I Dig Sports
TOLEDO, Ohio – One of the most talked about drivers in the United States, Hailie Deegan, is gearing up for her fourth ARCA Menards Series start this Saturday night.
Deegan, driving the No. 55 TRD 40th Anniversary Toyota for Venturini Motorsports, will make her first start at the three-eighths mile Elko Speedway in Saturday night’s Menards 250.
The track, the smallest on the ARCA Menards Series schedule, has a lot of similarities to another three-eighths mile she raced on earlier this season, Colorado National Speedway in Erie, Colo.
Deegan competed in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West there on June 8 and made a last-lap bump-and-run pass for the win, her second of the season and the third her career. In each of those victories, Deegan made a last-lap pass for the win and each of those passes involved some contact with the leader.
Deegan makes no apologies for her style of full-contact racing. It’s something she’s been taught and the timing of it is no coincidence.
“It’s funny because people say I will be in second and I try to be dirty,” she said. “They say I take my swing on the last lap because I don’t have any other chances. I take my swing on the last lap because I was trained to do it on the last lap. I could do it earlier no problem. But I wait for the last lap because I know if I do it earlier they will come back at me. That’s what my driving coach has taught me. It’s on the last lap and always on the last lap because that’s what really matters. We practice it two or three days a week. Taking your shots with one lap to go. That’s when you have to take your moves. The last race I should have won it easily but there was a caution that took away the twelve car-length lead I had coming to the checkered. It goes by each situation, but people will either love it or hate it. I won’t make everyone happy even when I make the cleanest pass possible.”
While she doesn’t like making comparisons to other drivers, it’s hard to not see the similarities in her take-no-prisoners approach to the last lap and another famous driver’s approach to the same situation.
“I always looked up to Dale Earnhardt coming into racing,” she said. “I think 90 percent of the racers here have. He’s arguably the number one figure in NASCAR, ever. I think it’s something that people respect him a lot and anyone who is a true racer respects Dale Earnhardt. There aren’t any true racers that don’t. People take that differently but in the end he was a badass racer and everyone knew he was.”
Deegan has never been to Elko Speedway before, and although she does have plenty of short track experience and success under her belt so far, she still likes to come to a new venue prepared. She has spent as much time as she can learning the nuances of Elko’s racing surface and characteristics from a far, mostly through reviewing footage of previous races there.
“Tracks that are on the Toyota simulator, I go on that,” she said. “I practice on the simulator at home. I watch a lot of footage. I watch a lot of past races, test sessions, anything I can get my hands on I study as much as I can. When I get on the track I want to be as fast as I can instantly, I don’t want to worry about getting up to speed. I want to get to the track on top of my game. I really like watching old races because you can see where the fast guy is running and what he’s doing different than everyone else. You get to see where you can make passes, which is crucial on these short tracks. That’s the hardest part. Watching it and learning it is like a straight guideline. It’s like having the answers to a test.”
With wins in the K&N Pro Series West already in the record books, Deegan is anxious to get the ball rolling similarly in the ARCA Menards Series. She has a methodical approach, and with a top-ten finish at Pocono she’s now ready for her first ARCA top five run.
“Coming out of the gate really strong is big for me,” she said. “I like to come out of the gate strong and not have to work at it to get up to speed too much. I like to make my goal for each race and then get better throughout the day. The goal for Elko is a top five. We have a top ten in the ARCA series now we need a top five. Once we get that first top five then we’ll adjust to our first win. We need to set a new goal every week and then work our way into it.”
CHICAGO – Perhaps the most popular driver ever to wheel a stock car in the Chicagoland area, Ray Young died Saturday at the age of 87.
Known, as the “tobacco-chewin’ truck driver,” Young enjoyed a racing career that spanned some 30 years, winning a total of eight area track championships at five local speedways.
