SEBRING, Fla. – After four hours of racing on the iconic bumps of Sebring Int’l Raceway, Forty 7 Motorsports walked away as the victors of the second annual Michelin IMSA SportsCar Encore.

IMSA Prototype Challenge regulars Jonatan Jorge and Joel Janco paired up with IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship driver Tristan Nunez to beat the rest of the field – which also included GT3 and GT4 machines – in the No. 47 Norma M30.

The trio all have previous ties to each other. Jorge coached Nunez through the karting ranks and his introduction to car racing; Jorge and Janco have been longtime co-drivers in the LMP3 series; and Nunez and Janco also have competed against each other in previous races.

RELATED: Driver Dies After Suffering Medical Issue At Sebring

“That’s what this weekend was for from the beginning, just to go out there and have fun,” said Nunez, a full-time Mazda driver in the WeatherTech Championship Daytona Prototype international (DPi) class. “(Jonatan’s) the guy who made me into the driver I am today, so to be able to come back and rekindle that six years of not working together and to come here and win a race, it’s pretty special. It’s come full circle.”

Meanwhile, Jorge and Janco competed full-time this past regular season with PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports, winning the Bronze Drivers Cup.

“It was supposed to be fun for us,” said Jorge. “I’m here with Joel, who’s basically my dad, and Tristan who’s my little brother. It was just an incredible job by everybody. The team did an amazing job. It was our first time with this car and this team. I can’t be happier. It was great to have the family here as well. I couldn’t be more proud of these guys and hopefully we get to do it again soon.”

“I’ve got to thank Forty 7 Motorsports for the Norma we drove today, which was just awesome,” said Janco. “Of course, JJ and I have been together a long time. Tristan and I have actually raced each other in the last decade and it’s just a dream come true.”

Meanwhile, it was a big day for Riley Motorsports in the GT classes at Sunday’s Encore. The team’s two entries won in their respective classes – the No. 74 Mercedes-AMG GT3 of Lawson Aschenbach and Gar Robinson and the No. 35 Mercedes-AMG GT4 of Dylan Murry and Jim Cox.

“For me, this year ended at Road Atlanta, so this is really part of the new 2020 season,” said Team Owner Bill Riley. “To get something going in our first race for the 74 car, with 74 Ranch Resort, and Lawson and Gar, it really couldn’t have gone much better. Then, to see Dylan and Jim drive like that, I just thought that was great. Jim drove an awesome opening stint, just like Gar, and it was a super solid start for both teams for 2020.”

The No. 74 team is new lineup for 2020 with Riley in the WeatherTech Championship GTD class, using the Encore to prep for their upcoming season. A call near the end of the race to change two tires instead of four propelled them into the lead.

“I think first and foremost, we’re all thrilled to be at Riley Motorsports,” said Aschenbach. “Bill Riley has been someone I’ve respected for a long time, someone I’ve always wanted to race for. Now I’m getting that opportunity and there’s no better way to start the relationship off with a win. Today, honestly, was about Gar. Gar ran an Ironman stint. He ran two hours and 30-something minutes by himself, straight through and kept it cool, ran great laps. He was right there and honestly that’s why we won.”

Meanwhile, Murry and Cox cap off an outstanding first season with Riley Motorsports. The pair raced a full season in the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge Grand Sport (GS) class, even earning their first series victory at Watkins Glen International in June, also a four-hour race.

“I absolutely love these longer races, this is what I thrive for,” said Murry. “I really feel like I excel in them because in the longer races it’s all about patience and doing perfect lap after perfect lap. We’re two out of the past three wins in the four-hour races, so Riley Motorsports and Mercedes-AMG definitely know the four-hour races. Mercedes-AMG knows what they’re doing when they put together an endurance car because that’s what we just showed today.”

AVONDALE, Ariz. – Midway through Sunday’s Bluegreen Vacations 500 at ISM Raceway, Joey Logano looked like a likely candidate to be racing for a championship next week at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Unfortunately for Logano, things took a turn for the worse.

The reigning Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion struggled with the handling in his No. 22 Ford Mustang after battling eventual race winner Denny Hamlin for the lead. The handling got so bad that Logano went a lap down, all but ending any chance he had at winning the race.

