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IAAF unveils new ‘World Athletics’ brand

Published in Athletics
Sunday, 09 June 2019 07:15

IAAF Council meeting decisions also include the continued suspension of Russia and a new out-of-competition drug testing funding scheme for road races

IAAF president Seb Coe has unveiled the global governing body’s new name and logo as ‘World Athletics’, as a number of decisions and updates were announced following the 217th IAAF Council Meeting in Monaco.

The new name is said to build on the organisation’s restructuring and governance reform agenda of the past four years “to represent a modern, more creative and positive face for the sport”.

The new brand identity will begin its rollout in October after the IAAF World Championships in Doha and following approval by congress of the change to the federation’s legal name.

“The hope is that our new brand will help attract and engage a new generation of young people to athletics,” said Coe.

“We have now created a brand that can come to life in the digital world while reflecting the changing nature of the sport. And at the same time bring into focus the athletes, the heroes of our sport.”

IAAF CEO Jon Ridgeon said: “The IAAF name has been in existence for over 100 years, but it has little understanding or relevance to those outside of athletics.

“The new identity creates a symbol that can stand alone and work with partners and events.”

The logo design includes three main elements: the ‘W’ of ‘World’, which is said to also be a symbol of an athlete’s arms raised in victory; the ‘A’ of ‘Athletics’, designed to represent an athlete’s focus as they prepare for the road ahead; and an arc over both to represent the entire athletics community coming together.

You can read about our own rebrand from Athletics Weekly to AW here.

Russia remains suspended

Also on Sunday (June 9), IAAF taskforce independent chairperson Rune Andersen confirmed that the taskforce recommended, and the IAAF Council agreed, that the Russian Athletics Federation (RusAF) should not be reinstated as an IAAF member at this time.

It is the 11th time the governing body has extended the suspension, which was introduced in November 2015, although some Russian athletes have since been allowed to compete internationally as authorised neutral athletes.

The latest extension means that the participation of a Russian team at the World Championships in Doha remains in doubt.

Speaking at an IAAF Council meeting media briefing, Andersen said RusAF has paid costs up to the end of March 2019, totalling more than $3.2 million, and has committed to pay any further such costs on a quarterly basis moving forward.

Therefore, the cost condition of the federation’s reinstatement has been met, he explained.

However, Andersen also said that the taskforce noted the Athletics Integrity Unit’s investigation into whether RusAF officials were involved in an attempt to cover up a doping offence by one of their athletes.

“It (taskforce) does not think reinstatement can be considered while that investigation remains pending,” commented Andersen.

He said the taskforce also noted recent allegations that banned coaches and a banned doctor continue to work with Russian athletes.

“If so, that calls into question whether RusAF is able to enforce doping bans and whether all RusAF athletes have embraced the change to a new anti-doping culture proclaimed by RusAF, both of which are conditions to reinstatement,” he added.

“The AIU (Athletics Integrity Unit) will be looking into this.”

The full taskforce report can be found here.

IAAF Council approves new out-of-competition drug testing funding scheme

On Saturday, the IAAF announced the approval of a new out-of-competition drug testing funding scheme for road races.

The governing body says the new funding scheme, developed jointly by the IAAF and the AIU, will “dramatically increase” the out-of-competition drug testing pool for athletes who compete primarily in road races.

“In 2018, 76 per cent of 50 IAAF Gold Label road race (excluding the six Gold Label marathons in the Abbott World Marathon Majors) winners were not part of any out-of-competition anti-doping programme,” said the IAAF. “In the same year, 74 per cent of the podium finishers in those Gold Label road races were not included in out of competition testing pools in the sport or within their countries. In 22 per cent of those races, not a single athlete who finished on the podium in either the male or female race was tested out-of-competition.”

The governing body described those figures as “startling”, leading to the “resounding” approval of the new funding scheme.

“With its extraordinary growth in recent years, the road racing industry was at the risk of becoming a victim of its own success,” said Coe. “Now is the crucial time to address the vulnerabilities that have been identified to protect the future of this growing, vibrant industry.

