JAMAICA, Va. — After much discussion and thought Virginia Motor Speedway management has made the decision to cancel racing activities for Saturday, May 4 due to the high probability of rain for the weekend.

“We have a lot of competitors and fans who travel an enormous amount of highway miles to attend our events,” said track owner Bill Sawyer. “We don’t want anyone to have the burden of making a long trip for nothing.”

The speedway will take the Mother’s Day weekend off and return to host the first of two mud bogs for the 2019 season on Saturday May 18 with the 10^th annual Mud Mayhem presented by Atlantic Broadband, James River Equipment and WhosYourDriver.org.

BARBERVILLE, Fla. — DIRTcar Racing will kick off the 2020 season with the all-new DIRTcar Sunshine Nationals Jan. 16-18 at Volusia Speedway Park.

The event will feature DIRTcar Pro Late Models, Florida Late Models and 602 Late Models racing for a purse of nearly $100,000, including a $10,000-to-win finale for Pro Late Models.

The DIRTcar Sunshine Nationals includes Feature events for all three classes each night at the half-mile speedplant near Daytona Beach, with points assigned to results on the first two nights that will set the field for the Saturday finales, similar to the World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model Series Firecracker 100 weekend.

“Dirt late models are an important part of DIRTcar Racing, and we are excited to showcase them in January at Volusia with the Sunshine Nationals a few weeks ahead of the DIRTcar Nationals,” DIRTcar Racing COO Tom Deery said. “With the number of late models running the 602 and 604 motors, especially in the southeast, we felt it was time for them to be the focus of an event like this one. For those further north, where winter is going to be around well into March and April, this gives them a chance to break free from cabin fever, head to Florida for a vacation and go racing.”

Just like the DIRTcar Nationals in February, gates will open each day at 5 p.m., with on-track action beginning at 5:30 p.m.

A practice night on Wednesday, Jan. 15, will precede the Sunshine Nationals.

DOVER, Del. — Single-car qualifying returned to the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Friday afternoon at Dover Int’l Speedway and Chase Elliott charged to a track record lap to win the pole for Sunday’s Gander RV 400 at the one-mile concrete oval.

Elliott, who won last week’s race at Talladega (Ala.) Speedway, turned a lap of 21.692 seconds at 165.960 mph to lead a Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet sweep of the front row. His teammate, William Byron was second with a lap of 21.745 seconds.

It was Elliott’s sixth career pole for Elliott, who won the fall race at Dover.

“The corner speeds are just so high,” Elliott said. “It was a lot of fun. Our NAPA Brakes Chevy was good right there. This place can be a lot of fun in qualifying or it can be a handful. Today was one of those fun ones. Team Hendrick one-two is awesome. Hope we can back it up on Sunday.”

Byron was on the pole most of the way through qualifying, only to see Elliott take the top spot late in the session.

“We were close,” Byron said. “I thought our draw was a little bit unlucky to go out so early, but we put a decent lap up. A bit of a bummer to not get the pole.”

Kyle Larson was third in a Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet, while Joe Gibbs Racing Ford driver Joey Logano was fourth and Alex Bowman fifth in a third Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.

Logano talked about the change in the qualifying format.

“It changes the game,” the reigning series champion said. “You don’t have that mulligan in your back pocket. You don’t have the ability to come back in and make an adjustment to your car. Or if you messed up on your line, you have to pay a penalty, you don’t have a chance to fix it. It’s more challenging from that standpoint.”

Kevin Harvick (Ford), Aric Almirola (Ford), Denny Hamlin (Toyota), Brad Keselowski (Ford) and Clint Bowyer (Ford) rounded out the top 10.

Jimmie Johnson was 12^thin the fourth Hendrick Motorsports machine.

Kyle Busch, the dominant driver through the first part of the season, will start 22nd.

SEATTLE -- Seattle remains in contention to host the 2021 draft despite arena construction delays, NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said Friday.

Daly said the league would like to decide on the host at least a year out. Seattle officials have been hoping the city's new arena could be the site of the league entry draft and the expansion draft as part of the lead up to the debut of the city's NHL franchise for the 2021-22 season.

Seattle officials were hoping to have the building open by early spring 2021 but design delays and a change in general contractors have delayed the project.

Mortenson, the new contractor, has been given incentives to try to have the arena ready by June 1, 2021, which would also allow it to host a full home slate for the WNBA's Seattle Storm.

Team officials have said they'll have a better idea of the timeline early next year.

Daly said the building isn't the only factor in determining a draft site.

"There are a lot of logistical issues you have to make sure are squared away before you make a decision like that," Daly said. "If they don't get the draft in '21, it's not going to be long before they have a draft. That's been part of our discussions already. It's really part of the ownership transaction."

