Meg Lanning has been named the Melbourne Stars captain for the WBBL following her off-season move back to the club after a spell with the Perth Scorchers.

Lanning, the Australia captain, will replace Elyse Villani in a move that had long-been expected after she returned to the Stars in July. She previously captained the side in the first two seasons of the WBBL before switching to the Scorchers.

"I'm looking forward to leading the Melbourne Stars again and building on the great work Elyse Villani has done," Lanning said. "It's a privilege to be captain and we're pretty happy with how our squad looks ahead of the tournament. More than anything, I'm really looking forward to getting back to playing cricket, firstly with Australia and then with Stars in WBBL."

The Stars, who last week announced the signing of England duo Katherine Brunt and Nat Sciver, have completed their squad for the season by signing allrounder Bhavi Devchand who is also a former Scorchers player.

"I think we're in a pretty good place. In recent seasons we've been able to make some competitive totals with the bat but have struggled to take key wickets and really break a game open," head coach Trent Woodhill said.

"We've made some changes for this season which I hope will start to make that difference at key points in matches. I'm delighted Meg has agreed to return to the captaincy, and I'd like thank Elyse for her leadership over the last 12 months - she has done a fantastic job."

"Bhavi has already had WBBL experience in Perth and gives us greater depth which will be important with the workload ahead."

The WBBL, which will be played entirely in Sydney, is due to start on October 25.

Melbourne Stars squad Meg Lanning (capt), Katherine Brunt, Nat Sciver, Elyse Villani, Mignon du Preez, Annabel Sutherland, Lucy Cripps, Bhavi Devchand, Alana King, Holly Ferling, Erin Osborne, Tess Flintoff, Georgia Gall, Sophie Day, Nicole Faltum.

Bowlers beware. Alyssa Healy might be about to bring out even more shots. The Australia wicketkeeper-batter could unveil some new strokeplay in the series against New Zealand which starts on Saturday, having used the extended Covid-19-enforced break from the game to look at how she can become a full 360-degree player.

The last time Healy picked up a bat in a match was the T20 World Cup final at the MCG on March 8 where she plundered 75 off 39 balls against India to give Australia a position from where they never threatened to lose the match.

That performance, in front of more than 86,000 people, capped a tournament where Healy had bounced back from a rare lean run of form leading into the event where she had made five single-figure scores in a row during the tri-series, involving England in India, which followed a world-record 148 not out against Sri Lanka last October.

ALSO READ: Healy: 'Opportunity to play four big events in 2022 daunting but also exciting'

That run of low scores, which followed a WBBL that was below her typical high standards, was very much a blip in what had been a dominant two years from Healy where she had transformed her game to become one of the leading batters in the world - her ODI record since 2018 boasts an especially prolific average of 58.70.

"I don't want to give away too many secrets to the Kiwis but have been preparing for a few things in particular. Stay tuned." Alyssa Healy

However, while not wanting to give too much away to New Zealand, Healy said that there were parts of the ground that she wanted to be able to score more freely in and has been trying out some of the new skills during the two weeks of training she and the other quarantined players have undergone in Brisbane.

That fortnight elapsed on Monday and the rest of the Australia squad arrived in the city to prepare for the three T20Is and ODIs apiece which will all be played at Allan Border Field.

"After celebrating the World Cup for about a month, I sat down with my batting coach and discussed a few different things we could work on, not necessarily to jump to another level but prepare as best as I could for this New Zealand attack," Healy said. "I don't want to give away too many secrets to the Kiwis but have been preparing for a few things in particular. Stay tuned."

"You might see some new things from me in this series. It was a great opportunity for me to go back and work on things that I hadn't really touched for a while. I'd made some technical changes a couple of years ago and they paid off beautifully but you never want to be standing still; you want to keep learning, growing and developing and there's always areas of your game that you want to work on."

Despite having driven some of her bowling team-mates to distraction during training over the last two weeks, the internationals may come a little too soon for Healy to show off the full new range but she promised that if they don't come out in Brisbane they'll be on show in the WBBL next month.

