Playoff sites set to 2024
The College Football Playoff national championship game will be held in Miami Gardens, Fla.; Indianapolis; Inglewood, Calif.; and Houston from 2021 through 2024. “We’re delighted that we’re able to complete our goal of 10 in 10,” CFP executive director Bill Hancock said Wednesday. “The first 10 College Football Playoff championship games will be played in 10 different cities.” Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens will host the 2021 title game, after the 2020 season. Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis will be the first cold-weather site for the championship in 2022. The new stadium in Southern California that will be the home of the NFL’s Rams and Chargers will be the site of the 2023 national title game, followed the next year by NRG Stadium in Houston, which hosted the most recent Super Bowl. This season’s championship game will be held in Atlanta at the new Mercedes-Benz Stadium, which landed the championship game even before it was built — as the stadium in Inglewood has done. Next year’s national championship game will be at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., the home of the NFL’s San Francisco 49ers. The 2020 game will be played at the Superdome in New Orleans. The previous sites were AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas; University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Ariz; and Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla.
› WHEATON, Ill. — A gag order has been lifted in the case of five Wheaton College football players charged with battery against one of their teammates in suburban Chicago. A DuPage County judge lifted the order Tuesday at the request of three of the five players whose lawyers want to address sexual assault allegations stemming from the case. But the attorneys declined comment after the order was lifted. One said they needed “to review everything” first. The Daily Herald in Arlington Heights reported attorneys for the two other players were expected to support the move. The players are accused of duct-taping a teammate’s hands and feet, and attempting to sodomize him with an object last year. Four players have pleaded not guilty. The fifth’s arraignment is Nov. 13. The players are also charged with mob action and unlawful restraint.
AUTO RACING
› CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Veteran crew chief Darian Grubb will lead rookie William Byron when he steps up to NASCAR’s top level next season with Hendrick Motorsports. Grubb will be crew chief for Byron and the No. 24 Chevrolet Camaro team. Byron will make his Cup Series debut in 2018 and compete for the rookie of the year honor. Grubb led Tony Stewart to the 2011 Cup Series championship and has 23 wins on the top circuit, third among active full-time crew chiefs. The Hendrick pairings next season will be: Chase Elliott with crew chief Alan Gustafson; seven-time champions Chad Knaus and Jimmie Johnson; and Greg Ives leading Alex Bowman. Grubb originally joined Hendrick Motorsports in January 2003 and was lead race engineer for Johnson until 2006. He has been an interim crew chief for Johnson, crew chief for Casey Mears and engineering manager for part of the Hendrick operation. He left in 2009 to crew chief Stewart, then went to Joe Gibbs Racing after three seasons. Grubb rejoined Hendrick in 2016 to oversee race car manufacturing as vehicle production director. He was recently promoted to director of competition systems.