I Dig Sports
LE MANS, France – Toyota Gazoo Racing has maintained the one-two formation they started the 24 Hours of Le Mans in and leads the French endurance classic at quarter distance.
The pole-sitting No. 7 TS050 Hybrid stood 23 seconds clear of its sister No. 8 entry at the official six-hour benchmark, with Jose Maria Lopez out in front over Kazuki Nakajima.
With six of 24 hours in the books, both Toyota LMP1 entries had completed 98 laps around the 8.467-mile, 38-turn course.
“Everything went fine for me,” noted Kamui Kobayashi, who turned the No. 7 over to Lopez shortly before quarter distance. “Mike did a good job to build up an advantage in his stint, so I concentrated on maintaining a strong pace and keeping the car in one piece. It’s only a few hours into the race and the night is the challenging time at Le Mans.”
The No. 11 SMP Racing BR1 sits third with Mikhail Aleshin at the wheel, just ahead of fourth-place Thomas Laurent in the No. 3 Rebellion Racing entry.
In LMP2, the Signatech Alpine No. 36 heads the class order with Andre Negrao driving, while the G-Drive Racing No. 26 of Roman Rusinov in second and DragonSpeed completing the current top three with the No. 31 of Anthony Davidson.
AF Corse sits at the top of the GTE-Pro class through the first quarter, with Daniel Serra leading Laurens Vanthoor after a frantic restart following a safety car period for the RLR M Sport ORECA going off-track at Tetre Rouge.
And in GTE-Am, Keating Motorsports’ No. 85 Ford GT has dominated the opening act, being chased at quarter-distance by the No. 84 JMW Ferrari and the No. 90 TF Sport Aston Martin.
A heavy shunt at the Porsche Curves claimed the No. 64 Corvette Racing C7.R of Marcel Fassler during the sixth hour, when Fassler made contact with the No. 88 Dempsey Proton Porsche as he went to lap the Gulf Racing Porsche.
Fassler went straight into the barriers, but was quickly able to radio to his crew that he was OK and “there was nothing I could do.”
Of note, Mike Conway set a new race-lap record on the fourth lap, posting a time of 3:17.297 in the No. 7 Toyota as he began to build a gap over Sébastien Buemi in the No. 8.
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ENSENADA, Mexico — Whenever the all-time greatest racers in the history of desert racing are discussed, near the top of the list is Rod Hall, who SCORE Int’l remembers as a ‘champion of champions’ in the history of the unique form of motorsports.
The SCORE family is filled with wonderful memories of Hall, a man who will be remembered as everyone’s best friend, a champion desert racer and an even greater ambassador for the sport for nearly six decades.
Hall passed away on June 14 after a long battle with PSP (Progressive Supranuclear Palsy — a rare brain disorder with similar symptoms as Parkinson’s disease).
Hall was at home with his wife Donna and their family in Reno, Nev., on June 14, when he died. He was 81 years old and his family reported that he passed peacefully in his sleep.
Originally from Hemet, Calif., Hall was a long-time resident of Reno, Nev. and as not only one of the original desert racers but one of the greatest champions the sport has ever seen.
Hall is the only person who raced in every one of the first 50 SCORE Baja 1000 races ending his career with an unmatchable and SCORE-record 25 class wins, earning his final one at the 50th anniversary of the world’s greatest desert race in 2017.
In his long and storied SCORE racing career, Hall won 14 SCORE season point championships, including the 1974 overall point championship as well.
Besides his 25 class wins in the SCORE Baja 1000 (including the overall victory in 1969 with Larry Minor), the venerable Hall also had 18 class wins in the SCORE Baja 500, four in the SCORE San Felipe 250, and two each in the SCORE Desert Challenge and in the SCORE Las Vegas Terrible’s Primm 300.
He also had 10 class wins in the Mint 400, 10 more in the old SCORE Parker 400 and 12 in the old SCORE Fireworks 250.
Hall was a 2005 inductee into the Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame. He also served in many capacities for ORMHOF to help keep the organization moving forward.