The cost of the privately funded project, which is being built on the site of the former KeyArena, has grown to between $900 million and $930 million. The cost was originally expected to be about $650 million.

Inter Miami CF and the City of Ft. Lauderdale scored a legal victory on Friday, after Florida Circuit Court Judge Raag Singhal ruled against FXE Futbol's request for an emergency injunction to delay demolition of Lockhart Stadium.

The ruling clears the way for work to begin at the site where Inter Miami -- whose ownership group is led by David Beckham and MasTec chairman Jorge Mas -- plans to build a new 18,000-seat venue, as well as a training facility and community fields. Inter Miami plans to play its first two MLS seasons in MLS at a rebuilt Lockhart Stadium, starting in 2020. The timeline for construction is very aggressive, with completion required before the start of 2020 MLS season scheduled for March, making Friday's decision critical to Inter Miami's plans.

John Shubin, counsel for Beckham's group, said in a statement: "Today's decision confirms that the process that is bringing world class soccer to the City of Fort Lauderdale was both lawful and fair. Our client will continue to move forward in good faith with the hard work that needs to be accomplished to convert this process into a reality. We also hope that we have seen the end of this meritless litigation."

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The ruling amounts to a possibly devastating blow to FXE Futbol's plans for the site. FXE Futbol's proposal included renovating and not replacing Lockhart Stadium, which explains its attempts to delay demolition via a temporary injunction. FXE Futbol had argued that it would suffer "irreparable harm" should demolition be allowed to proceed. But Judge Singhal ruled, "Plaintiff has failed to sustain its burden to support the issuance of a temporary injunction. Plaintiff has not proffered competent, substantial evidence it has a substantial likelihood of success on the merits."

With demolition now cleared to begin on or around May 6, FXE Futbol's proposal will be rendered moot. But David J. Winker, the attorney representing FXE Futbol, vowed to fight on.

"I respect Judge Singhal very much, but with his conclusions as to our right to temporary injunction and will be appealing," Winker said via email. "We also look forward to continuing to pursue our underlying case."

The $60 million project was approved by the City of Ft. Lauderdale last month over a competing bid from FXE Futbol. But soon after the City of Ft. Lauderdale announced its preference for Inter Miami's proposal, FXE filed a lawsuit in Broward County Court. The suit alleges that the City of Ft. Lauderdale violated Florida state law as it relates to unsolicited offers for development of public land by a private entity by not getting "an architect, landscape architect, or an engineer licensed in this state" to review the proposals. State law also requires an "independent analysis" to demonstrate the public-private partnership's cost effectiveness.

FXE Futbol also accused Inter Miami of falsely stating to the City of Ft. Lauderdale that the FXE Futbol's proposal wasn't viable because of the "tremendous amount" of asbestos on the site, thus making a renovation unfeasible. FXE Futbol's managing partner J.P. Reynal was also concerned that "the subsequent signing of the interim agreement to demolish Lockhart would render our proposal impossible to deliver."

Inter Miami is attempting to construct a permanent venue, Miami Freedom Park, at Melreese Country Club in Miami, but that plan -- which still requires a 99-year lease to be approved by the Miami City Commission -- won't see construction completed until the 2022 season at the earliest. For that reason, Inter Miami and the City of Ft. Lauderdale signed an interim agreement last week, with demolition scheduled to begin on May 6.

Ben Foakes admits he has little chance of breaking into England's limited-overs team despite leading them to victory on debut in Dublin.

Foakes made an unbeaten 61 - the only half-century of the match - to help England secure a win that looked unlikely when they subsided to 66 for 5 within 15 overs of their reply. Keeping wonderfully calm despite the apparently hopeless position, Foakes added 98 in 15 overs with Tom Curran for the seventh wicket to see his side home. It meant that he followed the man-of-the-match award he won on Test debut with a man-of-the-match award on his ODI debut. He makes his T20I debut on Sunday in Cardiff.

But, as he has seen from his Test career, that is no guarantee of longevity. And despite finishing his debut Test series in Sri Lanka as England's man of the series, Foakes was dropped after two more games in the Caribbean as England struggled to balance their side. With Jos Buttler and Jonny Bairstow, who have both been rested following their IPL stints, to come back into the side in the coming days, he knows there is a chance he may never play again.

"Can I break into the team? Probably not," Foakes admitted. "Jos is probably the best keeper-batsman in the world and Jonny is probably second, if not first. It's ridiculous.

"So just to get the game has been great. It's something I didn't expect. I didn't really think I'd make my debut."

While Foakes is probably right in the short term - there were seven first-choice England players missing from this side, after all, and he was only called up when one of their replacements, Sam Billings, suffered an injury - he did show the skills that this England side has sometimes lacked in recent times.

