INDIANAPOLIS – Global Medical Response, an emergency medical and patient relocation service, has reached a multi-year agreement to become the title sponsor of the NTT IndyCar Series road race in May at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

The seventh annual GMR Grand Prix is scheduled for Saturday, May 9 on the 14-turn, 2.439-mile permanent road course at IMS, which includes portions of the famous 2.5-mile oval that hosts the 104th Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge on Sunday, May 24. The GMR Grand Prix is the fifth race of the NTT IndyCar Series season, which kicks off on Sunday, March 15 with the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.

This sponsorship expands the relationship between GMR, Indianapolis Motor Speedway and IndyCar. GMR’s ground ambulance business, American Medical Response, has served as the official medical response partner of the Indianapolis 500, IndyCar Grand Prix, Big Machine Vodka 400 at the Brickyard and IMS since 2018, a partnership that was extended as part of this agreement. The AMR IndyCar Safety Team is an industry leader in motorsports safety and has been instrumental in revolutionizing the sport.

“GMR and AMR teams set the global standard for emergency medical services by dedicated and highly trained first responders,” Hulman & Company President and CEO Mark Miles said. “We’re honored and grateful to salute the vital, life-saving work of their brave personnel through this sponsorship of the GMR Grand Prix and growth of our mutually beneficial partnership across the NTT IndyCar Series. We’re also thrilled to extend our relationship with the AMR INDYCAR Safety Team, a group whose knowledge, preparedness and capabilities are second to none.”

“We are proud to sponsor the GMR Grand Prix which is part of the iconic ‘Month of May’ leading up to the Indy 500, and to work with INDYCAR to dedicate this season to raise awareness about the vital work all first responders do every day to impact patients’ lives and the stresses responders face with that responsibility ,” said Randy Owen, President and CEO of Global Medical Response. “Our AMR business is a national EMS leader with expertise in many aspects of emergency services, both air and ground and in event medical services for the racing industry. We are pleased to be expanding and furthering our involvement with this agreement.”

IMS, INDYCAR, GMR and its AMR business will work together during all NTT IndyCar Series events to raise awareness and salute the vital work performed by first responders across North America. This effort also will take place during other races at IMS serviced by the AMR Safety Team, including the annual NASCAR event weekend.

In another component of this new partnership, All Clear Foundation becomes an official charity of IndyCar and IMS. GMR is the founding partner of All Clear Foundation, whose mission is to improve the life expectancy and well-being of all first responders, including law enforcement, fire, EMS and dispatch – as well as improve the well-being of their families. The foundation creates, funds and amplifies critical resources for First Responders who are repeatedly exposed to traumatic events and whose unchecked mental and physiological tolls incurred in the course of their jobs can be debilitating, or even deadly.

“We are thrilled to be included in the partnership with Global Medical Response and NTT IndyCar Series,” said Janell Farr, President of All Clear Foundation. “The commitment Global Medical Response continues to make in support of all First Responders – even beyond those they employ – is a true testament to their industry leadership.”

MOORESVILLE, N.C. – The CARS Super Late Model Tour will introduce an all new touring program for the upcoming season.

The Super Six program is a touring loyalty program dedicated to teams receiving additional financial and promotional benefits for participating full-time with the CARS Super Late Model Tour. The program is modeled after the Touring 12 program for the CARS Late Model Stock Tour.

The Super Six program for super late models is a touring loyalty program that will consist of six super late model teams that plan to compete in every points event for the 2020 season. Benefits of the Super Six program will include: $100 savings per set of tires purchased at the track each race, $150 cash travel bonus at each event, two complimentary race tickets to all CARS Super Late Model Tour points races and multiple other financial and promotional benefits throughout the year.

In order for teams to participate in the Super Six program, CARS Super Late Model Tour teams must sign an agreement to participate in all regular season races and complete driver license, owner license and annual race entry by March 3.

Drivers will be required to have their name and likeness used on CARS Tour branding, and must be committed to participate in limited driver appearances throughout the season, along with running a special throwback scheme at the Throwback 276 on Aug. 1 at Hickory Motor Speedway. Drivers who are eligible for the Rowdy Manufacturing Super Challenge are not eligible for the Super Six program.