“As Rod’s teammate in 1999 and 2000, he was a good friend and his mentoring was the reason I became good enough to win races,” remembered long-time friend and SCORE Trophy Truck champion Roger Norman, who also has a home in Reno. “Rod was not only one of the first true desert racers, his longevity in the sport was unmatched and his life touched so many people.
“I feel very fortunate to have been one of those people to have been close to him and his wonderful family.”
Hall of Famer Sal Fish, who led SCORE from 1974 through 2012, remembers Hall fondly as well.
“Rod Hall was one of the founding fathers of desert racing and certainly a major pillar in the history of SCORE desert racing. Rod was one of the elite racers for over 40 years, but he always maintained his humble personality and was as approachable, as friendly and as open with a handshake and a friendly smile as the first time I met him when I did a little racing back in 1969,” noted Fish. “He was a tremendous spokesperson for our sport and truly the first factory-backed racer in SCORE history. His tenure as a factory driver lasted until his last win in 2017, the longest for anyone in our sport. He will be missed by all of us who have ever stepped foot in the desert.”
Hall will long be remembered for his many accomplishments as a racer. But to his family and his many, many friends, he will be cherished as a truly loving, kind and friendly person who always made time to say ‘howdy’ to everyone he met.
“Especially to his wife Donna, his sons Josh and Chad, and his granddaughter Shelby and the rest of the loving Hall family, please know how much we will miss ‘Papa’ and how humbled and honored we have been to share this stage called life with him,” said Jim Ryan, SCORE Sales and Marketing Director.
Added long-time SCORE media director Dominic Clark, “While we will miss his smile, his friendship and his ceaseless anecdotes, we have comfort in knowing that his time of pain and suffering has passed. Thanks for the everlasting memories Rod Hall, a true champion of champions.”
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NEWTON, Iowa – Fresh off an ARCA Menards Series victory at Madison Int’l Speedway on Friday, Chandler Smith will start from the pole in his NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series debut.
Smith earned the top starting position by virtue of owner points after a washout of Saturday’s scheduled qualifying session due to early-afternoon storms at the seven-eighths-mile Iowa Speedway.
Piloting the No. 51 Safelite Auto Glass Toyota Tundra for Kyle Busch Motorsports, the 16-year-old Georgia native will lead the field to green in the M&Ms 200 presented by Casey’s General Stores.
Smith hopes to add a Truck Series win to the four ARCA victories he’s accrued over the past year and a half, giving himself an early birthday present in the process. He turns 17 on June 26.
Joining Smith on the front row for Saturday night’s race will be driver points leader Grant Enfinger, whose No. 98 ProtectTheHarvest.com Ford F-150 rolls off second for ThorSport Racing.
Canadian Stewart Friesen and Enfinger’s teammate, Matt Crafton, roll off third and fourth, respectively.
Part-time NASCAR modified driver Kyle Benjamin completes the top five on the grid in the Niece Motorsports No. 45, followed by defending series champion Brett Moffitt, Ben Rhodes, Johnny Sauter, Austin Hill and Harrison Burton.
Kansas winner Ross Chastain, who recently switched his series declaration from Xfinity Series to Truck Series points, starts 19th in his pursuit of a second win this season and a ticket into the playoffs.
The M&Ms 200 presented by Casey’s General Stores takes the green flag at 8:30 p.m. ET, with live coverage on FOX Sports 1, the Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.
LINEUP: NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series; Iowa Speedway; June 15, 2019
- Chandler Smith
- Grant Enfinger
- Stewart Friesen
- Matt Crafton
- Kyle Benjamin
- Brett Moffitt
- Ben Rhodes
- Johnny Sauter
- Austin Hill
- Harrison Burton
- Todd Gilliland
- Sheldon Creed
- Raphael Lessard
- Tyler Dippel
- Brennan Poole
- Austin Wayne Self
- Jordan Anderson
- Spencer Boyd
- Ross Chastain
- Trey Hutchens III
- C.J. McLaughlin
- Gus Dean
- Natalie Decker
- Mason Massey
- Jesse Little
- Riley Herbst
- Chad Finley
- Juan Manuel Gonzalez
- Norm Benning
- Tyler Hill
- Tyler Ankrum
- Jennifer Jo Cobb
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JOLIET, Ill. — Rain has been the big winner so far this year on the DIRTcar Summer Nationals Hell Tour, and Mother Nature dealt another wet hand to the dirt late model tour on Saturday.