"I've driven all the bowlers a little agro over the last two weeks trying a few things in the nets," she said. "We'll have to wait and see if they come out in the game; [I am] not sure if I'm confident enough to do it yet but the ultimate goal in cricket is to be able to play 360 [degrees] and for me there's some areas I haven't quite been hitting so have been trying a few things. We'll have to see if they come out this series, if not you'll definitely see it in the WBBL."

ALSO READ: Cricket for some, not for all - where does the women's game stand?

Healy added that she did not see a lot of rust among the players who had been quarantining over the last two weeks despite the long absence from competitive cricket. Although the tour to South Africa after the T20 World Cup was postponed due to Covid-19 the team had been due an extended break over the winter, albeit some players would have been overseas in the UK, playing in the Hundred, under normal circumstances.

"Form-wise, I've been really surprised with everyone around the group in the last two weeks of training, seeing the Victoria and New South Wales players go about it, there's not a lot of rust around which is amazing," she said. "I'm excited to see what this group can achieve with six months rest; every time we come back from a major tournament we are straight back into something else, so for us to have the ability to have some downtime will hopefully do some really good things for the Aussie women's team."

And while Healy could see the bigger picture of how important it is for the women's game to be up and running again - England and West Indies began their five-match T20I series on Monday in Derby - she said that the competitive instincts mean that the will to win would be as strong as ever come the weekend.

"We want to win, and the Rose Bowl [one-day] series in particular is a really big one which we want to keep our hands on. Yes, I see the greater importance of having cricket back up and running here in Australia, but for us we are out there to win."

The NFL fined three head coaches -- Denver's Vic Fangio, Seattle's Pete Carroll and San Francisco's Kyle Shanahan -- $100,000 each for not wearing masks Sunday, sources told ESPN's Adam Schefter.

In addition, the league fined each coach's team $250,000, sources said.

The $1,050,000 in punishments comes a week after the league sent a memo to teams reinforcing its requirement that coaches wear coverings over their mouths and noses at all times on the sidelines during games, threatening discipline for those who don't comply.

The sharply worded message, written by executive vice president of football operations Troy Vincent, came in response to wide variance in compliance during the first Sunday of the 2020 season.

Players are exempt from these protocols.

More fines could be coming, as several other coaches violated the league's rules, among them New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick and both coaches in Monday night's game, Jon Gruden of the Las Vegas Raiders and Sean Payton of the New Orleans Saints.

Gruden wore his face mask like a chin strap and Payton wore his gaiter like a turtleneck.

Following the Raiders' 34-24 win over the Saints on Monday night, Gruden, who last week said he felt the league's memo was directed at him, revealed he'd had COVID-19 and apologized for violating the rules.

"I'm doing my best," Gruden said. "I've had the virus. I'm doing my best. I'm very sensitive about it ... I'm calling plays. I just wanna communicate in these situations, and if I get fined, I'll have to pay the fine, but I'm very sensitive about that and I apologize."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Denny Hamlin has joined Charlotte Hornets owner Michael Jordan to form a NASCAR team with Bubba Wallace as the driver, a high-profile pairing of a Black majority team owner and the only Black driver at NASCAR's top level.

The partnership was announced Monday night in coordinated social media posts by Jordan and Hamlin, with Wallace adding his own comment. The posts showed a picture of Jordan alongside a firesuit-clad Hamlin in a motor home at a racetrack.

"Historically, NASCAR has struggled with diversity and there have been few Black owners," Jordan said in his statement. "The timing seemed perfect as NASCAR is evolving and embracing social change more and more."

Jordan becomes the first Black principal owner of a full-time Cup team since Hall of Famer Wendell Scott drove his own race car in 495 races from 1961 to 1973. Scott's 1964 victory at the Jacksonville 200 is the only win by a Black driver in Cup history.

The NBA great, who earlier this year pledged $100 million over 10 years for initiatives combating systemic racism, said the move into NASCAR is another step toward racial equality.

"I see this as a chance to educate a new audience and open more opportunities for Black people in racing," Jordan said.

Jordan joins former NBA player Brad Daugherty, a partner at JTG Daugherty Racing, as the only Black owners at NASCAR's elite Cup level.

"Michael and Bubba can be a powerful voice together, not only in our sport, but also well beyond it," Hamlin said.