“It wasn’t five or six laps in that I realized I was quite a bit tighter than what I was and I just was relying on clean air, and then it just got tighter, tighter and tighter,” Logano said. “Once you start abusing the right-front tire with a car that’s tight it just drops off in a hurry and got to a point where I couldn’t pass the lapped cars out there because I was one.  I noticed it pretty quick, but there’s not much you can do about it when it’s green out there and you have a risk of going down a few laps I guess.”

Logano managed to get back on the lead lap and finish ninth by the time the checkered flag waved. That was little solace for Logano, who was bounced from the playoffs thanks to Hamlin’s victory.

Logano admitted he had no idea what caused his car’s handling to take such a drastic turn.

“I don’t know. I have no idea,” Logano said. “It went from a really good car to a car that couldn’t stay on the lead lap with changing tires and a half pound of air. A lot of things don’t line up there. That doesn’t make any sense. The car shouldn’t do that, but it did and once we put tires back on it we got to where we could run competitive at least again, but we were so far back and I was running so hard trying to get back to the 11 that we ended up using it up again.

“We just needed a caution at the right time and we didn’t get it to try to get back up there.  It stinks. We did the first half of the race really well. We had a fast car. We scored a ton of stage points and to the point that we could tie the 18 and all I had to do was finish in front of him, which was the goal, and it went bad from there.”

“I don’t get it, but it just wasn’t our year I guess. I don’t know what to say.”

AVONDALE, Ariz. – Denny Hamlin was on the outside of the championship picture at the start of Sunday’s Bluegreen Vacations 500 at ISM Raceway.

By the time the checkered flag waved, Hamlin was ready to battle for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series championship.

The driver of the No. 11 FedEx Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing survived a late-race restart to score his sixth victory of the season and earn a place in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series championship race next weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

“I can’t believe it,” Hamlin said as he emerged from his race car Sunday. “This team worked so hard this whole year. They deserve it and I told them today in the meeting that I’m going to give everything I’ve got to make up for the mistake I made last week.”

Hamlin entered Sunday’s race at ISM Raceway 20 points out of a place in the Championship 4 after a mistake last week at Texas Motor Speedway knocked him below the points cutoff. That effectively meant he had to hope for some bad luck from two other playoff drivers – Joey Logano and Kyle Busch – or he had to win.

Rather than hope for some bad luck from Logano or Busch, Hamlin simply went out and won the race instead. He took control of the race on lap 177 after a multi-lap battle with Logano and other than four laps led by Kurt Busch during a cycle of green flag pit stops, led the rest of the distance.

The only stick in the mud was a caution flag with nine laps left when John Hunter Nemechek smacked the wall. Hamlin and the rest of the lead lap cars hit pit road, but Hamlin’s team opted for two fresh tires instead of four. Ryan Blaney, who also had to win to advance to Homestead, also took two tires while Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr. took four tires behind him.

The race resumed with three laps left and Hamlin had to go on the defensive as Blaney and Kyle Busch took him three-wide entering turn one. Hamlin emerged from turn two with the race lead while Kyle Busch moved into second.

Hamlin held serve over the final few laps, beating Busch to the checkers to earn his place in the Championship 4 at Homestead alongside Truex, Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch.

“One of the best cars of my career, I can tell you that,” Hamlin said. “I pushed for all I had. That was all I’ve got. Once we got the big lead there, over 10 seconds, I just sat there and I got to thinking about, well, if the caution does come out I want to lap as many as I can. That’s all we had.

“There is still work to be done, it doesn’t guarantee us a championship. But it gives us a chance. Live to fight another day. That’s all you can ask for.”

Blaney finished third and Kyle Larson was fourth. Both drivers were eliminated from playoff contention. Harvick came home fifth.

Chase Elliott, who entered Sunday’s race in a must-win situation if he had any hopes of advancing to the championship race at Homestead-Miami Speedway, crashed on lap 165 and finished last in the 39-car field.

Defending Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion Logano was also ousted from the playoffs. He led 93 laps and won stage two, but he struggled during the final stage and fell out of contention, finishing ninth.

For complete results, advance to the next page.

AVONDALE, Ariz. – Toyota officially clinched the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series manufacturer’s championship following Denny Hamlin’s victory on Sunday at ISM Raceway.

The victory was Toyota’s 18th this season in Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series competition, a single-season win record for Toyota. Toyota has now won three of the last four manufacturer’s titles.