Young was born in Whitwell, Tenn., a small town northwest of Chattanooga on March 15, 1932. The attraction of more and better paying jobs up North brought a 17-year-old Raymond H. Young to Chicago in 1949. A stranger to the “Windy City” area, Young began attending the stock car races at Blue Island’s Raceway Park, watching the likes of Bud Koehler, Bill Van Allen, Bob Pronger and others do battle.
At the age of 20, Young began racing himself at Raceway Park in 1952, wheeling a 1941 Ford coupe, No. 23L on the paved, quarter-mile track. Records show that Young won three back-up races along with one team race victory that first year. Late in the season, Young’s Ford tangled with another car and ended up bouncing end over end down the main straightaway. Young was uninjured.
A few years in the Army halted Young’s racing career. Once out of the service, Young raced a 1950 and 1954 Oldsmobile at the “World’s Busiest Track.” Racing sometimes four-nights-a-week, Young scored his first career feature win at Raceway Park on Wednesday night, June 24, 1959, driving his Nydam Brothers Auto Rebuilders-sponsored 1959 Studebaker Hawk No. 99 to the checkered flag ahead of Bob Williams and Bob Pronger.
Hailing from Chicago, Young was Raceway’s late model champion in 1962, wheeling a ’57 Ford to 16 feature wins, including the track’s annual 300 Lap Classic. Young repeated his 300 Lap Classic victory in 1964. In 1973, Young was again the late model champ at Raceway, nailing down 17 feature wins. He won his last stock car feature race at Raceway Park in 1974 and ended up with 107 career wins there.
Perhaps one of Young’s finest performances in Chicago area stock car racing was when he won four 30-lap feature races in one night at Raceway Park in 1964 during one of the track’s popular Monza Classic events.
It was Sunday night, July 12, and the then 32-year old Young was one of the top drivers in the track’s rough and ready late model division. The old paved speedway measured slightly under a quarter-mile and it sometimes took and little pushing and shoving to get to the front. Young and his S&H Auto Radiator-sponsored 1963 1/2 Ford No. 99 started off the night by setting fast time during qualifications with a lap of 13.15 seconds.
The first 30 lapper saw a field of 24 start with Young lining up last in a very competitive field with the likes of Bud Koehler, Ted Janecyk, Johnny Kapovich, Harry Simonsen, Don Oldenberg, Stash Kullman, Rich Miller and “Legs” Whitcomb among his fellow combatants. Young was up to the task of winning the first feature and three more that night – all after starting at the tail end of the field.
Young also was a late model titlist at Illiana Motor Speedway in Schererville, Ind., in 1966, driving a ’64 Ford Fairlane, and at the Waukegan (Ill.) Speedway with back-to-back titles coming in 1969 and 1970. Young won a total of 31 features at Waukegan during those championship seasons.
Young was among the front-runners at the Grundy County Speedway in Morris, Ill., when the track opened in 1971, replacing the old Mazon Speed Bowl, where Young was the track champion in 1970. Young had the distinction of winning the first 100 lapper at Grundy at the end of the 1971 season.
Young was the overall winner of the Chicagoland Driving Championship (CDC) in 1975. With points tabulated for feature races at Grundy, Illiana and Waukegan, Young won a total of 10 CDC features on his way to the crown.
The 1976 season was a banner year for Young. He won his third career Waukegan driving title, winning a total of nine feature races. On May 9, Young captured ARTGO Racing’s CAM2 Classic 100 lapper at Grundy before a standing-room-only crowd witnessing only the second ARTGO event in history. Young and his 1976 Camaro bested Bob Senneker and Joe Shear with NASCAR’s Bobby Allison finishing seventh. Young closed out the season, winning the first of two consecutive Tony Bettenhausen Memorial 100-lap races at Illiana.
In 1977, Young began to faithfully follow the American Speed Ass’n Circuit of Champions tour. Young’s best ASA season was 1979 when he finished third in the points. At Waukegan in 1977, he would win three 50 lappers in only six starts.
Young ended his Chicago area track title-winning ways in 1978 when he copped season late model honors at Grundy. The “Friday Night Racin’ Place” saw Young win seven features. Young would end up with 25 career feature wins at Grundy.