Hamlin, a three-time Daytona 500 winner and a top contender for this year's Cup title, will be part of a single-car Toyota entry aligned with Joe Gibbs Racing. Hamlin has raced his entire career for Gibbs, a Hall of Fame NFL coach.

"Eleven years ago I met Michael Jordan at a then-Charlotte Bobcats game and we became fast friends," Hamlin wrote. "Not long after, I joined Jordan Brand as their first NASCAR athlete. Our friendship has grown over the years and now we are ready to take it to the next level.

"Deciding on the driver was easy -- it had to be Bubba Wallace."

Tonight, I'm excited to announce MJ and I are starting a new, single car @NASCAR Cup Series team for 2021. Deciding on a driver was easy - it had to be @BubbaWallace. pic.twitter.com/nIJv0X6ZOX

— Denny Hamlin (@dennyhamlin) September 22, 2020

Wallace is the only Black driver in the Cup Series and this season used his platform to push for racial equality. The 27-year-old successfully urged NASCAR to ban the display of the Confederate flag at its events.

Wallace is winless in 105 Cup starts over four seasons, but he has six career victories in the Truck series. He's been hampered by mid-level equipment driving the No. 43 for Hall of Famer Richard Petty and, until this summer, the team struggled to land sponsorship.

"Bubba has shown tremendous improvement since joining the Cup Series and we believe he's ready to take his career to a higher level," Hamlin wrote. "He deserves the opportunity to compete for race wins and our team will make sure he has the resources to do just that.

"Off the track, Bubba has been a loud voice for change in our sport and our country. MJ and I support him fully in those efforts and stand beside him."

There's been speculation for months that Hamlin was organizing some sort of ownership group, as he expects NASCAR's business model to become more favorable for team owners when the "Next Gen" car is released in 2022. NASCAR rules prohibit a current driver from owning a team and driving for another, but Hamlin works around the policy with Jordan as the principal owner.

"Starting a race team has been something that Michael and I have talked about while playing golf together over the years, but the timing or circumstances were never really right," Hamlin said. "It just makes sense now to lay the foundation for my racing career after I'm done driving and also help an up-and-coming driver like Bubba take his career to a higher level."

In a statement, NASCAR welcomed Jordan to the series.

"His presence at NASCAR's top level will further strengthen the competition, excitement and momentum growing around our sport," NASCAR said.

Jordan became a partial owner of the Bobcats in 2006 and bought the team outright in 2010, restoring the franchise to its original Hornets name. Hamlin has been a longtime season-ticket holder with courtside seats along the visitors' bench.

Jordan dabbled in racing before with Michael Jordan Motorsports. He owned an AMA Superbike team and had one win in 10 years. Jordan has twice traveled to the NASCAR season finale to watch Hamlin race for the championship. Hamlin, who's 39, is still seeking his first title.

"Growing up in North Carolina, my parents would take my brothers, sisters and me to races, and I've been a NASCAR fan my whole life," Jordan wrote. "The opportunity to own my own race team in partnership with my friend, Denny Hamlin, and to have Bubba Wallace driving for us, is very exciting for me."

Wallace, who has cobbled together about $18 million in sponsorship deals since he made racial equality his platform, had already announced he was parting with Petty.

"This is a unique, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that I believe is a great fit for me at this point in my career," Wallace wrote. "I am grateful and humbled that they believe in me and I'm super pumped to begin this adventure with them."

Jordan and Hamlin purchased a charter for their team from Germain Racing that guarantees Wallace a spot in the 40-car field every week.

OAKLAND, Calif. -- The Oakland Athletics clinched their first American League West title since 2013 on Monday night with an assist from the rival Houston Astros.

Houston lost 6-1 to the Seattle Mariners, ending its three-year reign as division champion and making the A's the first team in the majors to lock up a division crown in this pandemic-shortened season.

Oakland was off Monday before opening an interleague series at Dodger Stadium on Tuesday.

Since last season ended, the slugging A's have emphasized the need to win the division given they won 97 games each of the past two years and lost the AL wild-card game.

Oakland is in the playoffs for a third straight year and the sixth time in nine seasons.

