Saracens have been handed a further 70-point deduction by Premiership Rugby to ensure they finish bottom of the table.

The move came on the same day that Sarries announced interim chief executive Edward Griffiths would be leaving after less than a month.

Griffiths was appointed for a 12-month period at the start of the year in the middle of the salary cap scandal.

Saracens were initially docked 35 points and fined £5.36m for breaching the cap between 2016 and 2019.

Premiership Rugby have previously confirmed that Sarries will be relegated from the Premiership this summer after being unable to prove they could meet the £7m cap on wages for a fourth season.

But the decision to apply a further deduction that guarantees they will finish bottom has now been taken "in order to provide clarity for clubs and supporters".

Having previously been the club's CEO for seven years, Griffiths returned after former chairman Nigel Wray retired following revelations that the businessman entered into co-investments with a number of Saracens' top stars, which were not declared.

The full report into breaches between 2016 and 2019 was released last week and showed that the club overspent by more than £1.1m in 2016-17; £98,000 in 2017-18; and £906,000 in 2018-19.

However, one of the players involved, former England winger Chris Ashton, told the BBC Rugby Union weekly podcast on Monday that he felt Wray's investment in a property with him "was completely separate to the rugby".

New Saracens chairman Neil Golding said in a statement: "The club is very grateful to Edward for temporarily stepping away from his other commitments to provide significant assistance during a difficult period, and wishes him well in the future."

Griffiths added: "This was always going to be a very short-term appointment, and others are well-placed to drive forward the rebuilding of the club."

Analysis

BBC sports news reporter Laura Scott

When Saracens first announced that Griffiths would be coming in as interim chief executive on 2 January, it was for a 12-month period. His resignation after 26 days is therefore much earlier than had been expected by the club.

At the start of those 26 days, Griffiths publicly spoke of his determination to get Saracens within the salary cap for this season, and said that he was carrying out a scoping exercise to establish how that would work.

However, he has been open since then of how difficult that was, and Saracens were hit with relegation for next season after being unable to prove compliance this season.

In his short tenure, he also reacted angrily to press outside the club and it was reported he is the subject of an ECB inquiry for allegations about him acting as an unregistered agent. He denies any wrongdoing.

Griffiths' departure from the club comes as discussions are ongoing about the future of players and the club continues to comes to terms with its relegation.

New Saracens chairman Neil Golding appears keen to get someone permanent as soon as possible to offer stability at the club after a troubling few months.

MOORESVILLE, N.C. – B.J. McLeod Motorsports has announced the addition of Mason Massey to the team’s NASCAR Xfinity Series program.

Massey will drive the No. 99 entry for the team in select Xfinity Series events beginning with the race at Las Vegas (Nev.) Motor Speedway on Feb. 22.

The 22-year-old Douglasville, Ga., native previously won the US Legends Pro National title and has raced asphalt late models for the last several years. Best known for his time behind the wheel of the No. 9 late model as part of the Bill Elliott Racing Driver Development Program, Massey won several races and made a name for himself quickly, including a victory in the Alabama 200. More recently, Massey has shifted his attention to dirt late model racing.

In 2019, Massey returned to asphalt, making his NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series debut at Iowa Speedway. He made six additional Truck Series starts over the course of the season.

“Mason is a true racer and a very talented driver,” said team owner B.J. McLeod. “One look at some of the cars, tracks, and races he has competed in and you know he has the ability to be successful at this level. I am excited to add him to our driver lineup in 2020. He is a great addition to the team and we’re going to have a lot of fun.”

B.J. McLeod Motorsports will field three full-time Xfinity Series entries this season. Vinnie Miller will return to the team driving the No. 78, Matt Mills will return to the team driving the No. 5 and Massey will drive the No. 99 for a majority of the season.

“I can’t really put into words what an opportunity like this means to me,” said Massey. “I grew up racing and dreaming of racing in NASCAR. I raced with many guys over the years who are now in NASCAR, and I definitely felt like I belonged there too. It definitely is not the path I envisioned when I was 15 or 16, but I know now that I’m more ready and prepared for this opportunity than I was then. B.J. and Jessica have given me an opportunity to continue my lifelong dream. They are building something very cool at B.J. McLeod Motorsports and are all in. I am so excited to be a small part of that story, while continuing my own story.”

CHICAGO – A midget racer for some nine years with the United Auto Racing Ass’n midget group, Jerry Matter passed away at his home in Nauvoo, Ill., on Jan. 25 at the age of 85.