For a long time, Young’s race team was housed in an old barn-like garage situated among a block of neat, middle class homes on Cottage Grove Avenue in the Chicago suburb of Dolton. The garage was guarded by Young’s dog, Oscar. A visit to the garage might mean a “nip” from Oscar!
Young’s last full season of racing was in 1982 with him competing in the ASA series. He took his final competitive ride in a stock car in 1983. A truck driver for most of his life, Young was the owner of O’Rourke Cartage in Chicago for many years. He was inducted into the Mazon Speed Bowl/Grundy County Speedway Hall of Fame in 2004 and into Illinois Stock Car Hall of Fame in 2013.
Jack McGrath didn’t need to drive race cars.
Unlike many of his peers who turned to racing during the Great Depression to put food on the table, McGrath had no such concerns. His family was wealthy.
McGrath’s father fully expected his son to join him in the family business, a meat processing plant in Los Angeles.
McGrath had other ideas, however. Auto racing captured his passion. It seduced him, fulfilled him and eventually killed him.
His infatuation was ignited by a fascination with cars. During his early teens, he laboriously rebuilt a $15 junkyard Model T.
“I got it running great,” McGrath told writer John Painter. “But my father wouldn’t let me drive it on the street. The only place I could ever give it a ride was around the plant’s yard.”
As much as McGrath’s father detested his tinkering with cars, his loathing erupted when McGrath began racing. A grievous rift resulted and years passed without father and son speaking.
In 1935, the 16-year-old modified a ’29 Ford roadster to run on the Muroc Dry Lakes. He hustled it to 100 mph. When more success followed, he opened a speed shop to provide engines to Los Angeles hot rodders.
World War II curtailed racing, but after the war McGrath became immersed in going fast. His reputation grew, catching West Coast promoter Bill White’s attention. In mid-1945, White offered McGrath a ride in his track roadster.
It was his first closed-course competition and he took to it instinctively. In 1946, McGrath won the first CRA championship and repeated as the organization’s champion in ’47. Along with the roadsters, he dabbled in sprint cars and midgets — and won in them.
In May 1947, barely 18 months after his first oval race, McGrath appeared at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, seeking a ride. AAA officials gave a startled glance at his thin résumé and sent him home.
McGrath turned to his hero, Rex Mays, “… I wish I could be like him,” he once said. Mays found him an AAA sprint car ride. McGrath capitalized on the opportunity, gained experience on the Championship Trail and qualified for the 1948 Indianapolis 500.
In 1949, McGrath arrived at Indianapolis in the little-regarded City of Tacoma Special. He put the car on the front row, the first of six front-row starts, five consecutive, in his eight Indianapolis 500s.
McGrath certainly knew how to get around the speedway. Explaining McGrath’s touch at Indy, his longtime mechanic Jack Beckley said, “He loved high speed. Many guys thought they wanted to run there, but once they saw those long straights they had second thoughts. Not Jack.”
For 1950, Kansas oil millionaire and car owner Jack Hinkle signed McGrath and Beckley. McGrath never drove for another owner.
Nicknamed the “Three Jacks,” the team was one of the best of the era. McGrath won at Pennsylvania’s Langhorne Speedway and the New York State Fairgrounds in 1950, and in six seasons claimed four championship wins, 26 top-five finishes and nine poles.
The one win McGrath never managed, however, was the one he most wanted — Indianapolis. He had front-row starts in 1951, ’52, ’53 and the pole with a track record in ’54. But nagging problems stopped him short of victory.
In 1955, again a favorite for the win, he charged from the front row only to be challenged by Bill Vukovich on lap four. What ensued was one of the most intense battles in Indianapolis history. For 54 laps, neither backed off.
Then, suddenly, McGrath was in the pits with the hood up. He was out of the race.
Three laps later he watched with a stunned crowd as Vukovich perished in a multi-car accident on the backstretch.
