esports division, with an expanded television presence as well.

Starting Feb. 11 at the virtual Daytona Int’l Speedway, this year’s eNASCAR iRacing slate will feature 20 races, an increase of two from the 18-race campaign that was contested last season.

The full calendar was confirmed Wednesday afternoon on the iRacing website, just a few hours removed from the announcement of Coca-Cola as the new series entitlement sponsor.

The series will compete predominately every other Tuesday night, with races beginning at 9 p.m. ET, until the six-race NBCSN television swing that closes the season during the fall.

At that point, the final two races of the regular season and the first three playoff races will shift to Thursday nights at 9 p.m. ET, with the Nov. 1 finale at the virtual Phoenix Raceway scheduled for Sunday night at 9 p.m. ET in the aftermath of the NASCAR Cup Series semifinal at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway.

The times and dates for the six televised events are subject to change, per iRacing and NASCAR.

Highlights on the 2020 calendar include the return of a second race at Daytona, an early-season stop at Homestead-Miami Speedway, a late-May race at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Talladega Superspeedway hosting the regular-season cutoff race and two road-course events – including one in the playoffs.

The four-race playoff run, featuring the top eight in the series standings, will kick off at the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL on Oct. 8 before moving to Kansas Speedway and Texas Motor Speedway in successive weeks ahead of the winner-take-all finale for the Championship 4 at Phoenix Raceway.

Zack Novak, who won the title last year for Roush-Fenway Racing as a 17-year-old, is the defending eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series champion. He’ll race for Richmond Raceway eSports this year.

2020 eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series Schedule

Date – Venue – Location

Regular Season

Feb. 11 – Daytona Int’l Speedway – Daytona Beach, Fla.
Feb. 25 – Auto Club Speedway – Fontana, Calif.
March 17 – Homestead-Miami Speedway – Homestead, Fla.
March 31 – Bristol Motor Speedway – Bristol, Tenn.
April 14 – Richmond Raceway – Richmond, Va.
April 28 – Dover Int’l Speedway – Dover, Del.
May 12 – Charlotte Motor Speedway – Concord, N.C.
May 26 – Atlanta Motor Speedway – Hampton, Ga.
June 16 – TBA – TBA (All-Star Exhibition)
June 30 – Indianapolis Motor Speedway – Indianapolis, Ind.
July 14 – New Hampshire Motor Speedway – Loudon, N.H.
July 28 – Michigan Int’l Speedway – Brooklyn, Mich.
Aug. 11 – Watkins Glen Int’l – Watkins Glen, N.Y.
Aug. 25 – Daytona Int’l Speedway – Daytona Beach, Fla.
Sept. 15 – Darlington Raceway – Darlington, S.C.
Sept. 24 – Las Vegas Motor Speedway – Las Vegas, Nev. *
Oct. 1 – Talladega Superspeedway – Talladega, Ala. *

Playoffs

Oct. 8 – Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL – Concord, N.C. *
Oct. 15 – Kansas Speedway – Kansas City, Kan. *
Oct. 22 – Texas Motor Speedway – Fort Worth, Texas *
Nov. 1 – Phoenix Raceway – Avondale, Ariz. *

* – event to be televised on NBCSN

GAFFNEY, S.C. – JD Motorsports with Gary Keller has confirmed that BJ McLeod will return to drive for the team for the third consecutive season.

McLeod comes back to JDM fresh off his best NASCAR Xfinity Series season to date, where he finished a respectable 20th in the drivers’ point standings.

Last season, McLeod piloted a JDM entry in 29 races, finishing in the top 20 11 times. At the fall race at Dover Int’l Speedway, McLeod nabbed his season-best finish of 16th.

Always an interesting character, McLeod not only pays the bills as a driver for JDM, but he also owns his own Xfinity Series team, BJ McLeod Motorsports. As an owner, McLeod was able to earn his third top-10 finish with Matt Mills at Daytona Int’l Speedway in July.

While behind the wheel, McLeod makes the most of his opportunities, all while taking care of the equipment. In total, the Florida native only had three DNF’s throughout the entirety of last season, earning the best average finish of any full-time JDM driver.

