A review into religious expression from those "with and without strong" beliefs will be held by the Australian Rugby Union Players' Association (Rupa).

It comes after full-back Israel Folau, 30, was sacked by Rugby Australia after saying "hell awaits" gay people in a social media post.

Rupa said it was going to conduct the review as RA did not have rules about players expressing religious views.

"There remains a great deal of work to be done," said a Rupa statement.

"To address this, Rupa will immediately establish and undertake an expression of faith and beliefs review alongside its players, incorporating advice from those with and without strong religious beliefs.

"The aim is to hold a first meeting of the review committee following the conclusion of the Super Rugby and World Rugby Sevens Series seasons.

"We will also invite both a Rugby Australia and a Super Rugby representative to participate in this Rupa-led review, and we wholeheartedly urge them to take us up on this offer of collaboration and to contribute to a landscape with clearly established guidelines for players, which players can have confidence in."

Folau, a fundamentalist Christian, chose not to contest his sacking after a code of conduct hearing upheld the termination of his contract by RA, which meant he could not play for Australia or Super Rugby club side New South Wales Waratahs.

However, he said his decision is "in no way an acceptance of the judicial panel's findings" and he was "considering all potential avenues".

"This is a sad outcome for Israel, his family, friends, team-mates, opponents and all associated with rugby in Australia and around the world," added the Rupa statement.

"Rupa will continue to support Israel to ensure that he, [wife] Maria and their broader family receive any personal support they need in this difficult transition from Australian rugby."

After another action-packed weekend in soccer, Gab Marcotti reflects on the big talking points in his latest edition of Monday Musings.

Jump to: Bayern wrap up Bundesliga | Praise for Vincent Kompany | The Real, Bale dilemma | Serie A's top four race | Dortmund's rebuild | Messi wraps up Golden Boot | De Rossi chaos at Roma

Bayern wrap up turbulent season with another league title

There was no drama on the final day of the 2018-19 Bundesliga season. Bayern won and did it emphatically, beating up Eintracht Frankfurt, 5-1, to win their seventh straight title. Despite being 90 minutes away from a Double -- they play Leipzig in the German Cup final next weekend -- Niko Kovac's job is on the line.

The fact that he said "I'm convinced I'm staying" rather than simply "I'm staying" speaks volumes here, and if you followed Bayern's season, you'll know why.

- Honigstein: Can Bayern ever replace Robben, Ribery?

This is a team that was nine points back from Borussia Dortmund in December. And rather than putting together an inspired comeback, the narrative of the campaign has been more about taking advantage of their rivals' stumbles (and there have been many). In Kovac's case, it was also about less-than-inspired football -- the ghost of Pep Guardiola still haunts the Allianz Arena -- and occasionally stormy relations with a number of first-team players.

Saturday also marked the goodbye for three men who have marked Bayern's recent history: Rafinha, Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery after a combined 30 seasons at the club. Robben and Ribery in particular ought to be singled out. It's easy to forget that both started and made their name as traditional wingers, only to evolve into something different and more modern, during the Guardiola era. It's one thing for young players to adapt to a new boss, quite another for two veterans pushing 30 to reinvent themselves and make a radically different change. That's a credit to their professionalism and the environment that existed at the club.

There are big decisions ahead for Bayern even if Kovac ends up staying, but the lasting legacy of this season ought to be a warning shot across their bow: this title is more about your opposition's flaws than your own merits. Fix things or watch someone else win next season.

Praise for Vincent Kompany

Watford failed to put up much of a fight in the FA Cup final as Manchester City romped to a 6-0 win, matching a record for margin of victory that stood since 1903 when Bury defeated Derby County. The win seals City's domestic Treble and yes, they probably are the greatest English side in the Premier League era, although they certainly did not need Saturday's win to prove it.

In some ways, the day was all about Vincent Kompany, who announced his departure to join Anderlecht, the club where he grew up, in a player-manager role. Kompany, of course, may be City's greatest-ever captain and the way he stormed back into the starting line up after three injury-riddled seasons, scoring the key goal at Leicester in the most improbable way only cements his place in history. (The fact that by shooting from 30 yards out, he chose not to follow the standard Guardiola instruction for a center-back in that position -- play it out to the wings -- also shows what a leader is: someone who knows when to follow orders and when to trust his gut.)