“This title would not be possible without the talented drivers, dedicated race teams and support of our team members at Toyota and Toyota Racing Development (TRD, U.S.A),” said Vinay Shahani, vice president of Integrated Marketing Operations for Toyota Motor North America (TMNA). “Eighteen victories is an incredible feat to accomplish in one of the most competitive motorsports series in America. The manufacturer’s championship is something incredibly meaningful to everyone at Toyota and TRD, we’re certainly honored to capture our third in the series.”

Camry drivers combined to win 18 races and have led 3,974 laps in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series competition this season. With one race remaining, three Toyota drivers, Martin Truex Jr., Hamlin and Kyle Busch, will be a part of the championship race at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Toyota’s season was led by a series-leading seven victories by Truex. Hamlin collected Toyota’s second Daytona 500 title in February en route to his six wins this year while Busch (four victories) and Erik Jones (one) also took home the checkered flag this year.

Since joining Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series competition in 2007, Toyota has won 142 races and captured 124 poles in 467 races. Toyota also claimed manufacturer championships in 2016 (16 wins) and 2017 (16 wins).

PHOENIX - Jeff Maggert holed out from 123 yards for eagle on the third playoff hole Sunday to win the Charles Schwab Cup Championship and hand Scott McCarron the season points title on the PGA Tour Champions.

Two holes earlier, Retief Goosen missed a 4-foot birdie putt that would have given him the tournament and the Charles Schwab Cup.

Instead, the South African could only watch from the fairway as Maggert's shot on the par-4 17th landed in front of the pin, bounced once and dropped in for a stunning conclusion to the season.

McCarron tied for 27th and could only watch from the clubhouse as Maggert delivered the winning shot for both of them.

McCarron won a $1 million bonus.

Maggert had to make an 8-foot birdie putt on the par-5 18th in regulation to close with a 5-under 66 and force a playoff. Goosen birdied three of his last four holes for a 64. He had an 8-foot birdie chance on the 17th in the playoff until Maggert holed his wedge.

New-ball swing is what Deepak Chahar is known for. It's the skill that has earned him a place in India's T20I team.

New-ball swing has defined Chahar to the extent that 493 of the 616 balls - that's 80% - he's bowled for Chennai Super Kings have been in the powerplay overs. His IPL captain, MS Dhoni, often gets him to bowl three straight overs in the powerplay.

Before Sunday's game against Bangladesh in Nagpur, Chahar had bowled a similar proportion of his deliveries in the powerplay (96 out of 126, or 76%) for India as well. His most memorable performance in six T20Is had been a three-wicket haul against West Indies in Guyana, a trademark display of swerve and control with the new ball.

On Sunday, everything changed for Chahar.

India were defending 174 in dewy conditions, with an inexperienced attack and no sixth bowler. Their fifth bowler was Shivam Dube, a seam-bowling allrounder known more for his batting and playing only his third T20I. In these circumstances, Chahar was one of the two "senior" members of the bowling attack alongside the legspinner Yuzvendra Chahal.

ALSO READ: Chahar's best is also world's best in men's T20Is

Given the composition of the attack, Chahar couldn't slot into his usual role of powerplay specialist. His captain Rohit Sharma told him he would have a more flexible role.

"The plan was that I would get the responsibility of bowling the main overs," Chahar said during the post-match presentation. "Usually I bowl with the new ball, but Rohit bhai said I'll bowl the crucial overs today, whenever the team needed me to bowl. I'm happy that the management gave me this responsibility on this stage."

Given the amount of dew on the surface - towels were being employed between deliveries even during India's innings - swing was out of the picture. In any case, Chahar only got one over in the powerplay. It was a challenge for him to show he had other tricks up his sleeve.

He came out of the challenge with the best figures in T20I history. Big wicket hauls in T20 cricket can be misleading, particularly when they involve clusters of tail-end dismissals; the hat-trick that ended Bangladesh's innings will go into all the headlines, but Chahar's best work came before that.

The most impressive feature of his display was the control he showed over his variations. We've seen his knuckle ball and slower bouncer in the past, but we haven't necessarily seen him execute them so well with a wet ball. Chahar understood that he could make life difficult for the batsmen by bowling into the surface on a slightly two-paced pitch, and as a consequence 11 of his 20 balls were pitched either short or short of a good length, according to ESPNcricinfo's data. Some of these balls skidded through, some of them gripped and slowed down, and Bangladesh's batsmen never looked in control against this mode of attack.

