MOORESVILLE, N.C. – With three drivers having now made the required 20 starts, the National Sprint Car Rankings are officially open for this season.

Donny Schatz leads the standings with a 7.667 average finish with 21 starts. Aaron Reutzel ranks second and Cory Eliason in third are the only other drivers to have reached 20 starts.

Danny Dietrich has returned to the top of the Eastern region standings, while Reutzel leads the Western region.

Brad Sweet tops the Mid-America region and Hunter Schuerenberg leads the way in the Great Lakes.

Thirty-one drivers have combined to win the 47 features run with 292 drivers having made 410 winged sprint car starts already this season.

Click below to see the National and Regional rankings.

OCALA, Fla. – Big Frog Motorsports officials have announced that veteran dirt late model driver Mike Marlar has joined the team to pilot the M&W Transport No. 58 super late model in select events.

Marlar, the 2018 World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model Series champion, will make his debut with the team on April 21 at Ohio’s Atomic Speedway.

“I talked with Augie (Burttram) after the ride become available. We discussed possibilities to run select events, and then I went back and talked to my car owner, Ronnie Delk. Ronnie and I agreed that this was a great deal to keep me on top of my game by being able to race more. My main focus is to pursue the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series championship with Ronnie Delk Motorsports. However, this opportunity allows me to run events that otherwise our team likely wouldn’t have been able to attend due to logistics,” Marlar said. “I’m grateful to have this opportunity to run additional races with Big Frog Motorsports. It’s every driver’s dream to have the support of two great teams, and that’s what I have here.”

For Big Frog Motorsports owner Augie Burttram, adding Mike Marlar to the fold for select events is a perfect scenario.

“Mike (Marlar) brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to our team, and it allows us to pick-and-choose events that we want to go after. We had a lot of great drivers contact us, when our seat opened up, and this was the clear-cut decision on where we want to be moving forward,” Burttram noted. “When Mike isn’t running the Lucas Oil stuff with Delk, we are going to target some fun races to hit. I’m looking forward to what the rest of the season will bring.”

The team is still working out their upcoming schedule with Marlar at the helm. While Big Frog Motorsports won’t be ready for Wednesday’s race at West Virginia’s Tyler County Speedway, Marlar will take his Delk Equipment Sales No. 157 into battle. From there Big Frog Motorsports will field their No. 58 entry for Marlar in the events at Atomic Speedway (April 21) and Brownstown Speedway (May 12).

“Right now, I’m going through schedules to see what we can run when Lucas Oil is off. We know we are trying to run all of the Castrol series events, and then I hope to do a mash-up of Southern Nationals, Summer Nationals, and events like that. It’s going to be fun,” Marlar said.

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- - General manager Jarmo Kekalainen sees the overhaul of the Columbus Blue Jackets as "an opportunity to reload" rather than a rebuilding job.

Whatever he wants to call it, the Blue Jackets already look different after the trade deadline. The offseason could bring even more big changes.

When a March swoon made it likely that the string of four straight playoff appearances under coach John Tortorella would end, the Blue Jackets traded a core of popular veterans with expiring contracts for future draft picks.

The biggest name was 33-year-old Nick Foligno, the beloved Blue Jackets captain and a cornerstone of a team that was turned around under Tortorella. He was dealt to Toronto the day after 30-year-old defenseman David Savard, another of the team's longest-tenured players, was moved to Tampa Bay.

Injured center Riley Nash, in his third season with the Blue Jackets, was traded to Toronto on Friday.

In all, the Blue Jackets ended up with two first-round draft picks in the 2021 draft, and second-, fourth- and seventh-round picks in 2022. That means they'll have three first-round picks - and nine overall - in the draft this July, a rare situation made possible partly by a flat salary cap that hampered blockbuster trades and forced teams to get creative at the deadline to load up for the playoffs.

Columbus was in the unfamiliar position of being a seller. But Kekalainen, who called the losing season "an anomaly of some kind," insisted the team can return as a contender in 2021-22.

"I think the return was good," Kekalianen said. "We're happy with it. I think it gives us an opportunity to reload, is what we call it, and it gives us plenty of different opportunities to do it. There are going to be some interesting decisions this offseason with the expansion draft coming and the flat salary cap."

Earlier in the season, star center Pierre-Luc Dubois, who clashed with Tortorella and grew unhappy playing in Columbus in his first four seasons in the league, was traded to Winnipeg for Patrik Laine, who had two goals in Monday night's 4-3 overtime loss to Chicago. Jack Roslovic, who also came as part of that trade, has played well and may also end up being part of the team's new, younger foundation.