Matter, who hailed from Naperville, Ill., during his speed career, got his start racing stock cars at Chicagoland’s Santa Fe Speedway in the 1950s. After serving in the U.S. Navy, Matter began racing midgets with UARA in 1958.

Wheeling his Midway Tavern-sponsored, Ford V8 60-powered midget, Matter won his first UARA feature race at Blue Island’s Raceway Park on July 14, 1961, defeating Russ Sweedler, Jigger Sirois, Bob Hauck and George Sellery. The UARA midgets competed on the tight, quarter-mile, pavement at Raceway Park pretty much on a weekly basis from 1959 through 1961 with Matter also grabbing two heat race wins in both 1960 and 1961.

With UARA also taking on the flat, quarter-mile track at Joliet Memorial Stadium on Saturday nights, Matter finished 10th in the UARA standings in 1961.  He moved up to fifth in the points in 1963 and wheeled Math Schneider’s Falcon-powered No. 67 to a 25-lap victory on the dirt at Santa Fe Speedway on June 14, 1963.

Nicknamed the “Whiz Kid,” Matter came home eighth in the UARA standings in 1964, scoring one feature win – that coming on July 4, 1964 on the dirt at Sterling, Ill., taking the checkered flag behind the wheel of the Hank Jeffrey No. 51 in front of Ray Elliott and Gene Varing.  Matter also tried some midget racing with the United States Auto Club in 1964 and 1965.

Matter enjoyed his best season of midget racing in 1965 as he again finished fifth in the UARA points standings, winning three feature races during the season. He won two at Joliet and scored a win at the Mazon Speed Bowl in Roy Koehler’s Falcon-powered, Will County Auto Wreckers-sponsored No. 38. On the high-banked paved Mazon track, Matter took the checkered flag in front of Elliott and Roger West on Sept. 5, 1965.

Racing for the final time in 1966, Matter became UARA’s pit steward for a time after his driving days were over.

An electrician by trade, Matter was a member of the Mississippi Valley Vintage Racing Club.  He was inducted into the Mazon Speed Bowl/Grundy County Speedway Hall of Fame in 2014.

IRWINDALE, Calif. – Irwindale Speedway opened its 21st season Saturday with the first of seven scheduled Night of Destruction events.

A near capacity crowd of 6,500 attended on a mid-50s evening following a mid-70s afternoon. They watched the usual destructive events presented by LKQ Pick Your Part. Spectator cars were still entering the speedway parking lot in two lanes at 7:30 p.m., half an hour after the scheduled first race. A CBS crew from Channel 2 was present early to document the opening.

Robert Rice, Irwindale’s master of mayhem, dominated. The gray-haired 50+ year old resident of Hawthorne won a track record four main events on the six racing event program. No other driver in two decades of Irwindale oval track competition had accomplished that feat. He began his Irwindale career racing NASCAR late models after the speedway opened in 1999. He drove his usual orange No. 7 Pick Your Part-sponsored four-cylinder single overhead cam Honda Accord in two of his four victories.

Rice finished eighth overall in the combined SOHC (stock) and DOHC (sport) enduro 35-lap opening event. Rice received the first-place trophy and 50 points as the stock class winner. Rodney Argo, a former 410 sprint car driver, won the faster sport class first place trophy and 50 points. The event on a six-turn r-oval course used parts of the third and half-mile ovals with a backstretch jog into the infield and another onto the half-mile front straight across the starting line.

Rice won his second victory in a 15-lap RV Figure 8 race driving one of seven bulky RVs, an orange No. 7. His third victory (aboard his No. 7 Honda) came in event four, a 14-car, 25-lap Figure 8 race. His fourth triumph came in a 15-lap skid place race on the six-turn r-oval course. He drove the all-pink No. 3 Honda Accord usually driven by friend Cheryl Hyland, the mistress of mayhem, at Irwindale. She had bronchitis and did not race.

Rice facilitated the skid plate cars division at Irwindale in 2009 by making all metal skid plates, which replace rubber tires on the back axle. His record four main event victories Saturday boosted his total Irwindale feature victories from 48 to 52. He still ranks fourth all-time at Irwindale in total triumphs, but he now trails third place Nick Joanides by three victories.

