KOKOMO, Ind. – Tyler Courtney kicked off the running of the Kokomo Grand Prix for the USAC NOS Energy Drink Midget National Championship with a dominant victory Friday at Kokomo Speedway.

The victory, his second-straight during the Kokomo Grand Prix, was also his third victory in four races to start the USAC NOS Energy Drink Midget National Championship.

The Indianapolis, Ind., driver raced to the lead just prior to the halfway point, utilizing the bottom of the race track to track down early leader Kevin Thomas Jr. on lap 15. He held the point for the remainder of the race to nab the eighth win of his career in his Clauson-Marshall Racing/NOS Energy Drink/Spike/Stanton SR-11x.

Courtney began his expedition from the outside of row three while pole sitter Thomas slid up past outside front row starter Thomas Meseraull in turn one for the point on the opening lap.

The first stoppage of the night arrived on the fourth lap of the main when Tony DiMattia took a tumble in turn four, from which he walked away uninjured.

On the ensuing restart, Thomas once again spurted away to a relatively comfortable margin of one second while Clauson-Marshall teammates Chris Windom and Courtney battled side-by-side for the runner-up spot.  Courtney found the bottom of the quarter-mile to his liking and quickly ate up enough ground to nip Windom at the line for second on lap six, just before the yellow flag flew for a turn two spin by Justin Peck.

When racing resumed, Thomas and Courtney formed a two-car breakaway to distance themselves from the herd. Courtney kept inching closer and closer, sticking right within earshot of Thomas nearing the midway point. On the 14th lap, Courtney’s stick-to-itiveness paid off when he ran down Thomas, beating him to the entry of turn one before sliding up in front to nail down the lead.

Courtney had a plan and executed it perfectly on the bottom, something he attributes to his extensive experience watching, crewing and racing at Kokomo over the years.

“I ran the bottom all night, especially in (turns) three and four,” Courtney explained.  “It got pretty rough in one and two, so you had to search to find other ways to go.  I knew the bottom was going to be the place to be.  I watched a lot of races that were won here on the bottom, especially off of four.  Watching those guys and learning from the best, Bryan (Clauson) being one of them, I was fortunate I got to watch him race a lot here and be a part of it.  I think I would credit a lot to being a part of it and watching and take notes mentally and using it to capitalize here tonight.”

Courtney’s lead grew to two seconds by the 20th lap as Thomas became mired in lapped traffic, allowing Courtney to break away into his own zip code, albeit briefly, as Zane Hendricks slowed to a stop in turn two, thus resetting the landscape for the finish of the 30-lapper.

However, Courtney was unfazed with the lapped car of Cole Bodine separating he and Thomas, Windom and Jason McDougal in second, third and fourth.  Courtney said drove away during the restart as a cornucopia of drivers behind him jostled for position.

McDougal eventually prevailed with the second spot using a topside pass of K. Thomas in turn four on lap 24. With Courtney a distant three seconds ahead, McDougal needed a caution for any shot and he would receive one when Andrew Layser flipped between turns three and four on the 28th lap.  He was uninjured.

The stage was set for a three-lap dash to the finish with Courtney leading and McDougal in second.  Rewind back to last Labor Day Weekend and McDougal was in relatively the same position in Pevely, Mo., to win his first USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car race.  He conquered that quest, and now had a similar storyline setting up for his first career USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget score in his first drive for Steve Reynolds Motorsports.

Courtney had other plans, however.

“I didn’t really know what I was going to get with Jason,” Courtney pondered. “He’s good at the end of races; he proved it last year at Pevely. I was a little bit in defense mode, but I knew I just needed to hit my marks and make three good laps there at the end to put ourselves in position to be where we were.

“I knew he’d be running the top because that’s where he loves to be,” Courtney continued. “But nobody had passed me on the bottom the whole night, so I knew if I could just run where they were running, nobody was going to go where I was going.  It was just a matter of putting yourself in the right place at the right time.”

Courtney stuck to his guns and burst away on the restart, never allowing McDougal to get anywhere close enough to throw a haymaker for the win, closing out his fifth USAC National win at Kokomo (three sprint, two midget) by just a tick under a full second ahead of a wheel-standing McDougal in second, followed by Windom, Zeb Wise and Thomas.