Wet weather forced the postponement of Saturday night’s scheduled event at The Dirt Oval at Route 66 Raceway. The event has been rescheduled for Monday, July 1.
With the exception of Brian Shirley’s win at Kankakee County Speedway on Thursday, three of the first four tour events have been hampered by rain – Peoria Speedway last Wednesday (now set for June 26), Sycamore Speedway on Friday (a rescheduled date for the 40-lap feature to be announced soon) and now Route 66.
By virtue of his victory at Kankakee, Shirley – a two-time Summer Nationals champion – leads the early points standings over Frank Heckenast Jr., Rusty Schlenk, 2010 Nationals titlist Jason Feger and Ryan Unzicker.
Fayette County Speedway in Brownstown, Ill., is next up on the Hell Tour slate with a $5,000-to-win main event scheduled for Sunday, June 16.
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It rained on the St. Louis Blues' parade, but nobody seemed to mind.
Hundreds of thousands of people lined the streets of downtown St. Louis and braved the rain Saturday to cheer on the Stanley Cup champs, who concluded the festivities with a packed rally beneath the Gateway Arch.
The Blues ended one of sports' longest championship droughts Wednesday by beating the Boston Bruins 4-1 in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final, the first title for a franchise that joined the NHL 52 years ago.
The long-awaited championship stirred strong emotions in St. Louis, a city still smarting from the departure of the NFL's Rams in 2016. The loss of the football team seemed to strengthen fans' bonds to the Blues and their beloved baseball team, the Cardinals.
"I'm so happy for the city and the fans here,'' Blues interim coach Craig Berube said. "They deserve it. But more than anything I'm so happy for our players, because of how hard they've played, the character and leadership coming through, winning that Cup.''
Among the masses were NHL Hall of Famer Brett Hull, actor Jon Hamm and superfan Laila Anderson, who is battling a life-threatening autoimmune disease and served as a good-luck charm during the postseason run.
"I'm just glad I could help them," Anderson said. "I don't know what I do, but I'm just glad the whole city supports me so much."
Ryan Korte, a 56-year-old letter carrier from the St. Louis suburb of Belleville, Illinois, said he wasn't sure he would ever get to see the Blues win the Cup.
"I was starting to wonder," Korte said as he waved a towel while standing on a ledge, straining to see the parade. "A lot of disappointments. They've had some good teams, and they always let us down."
Not this time.
"This is bigger than the World Series," Korte said.
That may sound strange in St. Louis, which has long been considered a baseball haven thanks to the Cardinals' 11 World Series titles. It sure looked like a hockey town on Saturday, though, as fans shouted, "Let's Go Blues!" and danced to "Gloria," the 1982 Laura Branigan hit that became the Blues' unofficial victory song.
"These guys won the Stanley Cup for this city!" Hull said. "There is nothing more they have to do! So instead of saying, 'Let's Go Blues,' we're gonna say, 'We Went Blues! We Went Blues! We Went Blues!'"
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O'Reilly: Winning title 'still hasn't sunk in'
Ryan O'Reilly reflects on winning the Stanley Cup title with the Blues during their championship celebration.
Forward Ryan O'Reilly, who won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoff MVP, carried the Stanley Cup to fans lining Market Street to let them touch it.
"I was saying this earlier during the parade ... I said this is a city of amazing hockey fans, amazingly nice people, and amazing drinkers as well," O'Reilly said. "They can handle their stuff. It's awesome; I love it."