Anybody who has met Kompany will tell you he is precisely the sort of charismatic, intelligent and empathetic individual who is bound to do something important in football upon retirement -- if he so chooses. The fact that he opted to return home when, you'd imagine, City were willing to roll out the red carpet for him and groom him as a future coach or club executive -- as they did with Patrick Vieira and wanted to do with Frank Lampard -- as well as giving him the option of another season on the pitch, says plenty about him.

He's been a tremendous servant to City, but the Etihad is not reality. It's an extreme situation, with a unique set-up and manager. If he wants to learn the ropes, he needs to dig in further down the food chain. The fact that he can do it at the (other) club he loves is a bonus.

A big summer ahead for Real Madrid and Gareth Bale

Real Madrid's season finished with a whimper, beaten 2-0 at home by Betis in Quique Setien's final game in charge of Betis. It was their 18th defeat of the season, their 12th in La Liga. It also marks arguably their worst campaign in more than two decades, and while the arrivals of Eder Militao and Luka Jovic may inject new life in the side next season, Sunday also offered a reminder of how they can't just flip a switch, blow up the team and start over.

After two straight weeks where he was fit but wasn't even called up to the match day squad, Gareth Bale made the substitutes' bench against Betis. He was an unused sub as Zinedine Zidane sent on Marco Asensio, Isco and Lucas Vazquez instead. Cameras pictured him laughing on the bench with Toni Kroos. At the final whistle, he disappeared down the tunnel while his teammates gathered to salute the fans: few got resounding cheers, other than Keylor Navas, who is leaving.

Bale is one of the five highest-paid players in the world, with a salary of more than $30 million a year. While his output, when prorated over minutes on the pitch, has actually been relatively steady, at least statistically, he no longer fits into the club's plans. They have Vinicius Junior, Asensio, Lucas Vazquez, Brahim Diaz and they hope to sign Eden Hazard. It's seemingly an open secret that they'd love to sell him.

Except Bale's contract runs through 2022, on the eve of his 33rd birthday. And the reality is that very few clubs can afford those wages and those who do maybe don't want or need Bale. Certainly not at that salary, anyway, and not if they also need to pay a transfer fee however small. Bale doesn't want to go on loan, and as far as we know, he won't take a pay cut either.

That's his prerogative, of course. If he's willing to sit and wait for Zidane to change his mind about him or for a new manager to take over, that's his choice. But he shouldn't be surprised if people don't understand how a guy who likely has close to $100 million in the bank is unwilling to take a pay cut in order to play. His pride may be wounded, sure, but in a couple seasons, his body won't allow him to play the game at all. And he'll never get that opportunity back.

Here's hoping he takes a leaf out of the Arjen Robben play book, swallows his pride, cuts his salary -- in the short term, at least, in the long-term it might extend his shelf-life and the money he earns -- and relaunches his career elsewhere.

I don't want Bale's Real Madrid tenure to end the way Jack Rodwell's did in Sunderland. I refuse to believe the fire has gone out and that this really is all about golf.

Serie A's top-four race goes to final weekend

Serie A is going down to the wire in the battle for the final two Champions League spots after the weekend's matches which saw Roma draw away to Sassuolo (0-0), Inter get thumped at Napoli, Milan overcome Frosinone (2-0, after Gianluigi Donnarumma saved a penalty with the game scoreless) and Atalanta concede a late equaliser away to Juventus (1-1).

The first obvious point to make is that the old trope whereby late-season Serie A games yield "weird" results as teams that don't need points happily gift them to the opposition is out the window. Napoli had nothing to play for and neither did Sassuolo. Juventus stormed back in the second half after a horrendous first 45 minutes. And sure, you can say that they didn't want to spoil the postgame scudetto party but equally, quite a few of their fans wouldn't have minded seeing Atalanta knock one of the Milanese clubs out of the Champions League places.

The upshot?

Atalanta -- home to Sassuolo in theory but in practice away to Sassuolo, since Atalanta's stadium is closed for renovations -- and Inter (home to Empoli) control their own destinies. A win guarantees a place in the Champions League. Milan (away to SPAL) need to win and hope that Inter or Atalanta draw or Milan can draw if Atalanta lose since the head-to-head tiebreaker favours the rossoneri. There's also a scenario where Roma can qualify, but it would require three different results to go their way, and they'd need a massive swing in goal difference.

The stakes are high for everyone, particularly Inter and Milan.