Chad Boespflug held off McDougal to win the companion 25-lap non-winged sprint car feature.

For complete results, advance to the next page.

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TUCSON, Ariz. — With five laps to go in the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series Wildcat Shootout at USA Raceway Friday night, Brad Sweet’s victory was far from certain.

Sweet had command of the race, having stolen the lead from Ian Madsen just before a lap-19 caution flag.

However, Madsen did not let the blue Kasey Kahne Racing car of Sweet out of his sight.

With lapped traffic in Sweet’s windshield, Madsen used it to his advantage turning a car length distance between them into half a car length. Then a quarter. The laps were winding down in a hurry, but the race was far from over.

That is until the traffic that was helping Madsen catch Sweet, ended up killing his momentum with a lap to go, putting more than a car length back between he and Sweet, who went on to claim his first win of the season – his 35th career victory.

“I was just kind of lucky to get through a few of those guys, just mistakes in lap traffic and we were in the right spot to capitalize,” said Grass Valley, Calif., native Sweet. “The car was superfast and made the opportunities for us to take advantage of those opportunities.”

Sweet stared sixth for the 30-lap feature, while Madsen, who fared better in the dash, started outside the front row.

When the green flag waved, Madsen, last year’s Rookie of the Year, shot by polesitter Donny Schatz and ran away with the lead.

“Everyone’s always better in clean air,” said Madsen, who ended up second. “It just kind of got pretty tricky there in the middle of the race. We got stuck behind some lap cars and we just weren’t as good as Brad tonight to maneuver around to get past the lapped cars.”

Madsen’s blistering pace at the start of the race put him in lapped traffic by Lap five. While the Australian hustled his way around the slower cars, Sweet — with a little bit of luck on his side — methodically moved his way to the front, lap by lap.

“I think we were in the right place at the right time a lot of the time and we were able to capitalize,” Sweet said. “Coming from sixth to win is hard in these things, especially on a pretty fast track. We’ll take it any way we can get it.”

Luck wasn’t the only factor that helped him to the front. A little bit of skill, knowing where to put his car helped, too.

“Luckily for me, I kind of found a low line in turn one, and kind of low down the front stretch,” Sweet said. “If I could get off (turn) four equal or a little better than the guy in front of me, I could go low in turn one and it seemed like I could carry more speed. That’s where I made all of my passes.”

While Sweet and Madsen stole the show, Brent Marks raced his way to his best finish so far this year – sixth.

“I know my results through California don’t really show, but we’ve been getting our car really good,” said Marks. “We’ll just keep plugging away and fine tuning this race car and try to have a little bit better luck on our side. Excited we got a good run tonight.”

Sweet is the ninth different winner this season in 10 races.

That consistency, in addition to Friday night’s win, has left him tied for the points lead with 10-times series champion Donny Schatz.

To see full results, turn to the next page.

The post Sweet Holds Off Madsen In Tucson appeared first on SPEED SPORT.

BRISTOL, Tenn. – He may be the lone Team Penske driver who has yet to visit victory lane this season in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, but Ryan Blaney isn’t feeling the heat at all.

He’s focused forward and focused on converting his early-season pace into the wins he feels his team deserves.

Blaney said Friday at Bristol Motor Speedway that there’s “no pressure” as far as he’s concerned, even though both Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano are locked into the Cup Series playoffs by virtue of their triumphs through the first seven races of the Cup Series season.

“I don’t feel pressure at all,” Blaney told SPEED SPORT. “Yeah, you want to be part of the group, but we have the ability to do it and it’s just a matter of getting it done. Everybody knows that. My whole team knows, all of Penske knows and all of the competition knows that we’ve been one of the best cars all year. Yeah, you still hate to have a zero in that column even though it’s still really early in the year, but, no, it doesn’t bother me at all.

“Honestly, the pressure thing … I used to let get to me a handful of years ago, and then I realized that it doesn’t help you, so you just try to stay pressure free – no matter how good or bad things are or how things look,” Blaney continued. “There’s no pressure just because Brad and Joey have won. You just try to focus on your deal and what you need to do to try to get your team in victory lane and help your teammates and your team the best you can. I’m just trying to overlook all that stuff and focus ahead.”

