I Dig Sports
INDIANAPOLIS – Flat12 Bierworks is supporting Jarett Andretti’s sprint car program at Andretti Autosport Short Track.
Flat12 Bierworks will be an associate sponsor of Andretti’s sprint car program. Andretti is a regular in the Pirelli GT4 American series and is also scheduled to make his Indy Lights debut during the Freedom 100 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway later this month.
Andretti with be the face of the new F12 lineup, which will launch on May 24 with the year-round flagship Jarett Andretti 18 (Orange Wheat) and special release Jarett Andretti Freedom (Vanilla Orange Wheat) with a collector’s edition can to commemorate Andretti’s Indianapolis Motor Speedway debut in the Freedom 100 on the same day. The new F12 brand will be an homage to the fearlessly – and unapologetically – competitive edge of athletes like the young Andretti.
The new school approach to F12 will complement the long-standing old school roots of Flat12 Bierwerks, established in 2010 as one of the first production breweries in Indianapolis. A tribute to the gladiators of sport, the F12 brand will focus on individuals who have the courage to compete in some of the world’s most dangerous events while Flat12 will remain as the classic Indianapolis mainstay everyone has come to love over the past eight years.
“It’s impossible to overstate how thrilled I am to work with Jarett and the entire team at Andretti Autosport Short Track,” said Jason Wuerfel, CEO of Flat12 Bierworks and Books & Brews. “My primary goal for Flat12 is to honor the rich racing tradition in the city of Indianapolis. The moment I met and got to know Jarett it became clear to me that he could take to an entirely new level. While we’re continuing to follow the racing theme, I’m extremely excited for Jarett to be the face of the new, cutting-edge F12 brand. Fans can expect a lot of fun events, appearance, promotions, and online content in the near future.”
Andretti is currently in the middle of one of the busiest race seasons of his young career. He’s already scored numerous top-five finishes in the both the GT4 American Series Sprint and SprintX Series and has also scored several top-five finishes in his sprint car earlier this season, too. His year has been highlighted by the announcement that he will make his debut at the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway in the Indy Lights Freedom 100.
“It’s a great time to have new partners such as Flat12 to come on board with us,” said Andretti. “I have a passion for our sprint car program and Flat12 has a passion for racing and brewing the best beer in Indianapolis. It’s obvious there are synergies and I’m proud to be representing Flat12 at the track and participating in exclusive events with them.”
SARVER, Pa. – Despite a desperate attempt to withstand incoming weather, Lernerville Speedway and Ollie’s Bargain Outlet All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 officials were left with no choice but to cancel action set for Friday.
A persistent drizzle that eventually turned into a steady downpour just after 7 p.m. left the racing surface heavily saturated. The event has been rescheduled for Friday, July 5, the night before Sharon Speedway’s Lou Blaney Memorial.
The All Star Circuit of Champions will continue their two-day sweep through Pennsylvania and Ohio with a Saturday night visit to Sharon Speedway in Hartford, Ohio, on May 4.
RALEIGH, N.C. -- Teuvo Teravainen scored a quick goal, and moments later, so did Greg McKegg. Just that quickly, the Carolina Hurricanes chased New York's goalie out of the game -- and the Islanders right out of the playoffs.
Carolina earned a second-round sweep of the Islanders on Friday night, beating them 5-2 after Teravainen and McKegg scored 66 seconds apart in the second period.
Coach Barry Trotz kept the identity of his starting goalie a secret until warm-ups -- when Robin Lehner led them onto the ice for the fourth straight game in the series.
He didn't last long.
Trotz pulled him in favor of backup Thomas Greiss after the bang-bang goals by Teravainen and McKegg early in the second period.
"We just got punched in the nose, and I was looking for a spark,'' Trotz said. "I knew that goals had been pretty hard to come by in the series. ... We just couldn't get close enough in the end.''
Teravainen put the Hurricanes ahead to stay after some slick passes from Aho and Warren Foegele set up his sixth goal of the postseason. And McKegg chased Lehner when the goalie couldn't keep hold of the rebound of Brett Pesce's shot and the Carolina rookie stuffed it in for his first playoff goal.
"Our backs were against the wall. Once again, they found a way to pop a goal on us, then they popped another one,'' captain Anders Lee said. "You've seen in this series, these guys are relentless when they get a lead. They're relentless when they're defending. You saw it again tonight.''
Greiss wasn't much better against the high-energy Hurricanes, with Williams scoring their third goal of the period off a give-and-go from Nino Niederreiter at 8:51 and Svechnikov riling up the rowdy Caniacs with his goal with 4:47 left.
Lehner and Greiss each finished with eight saves for the Islanders, who were swept for the first time since the Rangers did it in the first round in 1994.
Lehner is now winless in eight career games against Carolina, while Greiss was appearing in his first playoff game since 2016.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
SEATTLE -- NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly says Seattle remains in contention to host the 2021 draft despite arena construction delays.
Daly told The Associated Press on Friday that 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 has 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.