“Addressing this has been a genuine collaboration between the IAAF, the AIU, the Abbott WMM, and Gold Label races, managers and athletes and I would like to thank everyone for coming together and taking collective responsibility for strengthening these events so they can continue to inspire, motivate and challenge the world to move.

“While we believe the overall framework of this new funding model will provide a lasting solution, it is important to remember that details will be thoroughly reviewed after twelve months.”

The financial contribution model proposed by the IAAF’s road running commission and approved by the IAAF Council will see all stakeholders, including race organisers, athlete managers and athletes, each contribute to the funding pool.

In April, a separate “groundbreaking” new anti-doping investigation and intelligence-driven testing programme was launched by the AIU and Abbott World Marathon Majors (WMM).

The WMM is a series featuring six of the world’s most prestigious marathons: Tokyo, Boston, London, Berlin, Chicago and New York.

More on the new funding scheme can be found here.

All this time we'd been thinking Sue Barker was the last British woman to win the French Open.

Apparently we were wrong.

Because, according to the French Open trophy, Barker is, in fact, Australian.

Ashleigh Barty, who is actually Australian, noticed the error after she was crowned women's singles champion on Saturday.

She searched for her compatriots on the trophy, looking for Margaret Court, who was the last Australian champion - in 1973.

But next to Barker's name it reads 'AUST' rather than 'GB'.

Barker, now a BBC presenter, won her only Grand Slam title in 1976, but nobody has fixed the engraving error in the 43 years which have passed.

French Open organisers said on Sunday the mistake would be rectified.

They will also amend the 1977 engraving, with champion Mima Jausovec's surname spelt Jausevec.

Oops.

Mladenovic and Babos win French Open women's doubles

Published in Tennis
Sunday, 09 June 2019 05:06

France's Kristina Mladenovic won a second French Open women's doubles title as she and Hungary's Timea Babos beat Duan Yingying and Zheng Saisai.

The second seeds, both 26, beat the unseeded Chinese pair 6-2 6-3 to secure their second Grand Slam title together, having won the 2018 Australian Open.

Babos and Mladenovic were runners-up in Melbourne earlier this year.

Mladenovic, who won her first French Open title with Caroline Garcia in 2016, will top the doubles rankings.

Her boyfriend Dominic Thiem will face Rafael Nadal in the men's singles final later on Sunday.

Moreover it was a day when gold medallists at the Seamaster 2018 ITTF World Tour Grand Finals in Incheon had to settle for silver.

Men’s Singles

…………Lin Gaoyuan, the top seed, beat Japan’s Tomokazu Harimoto, the no.2 seed, to secure the title (11-8, 7-11, 8-11, 11-6, 11-9, 11-7).

…………Success for Lin Gaoyuan, he reversed the decision of December 2018 when he had lost the Tomokazu Harimoto in the title deciding contest at the Grand Finals.

…………It was the second ITTF World Tour men’s singles title of the year in four consecutive final appearances; earlier in the year he had won in Hungary but had lost in the finals in Qatar and China to colleague Ma Long, the reigning Olympic and World champion.

Women’s Singles

…………Wang Yidi, required to qualify, beat Japan’s Mima Ito, the no.2 seed, in the final (11-3, 11-7, 11-5, 11-6).

…………Clearly Wang Yidi has a liking for Hong Kong Kong, last year she won the under 21 women’s singles event.

…………Success meant Wang Yidi secured her first ever ITTF World Tour women’s singles title, her only other appearance in such a final was last year in Bulgaria when losing to colleague Ding Ning, the reigning Olympic champion.

Men’s Doubles

…………Liang Jingkun and Lin Gaoyuan, the no.5 seeds, beat Korea Republic’s Jang Woojin and Lim Jonghoon, the no.3 seeds (6-11, 11-6, 12-10, 11-8) to claim gold.