McGrath reconciled with his dad and intended to drive for Vuky’s crack mechanics Jim Travers and Frank Coon in 1956. With their mechanical expertise and McGrath’s uncanny talent, it was a dream scenario that could have led to Indianapolis glory.
But racing is a tragic sport and McGrath was killed in a wild accident on Nov. 6, 1955 at the Arizona State Fairgrounds.
The Ollie’s Bargain Outlet All Star Circuit of Champions invaded Sharon Speedway in Hartford, Ohio, for the annual running of the Lou Blaney Memorial.
COSTA MESA, Calif. – MotoAmerica has announced that Russ Brown Motorcycle Attorneys has come on board as a sponsor for the Sonoma Raceway round of the MotoAmerica Series, the Cycle Gear Championship of Sonoma.
Additionally, Russ Brown will sponsor the Russ Brown Cycle Corral, a free motorcycle parking section within the racetrack.
“It’s great to have Russ Brown Motorcycle Attorneys’ support for our Sonoma round,” said MotoAmerica’s Lance Bryson. “We’re expecting a large contingent of people riding their motorcycles to Sonoma and they’ll appreciate having a safe, convenient place to park their motorcycles. So, thanks to Russ Brown for sponsoring the Cycle Corral.”
“MotoAmerica is the best series we have here in the U.S. to move American riders back onto the world stage of top-level motorcycle racing,” said Wendy Koro, Operations Manager at Russ Brown Motorcycle Attorneys. “Russ Brown Motorcycle Attorneys has been associated with MotoAmerica since its inception and we are proud to be a sponsor of this important series and the race at the historic Sonoma Raceway. We’re also diehard racing fans and the time spent in Sonoma is very special to us, not just as sponsors, but as fellow racers and riders. Stop by the Russ Brown booth and say hi and we look forward to seeing you there August 10-11.”
The Cycle Gear Championship of Sonoma is round seven of the 2019 MotoAmerica Series and will feature all five classes – EBC Brakes Superbike, Supersport, Liqui Moly Junior Cup, Stock 1000 and Twins Cup.
The San Jose Sharks re-signed restricted free-agent forward Kevin Labanc to a one-year deal, general manager Doug Wilson announced Monday. Terms were not disclosed.
Labanc, 23, made his case for a new deal with the Sharks last season by registering career highs in goals (17), assists (39), power-play points (20) and game-winning goals (4).
"Kevin took a big step forward in his production last season and has grown into an important part of our team here in San Jose," Wilson said "He's always had a dangerous shot but really stepped into a playmaking role for us last season and improved his 200-foot game as well. We think he still has even more potential to tap into and we're excited to see what he can do with an elevated role with this talented group."
Playing mostly third-line minutes, with Joe Thornton, the 23-year-old Labanc improved his goals and assists over last season in just about the same ice time. His Corsi percentage also stayed solid at 55.8 after a 54.5 campaign in 2017-18.
Labanc's 56 points were good for sixth on the team - tied with 27-year-old Evander Kane, whom the Sharks signed to a seven-year, $49 million deal in May 2018. Labanc added nine points in 20 playoff games.
In his three seasons with the Sharks, Labanc has appeared in 214 NHL games and recorded 116 points with a plus-two rating.
Feng avoids leaderboards, birdies 72nd hole to break drought
Shanshan Feng ended her victory drought in style Sunday at the Thornberry Creek Classic.
She beat Ariya Jutanugarn in a final-round duel to remind us all that she isn’t just a former world No. 1 and major champion. She’s still one of the world’s best ball-strikers.
Feng stuck a 7-iron to 3 feet at the last and made birdie to beat Jutanugarn by a shot.
She did this moments after Jutanugarn made birdie at the last in the pairing in front of her, but she didn’t realize she needed to make the putt to win until she looked at a leaderboard at the 18th green.
“Made me a little nervous,” Feng said.
Feng said she religiously avoids looking at leaderboards. She said it creates some awkward but amusing moments.