"The Blues have an amazing fan base," said Michael DeHeer, 52, of St. Louis. "This place is ready to explode."
It has been quite a journey since the Blues joined the NHL in 1967 as one of six expansion teams that year that doubled the size of the league. The original six teams were kept in one division, and the six new teams in another, ensuring that an expansion team would play for the Stanley Cup.
The Blues loaded their roster with aging veterans, and it paid off: They played for the Stanley Cup in each of their first three seasons. They didn't win a game, though, going a combined 0-12 in those three series.
What followed was a 49-year stretch in which the Blues didn't make the Final -- a drought made even more remarkable because the team missed the playoffs only nine times during that span.
This year's season didn't start out promising, as a sluggish start got coach Mike Yeo fired in November.
Berube took over as interim coach -- a title he still holds, though the interim tag is expected to be lifted soon. Improvement didn't come immediately; the Blues were last in the standings on Jan. 3, the middle of the season. Days later, an unheralded rookie goaltender named Jordan Binnington was called up. He won his first game in a shutout.
Soon, with Binnington taking over as the lead goalie, the Blues went on a franchise-record 11-game winning streak and stayed hot through their playoff run.
Binnington, known for his calm demeanor, finally let loose Saturday.
"You want to see some f---ing emotion?'' he asked the rally crowd. "We're Stanley Cup champions, baby!
"This has been an incredible day. There's thousands of people out here -- and you guys have waited a long time, so this is incredible. Thank you for sharing this with us."
The Blues joined a list of other sports franchises to recently end long championship droughts. The Chicago Cubs' win in the 2016 World Series ended a 108-year run of futility. The Philadelphia Eagles won the 2018 Super Bowl, their first championship in 58 years. Last year's Stanley Cup winners, the Washington Capitals, won for the first time since joining the NHL in 1974.
"It's awesome; I've never seen anything like it in my life," Berube said. "Best fans in the league, for sure. I mean, what an incredible experience to be down here today in the parade; it's unbelievable. I'm so happy for the city and the fans here; they deserve it. But more than anything, I'm so happy for our players, because [of] how hard they played, [the] character and leadership coming through, winning us a Cup."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Reed brushes off Friday club snap, says it was 'no big deal'
Published in
Golf
Saturday, 15 June 2019 09:35
PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. – With a majestic show of force over his right knee next to the 18th green Friday night, Patrick Reed authored one of the visual highlights of the 119th U.S. Open.
Reed’s heated club snap gained plenty of online traction in the hours after his second round at Pebble Beach, where a series of miscues from short range caused the former Masters champ’s blood to boil. He didn’t speak to reporters after the emotional close to his second round, but given a few hours to cool off he spoke about the incident following a 1-over 72 in Round 3 that left him at 3 over for the week.
In Reed’s mind, the club snap was cathartic – and undeserving of further scrutiny.
“To me, it’s no big deal,” Reed said. “It was comical after watching it afterwards. But it wasn’t comical having to go through hitting poor wedge shot after poor wedge shot, especially when I pride myself on my short game and being able to get up and down.”
Reed’s issues on the 18th hole Friday began when his 6-iron attempt to extract his ball from the rough barely went 100 yards. From there he found a greenside bunker, bladed it over the green, missed the green again coming back and flubbed another chip from the thick grass.
It was at that point that his 61-degree lob wedge met its untimely demise.
“Oh yeah, it deserved it. There’s a reason why I call it '61 and done,' and that’s why it’s done,” Reed said. “We always call it '61 and done' because it usually gets me out of jail all the time. It kept me in jail on that one.”
Reed used his 57-degree sand wedge for his sixth shot, and eventually rolled in a short putt to make the cut on the number. While social media lit up with slow-motion video of his visceral outburst, he believes it pales in comparison to some other on-course sins.
