Burton, Earnhardt, Edwards headline Hall of Fame noms

Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Burton and Carl Edwards were among the new nominees for NASCAR’s next Hall of Fame class announced Tuesday under a revamped voting protocol.

Voters for 11 years elected five members per class first from a list of 25 candidates; it was trimmed to 20 beginning with the 2015 class.

The new process starting this year splits the nominees into three ballots; Modern candidates, Pioneer candidates and Landmark candidates. Two entries from the 10 Modern candidates will be elected, along with one entry apiece from the fivecandidate Pioneer and Landmark categories.

Janet Guthrie, the first woman to run in the Indianapolis 500, Daytona 500 and Coca-Cola 600, returns as a nominee to the Landmark category after a one year absence.

Burton, Earnhardt, Edwards, Jake Elder and

Banjo Matthews are all first-time nominees for the Hall of Fame.

Olympics

ATHLETES ALREADY QUALIFIED FOR TOKYO GAMES GET TO KEEP SPOTS >> About 6,500 athletes who already have earned their spots for the Tokyo Games are in for 2021 under redrawn qualifying regulations published by the International Olympic Committee.

The new deadline for qualifying is June 29, 2021, and entry lists are due a week later. Individual international sports federations will still be in charge of their qualifying procedures.

Soccer

MÜLLER EXTENDS CONTRACT >> Thomas Müller signed a two-year contract extension with Bayern Munich, the German champions said.

The 30-year-old attacking midfielder’s contract had been due to expire at the end of next season but he is now tied to the team until 2023.