"Not to get nostalgic -- I'm not going to do that -- but it is kind of a little bit like the breaking up of the band because we went through a lot together as we tried to build this," Tortorella said.

"It's part of what our world is here in Columbus now," he said. "We've got to start looking towards what we're going to be again."

Tortorella's future is another question. After replacing the fired Todd Richards seven games into the 2015 season, Tortorella steered Columbus to four straight playoffs and won his second Jack Adams Award as the NHL's top coach in 2016-17. He was a finalist for the honor last season.

With his two-year contract expiring at the end of this season, he and the team have said little about his future.

"We'll make all those decisions in due time," Kekalainen said.

One of Columbus' excellent goaltenders also could be somewhere else by next fall. Joonas Korpisalo or Elvis Merzlikins could bring some badly needed offensive help if the team decided to deal one of them.

With Foligno gone, Columbus won't name a captain for now. Cam Atkinson, now the longest-tenured member of the team, and Seth Jones will continue as alternate captains.

"We built this culture, it took a long time to get us where we are, and I'm sure as hell not going to let this thing slide," said the 31-year-old Atkinson, who is signed through 2024-25. "We have an obligation to ourselves, and to this organization especially, to steer this in the right direction."

Foligno's family is staying in Columbus, and he has let the team know he would be open to signing with the Blue Jackets as a free agent after trying to win a Stanley Cup with the playoff-bound Maple Leafs.

"We've gone through a lot here in Columbus," said Foligno. who came via a 2012 trade with Ottawa. "We've grown this thing to a point where we had a great little run."

Ben Stokes has picked up a hand injury, which has made him a doubt for the rest of the Rajasthan Royals' campaign at IPL 2021. The allrounder sustained the injury during the Royals' opening game, against the Punjab Kings, when he ran in from long-on and dived forward to take Chris Gayle's catch in the tenth over of the Kings' innings.

ESPNcricinfo understands that Stokes will stay on with the Royals, at least for now, and is being assessed by the team's medical staff, with the ECB in the loop on the developments. "We are aware and he will be assessed over the coming days on the extent of the seriousness of the injury. At that point we will confirm the next steps," an ECB spokesperson said.

In the match against the Kings, Stokes had bowled the eighth over, but didn't come on to bowl any more even though the Kings scored 221 for 6. He subsequently came out to open the innings for the Royals, but lasted only three balls before top-edging a pull back to the bowler Mohammed Shami to be out for a duck. The Royals lost the match by four runs.

Stokes' injury could disrupt the Royals' plans significantly, especially because they are already without a first-choice player in Jofra Archer, who is recuperating and is expected to miss at least the first four games of the season. While Archer was cleared to return to training on Tuesday, it is still not clear when he will be able to resume playing.

Without either Stokes or Archer, the overseas options for the Royals are limited. Both Jos Buttler and Chris Morris are first-choice picks, and for the other two slots, they have to choose from among Liam Livingstone, David Miller, Mustafizur Rahman and Andrew Tye. Rahman played in the first match and Livingstone - who can bat in the top order and turn his arm over for part-time offspin - could be the most likely to fill in for Stokes.

More to follow…

TEMPE, Ariz. -- The Arizona Cardinals added much-needed depth in the backfield on Tuesday when they agreed to terms on a one-year contract with former Pittsburgh Steelers running back James Conner.

Conner, 25, will be paired with Chase Edmonds to form the Cardinals' 2021 backfield. It's expected that they'll share reps and responsibilities in coach Kliff Kingsbury's offense that asks running backs to be both rushers and receivers.

Conner will reunite with Cardinals running backs coach James Saxon, who was his position coach in Pittsburgh in 2017 and 2018.

Connor went to the Pro Bowl in 2018 under Saxon's tutelage after rushing for 973 yards and 12 touchdowns, tied for the third most in the NFL that season, and while catching 55 passes for 497 yards and a touchdown in 13 games.

Arizona was in need of another running back after letting Kenyan Drake go in free agency. He signed with the Las Vegas Raiders.

Hours after Luka Doncic criticized the idea of the NBA's play-in tournament, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban told ESPN that the concept is "an enormous mistake," especially due to this season's compressed schedule.

"I get why the NBA is doing it," Cuban said in a series of messages to ESPN. "But if we are going to be creative because of COVID, we should go straight up 1-20 and let the bottom 4 play in. This is the year particularly to do it since the 10 games cut [from the normal 82-game schedule] were in conference.