Adapting to the slow surface, he was content to rotate the strike and pick up singles for an unusually long time in modern ODI cricket - his first boundary, a pulled six off Boyd Rankin, came from the 57th delivery he faced - and he showed an unflustered temperament that was a little reminiscent of MS Dhoni. There have been a few times in the recent past that England could have benefited from such composure.

"Jos is probably the best keeper-batsman in the world and Jonny is probably second, if not first. It's ridiculous." Foakes is realistic about his place in the pecking order

"It was one of those rebuilding jobs and I guess that suited my game a little bit," Foakes said. "I just had to get my head down and fight it out. It was a bit of a grind.

"Whenever you lose that many wickets early, you've got a job to do to stick in there and not get out. There were a few nerves, but there was never a stage where the run-rate was getting out of hand. The guys like Tim Murtagh and the slower bowlers were tough work on that sort of wicket, so the job was to see them off, try not to get out, and when a bit of pace came on, get a bit more value for your shots."

At one stage with Foakes at the crease, England scored just nine runs in six overs with Murtagh and George Dockrell - their bowling speeds around 14 mph apart - bowling their allocation of nine overs each for a combined total of just 56 runs. But with both bowled out with eight overs remaining and Ireland obliged to rely on two debutants in Mark Adair and the impressive Josh Little, Foakes always had confidence in himself and his lower-order colleagues to get the job done. Adil Rashid (10 first-class centuries), Liam Plunkett (three) and Jofra Archer were all still to bat.

"Plunkett was coming in No.11 today, so I knew we batted deep," Foakes said. "In that sort of situation you know what the job is, you don't go too far out of your comfort zone. It's just about soaking up the pressure."

Foakes also completed a stumping to dismiss the dangerous Andy Balbirnie. While most of the talk around the dismissal concerned the amount of time Foakes waited for Balbirnie to raise his back leg - Ireland captain William Porterfield subsequently claimed "the ball was pretty much dead" - what was perhaps more significant was the smooth way Foakes collected the leg-side wide.

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"It was quite wide down leg," Foakes said, "but I got it back to the stumps. When it's a sweep you think they might fall over and I just saw he lifted his foot and nicked them off."

Porterfield was less impressed by that moment, and suggested games would last "15 hours" if keepers continually applied such tactics.

"You can say it was great wicketkeeping or you can say it's a bit of a grey area of 'when is the ball dead?'

"The ball was pretty much dead. The batsman wasn't going anywhere or over-balanced. The keeper has waited for three or four seconds. If we do that all day it's going be a pretty long game. How long do you wait? We'll be playing 15-hour games if you wait that long."

While Porterfield admitted the match felt "like the one that got away", he said he was "proud" of his team and accepted that, in retrospect, he should have called for a review when Foakes was adjudged not out to a leg-before appeal when he had scored 37. Hawkeye replays subsequently showed that, had Ireland called for the review, Foakes would have been out.

"We should have reviewed it," he said. "But there were only about 10 overs left and you don't know if you're going to get another chance? It probably looked as high as any of them but it was red. If I could go back an hour I'd be reviewing it."

Meanwhile it seems Dawid Malan, who sustained an injury while batting, will be unavailable for Sunday's T20I in Cardiff. England are likely to call for a replacement player.

Caster Semenya was defiant in every way at what could be her last 800-meter race.

With her raised fist at the start. With her unstoppable victory. And with her reply Friday to the big question of whether she will now submit to new testosterone regulations in track and field and take hormone-reducing medication.

"Hell, no," the Olympic champion from South Africa said.

Semenya responded to her defeat in a landmark court case against track and field's governing body two days earlier with a resounding win in a place where she has done nothing but win the last four years -- over two laps of the track.

She won the 800 meters at the opening Diamond League meeting of the season in Doha, Qatar, with a meet record of 1 minute, 54.98 seconds. It was her fourth-fastest time ever. The only person ahead of her at any time during the race was the pacemaker.

Semenya's nearest challenger, the Olympic silver medalist Francine Niyonsaba, was nearly three seconds and about 20 meters behind her -- barely in the picture. Ajee Wilson of the United States was third.

It was Semenya's first 800-meter race this year and first since losing her case against the IAAF this week.

"Actions speak louder than words," Semenya told the BBC. "When you are a great champion, you always deliver."

But Semenya's four-year dominance over two laps -- Friday's win was her 30th straight in the 800, continuing a run that started in late 2015 -- may now be at an end.

Ended not by another competitor, but by new regulations set to come into effect Wednesday. They require the South African star and other female athletes with high levels of natural testosterone to medically lower them to be eligible to compete in events ranging from 400 meters to the mile.

Semenya failed to overturn those rules in her appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

Now, her career appears to be at a crossroads: Does she take medication to lower her testosterone? The medication will likely inhibit her athletic performance and could blunt her dominance. Or does she switch events and run in long-distance races not affected by the regulations?