As each NHL team is eliminated from the postseason, we'll take a look at why its quest for the Stanley Cup fell short in 2018-19, three keys to its offseason, impact prospects for 2019-20 and a way-too-early prediction for what next season will hold.
What went wrong
Let's be clear: This New York Islanders season was not a failure. In many ways, it was a season to be celebrated. Transforming from a team that surrendered the most goals in the NHL (296) to the team with the fewest goals allowed (196), and without making any significant personnel additions to the blue line? That's sensational. Losing the captain and leading goal scorer and replacing him with a bunch of fourth-liners, then seeing the team increase its standings point total by 26? Expectations blown away. Signing a veteran goalie as a stopgap and seeing him get nominated for the Vezina Trophy? And in a platoon? Where the duo combined to win the Jennings Trophy?
There was a lot to like about the 2018-19 Islanders, and coach Barry Trotz and GM Lou Lamoriello (both industry veterans in their first year with the team) will get due credit. When everyone thought the Islanders couldn't sustain it, they did, exceeding 100 points and sweeping the Sidney Crosby-led Pittsburgh Penguins in the first round.
And then it all unraveled. You can rationalize that the Islanders ran into a freight train in the second round, and that's partially true. The Carolina Hurricanes are brewing something special this postseason. But in the second-round series, during which the Islanders fell flat, many of their flaws were exposed. Mistakes added up.
Their defense was adequate, but they simply could not muster enough goals. A team of high-character, bottom-nine (and defense-minded) guys can take you only so far. In today's NHL, you need at least one supremely talented superstar who can take over a game, and the Islanders had nobody like that on the roster.
With 5-2 victory, Carolina advances to Eastern Conference final
HURRICANES
Van Dam (77) 'disappointed' after bad putting day at Mediheal
DALY CITY, Calif. – The shortest club in the bag derailed long-hitting Anne van Dam in the second round of the Mediheal Championship.
After opening with a 5-under-par 67 to take a share of the first-round lead at Lake Merced Golf Club, the Dutch rookie stumbled to a 77 on Friday.
“It was mainly my putting,” said Van Dam, 23, who leads the LPGA in driving distance (289 yards per drive). “I had a few bad three putts, missed some short putts, and then that got me out of it with my swing, over the last few holes.”
Van Dam took a whopping 35 putts in the second round and fell back to even par overall.
With Lake Merced playing tough, Van Dam’s consolation is that it looks as if nobody is going to run too far away from her.
“I’m really disappointed about today, but I still have two rounds,” she said. “I know I can shoot a low round out here. I’m just going to go out.”
Dufner (63) takes 1-shot lead at Wells Fargo Championship
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Jason Dufner’s game was going nowhere, so he changed everything from his swing coach to his equipment to his caddie.
It didn’t get any better.
He at least is starting to see signs of it coming together with an 8-under 63 on Friday in the Wells Fargo Championship, matching his career-low score on the PGA Tour and giving him a one-shot lead going into the weekend at Quail Hollow.
Dufner considers it the best two rounds he has put together since the 2017 Memorial, which also is the last time he had a 36-hole lead.
“See how it goes being in the heat of it on Saturday and Sunday,” Dufner said. “I’ve been there before. It’s been a while, but I kind of know what to expect. It will be a good challenge to see where I’m at, what I’m doing.”
Dufner was at 11-under 131.
Full-field scores from the Wells Fargo Championship
Wells Fargo Championship: Articles, photos and videos
Joel Dahmen made his first bogey of the week on his final hole of the second round — from the middle of the fairway, no less — but still had a 66 and was one-shot behind. So was Max Homa, who also knows about coping with bad results when he missed the cut in 14 out of 17 events in 2017. He birdied his last two holes for a 63.
Rory McIlroy, playing on the other end of the course, was stride for stride with Dufner until he dropped three shots over the last two holes. McIlroy made double bogey with a fat shot out of a bunker and a pitch too strong over the green at No. 8, and then went over the green on No. 9 for a bogey and a 70.
Even so, he was five behind and in the mix for a third title at Quail Hollow.
“I stood up here last night talking about that I got the most out of it yesterday, and today it was the complete opposite. I turned a 66 into a 70,” McIlroy said. “Golf, it’s a funny game and these things happen.”
Dufner didn’t find too much funny about last year, when his world ranking fell from No. 41 to No. 124 and missed the cut 11 times. That’s when he decided to make changes to just about everything.
“This is my fourth caddie of the year so far,” he said. “I left Chuck Cook, started doing some other things. I started working with Phil Kenyon. I think I’m on my fourth or fifth putter this year. I’m on my fourth or fifth driver, my fourth or fifth golf ball, fourth or fifth lob wedge. I’m trying to find stuff that’s going to work.”
It worked on Friday at Quail Hollow.
He started his round by missing the green 35 yards to the left and holing the chip over the bunker. He made a 20-foot eagle. He missed a 3-foot par putt. He drove the green on the par-4 14th for another birdie. And he capped it all off with a 40-foot birdie putt on the peninsula green at the par-3 17th.
