Elliott to honor Kulwicki
Chase Elliott will honor Alan Kulwicki this year in the Darlington Raceway throwback race, a tradition started in 2015 in which current drivers honor the sport’s past.
The reigning Cup champion will drive a No. 9 Chevrolet identical to the Hooters paint scheme Kulwicki drove in the only title race of his career.
Kulwicki was the antithesis of NASCAR’s good ol’ boy system. He was a college-educated interloper from Wisconsin who drove for his own team and edged Bill Elliott, Chase’s dad, for the title.
Kulwicki was killed in a plane crash five races into the 1993 season on his way to Bristol Motor Speedway. He’d been at an appearance at a Hooters in Knoxville and flying on a Hooters corporate jet.
The 1992 season with Kulwicki was Hooters’ first year as the full-season sponsor for a driver, and the restaurant chain scaled back its participation following Kulwicki’s death.
BASEBALL
Tampa Bay Rays first baseman Ji-Man Choi will have arthroscopic surgery on his right knee and is expected to be sidelined at least three weeks.
Manager Kevin Cash said Tuesday that the AL champions should have a better idea of how long the onetime Milwaukee Brewer might be out after Wednesday’s operation.
Choi, who hit .230 with three homers and 16 RBI in 42 games last season, was slowed much of spring training by the sore knee. He’s set to earn $2.45 million this year after winning a salary arbitration hearing against the AL champions.
Choi, 29, played for the Brewers in 2018. Jiménez has surgery: Chicago White Sox outfielder Eloy Jiménez had surgery to repair a ruptured left pectoral tendon, and general manager Rick Hahn said the 24-year-old slugger still is expected to miss five to six months.
Hahn said the timeline hasn’t changed, though he left the door open for Jiménez to return sooner.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Fordham hired longtime Villanova assistant Kyle Neptune to take over a program that has had only two winning seasons since joining the Atlantic 10 Conference in 1995.
The 36-year-old Neptune grew up in Brooklyn before attending Lehigh, where he played for four years and was a team captain as a senior.
Neptune has been an assistant at Villanova under Jay Wright for the last eight seasons. During that time the Wildcats have won two national championships and five Big East titles.
Neptune is the sixth head coach Fordham has had since joining the Atlantic 10. He replaces Jeff Neubauer, who was fired in January, eight games into his sixth season with the Bronx-based school. Neubauer was 61-104 with the Rams.
SWIMMING
Texas men’s swimming and diving coach Eddie Reese is retiring after capping his 43rd season with the Longhorns by winning his 15th national championship.
The 79-year-old Reese made the announcement Monday, two days after winning the NCAA title. A three-time coach of the U.S. men’s Olympic swimming team in 1992, 2004 and 2008, Reese said he would retire after the Tokyo Games this summer.
Reese finished his career with 49 seasons as an NCAA head coach. Reese’s Texas teams won 42 consecutive conference titles in the Southwest Conference and the Big 12, and the Longhorns were NCAA runners-up 12 times.