She was emphatic when she told reporters after Friday's race that she wouldn't take the medication.

"That's an illegal method," she said.

But Semenya also didn't give a clear idea of what she would do next. She said she wouldn't move up to the 5,000 meters and she definitely wouldn't retire.

"God has decided my career, God will end my career," she said in the BBC interview. "No man, or any other human, can stop me from running. How am I going to retire when I'm 28? I still feel young, energetic. I still have 10 years or more in athletics.

"It doesn't matter how I'm going to do it. What matters is I'll still be here. I am never going anywhere."

Semenya's comments may foreshadow an appeal against the CAS ruling -- aimed first at allowing Semenya to defend her 800 title at the world championships, also in Doha, in September and October, while not taking the hormone-suppressing drugs.

But if she keeps her promise not to lower her testosterone, there is a chance that Friday marked the last time that Semenya runs in the 800, where she is a double Olympic and a three-time world champion, and arguably the best female athlete to run the distance in 40 years.

Her career, however, seems destined to be overshadowed by the testosterone debate, which has the potential for implications far beyond her own results.

Semenya gave away little on the track to indicate it might be her last race at the distance. She raised her right fist when announcers introduced her before the race.

She was presented with a bunch of flowers and tossed them to the crowd at the end. She then gave a thumbs-up to fans, flashed a brief smile and walked off the track.

NEW YORK -- A federal prosecutor on Friday said former business manager Christian Dawkins, a defendant accused of bribing college basketball coaches, lied on the witness stand at his New York City trial.

Dawkins testified earlier this week as the only defense witness. He denied ever bribing coaches at major universities in exchange for help signing NBA-bound players as clients.

Prosecutor Noah Solowiejczyk reminded jurors in a closing argument Friday how images from a sting operation show Dawkins giving envelopes stuffed with cash to assistant coaches from Creighton and schools in Las Vegas in 2017. He said there was no proof backing Dawkins' far-fetched claim that the coaches later gave the money back.

Dawkins and amateur basketball coach Merl Code have pleaded not guilty to bribery.

Defense closing arguments are set for Monday.

HOUSTON -- As the Golden State Warriors continue their quest toward becoming the first team since the 1960s Boston Celtics to earn five straight trips to the NBA Finals, they have had a problem at times throughout the season finding a consistent level of urgency. That has not been the case through the first two games of their Western Conference semifinals showdown against the Houston Rockets. The Warriors head into Saturday's Game 3 with a 2-0 lead, playing some of their best basketball of the season.

"We respected the Clippers, for sure," Warriors forward Kevin Durant said after Friday's practice. "Definitely don't wanna put it that way. But we respect this team just 'cause we've played 'em before. We went seven games with 'em. So that level of respect and the level of knowledge about this team goes to another level when we play 'em. So yeah, we're more locked in 'cause we know this team can beat us."

The Warriors entered into the Clippers series with respect for the young group and gained even more along the way after a hard-fought six-game series win, but the reality is that the Rockets have had their attention from the beginning. They always understood that a team with James Harden and a healthy Chris Paul had the ability to take them out and it's a huge reason why their focus has been so solid to start the second round.

"More of a sense of urgency right away," Warriors coach Steve Kerr explained. "Obviously, that Clippers series, Game 2 changed the entire series -- 31-point lead, and we blow it and we lose a game. Now it's all different. We did a great job of getting off to the right start in Oakland -- winning two, but playing hard throughout. So we're in a good position, but there's a long way to go, and we know that."

For a team that battled a general malaise throughout much of the regular season, the Warriors have been revitalized by the fact that they are playing a team that took them to seven games a year ago and is confident that it can still win the series despite being down 0-2. The Warriors head into Saturday's game with confidence not only in the fact that they have won back-to-back NBA titles, but also because of the fact they are playing some of their best defense of the season as a group, along with Durant who has dominated offensively throughout the playoffs. The Warriors aren't taking the Rockets lightly and have backed up that mindset on the floor.

"The regular season, playoffs -- that's self-explanatory in terms of how it's been elevated," Warriors guard Stephen Curry explained. "But you talk about the Clippers series; they were a great team and they challenged us. We had stretches where we were dominant, and then they challenged us at times. This first series -- the first two games against Houston, we understood how important it was to take care of home court, considering how bad it had been for a while, and were able to do that. It wasn't pretty at times, but we got two wins and that's all that matters.

"Coming into Game 3, I think the conversation was around that first quarter, first half, where we know how hard they're gonna play and -- y'all know who the pressure's on, but it's gonna be a high-intensity type of environment; we gotta be able to handle that and get off to a great start, and continue to build off that momentum, like I said. So this is a great opportunity for us to have a sense of urgency when it comes to the task at hand."