A's right-hander Mike Fiers was the whistleblower in the Astros' offseason sign-stealing scandal when he publicly called out his former club for cheating in an article published by The Athletic in November.

Houston won a major league-best 107 games last season but lost to Washington in the World Series. The Astros brought in veteran manager Dusty Baker to lead the way in 2020.

Despite a record number of clubs advancing to this year's MLB postseason, there will still be 14 teams that won't be playing in October. Players on those clubs, especially young ones, could very well be playing themselves onto or off their teams' 2021 rosters. It's certainly not audition time, because many players have done enough to warrant their big league call-up, but it is a time of scrutinized observation.

Less than a week remains in the season, and players are being evaluated for more than just their numbers. It's also about what's under the hood for some of these players. How do they react to losing? What's their behavior and work ethic like when they're not playing for a postseason berth?

"That's exactly where my sights are targeted," said Arizona Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo, whose club is mired in the NL West cellar. "Obviously, wanting great results, but it's mostly the focus and the effort and the preparedness. We have certain things here that we don't settle for being OK with. That's where I'm going to target, send a lot of my attention on a daily basis."

The Colorado Rockies' playoff hopes are hanging by a thread, but manager Bud Black is looking for the same traits from his players. And that's for the entire time they're at the ballpark.

"It starts from the time they walk through the door," Black said. "It doesn't just happen when the game starts. You know players from all the time you've spent with them over the years, from spring training until the very last day of the season. So, what you look for is the consistency of their day. That nothing changes from those days when you're in a pennant race and charging to the playoffs, which we did a couple of years ago, and what they do now when it's getting late and we're going through a rough stretch. You want to make sure that the behavior doesn't change, that they're working, they're focused, that they're playing the game the right way."

In 2004, the Diamondbacks were on their way to a disastrous 111-loss season when then-interim manager Al Pedrique posted a postgame note on the grease board in the visiting clubhouse in San Francisco that there would be optional hitting at 1 p.m. the next day. It was early September, and by that time, the club had brought up a slew of minor leaguers, wanting to gauge what they had in their system. The younger players were affectionately referred to as "Baby Backs."

But not every one of those Baby Backs decided they needed the extra hitting. One of the few who did was rookie Chad Tracy, who wound up having a nine-year big league career. Quite a few of the other young players decided to skip the optional workout. Several of those never made it back to the big leagues.

"It was a test," said 19-year veteran Luis Gonzalez, who was on that D-backs roster. "A lot of managers and coaches do that. They'll throw that out there and want to see who is really committed into getting better. You should always want to get better; after all, this is your job. Some guys walk out and think they own the club and think because they're wearing a big league uniform they've arrived and can let up on working. Organizations want to know who's really in it. You want to see who's willing to put in the commitment and time."

Los Angeles Angels manager Joe Maddon has guided the Tampa Bay Rays and Chicago Cubs to the World Series, having won it with the Cubs in 2016. He also has the perspective of having been in the minor leagues as a coach, a manager and an evaluator for nearly three decades. The Angels haven't had a winning record all season, and it's been a trying time for Maddon. But he affirmed that this, the end of a poor season, is the time to put on your scout's eye and evaluate what you have.

"It's like the minor leagues when you walk in with your team in April and here comes August," Maddon said. "You definitely want to see improvement in certain areas. Meaning the things you've worked on, the things that you think needed to be improved on. You're looking for progress. You're looking for that cultural difference where there's a method at play, there's a low tolerance for mental mistakes, there's an expectation set very high that we're all looking to meet. It's all cultural, all built. It doesn't get handed to you, it has to be earned."

Likewise, the Miami Marlins are in the midst of their first winning season since 2009, and manager Don Mattingly has his club on the verge of its first postseason appearance in 17 years. He knows firsthand what noncontenders are going through at this time.

Mattingly watched several of his club's current contributors put out impressive efforts the past few seasons when things weren't going well. He singled out examples such as shortstop Miguel Rojas, third baseman Brian Anderson and pitchers Sandy Alcantara, Pablo Lopez and Elieser Hernandez as players who opened eyes and separated themselves when his club had no chance of reaching the postseason.