…………It was the first such title for Liang Jingkun and Lin Gaoyuan as a partnership, for Jang Woojin and Lim Jonghoon they fell one step short of repeating their success at the 2018 Grand Finals.

Women’s Doubles

…………Chen Ke and Mu Zi, the no.7 seeds, secured the title at the final expense of Korea Republic’s Jeon Jihee and Yoo Eunchong (9-11, 11-1, 11-4, 11-5).

…………As partnerships for each it was a first appearance in an ITTF World Tour women’s doubles final.

LIN Gaoyuan celebrated the Men’s Singles title and WANG Yidi won Women’s Singles gold after the partnerships of CHEN Ke & MU Zi and LIN Gaoyuan & LIANG Jingkun tasted success in the Women’s and Men’s Doubles respectively.

Their victories meant that four of the five trophies available went the way of China after Chinese Taipei duo LIN Yun-Ju and CHENG I-Ching had wrapped up the Mixed Doubles title on Saturday for the second successive week following their China Open triumph.

THE DARK KNIGHT RISES

China won both Singles titles on Sunday at the expense of Japan’s leading lights, Tomokazu HARIMOTO and Mima ITO, thus dashing their rivals’ very real hopes of claiming silverware at an event where all of Japan’s top players were taking part. On the contrary, many of China’s biggest names were rested in view of next week’s ITTF World Tour Platinum, Japan Open.

One obvious exception though was LIN Gaoyuan, nicknamed ‘The Dark Knight’. The top seed in Hong Kong and world no.2 held his nerve to beat 2nd seed HARIMOTO, coming from 2-1 down to secure victory over six games (11-3, 7-11, 8-11, 11-6, 11-9, 11-7).

The result meant that LIN avenged his defeat to 15-year-old HARIMOTO in the final of the Seamaster 2018 ITTF World Tour Grand Finals in Incheon, Korea Republic, whilst taking his tally of ITTF World Tour titles to three in his career and two in 2019 alone following victory in January’s Hungarian Open.

Lin Gaoyuan

For HARIMOTO, Sunday’s final proved to be one bridge too far after the teenager had impressed in the previous rounds against ZHOU Yu (CHN), Jun MIZUTANI (JPN) and Quadri ARUNA (NGR), dropping just two games between the round of 16 and semi-final stage.

Tomokazu Harimoto

JAPAN’S STAR WOMEN STUMBLE

In the Women’s Singles competition, Japanese expectations of glory were understandably even higher, with 2nd seed ITO the favourite to defeat qualifier WANG Yidi in Sunday’s final.

However, the Chinese representative, ranked 46th in the world, played nothing like the so-called underdog, as she brushed aside world no.7 ITO in four routine games (11-3, 11-7, 11-5, 11-6).

The result completed a disappointing week for Japan’s star women’s players, as top seed Kasumi ISHIKAWA was sent crashing out in the round of 16 by the very same WANG Yidi, who also recorded a straight games victory over 3rd seed CHENG I-Ching (TPE) in the semi-final.

Few could argue that WANG’s gold medal in Hong Kong – her very first Women’s Singles title on the ITTF World Tour – was not richly deserved.

CHINA DO THE DOUBLE IN THE DOUBLES

Success for China extended to the Women’s and Men’s Doubles competitions, despite their inferior rankings in both finals.

Seeded 7th in Hong Kong, CHEN Ke and MU Zi (CHN) came from behind to beat 4th seeds JEON Jihee and YOO Eunchong (KOR) and thus claim their very first trophy as a pair (9-11, 11-1, 11-4, 11-5).

Chen Ke

Having faced one another in Saturday’s Men’s Singles semi-final (a 4-1 victory for LIN Gaoyuan), the duo of LIN and LIANG Jingkun (CHN) linked up on Sunday in the Men’s Doubles final.

The 5th seeds were also forced to stage a comeback in their victory over JANG Woojin and LIM Jonghoon (KOR) after the 3rd seeds claimed the first game before their Chinese counterparts won the next three (6-11, 11-6, 12-10, 11-8) to secure their first gold medal success as a pair on the ITTF World Tour.