Chahar stayed away from the fuller lengths, by and large, and as a result didn't bowl a single full-toss on a day when the other fast bowlers, from both sides, sent down 10 between them.

When he did bowl full, however, Chahar made a big impact. There was the wide-ish tempter, slanting across the left-handed Soumya Sarkar and landing just short of a driving length, that resulted in a catch to mid-off in his first over, the third of Bangladesh's innings. There was the yorker to end Bangladesh's innings and complete Chahar's hat-trick. And in between, there was the ball that dismissed Mohammad Mithun in a match-turning 13th over.

The over began with Bangladesh favourites to win, needing 69 from 48 balls with two set batsmen at the crease and eight wickets in hand. Mohammad Naim had taken Dube's first two overs apart, and had shown brilliant footwork to rattle the experienced Chahal, whose figures at that stage read 3-0-38-0. India needed someone to give them some control, and Rohit threw the ball to Chahar.

He responded brilliantly. Chahar beat Mithun twice in four balls with short-of-a-length cutters that skidded through low. Then, off the last ball of the over, he made clever use of the crease, going close to the stumps in order to create an angle away from the right-hander. Out came a knuckle ball floating away from off stump. Mithun had to reach out towards the ball and generate all the power himself, and there was no way he was going to clear the off-side boundary on one of the largest outfields in the country.

That delivery ended a 98-run stand for the third wicket. That over ended with Chahar's figures reading 2-0-3-3. Then Mushfiqur Rahim, trying to dab Dube to third man to get off the mark, fell off the first ball of the next over. The match had turned in the space of two balls.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- New York Giants running back Saquon Barkley's struggles reached new depths Sunday when he had a career-low one rushing yard on 13 carries in a 34-27 loss to the New York Jets. He also failed to effectively block Jets safety Jamal Adams on a pair of sack/fumbles in the contest.

Barkley's previous low in a game he played from start to finish was 28 yards, which occurred last week against the Cowboys and Week 2 of his rookie season. His longest run against the Jets went for three yards. Barkley had four rushes that went for negative yards in the contest.

Barkley was "banged up" in Sunday's game, according to coach Pat Shumur. He was seen by reporters entering the X-ray room following the loss.

"Jets played a hell of a game. They're a hell of a defense," Barkley said. "Going into the game they were only averaging [allowing] 3.1 yards per carry. They did an amazing job. I reached out to [defensive coordinator Greg] Williams. Shook his hand and said, 'good job.'"

When asked about whether the injuries were affecting his play or about the X-ray, Barkley responded: "Next question."

It has been a struggle for Barkley ever since returning from a high ankle sprain suffered in Week 3. He's averaging just 2.6 yards per carry in the four games since.

There was a moment early in the second quarter when Barkley grabbed at his left leg after an incomplete pass thrown in his direction. He was taken off the field for one play, then returned without a limp.

Barkley's previous injury was to his right ankle. Regardless, the Pro Bowl running back isn't passing the eye test at this point. There may be reasons beyond the struggles of the Giants' offensive line, which finished the game with three backups on the field.

"[Barkley] got banged up a little bit [Sunday], so I don't know," Shurmur said. "I'm sure that contributes. We'll look at it as we go. He got banged around pretty good."

There were moments when Barkley was on the field that he was ineffective. It showed up on two costly plays with his blocking.

Barkley was dominated by Adams on the sack/fumbles, with the second resulting in an Adams touchdown.

"Jamal Adams beat me. Simple as that. He's a heck of a player. All-Pro," Barkley said. "Didn't really want to switch jerseys with him after the game. Jokingly told him that. One of my good friends. One of my boys. Hell of a player. Much respect to him. I got to be better there."

Barkley and the Giants (2-8) are entering their bye week sputtering and not at 100 percent. This gives them time to heal.

Starting wide receiver Sterling Shepard, tight end Evan Engram, right tackle Mike Remmers and center Jon Halapio all missed Sunday's game because of injury. Left tackle Nate Solder exited in the second quarter with a concussion.

"Only thing I got to focus on is just coming in and trying to be the player I can for my team," Barkley said. "Just focus on the bye week. It's a week where everyone can get a chance to get healthier, not only myself but the whole team. We get to reflect on our season so far. Just try to be a better team than we were in the first half."