“I mean, at the end of the day, I got my anger out. I didn’t do anything to the golf course, I didn’t say any obscenities or anything like that. It was a split-second and I moved on,” Reed said. “You have Sergio (Garcia) with what he did on the greens (in Saudi Arabia). I’ve seen multiple guys tear up golf courses, slam clubs. I mean, Rory (McIlroy) threw his club in the water on 8 at Doral (in 2015). You had Lucas Bjerregaard send his driver in the water here. It happens.
“The thing is, things like that probably shouldn’t happen, but at the end of the day as long as you respect the golf course, as long as you’re not doing anything that is damaging the golf course or damaging the players that you’re playing with, I’d rather let it out than keep it in.”
Reed couldn’t recall the last time he broke a club in anger on the golf course, though he did note that he had three club shafts break on commercial flights over the last year. He regularly travels with three lob wedges in case one gets damaged during play, and he put one of those backups into his bag for the third round – albeit for a far different reason.
“To basically miss the green from 20 yards and then basically advance the ball 3 inches from 6 feet off the green, it’s not normally how my short game is,” Reed said. “But that’s what a U.S. Open, and rough like this, will do to you.”
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PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. – Tiger Woods had a familiar accessory when he showed up for the third round of the U.S. Open: more kinesiology tape.
The athletic tape was once again visible on the base of Woods’ neck during his Saturday 71 that left him outside the top 20 at Pebble Beach. Over the past year and a half Woods has used the tape to provide more support, especially when it’s colder and his reconfigured spine doesn’t loosen up.
When asked whether he was dealing with an injury, or if the tape was merely precautionary, he replied: “When it’s cold like this, everything is achy. It’s just part of the deal.”
Woods revealed this spring that he was dealing with a strained neck, leading him to withdraw before the Arnold Palmer Invitational. He won the Masters two starts later.
Was the ailment related?
“It’s all the same,” he said. “It’s been like that for years. The forces have to go somewhere. And if they’re not in the lower back, they’re in the neck. And if not, they’re in the mid-back. And if not, they go to the knee. You name it.”
Cool, damp weather like they’ve had the past few days at Pebble Beach doesn’t help Woods’ 43-year-old body, either. Though he doesn’t show the same lethargy that was present when he missed the cut last month at the PGA, Woods has also looked stiff in the 50-degree temperatures.
Woods said that’s to be expected.
“My back impacts every shot I play – it’s just part of the deal,” he said. “Let me put it this way: I feel every shot I hit. I think that’s always going to be the case from here going forward.”
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TT Postscript: Tiger (71) fights Pebble and his body to a draw
Published in
Golf
Saturday, 15 June 2019 12:35
PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. – Tiger Woods fought Pebble Beach and his body to a draw Saturday, with a five-birdie, five-bogey 71. It was an admirable effort, but we can all skip ahead to Royal Portrush. Wrapping up Tiger’s U.S. Open with 18 left to play:
• Go ahead and put a bow on it. He was going to need something seriously special to get back in this tournament. Two bogeys in his first three holes turned Saturday into little more than a long walk.
• I give him credit. It was cold out. He had kinesiology tape on his neck again. He clearly didn’t have it. And he never lost focus for five hours. He could have packed it in. He could have gotten pissed off and started taking chances. Instead, he scraped it around and birdied two of his last three holes to end the day where he started it: even par. It was a classic Tiger round, just not one of his classics.
• Speaking of that tape, a bad back doesn’t sound like a lot of fun: “When it's cold like this everything is achy. It's just part of the deal,” he said. “The forces have to go somewhere. And if they're not in the lower back, they're in the neck, and if not, they're in the mid-back, and if not, they go to the knee. You name it. ... Let me put it this way, I feel every shot I hit. I think that's always going to be the case from here going forward.”
• The aches were evident in his iron play. A few lasers but more than a few approaches left short. He found only 11 of 18 greens. He looked like a guy who was cold and a little stiff, which apparently he was.
• The putts he made at Nos. 5 and 16 were very golf-y. He’s missed a half-dozen birdie looks from inside 10 feet the last two days, but he gets a couple 25-footers to go. “Today, I made one putt at 16 which was just trying to keep the ball on the green,” he said.