The former have just come out of their financial fair play settlement agreement, but missing out on Champions League revenue would limit the much-needed rebuild. (And yes, if you saw how awful they were at Napoli, you'd agree they need serious help beyond just a new manager). The fact that they're playing Empoli, who desperately need the points to stay up, isn't encouraging either. Meanwhile, Milan have their own FFP issues, of course, and things will only get more complicated if they miss out, particularly after shelling out $90 million in January on Krzysztof Piatek and Lucas Paqueta.

Whatever happens, even if they don't qualify Atalanta have already won Serie A, metaphorically speaking.

Will the real Dortmund please stand up?

From one vantage point, it's hard to tell who the real Borussia Dortmund are. Are they the side that lost just twice before February and enjoyed a six-point lead at the top of the table? Or are they the team that won just eight of their past 17 games in all competitions the rest of the way?

Youth can be an excuse for many things, and this is undoubtedly a side packed with promising talent. Then again, that's why they signed an experienced coach in Lucien Favre who was supposed to guard against a second-half collapse. Instead we saw a side lacking maturity in the spring, particularly when injuries hit.

In some ways, their final act of the season, away to Borussia Moenchengladbach, was a metaphor of the season, only in reverse. Against an opponent that still had a shot at winning a place in the Champions League, Dortmund looked chaotic and flimsy in the first half, only to rediscover themselves in the second and storm back to a 2-0 victory. Favre needs to convince the players that the real Dortmund is the one we saw after the break Saturday.

When you throw titles away, it always hurts more, but this is the club's third highest points total ever. There is plenty of raw material with which to work, and if they sell a prize asset or two, there will be plenty of resources available to narrow the gap with Bayern, who look to be heading towards a transition year next season.

Messi wraps up another Golden Boot?

Having sealed their eighth league title in 11 years, the main purpose of Barcelona's final match of the Liga campaign away to Eibar was Lionel Messi getting a chance to pad out his goals total with a view towards winning his sixth European Golden Boot. (Whether or not he cares and whether he'd happily swap them all for a World Cup, Copa America or even another Champions League is a matter for debate.)

As it happened, he bagged both goals in the 2-2 draw, which means his season ends with 36 Liga goals: he has 50 overall, with the Copa del Rey final to come. Assuming Kylian Mbappe fails to score five goals in Paris Saint-Germain's final game of the season (not likely he will) and Fabio Quagliarella doesn't bag 11 in Sampdoria's last outing (even less likely), it's yet another piece of silverware for his trophy cabinet.

De Rossi's exit causes chaos at Roma

News that Daniele De Rossi will be leaving Roma at the end of the season marks the end of an era. The man once known as "Captain Future" because, of course, there can only ever be one Capitano at Roma, will play his final game next weekend at home to Parma after 18 years at the club. The club are fortunate that they have quality ready-made replacements ready to take over the armband. Just as they went from Francesco Totti to De Rossi, they'll go from De Rossi to Alessandro Florenzi and, perhaps, one day to Lorenzo Pellegrini and then to Luca Pellegrini (no relation, in case you're wondering).

That said, it's telling how De Rossi's departure is wreaking such havoc at the club. He simply said he imagined himself playing for Roma until he could no longer stand and they "dragged me off the pitch." He also said that had he been in charge, he would have renewed his contract another year. He even said he was willing to stay on a "pay-for-play" deal. That was enough for a popular uprising among some supporters against the Roma top brass, from owner Jim Pallotta to executives Mauro Baldissoni and Franco Baldini. Even Claudio Ranieri, the outgoing manager, appeared to take a swipe when he said that he would have kept De Rossi around.

You can get the fans' reaction -- we want our heroes to be immortal -- but some of this also feels like a case of "point-scoring" against the club for what has turned into a disappointing season.

As for De Rossi, you can't picture him wearing different colors, and you'd imagine that if he has to play for a different club, he'll want it to be as far away as possible. The fact that he speaks good English and his wife is British-American (although she was raised in Rome) has prompted some to see Major League Soccer in his future. You'd imagine that would be an option, although the legacy of great European midfielders moving to MLS isn't great: Bastian Schweinsteiger, Steven Gerrard and Andrea Pirlo didn't exactly pull up trees.

So here's hoping he takes the more romantic option, mooted by some: he has long been an admirer of Argentine football, what if he rocked up at Boca Juniors or River Plate for a season or two?