"The worst part of this approach is that it doubles the stress of the compressed schedule. Rather than playing for a playoff spot and being able to rest players as the standings become clearer, teams have to approach every game as a playoff game to either get into or stay in the top 6 since the consequences, as Luka said, are enormous. So players are playing more games and more minutes in fewer days."

The NBA board of governors, which includes Cuban, unanimously approved a proposal to implement a play-in tournament for this season, after the league used it for the first time prior to the playoffs in the bubble last summer.

"In hindsight, this approach was an enormous mistake," Cuban told ESPN.

Dallas (29-24) is in seventh place in the Western Conference standings, meaning they would have to participate in the play-in tournament if they can't move up. The Mavs are two games behind the Portland Trail Blazers, who own the tiebreaker between the teams due to beating Dallas in two of their three meetings.

"I don't understand the idea of a play-in," Doncic said Monday. "You play 72 games to get into the playoffs, then maybe you lose two in a row and you're out of the playoffs. So I don't see the point of that."

The play-in concept features the teams that finish from seventh to 10th place in each conference. The structure, which the NBA announced in March, includes three games in each conference.

The seventh- and eighth-place teams play each other, with the winner earning the seventh seed. The ninth- and 10th-place teams also play each other, with the loser eliminated from playoff contention. The loser of the "Seven-Eight Game" and winner of the "Nine-Ten Game" then play, with the eighth playoff seed at stake.

"In a regular season of 82 games where we aren't playing 30-plus games in 6 weeks, then it might have been OK," Cuban told ESPN. "But the compression of so many games into so few days makes this an enormous mistake. "If we had gone 1 to 16, with the top 12 in, it still would have been rough, but there would have been more separation between play-in and the top 12. This is a season where we have to rest high-usage players. We have no choice. And that can and will have consequences."

The Mavericks usually rest Kristaps Porzingis for one game during back-to-back games and occasionally rest Doncic for parts of back-to-backs.

The United States' delayed second chance at qualifying for the Olympic baseball tournament has been moved to the spring training home of the Houston Astros and the Washington Nationals and the exhibition ballpark of the New York Mets.

The Baseball Americas Qualifier will be played on the east coast of Florida in West Palm Beach and Port St. Lucie from May 31 to June 5, the World Baseball Softball Confederation said Tuesday.

The tournament originally was scheduled for March 22-26, 2020, in Surprise and Tempe, Arizona, but was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Former Los Angeles Angels manager Mike Scioscia will attempt to qualify the U.S. for the Olympics with a yet-to-be-announced roster of minor leaguers and released players. Only players not on 26-man major league rosters and injured lists will be eligible.

Scioscia is the third U.S. manager this Olympic cycle following Joe Girardi and Scott Brosius.

The U.S. plays the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and Nicaragua in Group A, and the top two teams advance to the super round along with two teams from Group B, which includes Canada, Colombia, Cuba and Venezuela. The top team from the super round joins Japan, Israel, Mexico and South Korea at the Olympic baseball tournament, to be played from July 28 to Aug. 7 in Fukushima and Yokohama.

Second- and third-place teams advance to a final qualifier in June in Taiwan, which will include Australia, China, Netherlands and Taiwan.

The U.S. was three outs from qualifying for the Olympics in November 2019 at the Premier12 tournament in Tokyo when it wasted a ninth-inning lead and lost to Mexico 3-2 in 10 innings.

Baseball is returning to the Olympics after being dropped for 2012 and 2016. Cuba won the gold medal in 1992, 1996 and 2004, the United States in 2000 and South Korea in 2008.

Baseball is likely to be dropped for the 2024 Olympics in Paris and then restored again for 2028 in Los Angeles.

SELDEN, Kan. – They broke out the congratulatory banner and the bubbly Friday for Jason Rogers.

Rogers won his 100th career IMCA Sunoco Stock Car feature on April 9, opening night of the Havoc on the Hi-Plains at Thomas County Speedway. The Selden, Kan., driver started that race 12th and beat rookie Tathan Burkhart to the checkers by not much more than the width of his bumper.

“I had a fast car. I knew the cautions needed to fall and they did,” said Rogers. “This was a big weight off my shoulders. Getting my 100th win was a goal of mine, especially after last year. If it could break last year, it broke.”

After winning just twice in all of 2020, Rogers won his first two starts of 2021 to reach the 100 career mark. He’s the 27th driver in division history, and the first from Kansas, to join the Century Wins Club.