Liang Jingkun

The Mixed Doubles title went the way of Chinese Taipei duo LIN Yun-Ju and CHENG I-Ching, who made light work of LEE Sangsu and CHOI Hyojoo (KOR) with an emphatic straight games victory (11-8, 11-3, 11-7) on Saturday. Champions at this month’s China and Hong Kong Opens, the pair will now be aiming for their third success at consecutive events at next week’s Japan Open

NEXT UP: JAPAN!

Wednesday 12 June will see the start of the Seamaster 2019 ITTF World Tour Platinum, Japan Open in Sapporo.

Star names and spectacular table tennis are in store for the third ITTF World Tour event in as many weeks, which you can follow on ITTF.com, itTV and ITTF social media: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Youtube and Weibo.

HONG KONG OPEN: QUICK LINKS

PSA Players Of The Year Raneem El Welily and Ali Farag

Services to Squash Award goes to Tim Garner
By SEAN REUTHE in Cairo

Egyptian World No.1s Ali Farag and Raneem El Welily were crowned the 2018-19 PSA Players of the Year last night (June 8) during the annual PSA Awards dinner held at the Mena House Hotel, Cairo.


The PSA Awards dinner took place on the eve of the 2018-19 CIB PSA World Tour Finals, the PSA World Tour’s season-ending tournament, where Farag and El Welily will feature as the No.1 seeds in the men’s and women’s events.

Farag picked up the PSA Men’s Player of the Year award courtesy of a superb season that saw him become World No.1 for the first time, overtaking 2018-19 Player of the Year and compatriot Mohamed ElShorbagy – and claim six titles, including the PSA World Championships.

The man Farag beat in the World Championship final, Tarek Momen, came second in the voting following a fine season in which he reached a career-high ranking of World No.3, won two titles and reached a further three finals.

Meanwhile, El Welily won the PSA Women’s Player of the Year award for the second time after a campaign that saw her win five titles and dethrone last year’s women’s Player of the Year, Nour El Sherbini, as World No.1.

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New Zealand’s Joelle King finished as runner-up for a second successive year after a season that saw her win her maiden PSA Platinum title at the Hong Kong Open, while she also took the honours at the Manchester Open in May.

Farag and El Welily also took home the men’s and women’s PSA Spirit of Squash Awards. The award is voted for by PSA players and is presented to the players who best demonstrated true sportsmanship during the season. It is the third year in a row that El Welily has taken the honour, while Farag claims the men’s award for the third time in four years.

El Welily continued to dominate the awards night as she also won the PSA Women’s Shot of the Season Award, while her comeback from two games down against El Sherbini in the DPD Open final was named the PSA Women’s Match of the Season.

The PSA Men’s Shot of the Season Award went to France’s World No.60 Baptiste Masotti, while Farag’s semi-final battle with New Zealand’s Paul Coll at last month’s Allam British Open was named the PSA Men’s Match of the Season.

Egypt’s Nouran Gohar collected the PSA Women’s Young Player of the Year for the third time in four years, just two weeks after capturing the British Open crown. Her fellow Egyptian Youssef Ibrahim took the men’s honour after winning six titles throughout the season.

The evening’s other award went to PSA Event Director Tim Garner, who was presented with the PSA Services to Squash award. The award, presented by the PSA Foundation, came in recognition of his outstanding commitment and service to the sport over the past 12 months.

Garner, a former World No.26, has been the mastermind behind the popular Canary Wharf Classic since the event began in 2004, while he also served as Tournament Director at the sport’s biggest tournament – the PSA World Championships in February – as well as the British Open and Manchester Open this season. Garner also climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in March, earning almost £1,000 for the PSA Foundation in the process.

Garner, who was instrumental in helping showcase the sport at the Buenos Aires Youth Olympic Games in October, will also act as Tournament Director for the World Tour Finals, which takes place this week at Cairo’s Mall of Arabia between June 9-14.