“Ever since we introduced the Touring 12 program for Late Model Stocks, the Super Late Model guys have expressed the desire to have a similar program. It is something that we’ve really thought about and wanted to do, we just needed to see the support from the competitors. After a very good year with Super Late Models we fell that the 2020 season is the right time to see if we can start building a program like this,” explained CARS Tour Series Director Chris Ragle. “We have to get six teams that want to build and invest in each other. That is the key to growing this program and the series for Super Late Models. I really hope teams will respond to this program, there’s no other series I can think of that does additional compensation for participating, and that is what this program is design for. It is about participation and not performance.”

Teams wanting to apply for the inaugural Super Six program can do so by visiting www.carsracingtour.com and clicking the Super Six application banner located in middle of the site’s home page.

He wore it after he won the 1972 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach. He wore it after he won the 1986 Masters at age 46. He wore it for more than 50 years and you, too, can wear it if you have lots and lots and lots of money.

Jack Nicklaus’ gold Rolex watch is up for auction on Tuesday courtesy Phillip Auction House in Manhattan, New York. Nicklaus joined CNBC’s “Squawk Box” to discuss the watch, which experts say may go for … take a breath … over $17.8 million.

Nicklaus said it was his first watch and the only one he wore for five decades. He retired it in 2017 because he wanted to put it to auction to benefit children's health care. Jack and wife Barbara have long raised money to aid in children's health, from the Nicklaus Children's Hospital to the Nicklaus Children's Health Care Foundation.

We’ll update with the final tally on Nicklaus’ watch sale. And if you want details on Newman’s record-setting watch, click here.

An in-form Mayank Agarwal is likely to replace the injured Shikhar Dhawan in the Indian squad for ODI leg of the home series against West Indies which will follow after the ongoing T20I series. It is understood that Dhawan has not yet completely recovered from the freak knee injury he suffered in November during the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, which had ruled him out initially from the T20I leg of the West Indies series with Sanju Samson being named as his replacement.

Agarwal is currently playing for Karnataka in the first round of Ranji Trophy against Tamil Nadu in Dindigul. In case he is called up for the ODI series, he will miss at least the second round of Ranji matches starting on December 17.

It will be the second time this year Agarwal has been called as a replacement to join the ODI squad. The first occurrence was during the World Cup when he replaced allrounder Vijay Shankar, who had picked toe injury. The selectors had then explained the decision as providing top-order back-up, with Dhawan having already been ruled out and KL Rahul having suffered an injury scare.

ALSO READ: When you come back and play domestic cricket in India, it challenges you - Mayank Agarwal

Overall this year, in terms of numbers alone, Agarwal has been the best Indian batsman across formats across domestic and international cricket. With two double centuries and a century, he was the leading run-maker in India's Test home season which featured five matches spread across two series involving South Africa (three Tests) and Bangladesh (two Tests).

Complimenting Agarwal's form, Indian captain Virat Kohli said that what made the Karnataka batsman stand out was his positive intent and performing to win. In a recent interview with ESPNcricinfo, Agarwal agreed.

Agarwal had also dominated the domestic circuit. Immediately after the South Africa Test series, he rushed to join the Karnataka squad in Bengaluru for the Vijay Hazare Trophy semi-final and final. He scored an unbeaten 47 off 33 deliveries in the semi-final against Chattisgarh and then 69* off 55 balls in the final against Tamil Nadu, thus playing a strong hand Karnataka winning the title. Days later he turned up for India C and scored 120 against India A in the one-day Deodhar Trophy.

Durban Heat v Jozi Stars - Match abandoned

Rain denied Durban Heat the chance to challenge for a place in the Mzansi Super League playoffs. The Heat finish fourth on the points table, one behind the Tshwane Spartans, who will play the Nelson Mandela Bay Giants on Friday to determine who goes through to meet the Paarl Rocks in Monday's final.

The final pool match of the tournament was abandoned without a ball being bowled to bring the total number of washouts to eight, with the Heat affected in five of those. They had three of their first four games rained off and lost the fourth which meant their first victory came three weeks into the tournament, chasing 182 under lights at Newlands. That started a streak of three wins before they were washed out again last Saturday in Johannesburg, against bottom-of-the-log Jozi Stars. The return fixture in Durban, a must-win match for the Heat, was also unable to go ahead.