The Giants enter their bye week on a six-game skid. It has everyone searching for answers.

"I mean, like, I don't know. Yes, frustration, disappointment, anger. Everything you said," Barkley said. "No one wants to be 2-8. No one wants to have a losing record. I don't know, yes. Everyone is upset. Everyone is frustrated."

CONCORD, N.C. — Mat Williamson did not expect to be in this position.

The 29-year-old native of St. Catherines, Ontario, stood on stage at the conclusion of Saturday’s Can-Am World Finals at The Dirt Track at Charlotte, where he was honored as the Super DIRTcar Series big-block modified champion.

It was just another surreal moment for Williamson in a season filled with them.

“We went through a lot this year. We’ve won some big races that I never thought we’d win and I put them on the pedestal where I’d never win them,” Williamson said. “That’s what led us into today.”

This year marked the first season for Williamson behind the wheel of team owner Buzz Chew’s No. 88 big-block modified. The team had parted ways with previous driver Mike Mahaney and hired Williamson because Chew saw something in the young Canadian he thought could elevate his team to the next level.

“We kind of felt that he was probably the one to bring us around to where we needed to be,” Chew said. “We’re willing to work and spend the money to be here. We looked hard and we thought he could be the boy and he is. He’s got a lot of talent.”

As it turned out, Chew’s instincts were right on the money.

Williamson’s season shifted into high gear in August when he banked a $100,000 payday in the 100th Anniversary Race at New York’s Orange County Fair aboard a car owned by Jeff Behrent.

That race — in many ways — seemed to be the catalyst that launched Williamson’s Super DIRTcar Series season into overdrive despite it not being a DIRTcar-sanctioned event.

A few weeks later, Williamson scored his first Super DIRTcar Series triumph of the season at New York’s Brewerton Speedway. He followed that up by winning again the next day at Mohawk Int’l Raceway in Akwesasne, N.Y.

“He just gained confidence and that’s all he needed because he has the talent,” Chew said. “The better he drove, the more Spot (crew chief Ron Ste-Marie) worked on it to get it to go better and it just clicked.”

Williamson got hot at the right time and kept the momentum going during Super DIRT Week, where he collected a victory in the DIRTcar 358 Modified event at Brewerton (N.Y.) Speedway on Oct. 10 and a win in one of the Triple 30 features at Oswego (N.Y.) Speedway ahead of the Billy Whitaker Cars 200.

Sure enough, Williamson’s hot streak continued with a $50,000 victory in the Billy Whitaker Cars 200. That win proved pivotal as Matt Sheppard, the reigning series champion, failed to finish the race after a mechanical problem. That allowed Williamson to significantly close the gap on Sheppard in the race for the championship.

“We were right on Matt Sheppard and we said if things go right and we have some luck, we may be able to pull this off,” Chew said.

Sheppard won at Brockville Ontario Speedway on Oct. 18, but Williamson was still hot on his heels, only six points behind Sheppard entering the Can-Am World Finals.

Three good nights of racing — and perhaps a little bit of bad luck from Sheppard — was what Williamson needed to win the championship. That’s exactly what Williamson got during Friday’s big-block modified feature, when Sheppard was forced to pit early with a flat tire.

Williamson finished fifth in Friday’s feature while Sheppard rebounded to 10th, giving Williamson an 18-point advantage going into Saturday’s finale.

One way or the other, Saturday was going to make or break Williamson’s season.

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SEBRING, Fla. – A competitor in Sunday’s Michelin IMSA SportsCar Encore at Sebring Int’l Raceway has died after suffering a medical issue while in the race car.

Timothy “Tim” M. George, M.D., 59, of Austin, Texas, was driving the No. 2 Ansa Motorsports LLC prototype race car when he suffered an unknown medical issue.

George was able to drive the car onto pit lane, where he was immediately attended to by track medical personnel.  He was transported to a local Sebring hospital where he passed away.

There was no known mechanical issue with the car.

“The IMSA family is shocked and saddened to learn of the passing of Dr. Tim George today,” read a statement from IMSA. “He was a long-time IMSA competitor and a friend to many in the paddock. At this difficult time we would like to extend our thoughts, prayers and deepest sympathies to his wife Rosalind and the rest of their family.”