• You have to think Tiger and the cold just aren’t going to mix anymore. The guy was sweating through a half-dozen shirts a round last summer but partial dehydration seems better for his body than a marine layer.
• Let’s end on a lighter note:
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Midfielder Duane Holmes has been dropped from the U.S. CONCACAF Gold Cup roster because of a reoccurrence of a left quadriceps strain, and he has been replaced by midfielder Djordje Mihailovic.
The U.S. Soccer Federation announced the change Saturday, four days after the Americans replaced injured midfielder and defender Tyler Adams with Reggie Cannon.
Holmes made his U.S. debut on June 5 in an exhibition against Jamaica.
- CONCACAF Gold Cup: All you need to know
- Full Gold Cup fixtures schedule
Coming off a 1-0 loss to Jamaica and a 3-0 defeat to Venezuela, the U.S. opens its Gold Cup title defense against Guyana on Tuesday at St. Paul, Minnesota, in the Americans' first competitive match since the October 2017 loss at Trinidad and Tobago that ended a streak of seven World Cup appearances.
The U.S. face Trinidad on June 22 at Cleveland and complete group play against Panama on June 26 at Kansas City, Kansas.
The revised roster:
Goalkeepers: Sean Johnson (New York City), Tyler Miller (Los Angeles), Zack Steffen (Columbus).
Defenders: Reggie Cannon (Dallas), Omar Gonzalez (Atlas, Mexico), Nick Lima (San Jose), Aaron Long (New York Red Bulls), Daniel Lovitz (Montreal), Matt Miazga (Chelsea, England), Tim Ream (Fulham, England), Walker Zimmerman (Los Angeles).
Midfielders: Michael Bradley (Toronto), Weston McKennie (Schalke, Germany), Djordje Mihailovic (New England), Christian Pulisic (Chelsea, England), Cristian Roldan (Seattle), Wil Trapp (Columbus).
Forwards: Jozy Altidore (Toronto), Paul Arriola (D.C.), Tyler Boyd (Vitoria Guimares, Portugal), Jonathan Lewis (Colorado), Jordan Morris (Seattle), Gyasi Zardes (Columbus)
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Roger Martinez scored an outstanding goal as Colombia beat Lionel Messi's Argentina 2-0 in a Copa America Group B opener on Saturday that burst into life after a sluggish start.
In a match that feature a plethora of stars such as Messi, Sergio Aguero, Radamel Falcao, and James Rodriguez, it was Martinez who put Colombia up with a booming strike in the 71st minute.
The loss puts Argentina in an early hole at the tournament where they have finished runners-up in four the past five editions. For Messi, it adds more pressure as the Barcelona star tries to win his first senior trophy at the international level.
- Copa America: All you need to know
- Full Copa America fixtures schedule
Martinez's stunning strike came in the 71st minute and Martinez's fellow substitute Duvan Zapata made sure Colombia took all the points by pouncing from close range to knock in a cross from Jefferson Lerma 15 minutes later.
Colombia had looked stronger in the first half but Argentina were a different beast when Rodrigo de Paul replaced Angel di Maria immediately after the interval and Messi was able to find space to cause some problems.
Messi wasted the best chance of the game before Martinez's piledriver broke the deadlock when he skewed a rebound wide from close range, and also went on a thrilling solo run into the area but could not get a shot away.
A mass brawl ensued when Messi was cut down by Colombia's Juan Cuadrado in the second half while Argentina midfielder Leandro Paredes fizzed two shots at goal.
A goal from Lionel Scaloni's side looked imminent but Colombia's usual talisman James Rodriguez split their defence with an impressive long pass to Martinez, who came on early in the game after Luis Muriel was forced off injured.
Martinez's stunning strike floored Argentina and although they came back with a couple more attempts, they never looked like scoring.
Colombia top Group B with three points ahead of Qatar's meeting with Paraguay on Sunday.
Information from Reuters was used in this report.
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