PSA Annual Awards 2018-19.

PSA Men’s Player of the Year
Winner: Ali Farag (EGY)
Runner-up: Tarek Momen (EGY)

PSA Women’s Player of the Year
Winner: Raneem El Welily (EGY)
Runner-up: Joelle King (NZL)

PSA Men’s Young Player of the Year
Winner: Youssef Ibrahim (EGY)
Runner-up: Mostafa Asal (EGY)

PSA Women’s Young Player of the Year
Winner: Nouran Gohar (EGY)
Runner-up: Yathreb Adel (EGY)

PSA Men’s Spirit of Squash Award
Winner: Ali Farag (EGY)

PSA Women’s Spirit of Squash Award
Winner: Raneem El Welily (EGY)

PSA Services to Squash
Awarded to Tim Garner

PSA Men’s Shot of the Season
Winner: Baptiste Masotti (FRA)

PSA Women’s Shot of the Season
Winner: Raneem El Welily (EGY)

PSA Men’s Match of the Season
Winner: Ali Farag (EGY) 3-2 Paul Coll (NZL) – 2019 Allam British Open, Semi-finals

PSA Women’s Match of the Season
Winner: Raneem El Welily (EGY) 3-2 Nour El Sherbini (EGY) – 2019 DPD Open, Final

Pictures courtesy of PSA

Posted on June 9, 2019

Deegan Bumps & Runs In Colorado

Published in Racing
Sunday, 09 June 2019 03:55

DACONO, Colo. — Hailie Deegan wasn’t leaving Colorado without a trophy.

And she showed she meant it on Saturday night at Colorado National Speedway, bumping her Bill McAnally Racing teammate Derek Kraus out of the way in overtime to grab her second K&N Pro Series West victory of the season and third of her career.

“That was probably the scrappiest race I’ve ever ran,” she said. “In the end, we went out there, ran our hardest race. Everything I’ve been practicing, all the hard racing I’ve been running. Derek (Kraus) ran me hard right there (turn two), so I was going to run him hard back (turn four). And that’s racing. We were all going for the kill. I got the win and that’s all that matters.”

It was an accomplishment in and of itself that Kraus was even in contention for the win, as a broken sway-bar saw No. 16 fade at around lap 50 from the lead to hanging on for dear life inside the top five.

But when given the opportunity, Kraus pounced.

The two-time K&N West winner in 2019 dove into turn one on the restart and made contact with Deegan’s left-side, clearing her for the top spot, only to be left in a cloud of smoke one lap later.

Under the caution that set up the green/white/checkered finish, the No. 19 team debated whether to select the top or bottom lane for the final restart. After taking the top all evening long, they opted for the bottom to thwart any dive bomb attempt from Jagger Jones.

As it turned out, Kraus wound up being the one who dove inside the two and made it three-wide for the lead, and Jones wasn’t too pleased.

Team owner Bill McAnally experienced the highest of highs and the lowest of lows in a 30-second span, and attempted to encapsulate his feelings as he celebrated in victory lane.

“To have our cars up there slicing and dicing for the win is pretty special,” he said. “You knew the No. 6 (Jones) and No. 19 (Deegan) were going to get together, so I was worried about that already. And then when the No. 16 (Kraus) goes and gets three-wide, my heart hit the ground for a minute for sure. It’s bittersweet. Hailie wins the race, Derek gets spun around, they all drove hard. That’s what they’re here to do: win and develop. They’re doing a pretty good job of that.”

Starting from the pole for the first time in his K&N Pro Series career, Colorado native Kody Vanderwal escaped the last-lap carnage to finish second, his best result of the season. Todd Souza earned his second top five of the season and first top three finish since May of 2017, coming home third.

Brittney Zamora, who rebounded from spinning late, finished fourth with Matt Levin rounding out the top five. John Wood, Jones (spun while running third in overtime), Kraus, Trevor Huddleston and Takuma Koga completed the top 10.