Rogers caught the dirt track bug helping and watching friend Nate Schaben’s father Lennie race an IMCA Modified. He enjoyed a brief and successful career in a local bomber class before picking up his first IMCA Stock Car win in 2005.

“I was an adrenaline junkie, motorcycles, this and that. Racing cars around here was something I could do,” he said. “My first couple years in the Stock Car were not too successful. It was tough.”

Almost consistent, Rogers enjoyed a career-best season in 2015 with 20 feature wins, finishing third in the national point standings.

He’s now a 10-time track champion, with an Arizona Tour and Kansas State crown to his career credit as well.

“I’ve done a lot of travelling and right here locally we have a group of drivers that are really tough,” said Rogers, who drove Marty Barth-built cars through 2019 and starts his second season in a Sniper. “It’s tough to win in Western Kansas.”

The next win he’s looking forward to most is son B.J.’s first in an IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stock. Rogers has also thought ahead six months to the premier event in all of dirt track racing, the IMCA Speedway Motors Super Nationals fueled by Casey’s.

“B.J. led most of the race and ended up second on Friday. I’ll be excited when he gets his first win,” Rogers said. “I still have a lot of goals myself. A Super Nationals win would be nice. I love traveling to big events and that would be a nice win for me.”

SEEKONK, Mass. — Tri Track Open Modified Series presented by All Phases Renovations officials have announce a lucrative purse structure and multiple special awards for this season.

The base purse for each of the six events will total more than $40,000, with an additional $1,000 in contingency awards available at each event. The series will also offer a point fund at the end of the season.

“With the help of some of our dedicated sponsors and the support we have received from Modified teams and fans we are happy to present the purse structure and some of our special awards for the new season,” Wayne Darling, managing partner of the Tri Track Open Modified Series, said. “We are looking forward to getting the season started in just a few weeks on May 1 at Monadnock Speedway.”

Each Tri Track Open Modified Series event will pay a minimum of $6,000 to win. Seekonk Speedway’s Open Wheel Wednesday will pay $10,000 to win, just like it has for its previous 15 events. Additional opportunities for sponsorship are available to boost the winning purse for additional events.

Second-place for each race will pay $3,250, while the third-place finisher will earn $2,600. Fourth and fifth will earn $2,200 and $2,000, respectively. Once qualified for the feature race, drivers will be chasing a minimum of $1,000 to start.

Continuing Tri Track tradition, those drivers who are pre-registered for each event, but do not qualify into the race, will earn $500 as “go home” funds. Those who were not pre-registered will collect $300 if they don’t qualify.

On top of the purse structure, contingency awards are also in place for the season. Courtesy of Pepsi, the Pepsi Challenge returns with $300 going to each driver that wins a qualifying heat or consi race. Jerico Performance Products debuts as a sponsor of Tri Track with a $300 award per event for the driver that posts the fastest lap in each feature race. Green Construction, a returning partner, will provide a $500 Hard Charger award to the driver that advances the most positions from their starting spot during the feature.

India A's tour of England this summer, which would've seen them play against both India and England Lions, has been postponed. Instead, the BCCI will send an inflated squad to "prepare for, and use during" India's five-Test series against England. The change is keeping in mind the prevailing Covid-19 situation, with the ECB saying the focus is on "delivering the safest possible environment for all international cricket matches scheduled to take place over the summer".

"India's warm-up schedule will now comprise two intra-squad four-day matches, which will replace the two previously planned four-day fixtures between India Men and India A in July," the ECB said in a press statement, adding that the decision to tweak the schedule was jointly agreed on between the two boards in question.

The changes are not limited to the Indian team's tour. "Following further discussions with the boards of New Zealand, Sri Lanka and Pakistan it has been agreed to cancel their scheduled men's tour matches against first-class counties," the statement said. "New Zealand, Sri Lanka and Pakistan's men's teams will instead play intra-squad matches to allow them suitable preparation for their international fixtures this summer."

On rescheduling the India A tour, Tom Harrison, the ECB chief executive, said, "We look forward to welcoming a men's India A tour at a later date after this summer and when restrictions have eased. It will provide a valuable opportunity for players from both countries to experience high-quality cricket and to showcase the talent within our England Lions team and first-class counties."

The senior India side is scheduled to leave for England shortly after the completion of the ongoing edition of the IPL and, after playing the World Test Championship final against New Zealand in Southampton, take part in a series of five Tests, with the first slotted for Trent Bridge from August 4.