McLeod continues a longstanding relationship with team owner Johnny Davis, which started back in the 1990’s when he drove Twister Racing Chassis go karts for Davis Manufacturing.

That friendship has lasted and strengthened over the years, making McLeod the perfect candidate for a driver.

“I can’t think of a better opportunity than returning to JD Motorsports with Gary Keller for the 2020 season,” said McLeod. “We have had some great fun and success over the years, and I know we can build on our program once again this season. Working with Wayne (Carroll, McLeod’s primary crew chief from last season) proved to be a great combination, and I can’t wait to see what we can do again this season. I am very thankful for everybody’s hard work and dedication at JDM, they make everything possible.

“Hopefully I will be able to represent them in a respectful way!”

McLeod’s car number will be announced at a later date.

POMONA, Calif. – Reigning NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series Top Fuel champion Steve Torrence won’t be on the grid for this weekend’s 60th annual NHRA Winternationals at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona.

Torrence, who won nine times last year en route to his second-straight Top Fuel title, released a short social media statement confirming that Torrence Racing would be absent from the season-opening NHRA event Wednesday evening.

“Due to untimely circumstances beyond our control, it’s in the best interest of Torrence Racing to not participate in this weekend’s (NHRA) season opener in Pomona, Calif.,” Torrence’s statement read. “We cannot thank our fans enough for their continued support and understanding at this time.”

Due to untimely circumstances beyond our control, It’s in the best interest of Torrence racing to not participate in this weekend’s season opener in Pomona, California. We cannot thank our fans enough for their continued support and understanding at this time.

— Steve Torrence (@SteveTorrence) February 5, 2020

No details on the reason behind Torrence Racing’s absence at Pomona were given.

Over the past four NHRA seasons, Torrence has won 31 national events and back-to-back titles, making him the most-prolific driver in the class during that time frame.

WASHINGTON -- Washington Capitals star Alex Ovechkin doesn't think he's ever been this hot in a 15-year career that has included eight NHL scoring titles.

If he continues at his present pace, he'll join the 700 career goal club by this weekend.

Ovechkin recorded his 27th career hat trick and raised his career goal total to 698 during a furious five-minute stretch of the third period, rallying Washington to a 4-2 victory over the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday night and continuing an incredible stretch for the 34-year-old.

With 14 goals in his past seven games, he's closer to becoming the eighth player to join the elusive club than many would've suspected a month ago. Though there isn't much time to reflect on it.

"Not yet," he said. "I'm still playing. But after the year, yeah, I'm pretty sure me and my family and my friends are going to talk about it."

Ovechkin's career-best recent flurry has pushed him to 40 goals on the season and back into the top spot in his chase for a ninth Maurice Richard Trophy, two ahead of Boston's David Pasternak. The Capitals also lead the Bruins by a point in the race for the President's Cup.

And No. 700 could come as early as Saturday against the Philadelphia Flyers, which would be fine by him -- he'd prefer to reach the milestone sooner than later.

"Yeah, obviously," Ovechkin said. "If you're going to think about it too much, you're never going to get it. So I have to go out there and play."

Even within this recent run, Tuesday night's performance to single-handedly lift the Capitals to victory stood out.

With 6:10 remaining, just over two minutes after the Capitals fell behind, Ovechkin one-timed a feed from T.J. Oshie to tie the game at 2-all. Seventy seconds later, he rebounded his own miss off goaltender Jonathan Quick's pads and put Washington in front.

He added an empty-netter with 1:46 to play, moving within 10 goals of Mike Gartner for seventh on the NHL's all-time goals list.

"In less than five minutes, he took over the game," Capitals coach Todd Reirden said. "And we won the game because of that. That's what superstars do. We're fortunate to have him.

"I say it all the time. That D.C. and the surrounding areas are just so fortunate to be able to witness what we're seeing in front of our eyes and have seen over the last number of years. This is a real, real special player."

John Carlson added his 14th goal and 50th and 51st assists for Washington, which rebounded after opening a four-game homestand with a loss to Pittsburgh. Braden Holtby made 29 saves in the win, including a flurry of impressive stops in the second period, during which the Kings were clear aggressors.