Tucker Tire Enduro 35: A 19-car field started all 10 SOHC sedans in front of the faster DOHC sport class cars as usual. Irwindale newcomer Mike Miller, 63, started his 1995 Honda from pole position and led the first 18 laps. The Barstow resident and recent enduro champion at Orange Show and Willow Springs tracks led comfortably until passed by 16th starter Argo on lap 19. Argo’s Honda Prelude led to the lap 35 checkers. He posted his 23rd career Irwindale victory. Joseph Bereiter trailed by .834 seconds. Miller finished against the first turn crashwall after contact with another car on the final lap and escaped injury. The red flag flew with 15 of 19 starters on the track and eight on the lead lap.

RV Figure 8: Rice started his No. 7 RV from inside row two. He took the lead on lap 4 from early leader James Bolinas, a versatile enduro veteran. Rice won the eight-minute event easily over Robbie Salcido, from Perris. All seven RVs lumbered around the F-8 course and completed the event without incident at the X intersection. Bolinas, the last driver on the lead lap, placed third.

Flag Pole Race: Nine enduro cars used the same r-oval course with a flag centered in a huge tire placed between the third-mile fourth turn and the starting line on the half-mile. Drivers had to circle the flag pole/huge tire while evading oncoming cars using the same pavement. Joseph Bereiter started sixth in his No. 27 1998 Acura Integra and led all ten laps. He won by 35-yards over closing Joe Labrosciano’s No. 95. The all-green light race took 5:42.951. Ex-USAC midget owner/driver Kirk Kubik finished third. Rice was fifth in an orange No. 9 Honda. Six of eight finishers completed all 10 laps.

Enduro Figure 8: Rice started fourth in his familiar orange No. 7 Honda. He led laps 12-25.after passing pole starter/early leader Bereiter, who stopped briefly at the X intersection to avoid two cars racing for position. The all-green flag race took 8:49.594 and averaged 64 mph. Rick Conti trailed by .369 seconds, with Labrosciano third, 0.899 off the lead. Bereiter finished fourth and John Beard fifth.

Skid Plate: Rice started the 17-car, 15-lap race from pole position in the pink No. 3. He led the first eight and last two laps. He edged fast-closing 12th starter Mike DiGregorio, the leading skid plate feature winner, by .430 seconds. Salcido was third, 5.2 seconds behind Rice. Past winner Austin Lee, the laps 9-13 leader, was slowed severely in a turn by a slower car and lost the lead. He messed up trying to catch Rice and dropped to fourth place. Wayne Lee, the last lead lap driver, was sixth, 43 seconds off the lead. Rice averaged 39.908 mph. DiGregorio ran the fastest race lap at 43.773 mph.

Trailer Race: A fan-popular trailer race started 15 vehicles (sedans and pickup trucks) towing boats, jet-skis and various cargo on trailers on the third-mile oval. They ran 20+ unscored laps and tried to destroy trailer contents and parked old motor coaches in an entertaining manner to win favor with grandstand spectators, who voted for the winner by their cheers and applause. After 19+ minutes only five vehicles were still moving when the checkered flag concluded destruction. The top three as voted by spectators were Salcido, Rice and Andy Schoening (No. 3-16).

Other attractions during the Night of Destruction were a jet-burn-down of an old sedan by the J-10 aircraft jet engine mounted on the back of the PYP “Inferno” pickup truck. As usual the fiery exhibition took place in the infield near the backstretch lightpole. A 12-minute aerial pyrotechincs show, launched from beyond the backstretch, kept fans in their seats until 10:23 pm.

The next Irwindale event will be the inaugural Sunrise Ford All-Star Showdown presented by the West Coast Stock Car Hall of Fame on Feb. 1. SPEARS Manufacturing Southwest Tour super late models will race for $25,000-to-win and SPEARS Manufacturing Modified Series will race for $5,000-to-win also on the half-mile. Pro late models will race for $10,000-to-win on the third-mile oval.

More than 60 cars have entered the event to date.

INDIANAPOLIS – It’s setting up to be a big year for Reinbold/Underwood Motorsports.

And that’s as if last season wasn’t already a huge deal for the Tempe, Ariz., organization.

Fresh off winning an AMSOIL USAC National Sprint Car Series championship with C.J. Leary, team owner Andy Reinbold has reloaded his arsenal to take a second, perhaps even bigger, shot at the title.

Reinbold will have the driving services of Sutter, Calif., hotshoe Logan Seavey at his disposal for the full season, with Seavey bringing his talents to the non-winged sprint car world for a full campaign after two years of dominance on the midget scene with Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports.