Nienhiser Doubles Down At Spoon River

Published in Racing
Sunday, 09 June 2019 03:55

SPOON RIVER, Ill. — Paul Nienhiser won his second Built Ford Tough MOWA Sprint Car Series Delivered by Morrow Brothers Ford feature in as many nights Saturday night at Spoon River Speedway.

Nienhiser used his third-place starting position to his advantage tonight, working his way to the front ahead of front-row starters Dustin Barks and Steve Short.

Nienhiser won Friday night’s MOWA feature at Iowa’s Lee County Speedway.

“I felt that we had a really good car here tonight. We were able to pick up right where we left off last year, here at (Spoon River), as we won our last MOWA race back in September. It’s a really good feeling to go home after tonight, sweeping the weekend,” said Nienhiser.

Second-starting Short held onto his position for most of the feature and was able to record a second-place finish for his first race in Spoon River in at least 15 years.

Kyle Schuett scored his first career podium finish in a sprint car with his third-place run at Spoon River. Schuett was followed to the line by Jordan Goldesberry and Jim Moughan, who finished fifth.

The finish:

1 – Paul Nienhiser 9X (5), 2 – Steve Short 8S (8), 3 – Kyle Schuett 9K (9), 4 – Jordan Goldesberry 65 (2), 5 – Jim Moughan 1M (1), 6 – Jason Keith 28 (7), 7 – Jacob Patton 79J (3), 8 – Jeremy Standridge 10S (13), 9 – Logan Faucon 52F (4), 10 – Jake Neuman 6A (12), 11 – Brinton Marvel 21 (18), 12 – Justin Standridge 01 (17), 13 – Cory Bruns 44 (14), 14 – Brayton Lynch 29X (19), 15 – Dylan Tuxhorn 9T (15), 16 – George Crawford 57 (16), 17 – Dustin Barks 22 (6), 18 – Ryan Bunton 6R (11), 19 – Austin Archdale 2A (20), 20 – Terry Babb 47 (10), 21 – John Parker 82 (21),

Kaeding Flips & Rico Wins At Thunderbowl

Published in Racing
Sunday, 09 June 2019 03:56

TULARE, Calif. — A surprised Rico Abreu ended up in victory lane at the Peter Murphy Classic for the Fujitsu King of the West 410 Series sprint cars at the Thunderbowl Raceway on Saturday night.

Bud Kaeding had the lead coming to the checkered flag when he had an issue with the fourth-turn wall and ended up upside down causing a red flag and the race to go into overtime.

Abreu had just taken over second place from Jonathan Allard who had led the race he was passed by Kaeding. Allard and Colby Copeland made up the front row at the start with the recent series winner at Petaluma jumping to an early lead.

It was Copeland who would lead the first 10 laps until he slowed and who eventually cause a caution when he didn’t make it off the track. Allard would take over the lead on the restart and was closely followed by Kaeding who started in the third spot.

Kaeding passed Allard on the 17th circuit. The race would stay green with Kaeding comfortably up front until lap 24 when the caution would slow the race again when Matt Demartini stopped on the front stretch.  With a clear track, it was Kaeding who appeared to be headed for another Murphy Classic title, only to first to bounce off the second turn wall and then climb the fourth turn wall and flip over, ending his chances at the $11,000 winner’s check.

Abreu and Allard didn’t change positions in the overtime laps, but it was Dominic Scelzi who went from third to fifth.  Both D.J. Netto and Ryan Bernal got around the Roth Motorsports No. 83.

Scelzi won the 25-lap King of Thunder race just an hour before.

Tim Kaeding led the 25 cars entered with a 13:844 second qualifying lap.