"How do they compete?" Mattingly said. "Are they going to give in or keep fighting and keep playing? Keep doing things right. Not being totally selfish during that period, and that's hard to do because when you're not playing for anything, guys want to put up numbers. But you see the guys who fight and do it right and continue to work to get better.

"That was our whole thing over the last couple of years. We have got to keep improving. Keep showing that we're going to get better. It didn't show up in our record last year. It showed up in certain areas. I think that's what September shows you, and it actually probably showed it in August and September for us because we were out of it fairly quickly. But you do learn a lot about their character and how they go about things."

The payoff is now evident for the Marlins.

Mohamed ElShorbagy stops Superman Paul Coll to reach first post-lockdown final
By ALAN THATCHER and SEAN REUTHE

World number one Mohamed ElShorbagy finished strongly to win an 84-minute thriller against Paul Coll to book a place in the final of the 2020 Manchester Open against fellow Egyptian Karim Abdel Gawad.

World No.3 Gawad beat ElShorbagy’s younger brother Marwan in the semi-finals and admitted that his fitness levels could be better.

Mohamed, on the other hand, has emerged from lockdown full of hunger and has been filmed on social media training hard with British number one Joel Makin, who is renowned as one of the fittest men in the game.

That clearly set him up for a brutal, physical battle with New Zealander Coll, whose training regime would put most club players in hospital.

ElShorbagy picked up the final men’s PSA World Tour title before the lockdown – winning the St. James’s Place Canary Wharf Classic – which came off the back of a quarter-final exit at the Windy City Open at the hands of Coll, who claimed his first ever win over the Egyptian at the sixth attempt.

However, in a high-quality, tactical encounter which saw both players explore all areas of the court in some intense and lengthy rallies, ElShorbagy came out on top to win 11-4, 9-11, 11-9, 8-11, 11-7 after 84 minutes of action.

“When you play with someone who has never beaten you and then they beat you for the first time, they believe now that they can beat you, so the mentality is completely different,” said ElShorbagy after reaching his 64th PSA final.

“I hate to say you learn from losing because why do I need to lose to learn? I want to win and learn within the match. I’ve been in this kind of situation against all kinds of great players, so I had to use my experience and be strong mentally. I definitely did that and it’s important to come back tomorrow fresh again.”

Gawad has won five of his 16 matches against the older ElShorbagy brother and progressed to the final after achieving an 11-4, 13-11, 6-11, 12-10 victory.

The 29-year-old surrendered a 6-3 lead in the third game as Marwan rattled off eight unanswered points, but Gawad finally converted his second match ball in the fourth to reach a 36th PSA title decider.

“Playing Marwan is always tricky, you never know what is going on in is head, he is the best on court in finding plans and changing plans,” Gawad said following the match.

“To be honest, after five months off doing very few exercises inside the house. I wasn’t feeling the best. Squash-wise, I can come back and still remember the shots, but the physical and mental side are most important for me.

“Every time I was leading in a training match, I would find myself losing the game and that is exactly what happened in both the third and fourth today, that is what I was trying to work on a lot.”

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France’s Camille Serme will feature alongside three Egyptian players on finals day at the 2020 Manchester Open after she overcame World No.6 Hania El Hammamy in a thrilling five-game battle at the National Squash Centre to reach the women’s title decider.

Serme and El Hammamy met four times last season – and shared two wins apiece – with both their World Championship quarter-final clash and their meeting at the Windy City Open yielding brutal five-game battles.

El Hammamy’s win at the World Championship saw her overturn a 2-0 deficit to stun Serme and the 20-year-old came within a whisker of doing so once more.

The Egyptian battled back from two games down, but Serme was rock solid mentally in the fifth game and kept any nerves at bay as the top seed closed out an 11-6, 11-8, 11-13, 4-11, 11-9 victory. It’s the third time in succession that Serme has reached the final of the first event of the season after she won the opening event of the 2019-20 campaign, the Open de France, and reached the final of the China Open in 2018-19.

“In the fifth it was so close, I was thinking they [all the people watching] must be happy and enjoying it,” said 31-year-old Serme afterwards.