I have no idea if this is even a possibility, but yeah, if it happens I'll want to witness it. And so will you.

It don't mean a thing, if it ain't got that swing
It don't mean a thing, all you got to do is sing

The tune was Duke Ellington's and the lyrics came from Irving Mills, but one of the greatest jazz standards could have been written about Mitchell Starc. He has pursued it, at times mastered it, then lost and regained it at various points of his career, but when Starc captures swing and wraps it in a yorker delivered at 150 kilometres per hour, it is one of cricket's most potent weapons.

It was one of Australia's most valuable, too, at the 2015 Men's World Cup and earned Starc the Player of the Tournament honours. His 22 wickets came at an average of 10.18 and with a giddy economy rate of 3.50. And it was Starc who struck the most devastating blow in the final against New Zealand in the very first over, that trademark swinging yorker obliterating the stumps of Brendon McCullum.

Since then, the swing has come and gone in tune with form and injuries. And now, four years after a tournament in which he was at times unplayable, the question swirls: does he have it?

"It was four years ago so a lot's changed in four years," said Starc before Australia's training session in Southampton. "I guess I'm four years older and things have changed throughout my action over those four years I think, whether consciously doing them or not and going through a few niggles and injuries which have probably affected that as well. So the last three or four months have not been focused on the last World Cup. It's about how I'm going at the minute and what I can do to get myself in the best position to help the team out going forward."

Starc hasn't played an ODI since November, at home against South Africa. But there were signs he was rediscovering a more consistent inswinger with the red Kookaburra during the Test series against India and Sri Lanka over the Australian summer. The left-armer worked closely with then Australia bowling coach, David Saker, overcoming a tendency to collapse on his front foot, something that had crept in following a string of niggles.

But a 10-wicket haul during the second Test against Sri Lanka in Canberra came at a significant cost; Starc tore a pectoral muscle and has worked his way back to full match fitness in time for the World Cup.

"I've done a fair bit of work since Canberra," said Starc. "Obviously I had a fair bit of rehabilitation straight after that and didn't bowl for a while. But having three months to chat about things and then I guess just have a little bit of a different approach to how I think about it and perhaps the change of wording and I guess my cues going forward have helped me coming back to this stage as well.

"So it's been a nice little period and things that I can focus on. I think I mentioned a little while ago just having a finer focus on a certain couple of things which are really helping me."

Errrrr… come again? If the previous paragraph reads like a well tossed word salad with a sprinkling of non sequitur croutons, it's because Starc is admitting to journalists that he's made some tweaks without giving away any clues as to what those tweaks actually are.

Let's try coming at it from another angle. Are those cues mental or physical?

"I think you could probably classify them as both," said Starc. "They're just little things I can control throughout my action and run up that help me get in a really good position and a finer focus to get that result at the other end. So they're just things I can control and I've been working on, I guess, the last few months is the feeling of it. So getting that really positive feeling of being in those certain positions or those certain cues so it's something I've really enjoyed working on and having that finer focus on those few things has really helped me."

So there's a finer focus, a positive feeling and good positions. Whatever else might be involved may become clearer during Australia's three warm-up matches and throughout Starc's World Cup campaign. And with the two white Kookaburras offering minimal assistance to swing bowlers, perhaps Starc can take his inspiration from Duke and Irv.

It makes no difference if it's sweet or hot
Give that rhythm everything you've got

PORTLAND, Ore. -- As the Golden State Warriors celebrated their fifth straight Western Conference championship after eliminating the Portland Trail Blazers on Monday night, forward Draymond Green pointed out that as the conversation surrounding Kevin Durant's pending free agency continues, Durant's addition to the Warriors three summers ago made the group "unbeatable."

Durant hasn't played since injuring his right calf in Game 5 of the conference semifinals on May 8, but Green singled out Durant as being the reason the organization has been able to go to another level over the past three seasons and sits on the precipice of winning its third straight NBA championship.

"There's been so much talk about how, 'Oh, they're the Warriors. Before Kevin got there they were great.' Bulls---," Green told ESPN. "We was damn good. I think we were a very good team who was tough to beat. I think when Kevin came here, he made us unbeatable. When DeMarcus [Cousins] came here, it made people scratch their head even more. And so we need those guys. The next series is going to be tough, and I hope and pray that we can get him back."