It’s a marriage that might have spurred questions at first glance, but was born out of Reinbold’s desire to give the 2018 USAC National Midget Series champion a regular shot to prove himself in a sprint car.

“I’d known Logan for about a year; he’d been in my cars on and off and he’s spent a lot of time out West with us,” Reinbold relayed. “He’s really kind of like my wife and I’s fourth child. He’s just a good kid and we really liked the heck out of him. This deal is really more about giving him an opportunity to go USAC national sprint car racing and us believing in the talent that he has to win races and to win a championship.

“Anyone who’s seen Logan race knows that he’s obviously full of talent, and we hope to tap that and compete at just as high a level this season as we were able to last year.”

Reinbold had initially planned on putting Seavey in the seat of his familiar No. 19az at the start of the 2019 season, but when Seavey opted to spend another year with Toyota Racing Development in hopes of a potential transition to the pavement, Reinbold went in a different direction and hired Leary.

However, he didn’t forget about the California young gun, wanting to eventually find a way to put Seavey into a regular seat with his operation.

“We were gonna go racing with Logan last year, but he wanted to pursue one more shot at some of the pavement stuff on the late model side,” Reinbold recalled. “We were at the Oval Nationals in (November of) 2018, and discussed it while he was driving for me out there, but a couple days later Logan got ahold of me and said he really needed to chase the pavement deal for one more year.

“CJ (Leary) and I hooked up shortly after that, but now that Logan has decided to go down the dirt road full time, we made sure we had an available seat for him.”

That seat comes with a pair of additional bullets in the chamber for Seavey, or “aces in the deck,” to use a phrase that Reinbold has familiarized around his squad in recent weeks.

Past USAC Mechanic of the Year Tyler “Rizzy” Ransbottom and Connor Ridge – Seavey’s crew chief from the past two seasons – have joined the Reinbold/Underwood team from Clauson-Marshall Racing and Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports, respectively, to turn the wrenches on the No. 19az in 2020.

Ransbottom will serve as crew chief for Seavey and Ridge will be the car chief, making for a potent triple threat of young talent as the squad looks to build on the title-winning season that Leary and ace wrench Davey Jones generated a year ago.

To have secured the caliber of talent that both Ransbottom and Ridge bring to the table is something that has Reinbold not just optimistic, but eager for the year-long journey that lies ahead.

“I think excited is an understatement,” Reinbold noted. “It’s a big deal for our team to have two guys in Rizzy and Connor that have proven they both know how to set up a race car and get it in position to go to victory lane. Their records speak for themselves and the championships they’ve helped win over the last two years only add to that. We couldn’t be happier to have them alongside Logan in our pursuit of the USAC National Sprint Car Series title and look forward to seeing them work together this year.”

Though the focus is on a successful defense of the team’s championship from 2019 in 2020, Reinbold was quick to point out that he’s still humbled by how far the team has come over the past 13 months.

He’s hoping, however, that even better days are still ahead.

“This journey so far has been absolutely rewarding,” Reinbold said. “When CJ and I first talked and set a goal of winning a championship, we hoped that we’d achieve that championship, but to actually do it was another thing entirely. I’ve been doing this stuff for a long time. I’ve been in sprint car racing for almost two decades, but I’d never won a championship before, even at the lower ranks driving myself.

“I was new to the car owner part of it, but I definitely knew there was going to be challenges and adversity. Some days had to go our way in order to win that championship, and they ended up falling right for us,” he added. “As prepared as we felt we were going in, we still had to have just a little bit of luck to make it happen. And that all came together. To be able to go into the USAC arena for our first year against the top teams in the world and come out with a championship was surreal and humbling.

“We’re soaking that in, but now we’re ready to take another crack at it and we feel we’ve got the right group to go in and make some noise with.”

MOORESVILLE, N.C. – Gaunt Brothers Racing has signed Daniel Suárez to drive its No. 96 Toyota Camry full time in the NASCAR Cup Series.

It will mark Suárez’s fourth year in the NASCAR Cup Series and a return to the manufacturer with whom the Mexican driver has enjoyed so much NASCAR success.

“It’s great to be back with Toyota and back in the NASCAR Cup Series,” said the 28-year-old, who was born in Monterrey, Mexico and now calls Huntersville, N.C. home. “My NASCAR career started off really well and Toyota was a very big part of that. To have them in my corner again gives me a lot of confidence.