It’s been feast or famine for Blaney this year. He has three top-five finishes, but he also has four finishes of 22nd or worse, including a crash in the Daytona 500 and an overheating retirement at Texas.

That’s left Blaney frustrated at times, even though he’s tried to put it out of his mind.

“There are moments you get frustrated at it,” Blaney admitted, referencing his bad luck. “You just wish stuff would stop happening. We had that run there of really good finishes, where we finished where we had been running. I wouldn’t say it’s relieving, but it was nice to finally actually not have anything go wrong in those races, and then you look at last week leading the race and a part falls off and we end up blowing up. That part is frustrating.

“I’m (just) tired of being in spots with a chance to win and then dumb luck happens and it just gets taken all away from you,” Blaney added. “That part gets frustrating, but I’m really only frustrated for 10 minutes after the deal happens. After that, you move on and figure out what you can do to prevent stuff from like that happening and then you focus on the next week because there’s nothing you can do about it after something like that happens. You just try to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

Despite his goose-egg in the win column to this point, Blaney still firmly believes that Team Penske is seated atop the current pecking order in the Cup Series garage, alongside Joe Gibbs Racing.

“We’re at the top of our game and I think our cars are the fastest ones out there – us and the Gibbs guys seem to be the class of the field right now – but it all goes full circle,” Blaney noted. “You’ll have slumps and you’ll have good times, and you just try to capitalize on the good times.

“I think we’ll be in contention to win all year. Our team certainly is capable of that, but when we have so much speed right now as a whole group, we definitely want to capitalize on it,” he added. “You want to rack them up as much as you can, as quick as you can and when you can. It stinks sometimes when you can’t get them as fast as you want to, but I’d rather have fast cars and things happening when we’re in contention to win races than be running 15th, scratching our heads and wondering where the speed is at. They’re both frustrating, but I’d rather be in this position, with fast cars and running up front.

“You just hope the problems stop and you can figure out a way to pull through at the end of one of these races.”

Blaney qualified third for Sunday’s Food City 500. He dominated the early stages of last season’s spring race at Bristol before a crash collected him from the race lead and bounced him from contention.

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BRISTOL, Tenn. – Cole Custer swept through NASCAR Xfinity Series qualifying on Saturday morning at Bristol Motor Speedway en route to the pole for the Alsco 300.

Custer led the way in all three knockout rounds, but it was his final-round lap of 15.168 seconds (126.503 mph) with the No. 00 Haas Automation Ford Mustang that gave him his seventh-career pole and first of the season.

“I thought our lap on that last run was slower that our first two, but it was actually quicker,” said Custer, who was also the pole winner for last year’s spring race at Bristol. “I feel like our car has been fast all weekend, but you know the track’s going to change, so we’ll keep on top of it and adjust throughout the race. We’re going to have to move around the whole time, though.

“I think we’re going to be running the top (in the race),” Custer added. “It seems like the VHT is wearing out pretty quick.”

Tyler Reddick, driving a special Dolly Parton scheme this weekend in Tennessee, will join Custer on the front row after qualifying second at 15.255 seconds (125.782 mph) in the No. 2 Chevrolet Camaro.

“It’s really cool to get Dolly on the front row with us. It’s a shame that we couldn’t get a little bit more,” Reddick said. “I talked to my crew chief though, and when I asked him how much we needed, he said we needed a tenth and I knew we were nowhere close to Cole, so hats off to him and Mike Shiplett.”

Reddick was also highest among the four Dash 4 Cash contenders in qualifying on Saturday morning.

“It’s something that you’ll keep an eye on at times, but the win is equally as important for us,” he added.

The Fords of Chase Briscoe and Austin Cindric will share row two, with rookie Harrison Burton qualifying fifth with the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota for his first-ever Xfinity Series start.

Justin Allgaier, Noah Gragson, Christopher Bell, Michael Annett, John Hunter Nemechek, Justin Haley and Ross Chastain completed the top dozen and each advanced through all three knockout rounds.