The Warriors remain cautiously optimistic that Durant, who will be reevaluated later this week, will be able able to return for the NBA Finals, but the Warriors remain vague on an exact return because they want to make sure Durant continues to respond well to treatment.

Green was vocal prior to Game 4 that the Warriors were motivated to close out the series against the Blazers because it would allow Durant and Cousins more time to recover. Cousins has been sidelined since tearing his right quad in Game 2 of the first round against the Los Angeles Clippers on April 15. Durant would have nine full days of recovery in advance of Game 1 of NBA Finals in either Milwaukee or Toronto, scheduled for May 30. The extra rest also allows Andre Iguodala, who missed Game 4 because of a left calf injury, more time to heal.

"Our goal is obviously to get all three of those guys back," Green said. "We know we're a good team with who we have, but those guys make us great and almost unbeatable. And we know we need [Durant]."

The Warriors have praised Durant repeatedly throughout the postseason, especially in the wake of his injury after he averaged 34.2 points, 5.2 rebounds and 4.9 assists in the postseason prior to getting hurt. In order to win a third straight NBA championship, Warriors players and coaches reiterated that they're going to need him in order to finish the job.

"It's very special, go five straight [to the NBA Finals], it obviously hasn't been done since the '60s," Warriors swingman Klay Thompson told ESPN. "We're aware that it's pretty amazing. It's nice that we've won with enough time to try and get K back because we desperately need him. And I think everyone knows there's a couple matchups for next series that will be huge to have him fully healthy. It's just a special time right now to be a Warrior."

Warriors head coach Steve Kerr knows Durant still has to clear some hurdles in his recovery, including being cleared for on-court work again, but he feels good about the possibilities.

"I'm just hopeful that that's the case more than anything," Kerr told ESPN of being able to add Durant back into the lineup. "We don't know how it's going to end up. I'm really proud of the guys for holding down the fort during this series, and hopefully his rehab continues to progress and we get him back because we're going to need him. No doubt."

PORTLAND, Ore. -- There is no award for most valuable player of the conference finals. If there were there's a good chance Draymond Green would've won it for his play for the Golden State Warriors in their sweep of the Portland Trail Blazers.

His defense was just sensational. His playmaking was at the highest levels he's maybe ever shown, nearly averaging a triple double at 16.5 points, 11.8 rebounds and 8.8 assists. He ran the floor like a point guard. And he hit the game-winning shot in overtime of Game 4, a clutch 3-pointer in the 119-117 win that clinched the Western Conference finals.

Players and coaches on both sides, plus the large media contingent, have praised Green for days. After calling him a "wrecking ball" after an awesome Game 3, Warriors head coach Steve Kerr was asked to come up with an even better metaphor for Green the next day. He apologized that he couldn't.

But in all fairness, Green wasn't the best player in the series.

This sweep was a genuine masterpiece for Stephen Curry. Perhaps the stakes weren't high enough nor the opponent severe enough to call it the best playoff series of his career for it to qualify -- actually, forget that, it was the best series of his career.

Curry has never dominated a series like he did over these past four games, doing so in a time of need with Kevin Durant out and Andre Iguodala hobbled and then sidelined himself. Actually, call it the best 4.5 games of Curry's playoff career when you include the 33-point second half to close out the Houston Rockets in Game 6 of the previous round.

He has said many times during the past week that this was a special time because he was playing against his brother, Seth, in this series. But it's going to be a special memory because of just how dominating he was.

With his 37 points Monday, Curry finished the series averaging a career-high 36.5 points. It was the most points any player has averaged in a four-game sweep in league history. The 26 3-pointers he made were another NBA record for the first four games of a series, some of them just preposterous, such as the long-range missile he made at the end of the first half Monday that cracked the Blazers' momentum.

The stats could go on and on, but let's pause for a moment. No one freaked out about Curry's greatness these past four games. There was intense praise for Green, universal acclaim for the Warriors' role players and odes to Golden State's championship meddle. All totally legitimate.

But Curry's triple-double in Game 4 -- he had 13 rebounds and 11 assists -- threatened to be relegated to a footnote. So was the fact that he played the entire second half and overtime. That he did all of this with a pesky finger injury -- he dislocated his middle finger in Game 2 against Houston -- was brushed off.

That's because Curry has achieved one of the greatest levels a player can: He's normalized greatness.

Michael Jordan did this. LeBron James did this. Tim Duncan did this. There's such an expectation that Curry will deliver that when he does, there's an absence of appropriate acclaim.