"He obviously kept us in the game when we weren't as sharp and gave up some good chances," Reirden said. "And he made some huge saves for us in a couple surges that they had."

Jeff Carter scored his 15th and 16th goals for the Kings, putting Los Angeles briefly in front when he redirected Drew Doughty's pass to the left post with 8:27 to play.

Quick stopped 20 shots in the seventh loss in eight games for last-place Los Angeles, which sits five points adrift of the next-worst team in the Western Conference.

"Our ability to close and finish out games hasn't been very good," Kings coach Todd McLellan said. "And that's the next step in our evolution.

GAME NOTES

• Doughty picked up his 495th point in his return after missing three games with an undisclosed injury, moving him past Rob Blake into first all time among Kings defensemen.

• Kings C Anze Kopitar's point streak was halted at six games.

• Washington recalled G Vitek Vanecek from AHL Hershey and scratched G Ilya Samsonov, who departed Tuesday's morning skate early after taking a blow to the head.

• The Capitals also recalled D Martin Fehervary.

• Nicklas Backstrom played his 941st game, passing Kelly Miller for fourth most in Capitals history.

UP NEXT

Kings: Visit New Jersey Devils on Thursday.

Capitals: Host the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday.

Yes, there are a lot of games still to be played in the 2019-20 NHL season. But plenty of fan bases are already lost in sweet dreams of draft lottery luck and the talent their teams might land in June's NHL draft. So whether you're ready or not, it's time to drop my first mock draft for 2020.

It's important to keep in mind that this is not a direct correlation of draft rankings, but rather an opinion of what I think a team could do if it ends up in that slot and if the draft were tomorrow. Player rankings will fluctuate quite a bit between now and the summer, too. This is more so an opportunity to take the draft landscape's temperature and start our mock homework a little early.

Furthermore, the draft order is far, far from being set in stone. Some NHL teams still have 30-plus games to be played, and the springtime's lottery will scramble the top half of the order. For this exercise, the draft slots are based on the inverse of the standings through Feb. 2 games, with divisional leaders standing in as the conference finalists in our final four spots.

See current draft rankings

OK, let's dive in to the opening 31 picks. Drafting at No. 1 overall, the Red Wings select...

1. Detroit Red Wings

Alexis Lafreniere, LW, Rimouski Oceanic (QMJHL)

The Red Wings don't have to get too creative here if they win the lottery. They have needs at all positions, and adding an elite winger like Lafreniere makes them better the day he's picked. Lafreniere does all of the little things well, has tremendous skill and plays with edge.

2. Los Angeles Kings

Quinton Byfield, C, Sudbury Wolves (OHL)

Los Angeles has focused on two things in recent drafts: centers and speed. Now it gets both in one package with Byfield. He has had some stumbles lately, leading to questions about his status as the clear No. 2, but the upside is still bigger than his 6-foot-4, 215-pound frame, making him an incredibly important building block.

3. New Jersey Devils

Tim Stutzle, C/W, Adler Mannheim (DEL)

Rory McIlroy is shaking up his spring schedule.

The soon-to-be world No. 1 has added his name to the list of commits for the Valero Texas Open, marking his first trip to TPC San Antonio since 2013.

McIlroy was a late add to the Valero field seven years ago, seeking some form before heading down Magnolia Lane. He finished second that week before a T-25 finish at the Masters. He'll look for a similar bump this spring, as the Valero will be played the week before the Masters for the second straight year.

McIlroy will pass Brooks Koepka next week in the rankings, returning to world No. 1 for the first time since 2015 before teeing it up at the Genesis Invitational. That will start a busy stretch for the Ulsterman leading into the year's first major, as he's also committed to the Arnold Palmer Invitational and will defend his title at The Players. Throw in a pair of WGC events, and his Valero commitment means McIlroy could be looking at a stretch of seven starts in nine weeks ending with the Masters.

Last year's Valero Texas Open was won by Monday qualifier Corey Conners, and he'll return to defend his title against a field that will also include former event winners Charley Hoffman, Zach Johnson, Jimmy Walker, Kevin Chappell and Brendan Steele along with former world No. 1 Lee Westwood. The tournament will be played April 2-5.