That means the Stars, the defending MSL champions, collected another two points but ended their campaign winless with seven defeats. The Stars had a new-look leadership department, with Temba Bavuma taking over from Dane Vilas, who captained the Heat this year, and Donovan Miller succeeding interim national team director Enoch Nkwe.

Bavuma's leadership was thought to be on audition for a role with the national side in future and he will be disappointed with the team's results, although his own form was more pleasing. Bavuma was eighth on the run-scorers' list with 232 runs at 38.66. Reeza Hendricks, who is likely to feature in white-ball matches for South Africa this summer, was third with 275 runs at 39.28 including three half-centuries. The Stars bowling did not perform as well as expected, with Kagiso Rabada sitting joint-tenth with eight wickets at 27.25 and an economy rate of 8.33.

Like the Spartans, Heat completed just five games out of their ten, which affected where the players found themselves on the run and wicket charts. David Miller was 13th, Wihan Lubbe 15th and Alex 16th on the batting list while Malusi Siboto was the Heat's leading wicket-taker and 15th overall.

SAN DIEGO -- Longtime Boston Globe sportswriter Nick Cafardo was selected as the 2020 winner of the J.G. Taylor Spink Award on Tuesday in balloting by the Baseball Writers' Association of America.

Cafardo will be honored posthumously in July during Hall of Fame weekend in Cooperstown, New York. Cafardo, 62, died during spring training in February at the training facility of the Boston Red Sox in Florida.

Cafardo is the 71st Spink winner, an honor first given out in 1962 to honor sportswriters "for meritorious contributions to baseball writing." He received 243 votes from 427 ballots cast by BBWAA members. Jim Reeves, longtime writer for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, and Patrick Reusse, who worked in the Twin Cities, were also considered for the award.

Congratulations to the Cafardo family. A true honor. pic.twitter.com/j6E2egGnhz

— Red Sox (@RedSox) December 10, 2019

Known for his unbending enthusiasm for the game, Cafardo began his career as a baseball columnist for the Boston Globe in 1989 after working for other New England-area papers for several years. He took over the Sunday notes column in the Globe from former ESPN writer and 2004 Spink winner Peter Gammons. The column quickly became a much-admired source for inside information and scuttlebutt from across baseball, and its popularity only increased during the growth of the internet.

Cafardo covered more than 30 World Series, All-Star games and winter meetings. He worked World Series wins for the Red Sox in 2004, 2007, 2013 and 2018. When the Red Sox battled the Los Angeles Dodgers in an epic Game 3 of the 2018 World Series that took 7 hour, 20 minutes to play 18 innings, Cafardo, in a widely-shared quote that serves as a fitting encapsulation of his relationship with the game, turned to a colleague as the final inning began and said, "Isn't this great?"

Cafardo wrote four books on baseball, won the Massachusetts Sportswriter of the Year Award in 2014 and the Boston Baseball Writers' Dave O'Hara Award in 2017. His son, Ben, is ESPN's Director of Communications.

The last column Cafardo wrote for the Globe ran on Feb. 21, 2019. That day, he was scheduled to be off work but went to the ballpark anyway. He collapsed outside the Red Sox's spring training clubhouse.

Former champions Marche, Lee and Salem in battle for glory
By MATT COLES – Squash Mad Correspondent

The 2020 Pittsburgh Open will take place between January 22-26, with some of the world’s best players in action, led by World No.11 Fares Dessouky, as they battle it out for the PSA World Tour Bronze title.

The Rivers Club in Pittsburgh will play host to the tournament, with a prize fund of $47,500 up for grabs. Three former winners will feature, including the reigning champion Gregoire Marche. The 2018 victor Max Lee and 2017 champion Zahed Salem will also be looking for a second Pittsburgh Open title.

Dessouky is the top seed, with India’s Saurav Ghosal seeded to meet the Egyptian in the final. Salem and Marche are also seeded in the top four, with Egypt’s Omar Mosaad, Mexican Cesar Salazar, New Zealand’s Campbell Grayson and German Raphael Kandra also seeded for the event.

The two wildcards are Abdul Malik Khan of Pakistan and Botswana’s Alister Walker, while there are two American featuring in the event on home soil. US No.1 Todd Harrity and World No.63 Shahjahan Khan will be looking to win in front of their own fans.