Yep, just another good game for Curry. Oh, by the way: Had he not lost his mind for a second and needlessly traveled before hitting at 3-pointer at the end of the fourth quarter, he would've ho-hummed his way to an ultra-rare 40-point triple-double in a road closeout game in the conference finals.

"We still don't take anything for granted," Curry said. "We understand how hard it is to end at this level. We don't want to end as long as we can control it."

It's good advice. Curry's play since Durant's injury -- he had 12 points in the fourth quarter of Game 5 against the Rockets after Durant came up lame to finish off that crucial win -- should not be taken for granted.

"I just can't say enough about the competitive desire about the group of players that we have here and the culture that they have built together," Kerr said. "Being without Kevin these last five games has put us in a really tough spot, and our guys stepped up in a big way."

A bunch of guys have for sure. But one in particular deserves special notice.

Three-time Formula One world champion Niki Lauda died on Monday, eight months after receiving a lung transplant. He was 70 years old.

“With deep sadness, we announce that our beloved Niki has peacefully passed away with his family on Monday,” his family said in a statement to the Austrian press agency.

Lauda was born in 1949 and began a career in racing, going against the wishes of his family. He made it to Formula One in 1971 driving for March Racing. He made his debut in his home country’s Austrian Grand Prix.

He returned to March Racing in 1972 before transitioning to BRM for the 1973 season. Lauda then caught the attention of Enzo Ferrari, who offered him an opportunity to join the famed Scuderia Ferrari team in 1974.

Lauda earned his first two Grand Prix victories in 1974 and backed them up with five more wins and the Formula One championship in 1975.

The 1976 season saw Lauda engage in his legendary battle over the Formula One crown with James Hunt. The two battled throughout the season before Lauda was badly burned in an accident during the German Grand Prix.

Much to the surprise of many, including Hunt, Lauda returned to competition six weeks after the crash in Germany to continue his fight with Hunt over the championship.

Lauda entered the finale in Japan leading the championship, but opted to retire from the race because he felt the torrential downpour taking place during the event made the racing unsafe. Hunt won the championship.

The 1976 season and the battle between Hunt and Lauda was dramatized in the 2013 film Rush, which featured Daniel Bruhl portraying Lauda.

Lauda returned to championship form in 1977, winning three times and capturing his second Formula One title. He left Ferrari to join Brabham in 1978, but following a frustrating 1979 season that saw Lauda fail to finish all but two rounds, he retired and started his own airplane business.

Lauda’s retirement didn’t last. In 1982, he joined McLaren and returned to Formula One, winning the United States Grand Prix and the British Grand Prix.

After a dismal 1983 season, Lauda returned to McLaren in 1984. Lauda and McLaren won five times and the Austrian driver claimed his third and final Formula One championship.

Lauda spent one more season with McLaren in 1985, but failed to finish most of the races. He won his final Formula One race that season during the Dutch Grand Prix. Lauda retired at the conclusion of the season.

After departing Formula One as a driver Lauda held multiple management and consulting positions. He was a consultant for Ferrari for a time and in 2001 Lauda became team principal of the Jaguar Formula One team. He left that role in 2002.

In 2012, he was appointed the non-executive chairman of the Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team and was often spotted in the Mercedes pits watching drivers Lewis Hamilton, Nico Rosberg and Valtteri Bottas.

All at McLaren are deeply saddened to learn that our friend, colleague and 1984 Formula 1 World Champion, Niki Lauda, has passed away. Niki will forever be in our hearts and enshrined in our history. #RIPNiki pic.twitter.com/Ndd9ZEfm6B

— McLaren (@McLarenF1) May 21, 2019

SALISBURY, N.C. – Carson Kvapil kept his run of success during Charlotte Speedweeks going strong by topping Monday night’s open practice session for the sixth-annual QRC Open presented by HMS Motorsport.

Kvapil, the driver of the No. 35 CorvetteParts.net/SKE Chassis entry, turned a fast lap of 9.8665 seconds (60.812 mph) around the one-sixth mile dirt oval, leading a list of 24 drivers who took time during the three-hour period.

The teenager and oldest son of 2003 NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series champion Travis Kvapil is looking to become the sixth different driver in as many years to win the QRC Open.

“The scary part is, I think we can be even better,” said Carson Kvapil. “We were OK, I felt like, but I didn’t think we were as good as we could have been … definitely not quite where I wanted to be. She was pretty happy around the top, though. This is a brand-new car, and we’re working on getting it right.”