“I didn't know I was leading the tournament after three days,” she cracked. “My habit is I don't check the scores during the tournament, the whole tournament. Even after the first day, second day, third day, I don't check anything.”
In fact, Feng said, she has holed out her last putt at tournaments before not knowing that she had won.
“A few times, I’ve looked pretty confused,” she said. “That’s happened quite a few times.”
Feng, known for her good humor, said she had a pretty good idea she had a chance to win this week when she saw Sunday’s tee times.
“I was like, `Oh, looks like I'm in the last group, so maybe I’m leading,” she said.
Tied with five players early in the round, including Rolex world No. 1 Sung Hyun Park, Feng pulled away with her trademark iron play, firing at flagsticks in a bogey-free round of 9-under 63. She hit all 18 greens in regulation, leaving herself putts of 3 feet or less on three of the final five holes.
“My ball-striking is always my strength,” said Feng, 29. “But, actually, starting from last year, I kind of lost it a little bit.
“I tried to get more distance off the tees and then, maybe, just messed up the feeling, about controlling the ball. I got that back, so I'm really happy about that.”
The victory was Feng’s 10th LPGA title, but her first in 20 months. She reigned as the world No. 1 for 23 weeks, at the end of 2017 and early into 2018, but she was steadily sliding in the rankings. She missed the cut in all three of the majors this year and was down to No. 26 in the world coming into this week.
“I was kind of a little lost,” she said. “This week, I think I kind of got everything together.”
Feng finished at 29-under overall, the second lowest 72-hole score in relation to par in LPGA history, just two behind the record Sei Young Kim set winning the Thornberry Creek Classic last year.
Tiffany Joh (67) and Amy Yang (65) tied for third, three shots back.
Hyo Joo Kim (64) finished fifth, her eighth top-10 finish in her last 10 starts.
Yealimi Noh, the 17-year-old making her LPGA debut as a pro, closed with a 68 to tie for sixth with the world No. 1 Park (69). Noh, who made it into the field as a Monday qualifier, will get another LPGA start next week. The Marathon Classic announced on the weekend that it extended her a sponsor’s exemption.
Jutanugarn, who swept all the LPGA’s major awards and honors a year ago, looked as if she was going to end her own winless spell and claim her first victory since winning the Ladies Scottish Open 49 weeks ago. She had a one-shot lead on Feng until making bogey at the 15th, where she hooked her tee shot into the edge of a hazard, pitched out, and then failing to get up and down for par after hooking her 6-iron approach into the rough left of the green.
“I didn’t feel comfortable hitting the 3-wood, but I just kept trying,” Jutanugarn said. “
Still, Feng wrestled the lead back from Jutanugarn after carving an 8-iron to 2 feet at the last to make birdie. She was gracious in the end, applauding as she sat aside the 18th green and watched Feng close with her birdie.
“It's a great win, because I think I got my game back, my confidence back,” Feng said. “And I believe that I can win more in the future.”
After capping a recent run of good results with a convincing win at the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open, Jon Rahm is back inside the top 10 in the latest installment of the Official World Golf Ranking.
Rahm finished T-3 at Pebble Beach and T-2 at Valderrama, but he saved his best for Lahinch where he went 64-62 over the weekend to win by three shots. It's his second win of the year along with the team victory alongside Ryan Palmer at the Zurich Classic, and it lifted the Spaniard from 11th to eighth in the world. After starting the year at No. 6 and falling as far as 13th in recent weeks, he's back in the top 10 for the first time since the Masters.
Rahm wasn't the only player to make a move inside the top 10, as Bryson DeChambeau jumped from eighth to sixth with his T-2 finish at the 3M Open. The biggest jump from that event belonged to winner Matthew Wolff, who rose more than 1,000 spots to No. 135 with a victory in just his third start as a pro.