For more information on the Pittsburgh Open, follow the tournament on Twitter and Facebook or visit the PSA World Tour website. 

2020 PSA Pittsburgh Open ($47,500 prize money), The Rivers Club, Pittsburgh, USA (January 22-26).

Entry List:
1) Fares Dessouky (EGY)
2) Saurav Ghosal (IND)
3) Zahed Salem (EGY)
4) Gregoire Marche (FRA)
5) Omar Mosaad (EGY)
6) Cesar Salazar (MEX)
7) Campbell Grayson (NZL)
8) Raphael Kandra (GER)
9) Max Lee (HKG)
10) Abdulla Mohd Al Tamimi (QAT)
11) Arturo Salazar (MEX)
12) Ramit Tandon (IND)
13) Muhammad ElSherbini (EGY)
14) George Parker (ENG)
15) Mahesh Mangoankar (IND)
16) Karim El Hammamy (EGY)
17) Todd Harrity (USA)
18) Nathan Lake (ENG)
19) Ben Coleman (ENG)
20) Richie Fallows (ENG)
21) Patrick Rooney (ENG)
22) Shahjahan Khan (USA)
Wildcard) Abdul Malik Khan (PAK)
Wildcard) Alister Walker (BOT)

Report by MATT COLES (PSA). Edited by ALAN THATCHER.

Pictures courtesy of PSA

Kiwis moved up to No.4 seeds
By HOWARD HARDING – Squash Mad International Correspondent

Following a successful appeal to the World Squash Federation seeding panel, New Zealand have been promoted to fourth seeds in next week’s WSF Men’s World Team Squash Championship in Washington DC.

Egypt are seeded to retain the title in the 26th edition of the biennial World Squash Federation championship which will be hosted by US Squash at Squash On Fire, the new state-of-the-art eight-court facility in the US capital from 15-21 December, and will feature 23 nations.

New Zealand, one of only two nations to have competed in every event since the inaugural championship in 1967, will be led by Paul Coll, the world No.5. Three times runners-up, New Zealand finished in fifth place in the 2017 championship in France – their best finish for 24 years.

Supporting Coll in the 2019 Kiwi squad will be world No.25 Campbell Grayson and world No.93 Evan Williams – all members of the 2017 squad – plus 20-year-old event newcomer Lwamba Chileshe, ranked 158 in the world.

Formerly the fifth seeds, New Zealand have replaced Germany in Pool D, with Germany – the new fifth seeds – moving to Pool E. 

2019 WSF Men’s World Team Championship, Revised Schedule.

The revised pool line-ups, including team seedings in brackets, are:
POOL A: [1] Egypt, [12] Switzerland, [15] Canada
POOL B: [2] England, [11] Wales, [14] Colombia, [23] Nigeria
POOL C: [3] France, [10] Malaysia, [13] USA, [22] Republic of Korea
POOL D: [4] New Zealand, [9] Scotland, [18] Ireland, [20] Singapore
POOL E: [5] Germany, [8] Spain, [16] Argentina, [19] South Africa
POOL F: [6] Hong Kong China, [7] Australia, [17] Jamaica, [21] Kuwait

Updated Pool schedule:

SUNDAY 15 December:
12:00 Egypt v Canada, New Zealand v Ireland, Scotland v Singapore
15:00 France v USA, Spain v South Africa, Germany v Argentina, Malaysia v Republic of Korea
18:30 England v Colombia, Hong Kong v Jamaica, Wales v Nigeria, Australia v Kuwait

MONDAY 16 December
12:00 Germany v Spain, Egypt v Switzerland, New Zealand v Scotland, Ireland v Singapore
15:00 USA v Republic of Korea, France v Malaysia, Jamaica v Kuwait
18:30 Hong Kong v Australia, England v Wales, Argentina v South Africa, Colombia v Nigeria

TUESDAY 17 December
12:00 New Zealand v Singapore, Scotland v Ireland, France v Republic of Korea, Canada v Switzerland
15:00 USA v Malaysia, England v Nigeria, Australia v Jamaica
18:30 Wales v Colombia, Hong Kong v Kuwait, Germany v South Africa, Spain v Argentina 

Picture courtesy of Patrick Lauson