After sending his son home prior to the clock expiring, since it was a school night, Travis Kvapil smiled as he began loading his oldest son’s kart back into the trailer and noted he was content with where they ended the night.

“I would say that’s the best we’ve been here, honestly,” noted Travis Kvapil. “Our last run, he ran (10) flats every lap and then a 9.90 on the last lap. It was turning times so effortlessly, and that’s always what you want as a parent and a crew chief. We’re in a good spot; we just have to carry that through the week.”

Recent Monster Energy NASCAR All-Star Race winner Kyle Larson was second-quick on the night in a brand new Factory QRC-backed No. 1k machine.

Larson led the first hour of practice before being topped by Carson Kvapil, and when he went back out for another go, lowered his best time to a 9.8995-second (60.609 mph) clip.

“We’re better than we’ve started off here, for sure; we’re just not quite where Kvapil is,” noted Larson. “He was staying so consistent and we were falling off over the course of a run, so that’s something we’ll have to work on for tomorrow and Wednesday. It’s a good place to start, though.”

A trio of California drivers – Chase Majdic, Colby Copeland and Jesse Colwell – completed the top five.

Larson was the only past winner of the event to practice on Monday night. Joey Robinson ran the most laps of any of the two-dozen drivers in attendance, with 85 laps around the one-sixth mile dirt oval.

Tuesday night’s Cookout Night program at Millbridge features Open division qualifying for Wednesday’s 51-lap, $5,151-to-win QRC Open main event, as well as a separate $1,000-to-win feature.

Beginner Box Stocks and Box Stocks will also run full programs on Tuesday night as well.

Practice results for the sixth-annual QRC Open presented by HMS Motorsport:

1. #35 – Carson Kvapil, 9.867 seconds
2. #1k – Kyle Larson, 9.899 seconds
3. #42x – Chase Majdic, 9.938 seconds
4. #1m – Colby Copeland, 10.072 seconds
5. #86j – Jesse Colwell, 10.210 seconds
6. #23x – Demo Mittry, 10.234 seconds
7. #1b – Chase Johnson, 10.263 seconds
8. #83 – Jett Hays, 10.280 seconds
9. #19m – Ethan Mitchell, 10.310 seconds
10. #09 – Tyler Letarte, 10.320 seconds
11. #84 – Dillon Latour, 10.341 seconds
12. #33 – Joey Robinson, 10.355 seconds
13. #11x – Brent Crews, 10.364 seconds
14. #57 – Maria Cofer, 10.395 seconds
15. #812 – Gray Leadbetter, 10.434 seconds
16. #01 – Carson Sousa, 10.452 seconds
17. #22c – Carly Holmes, 10.464 seconds
18. #54 – Lucas Sipka, 10.477 seconds
19. #52y – Dominic Gorden, 10.594 seconds
20. #77h – Jerrod Huisenga, 10.630 seconds
21. #02 – Branson Dils, 10.715 seconds
22. #2a – Renee Angel, 10.767 seconds
23. #21 – Kyle Beattie, 10.934 seconds
24. #55s – Scott Hall, 10.956 seconds

Providence head coach Ed Cooley has emerged as a candidate for the vacant Michigan job, sources told ESPN.

Cooley was expected to interview with Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel on Monday, sources told ESPN. Manuel is also expected to interview Juwan Howard, the Miami Heat assistant and former Michigan star, on Tuesday.

The Wolverines are looking to replace John Beilein, who left last week to become the head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers. Beilein had been at Michigan since 2007, leading the Wolverines to two national championship game appearances.

Cooley's connection to Michigan comes through the search firm hired to help the school, Turnkey Sports. Turnkey's managing director, Gene DeFilippo, was the athletic director at Boston College when Cooley was an assistant under Al Skinner.

Cooley, a lifelong New Englander who was born in Providence, Rhode Island, has been the head coach of the Friars for eight seasons. He led them to five consecutive NCAA tournament appearances from 2014-2018, before finishing 18-16 last season.

Luke Yaklich and Saddi Washington, who were assistants under Beilein, also have been mentioned in connection with the vacancy. Butler coach LaVall Jordan, who was an assistant under Beilein for six years, and Texas' Shaka Smart were linked early in the process, but it's unclear if either name is on the current shortlist.