Brandon Jones, who dominated last year’s spring Xfinity Series race at Bristol, was the first driver who failed to advance to the final round of qualifying on Saturday morning.

He’ll start 13th (15.490/123.873) later in the afternoon with the No. 19 Menards Toyota Supra.

“It seemed like the traction compound just gained grip when we went back out for our second run,” Jones noted. “When I was on track in round two, I had a bit more chatter tight than I’d had before. I could tell I was driving harder, and I needed to because I was getting beat in some spots, but I think we just under-adjusted on the car a little bit for what I needed there to be able to make the final round.”

Other notables buried in the field include Zane Smith (16th) and Kyle Weatherman (24th).

Both Stephen Leicht and Jeff Green had their qualifying times disallowed for failing to post a lap during the second round of qualifying. They’ll start 36th and 37th, respectively, in the 300-lap race.

To view complete qualifying results, advance to the next page.

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BRISTOL, Tenn. – Harrison Burton may be making his NASCAR Xfinity Series debut this weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway, but he sure didn’t look like a rookie during qualifying on Saturday morning.

Burton ripped through all three knockout rounds and posted the fifth-fastest lap (15.276/125.609) during the final round, placing his No. 18 Dex Imaging Toyota Supra fifth on the grid for the Alsco 300.

Asked by SPEED SPORT afterwards if he was sure he hadn’t done this before, Burton flashed a sly grin before laughing and shaking his head.

“No, I’m sure I haven’t,” said Burton. “That was cool, though, wasn’t it? As good as I could have hoped. The lap was solid; we just missed a little bit compared to the guys ahead of us. We’ve got a good race car, though.”

Burton, who grew up running many of the region’s short tracks in his youth, always gets pumped up any time he has the opportunity to compete at The Last Great Coliseum.

The 18-year-old has raced the .533-mile concrete oval in both NASCAR K&N Pro Series East and NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series competition in the past.

“I’m so excited to be back at Bristol,” said Burton. “For me as a driver, I get excited to have the opportunity to race against some of the biggest names in the sport, for my first time (in Xfinity) at one of the coolest race tracks in the sport. It’s awesome.

“I remember as a kid watching my dad race there under the lights and everything. It was so cool and to be a part of that now and to grow in to that role and be an Xfinity driver is really cool,” Burton added. “I couldn’t pick a better place than Bristol to have all this be happening for me.”

Back in 2017, Burton won his first K&N East race at Bristol, leading 68 of 70 laps in a rain-shortened event. He went on to secure the series championship at the end of that season.

Even now, that victory is one that gives Burton confidence as he returns in an Xfinity car this weekend.

“Bristol is one of my favorite tracks to race at, and I feel like it’s also one of my best tracks,” noted Burton. “Getting my first K&N win there was so exciting, and I learned so much about the track in that race as well. I’m hoping I can take my skills, stay out of trouble in this race and compete for a win today.

“I think we’ve got the speed to make some magic happen.”

The post Burton Impresses During Xfinity Qualifying Debut appeared first on SPEED SPORT.

HARRISBURG, N.C. — Auto racing is brimming with great stories that have absolutely nothing to do with the competition side of the sport.

We stumbled upon one of those stories recently while talking with Rockingham (N.C.) Dragway owner Steve Earwood for a feature profile that appears elsewhere in these pages.

Earwood’s interesting tale involves a website domain, a professional wrestler and a substantial payday.

“I had a racer come to me back in the mid-1990s. This was one of our lower, lower tier racers, not even wearing a shirt. He says to me, ‘How come you’re not on the internet?’ Earwood shared. “This is in the dial-up days and I didn’t think it would ever work. My daughter was working for me at the time and I told her if this guy’s on the internet, maybe we need to look at that. Maybe there is something to this.

“Call the address people and let’s get therock.com. I didn’t even know what a domain name was at the time. She checks and there’s a jewelry store in San Francisco that has therock.com. He never started a website but he owned the domain,” Earwood continued. “So I call the guy and say, ‘I’ve got this little drag strip in North Carolina called The Rock and I’m going to try this website thing. I don’t think it’s going to work. I think it’s too tedious, people don’t understand it. You can’t beat a newspaper or radio for your information, but I’m told I need to have a website.’