“Gaunt Brothers Racing has something to prove and so do I. We’re committed to each other and we’re going to build each other up.”

Suárez won the 2016 NASCAR Xfinity Series championship behind the wheel of a Joe Gibbs Racing-prepared Toyota Camry. His title-winning drive earned him a promotion to Gibbs’ NASCAR Cup Series program, where he continued in Toyotas throughout the 2017 and 2018 seasons before joining Stewart-Haas Racing in 2019.

As the 2020 season gets underway, Suárez is happy to be back with the manufacturer who ushered him up the NASCAR ladder and into the NASCAR Cup Series.

“We are pleased that Daniel is rejoining the Toyota family in 2020,” said Ed Laukes, group vice president, marketing, Toyota Motor North America. “He has been a member of the Toyota Racing family throughout the majority of his career and contributed greatly to our shared success, most notably in winning the 2016 Xfinity Series championship.

“We are excited to see Gaunt Brothers Racing move to a full-time entry next season and thrilled to have Daniel behind the wheel. We look forward to this new partnership.”

Just as Suárez knows the possibilities that exist at his new home, Gaunt Brothers Racing realizes the opportunity it now has with an experienced driver coming into his prime.

“We’ve been working toward this moment since Gaunt Brothers Racing joined the Cup Series in 2017,” said Marty Gaunt, president, Gaunt Brothers Racing. “We’ve made steady improvement every year, but bringing Daniel on board allows us to take a giant leap forward. We’re investing in each other. He’s not content to just be here and neither are we.

“We’ve been very strategic in everything we’ve done, and between our partnership with Toyota and the resources now available to us, we can take that next step and deliver for Daniel and all of our partners.”

Dave Winston will serve as Suárez’s crew chief. The NASCAR veteran comes to Gaunt Brothers Racing from Richard Childress Racing, where he was the vehicle performance group engineer and also the race engineer for driver Daniel Hemric.

Winston has served as a crew chief before, spending 2014 at BK Racing with driver Alex Bowman and 2016 at Circle Sport-Leavine Family Racing with driver Michael McDowell.

Winston has a degree in mechanical engineering from Florida Atlantic University.

Coca-Cola and CommScope will also continue their respective partnerships with Suárez at Gaunt Brothers Racing.

The iconic Coca-Cola brand has been with Suárez since 2015 when he won the Xfinity Series rookie-of-the-year title, while CommScope – a leader in communication network technology – has been with Suárez through its ARRIS and Ruckus Networks brands since 2014, when he first competed in the Xfinity Series.

“We are excited to continue our partnership with Daniel Suárez and build a new relationship with Gaunt Brothers Racing,” said John Mount, vice president, sports marketing and region assets for Coca-Cola North America. “Daniel is a valuable member of the Coca-Cola Racing Family and he embodies the values most important to Coca-Cola. We’re looking forward to supporting Daniel in this next step of his career at Gaunt Brothers Racing.”

“CommScope solutions deliver power, speed, precision and innovation – just like a race team – and provide fans with an optimal experience as they watch NASCAR through our video, wireless and broadband technologies,” added Eddie Edwards, president and CEO of CommScope. “We wish Daniel Suárez much success this year and look forward to cheering him on at the finish line.”

PITTSBURGH -- Marcus Pettersson is sticking with the Pittsburgh Penguins.

The 23-year-old defenseman agreed to a five-year contract extension on Tuesday that runs through the 2024-25 season. The deal carries an average annual value of just over $4 million.

Pittsburgh acquired Pettersson in a December 2018 trade that sent forward Daniel Sprong to Anaheim. Pettersson has become one of the steadiest players on the Penguins' blue line over the past 13 months. He has one goal and 14 assists in 50 games this season with a plus-4 rating. He also ranks fourth on the team in hits (78) and blocked shots (57).

"In just over a year, Marcus has had a significant impact on our defensive group," Pittsburgh general manager Jim Rutherford said in a statement. "He is young, reliable and smart, which is important in today's game. Marcus is part of our young core and it was important to get him signed long-term."

Pettersson is also durable. Last season he became the 11th player since 1994 to appear in 84 games, an achievement he reached due to the timing of the trade that brought him to the Penguins. He has not missed a game yet this season.

The Penguins, who currently are in second place in the Metropolitan Division behind Washington, return to play on Friday night against Philadelphia.