Collin Morikawa, who joined DeChambeau in a tie for second, went from No. 631 to No. 213 while securing temporary PGA Tour status. Adam Hadwin went from 74th to 63rd after finishing fourth in Minnesota, while Bernd Wiesberger jumped from 134th to 83rd after a T-2 finish in Ireland that also qualified him for The Open.
Brooks Koepka remained world No. 1 for another week after finishing 65th in Minnesota, followed by Dustin Johnson, Rory McIlroy, Justin Rose and Tiger Woods. DeChambeau now sits at sixth, with Francesco Molinari, Rahm, Justin Thomas and Patrick Cantlay rounding out the top 10. Xander Schauffele fell one spot to 11th with Rahm's entry into the top 10.
With The Open officially on the horizon, a pair of names remain at the top of the betting board for Royal Portrush.
Major magician Brooks Koepka opened as a 6/1 favorite at the Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook when odds were released after the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, with Rory McIlroy next in line at 10/1. But the market has drawn them together in recent weeks, with Koepka and McIlroy both now listed as 8/1 co-favorites with the season's final major just a week away. Dustin Johnson, who opened at 12/1, remains at the same odds behind only the co-favorites.
McIlroy famously set the Portrush course record with a 61 at age 16, while Koepka has finished first or second in each of the first three majors this year.
Jon Rahm's win at the Irish Open drew some attention from bettors, as Rahm's odds fell from 20/1 to 16/1 over the weekend. That puts him alongside Tiger Woods, who opened at 12/1 after Pebble Beach and has since drifted slightly from the top spot.
Here's a look at the betting odds on some of the pre-tournament favorites, with the spotlight shifting to Northern Ireland in a matter of days:
8/1: Brooks Koepka, Rory McIlroy
12/1: Dustin Johnson
16/1: Tiger Woods, Jon Rahm
20/1: Francesco Molinari, Justin Rose
25/1: Rickie Fowler, Xander Schauffele, Patrick Cantlay, Tommy Fleetwood
30/1: Justin Thomas, Jason Day, Jordan Spieth, Hideki Matsuyama, Bryson DeChambeau, Adam Scott, Louis Oosthuizen
40/1: Matt Kuchar
50/1: Henrik Stenson, Paul Casey, Graeme McDowell, Gary Woodland, Matt Wallace
60/1: Sergio Garcia, Tony Finau, Shane Lowry, Marc Leishman, Patrick Reed
80/1: Phil Mickelson, Ian Poulter, Webb Simpson, Matthew Fitzpatrick, Rafa Cabrera-Bello
100/1: Danny Willett, Eddie Pepperell, Tyrrell Hatton
125/1: Chez Reavie, Zach Johnson, Kevin Kisner, Brandt Snedeker, Lee Westwood, Martin Kaymer
150/1: Scott Piercy, Abraham Ancer, Bernd Wiesberger, Daniel Berger, Sungjae Im, Russell Knox, Keegan Bradley, Thorbjorn Olesen, Alex Noren, Haotong Li, Branden Grace, Bubba Watson
R&A announces nearly 40-percent boost to Women's British purse
The R&A announced on Monday that it will increase the purse for next month’s AIG Women’s British Open to $4.5 million, a nearly 40 percent boost.
“This is an important first step, and we know it will take time to move closer to achieving parity with the men’s game,” R&A chief executive Martin Slumbers said. “We will continue to work toward the long-term goal of a sustainable business model, but we can’t do it alone and the support of fans, sponsors and media are all key to achieving that success.”
The Open Championship’s purse this year is $10.75 million.
The AIG Women’s British Open purse is now the second largest in women’s golf, behind the U.S. Women’s Open ($5.5 million).
“We recognized that more needed to be done to elevate the prize fund for this great championship and are pleased that we have been able to make a significant increase this year as part of The R&A’s commitment to women’s golf,” Slumbers said.
The winner of this year’s Women’s British Open will take home $675,000. The event is scheduled for Aug. 1-4 at Woburn Golf Club north of London. Georgia Hall took home $490,000 as last year’s winner.
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