“I did learn a lot from the [World Championship] loss particularly. I felt like I had a lot of pressure when I played her at the World Championship and I don’t want to play with that pressure again, it’s too painful. Today I didn’t feel pressure even though she came back to 2-2, I was just trying to enjoy it.

“When you have no crowd [due to COVID-19 protocols] it feels like we’re playing an exhibition or a training match, but we still gave it our all. At the end I was just fighting for every point. I wasn’t sure if I could get to the finish line. I just wanted to make it hard for her but I just did it.”

Serme will contest the final with World No.3 and second seed Nour El Tayeb after she dispatched England’s Sarah-Jane Perry in four games.

El Tayeb had never lost to Perry in seven previous PSA World Tour matches but her 100 per cent record over the World No.5 did look in doubt when Perry held three game balls in the third with the scores poised at one game apiece. However, the Egyptian player wasn’t to be denied as she came back to take it, before controlling a comfortable fourth game against a tiring Perry to book her spot in her 22nd PSA World Tour final.

“It was one of those matches where I was not very happy with my squash performance, but I was happy with how I dug in and resisted,” El Tayeb said.

“Luckily, she made a few errors at the end, which I think was an outcome of me digging in. I am very happy with the win, for sure. Every time we play, she figures me out and keeps hitting straight lines and I am working hard on not being bothered by that. For now I am very happy with the head-to-head and I hope it doesn’t change because I think it is the only positive one I have [against players] in the top 10.”

The 2020 Manchester Open finals begin today (September 22) at 17:00 (GMT+1). Action will be shown live on SQUASHTV (rest of world), Eurosport Player (Europe only) and multiple mainstream broadcasters around the world such as BT Sport and ON Sport.

Manchester Open, National Squash Centre, Manchester, England.

Men’s Semi-Finals:
[1] Mohamed ElShorbagy (EGY) bt [5] Paul Coll (NZL) 3-2: 11-4, 9-11, 11-9, 8-11, 11-7 (84m)
[3] Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY) bt [6] Marwan ElShorbagy (EGY) 3-1: 11-4, 13-11, 6-11, 12-10 (67m)

Men’s Final:
[1] Mohamed ElShorbagy (EGY) v [3] Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY)

Women’s Semi-Finals:
[1] Camille Serme beat [4] Hania El Hammamy 3-2: 11-6, 11-8, 11-13, 4-11, 11-9 (69m)
[2] Nour El Tayeb beat [3] Sarah-Jane Perry 3-1: 11-8, 11-13, 14-12, 11-6 (51m)

Women’s Final:
[1] Camille Serme (FRA) v [2] Nour El Tayeb (EGY)
 

Pictures courtesy of PSA

GLENDORA, Calif. — Coca-Cola Co. is ending its sponsorship of the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series ahead of schedule and as a result the sanctioning body has filed a lawsuit against the Atlanta based soft drink giant.

NHRA President Glen Cromwell revealed the news Monday in a message posted on the official NHRA competitor website, NHRARacer.com. Cromwell said the deal with the Coca-Cola Co., which has sponsored the NHRA since 2002, was originally scheduled to run through the end of 2023.

With the Coca-Cola Co. backing out of the deal, Cromwell said the sanctioning body has filed a lawsuit against the Coca-Cola Co. in the United States District Court for the Central District of California.

“Recently, Coca-Cola had a change of heart, and told us they would walk away from their agreement to sponsor our professional series — not at the end of 2023, as promised in their agreement, but now, after being with us since 2002,” Cromwell said in his statement. “We’re deeply disappointed that they’ve taken this position.

“NHRA has always treated our sponsors as part of our family. Family sticks together when times get tough. But it seems The Coca-Cola Co. is using the pandemic as an opportunity to break their promise. We can’t let that stand. We owe it to everyone who makes the NHRA so excellent — all our employees, teams, tracks, fans, partners and sponsors — to hold Coca-Cola to its promises.

“Today, in the United States District Court for the Central District of California, we filed a lawsuit against the Coca-Cola Co. We have never filed a lawsuit like this in our history, and we never expected to be forced to take action against such a longstanding partner. We value relationships with our sponsors. We do not take this action lightly. But we are unwavering in our belief that we have no other option to protect our rights and the interests of our racing community, especially the racers whose purse was funded in large part by this agreement.”