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Karim Benzema scored two headers to seal a 2-1 comeback win for Real Madrid at home against Eibar in La Liga.

After Wednesday's 2-1 loss at Valencia, a Bernabeu stadium that was only two-thirds full saw Marc Cardona's goal give Eibar, who won the reverse fixture 3-0 back in November, the lead just before half-time.

Benzema levelled for Zinedine Zidane's side just before the hour mark, before completing the fightback in the final 10 minutes.

Madrid coach Zidane left midfielders Toni Kroos and Casemiro on the bench, preferring instead to play Federico Valverde alongside Luka Modric and Isco.

Madrid struggled to find their rhythm as Gareth Bale -- who was regularly booed by the home fans -- and Benzema failed to connect in attack while Eibar looked a regular threat in wide areas, and the visitors took a deserved lead in the run-up to half-time.

Marc Cucurella, on loan from Barcelona, fed Gonzalo Escalante from the left wing. Escalante spotted the gaps in the Madrid defence and threaded a pass across the area for Cardona to lift over the helpless Keylor Navas.

Benzema thought he had scored the equaliser 10 minutes into the second half, when he tapped into the empty net following a mix-up between goalkeeper Marko Dimitrovic and one of his defenders, but the VAR review showed the French striker had been slightly offside when the move began.

However, he did get on the scoresheet a few minutes later, when Marco Asensio's good work on the right wing allowed the Spain international to cross and Benzema finished with a downward header at the far post.

Bale and Modric made way for Lucas Vazquez and Kroos, and the latter contributed to creating the winning goal. The midfielder combined for a short corner routine, and the cross was once again nodded home by Benzema.

The striker was denied a hat trick in the closing stages by Dimitrovic, before missing an open goal moments later, but he had already contributed enough to secure the win.

Ronaldinho's son Joao Mendes de Assis Moreira has signed his first professional contract with Cruzeiro.

The promising forward, who will be playing with the under-14 squad, has signed a deal for several years, sources told ESPN Brasil.

Filho de Ronaldinho assina contrato com Cruzeiro e firma primeiro vínculo profissional da carreirahttps://t.co/dJMNzM8Hye pic.twitter.com/Zhep2qMo3q

— Mundo ESPN (@ESPNagora) April 5, 2019

"[Cruzeiro] were the team that opened the gates for me. I am very fond of the club," he said. "The training sessions are great and the infrastructure is top level. We're talking about Brazil's best club and it's a pleasure to be here."

Cruzeiro were unaware that Joao was the son of former Brazil international Ronaldhino until after he joined the club.

"He's a promising player with an interesting style," Amarildo Ribeiro, who runs Cruzeiro's youth teams, said. "I believe it won't take too long for him to go pro.

"He's really athletic and has great technique. He can play both the striker and center attacking midfielder positions. He's tall, but he can run. He can put it in the back of the net too."

Ronaldinho started his career with Gremio before moving to Paris Saint-Germain in 2001. After helping Brazil win the World Cup, he joined Barcelona in 2003, where he won the Champions League.

He also played for AC Milan, Flamengo, Atletico Mineiro, Mexico side Queretaro and Fluminense before retiring in 2015.

Vancouver Whitecaps midfielder Felipe was disappointed with a number of home fans cheering visiting star Zlatan Ibrahimovic in a 2-0 loss to the LA Galaxy on Friday.

Ibrahimovic produced a match-winning display in what was a third consecutive sellout at Vancouver's BC Place.

However, with the score 0-0 at halftime, Felipe expressed his displeasure that swaths of those in attendance were supporting the former Sweden international and not the home team.

"I think this is kind of sad because this is for him and it should be for us, because we play at home. Doesn't matter who comes here, [they've] got to come to support us and cheer harder for us, and not for the opponent," Felipe said, when asked about the "buzz" in the stadium at the break.

"I think that's the way it should be."

Ibrahimovic scored a goal and provided an assist in the second half to secure the three points and praised the crowd after the match.

"It was a good game, fantastic atmosphere," Ibrahimovic told reporters. "Thanks to all the people who came out, hopefully they enjoyed the game.

"It was a good game for us also, especially the second half."