The finish:

Rico Abreu, Jonathan Allard, D.J. Netto, Ryan Bernal, Dominic Scelzi, Jason Statler, Mitchell Faccinto, Colby Copeland, Willie Croft, Geoff Ensign, Chase Johnson, Tim Kaeding, Nathan Rolfe, Chelsea Blevins, Sean Watts, Kenny Allen, Mark Barroso, Bud Kaeding, Matt Demartini, Stephen Ingraham, Richard Brace, Craig Stidham, Kyle Hirst, Cole Macedo

Sweet Wins, Grabs WoO Point Lead

Published in Racing
Sunday, 09 June 2019 03:58

SAUK RAPIDS, Minn. — Brad Sweet overcame his own mistake to win Saturday night’s World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series feature at Granite City Speedway.

Sweet was leading the race and battling David Gravel for the lead when his No. 49 Kasey Kahne Racing machine slipped over the cushion in turn four. Sweet remained focused.

“I’ve been on the tour long enough that I don’t let the emotions get to me,” Sweet said.

That mentality led to him overcoming his mistake and claiming his third series win this season and 37th of his career. He also claimed the series point lead from Donny Schatz.

“I was bound and determined I think to win that one,” Sweet said. “I’m just happy to get the win.”

At the start of the 35-lap feature, Sweet was a cheetah among kittens. He rocketed by polesitter Gravel for the lead on the initial start and pulled away by half a track.

Sweet caught lap traffic by Lap six and was lapping up to 14th-place by lap 15.

However, once the race reached the halfway point, Gravel began to reel Sweet in. The obstacle course of lap cars Sweet had mastered became a cluster of road blocks.

Then, with 11 laps to go, the unimaginable happened. Ten-time Series champion Schatz hit the wall exiting turn four, destroying the rear end birdcage and ending his night.

On the following restart, Gravel snuck underneath Sweet, slid up in front of him in turn one and launched to the lead.

“I just spun my tires,” Sweet said. “I was too anxious to make sure I got the jump. Once you get spinning there’s really no way to get your tires back.”

Sweet wasn’t ready to let another win slip away. He followed Gravel’s tracks, riding the high side of the speedway, keeping the Jason Johnson Racing No. 41 in sight.

With seven laps to go, Gravel bounced his car off the cushion exiting turn four, drastically killing his speed. Sweet then threw his car underneath Gravel going into turn one and slid back in front of him.

Sweet’s next trip around turn four crashed a wave of shock, excitement and qualm into the crowd. He hammered the cushion, sending his front end toward the wall. While he wrestled to stay off the white barrier, Gravel turned back underneath Sweet and reclaimed the lead.

Sweet was bound and determined, though.

With a Hail Mary slide job, he hurled his car to the bottom of the turn one and slid up in front of Gravel exiting turn two. The lead was his. And in the next few laps, the win was, too.

“All you can do is try your hardest and sometimes when you over try bad things happen,” Sweet said about having to rebound from hitting the cushion. “I thought we had the superior car, so I was frustrated with myself I was even in that position. But it played out right. You’re going to win some of those. You’re going to lose some of those. Luckily, tonight we got the win.”

When Sweet sped away with the lead, Gravel was left having to defend second from a hard charging Logan Schuchart in third place.

“It was a good effort. It was a good race,” Gravel said. “He (Sweet) just pulled away from us early, but I kind of let him go and hopefully I was going to be better than him.”

Sweet’s consistency of five podium finishes in-a-row has led to him holding a 12-point lead over  Schatz.

“Honestly, I don’t pay much attention to the points,” Sweet said. “I don’t want Donny to have a 200-point lead because our goal is to win the championship. But I also know that there are stretches of races that if you’re not running good the points can shift so much.

“At the beginning of my career with the Outlaws, I would look at the points after every race. Now I’m lucky to look at it every three or four races and kind of see where things are at. I know if we’re running good and (Schatz) is behind us we’re going to be gaining. If he’s in front of us every night, then he’s going to be ahead of us. The points will take care of themselves. We’re 26 races into an 80-race schedule. Really, June, July and August are what set the tone for the points. Honestly, we just want to win races.”

To see full results, turn to the next page.

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