Since taking over title sponsorship of the NHRA’s top touring league, the Coca-Cola Co. has utilized the sponsorship to market multiple brands. From 2002 to ’08 the series was sponsored by Powerade. In 2009, another Coca-Cola brand, Full Throttle, took over as title sponsor. Mello Yello was named title sponsor of the series in 2013.

Cromwell also revealed in his statement that the series remains in good financial standing, though the 2021 schedule may look a little bit different than in years past.

“Like many organizations, the pandemic impacted our finances,” Cromwell said. “For example, without fans in the stands, we were forced to reduce purses. The good news is that our overall financial health remains strong and we are excited to gear up for our 70th anniversary in 2021.  We are taking a bit more time to announce the 2021 national event schedule so we can have fuller information and more certainty. The schedule might look different than before — it might start later and it might start on the East Coast — but it will be packed with what everyone expects from NHRA racing.”

ORRVILLE, Ohio — Ohio’s Slick Woody’s Cornhole Company has joined Friday’s World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series event at Wayne County Speedway to add extra incentives.

The event marks the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series return to Wayne County for the first time since 1985.

The World of Outlaws at Wayne County presented by Slick Woody’s Cornhole Company will now pay $15,000 to win, and all feature starters are guaranteed to earn at least $1,000.

In addition, the fifth-place finisher in the Last Chance Showdown will earn an extra $200.

“Returning to Wayne County on Friday night will be exciting, and now having Slick Woody’s Cornhole Company join the event and reward the drivers makes it even more special,” said World of Outlaws CEO Brian Carter. “It’s a perfect combination of The Greatest Show on Dirt and the greatest cornhole boards available.”

North Canton, Ohio-based Slick Woody’s Cornhole Company has manufactured both regulation and tailgate size cornhole boards from Baltic birch wood since 2009, making them the smoothest and flattest on the market.

A proprietary process to adhere a vinyl layer on top of the boards offers consistent play no matter the temperature or humidity.

BRISTOL, Tenn. – For four drivers, their dreams of hoisting the NASCAR Cup Series championship trophy at Phoenix Raceway in November ended almost before they even began.

William Byron, Ryan Blaney, Matt DiBenedetto and Cole Custer all watched their NASCAR Cup Series championship dreams end Saturday night at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Each entered the Bass Pro Shops/NRA Night Race below the playoff cutline and despite their best efforts, none of them were able to improve enough to garner a place in the second round that begins this weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Of the four, Byron appeared to be in the best position to advance Saturday night. He was running inside the top-10 near the halfway point of the race when a car in front of him suddenly slowed down. Byron slammed into the rear of the car in front of him, terminally damaging his Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.

His race, and his playoff run, were over at that point.

“Our car was really good, just needed a little bit of track position I feel like,” Byron said after the incident. “The No. 51 (Joey Gase), I think it was a green and black car, was coming off the corner and the No. 95 (Christopher Bell) and I were both running the top. The No. 51 just checked up in the middle of the straightaway and had nowhere to go. And the No. 95 slammed on the brakes to try to not hit him and I slammed into him because I was on his bumper.

“Just a terrible situation, but not really sure why that happened or what really transpired for him to stop like that.”

Despite the early exit from the playoffs, it’s been a career year for Byron. The 22-year-old native of Charlotte, N.C., earned his first NASCAR Cup Series victory a few weeks ago at Daytona Int’l Speedway to earn his way into the playoffs.

His focus now turns to 2021 and continuing the momentum he’s built this year.

“I think it’s been a great season. I think that we’ve performed well. I think we would have liked to perform better, based on how we ended last year,” Byron admitted. “But we got a win and I feel like really the last five or six weeks, we’ve had all top-10 runs, besides Richmond, which is our worst track.”

Perhaps the most surprising driver to exit in the first round of the playoffs was Blaney, the third driver for the powerhouse Team Penske program. Blaney entered the playoffs as a potential final round contender, but bad luck and penalties left him struggling to gain his footing during the first three playoff races.

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