It was the first time he shot 63 since Oak Hill in 2013, the year he won the PGA Championship.
“I’m just getting to that point where I’m kind of settled with everything,” he said. “Sometimes you make a change and it happens immediately. For me, that wasn’t the case. But kind of getting past all those changes and settling into playing some better golf instead of coming to tournaments wondering how I might play or how it might go or is this going to be the right change. Getting to where I feel more comfortable with that and I can just go out play free and play some good golf.”
Dufner turned 42 in March and realizes he doesn’t have many years left to compete at a high level.
“I’m not really trying to be mediocre,” he said. “I’m searching for things that are going to make me a better player.”
Homa always had the talent, winning the NCAA title at Cal with a three-shot victory over Jon Rahm. He just fell into the trap of thinking he had to be even better when he got to the PGA Tour, and he’s had a rough go of it. But when he’s driving it well, it frees up the rest of his game.
He also went back to longtime friend Joe Greiner, who caddied for him his first year on tour until leaving for another friend, Kevin Chappell.
“Joe stayed with me until it became financially irresponsible for him to work for me,” Homa said.
Chappell had back surgery and is out until the fall, and Homa brought him back.
“My attitude is awesome nowadays,” he said. “I don’t really get too down on myself. I have an awesome, awesome caddie that doesn’t let me. If I’m quiet, he yells at me and tells me quiet golfers are usually very mean to themselves, so we have a good thing going.”
Ridderstrom tries to fight her way out of LPGA priority doldrums
DALY CITY, Calif. – Sweden’s Louise Ridderstrom knows how difficult opportunities are to come by with the priority ranking she received coming out of LPGA Q-Series last year.
She was the final player to make it into the Mediheal Championship when the field list was updated Sunday night.
That’s what made putting out so satisfying Friday as she finished up the second round.
She could see she did a lot more than make her first cut as a rookie. She saw her name on the leaderboard over the 18th green.
“That was really fun to see,” said Ridderstrom, who used a 3-under 69 Friday to move into contention at 4 under entering the weekend.
Full-field scores from the LPGA Mediheal Championship
Ridderstrom, a 25-year-old former UCLA Bruin, is making just her third start of the year. After finishing T-36 at Q-Series, she found herself low in Category 14 of the tour’s priority list. She spends a lot of time on her computer now seeing where her priority status ranks her for upcoming events.
“I think I spend pretty much every day looking at it,” Ridderstrom said.
Ridderstrom didn’t get into her first LPGA event this year until the Lotte Championship two weeks ago and missed the cut. She Monday-qualified to get into last week’s Hugel-Air Premia LA Open, but missed the cut there, too. So this week brings a welcome first chance to make some money, improve her status and begin to secure a tour card for next year.
“I’m in a good spot right now and very happy about it,” Ridderstrom said.
N.Y. Choi earned biomechanics degree: 'I learned a lot about my swing'
DALY CITY, Calif. – Na Yeon Choi’s nearly yearlong hiatus from golf to heal her mind, body and spirit didn’t include a total escape from the game.
After climbing on to the leaderboard Friday at the Mediheal Championship, she revealed that she earned a master’s degree in biomechanics while away last year.
“It was hard,” Choi said. “Sometimes, I’d go to bed at 3 or 4 in the morning after studying.”
Choi, whose nine LPGA titles include the 2012 U.S. Women’s Open, once climbed as high as No. 2 in the Rolex Women’s World Rankings. A back injury, however, led to driver yips, which precipitated a slow spiral down the world rankings. In April of 2018, she decided to leave the LPGA to give her ailing back the time it needed to fully heal. She visited castles in Eastern Europe, read books she never had time to read and also wrote a 50-page thesis. It was on the biomechanics of the golf swing. It earned her a master’s degree from the University of Kunkok last December.
“I learned a lot about my swing,” Choi said.
Choi, 31, returned to the LPGA at the Bank of Hope Founders Cup in March feeling healthy again but unsure what to expect. She had plummeted to No. 486 in the world.
“It was like I was a rookie again,” she said. “I was really nervous, my hands almost shaking.”
Choi didn’t look like a rookie. She shot 65 in her first round back at the Founders Cup before slipping to a tie for 27th. Her finish almost didn’t matter, she said.
“I felt so happy, excited just being back on the course,” Choi said. “This is where I belong.”
Choi is playing on a medical extension. She has eight events left, including this week, to see how much money she can make and where that would rank her on the final 2018 money list. She will be reshuffled into this year’s priority rankings based on that medical extension tally.
In four starts so far this year, Choi has missed two cuts, with that T-27 finish her best effort. She has earned $22,097 when combined with her limited starts in 2018. She’s looking poised to boost that in a big way this weekend. A 5-under-par 67 Friday at Lake Merced Golf Club left her tied for fourth, two shots behind fellow South Korean So Yeon Ryu.
“I just want to keep doing what I’ve been doing the first two days,” Choi said.
Choi said her back was a little sore in the damp, cold air here this week, but she’s feeling just fine.
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