Elliott loses playoff points with penalty
Chase Elliott suffered a setback to his championship hopes when NASCAR penalized his Hendrick Motorsports team Tuesday for a modification to his Chevrolet in the opening round of the playoffs.
The aerodynamic modification was found in postrace inspection following Elliott’s second-place finish at Chicagoland. The finish is now considered “encumbered” and Elliott does not keep a playoff point he earned with a stage victory at Chicagoland.
Crew chief Alan Gustafson was fined $25,000 and suspended one race, and car chief Joshua Kirk also was suspended one race. The team was docked 15 driver points and 15 owner points.
The loss in driver points dropped Elliott from sixth place to eighth place in the postseason standings. There are two races remaining in the opening round of the playoffs. KAHNE FINDS NEW TEAM >> Kasey Kahne will stay in NASCAR next season and drive for Leavine Family Racing in the No. 95 Chevrolet Camaro.
He will replace Michael McDowell, who has driven that car since 2014.
Kahne has been with Hendrick Motorsports since 2012, but the team bought him out of his contract for next season.
NBA
COLLINS TAKES POSITION
WITH BULLS >> Doug Collins has returned to the Chicago Bulls as a senior adviser of basketball operations. The former Bulls coach will report directly to executive vice president of basketball operations John Paxson.
General manager Gar Forman and coach Fred Hoiberg remain in their jobs. PELICANS RE-SIGN CUNNINGHAM >> The New Orleans Pelicans and forward Dante Cunningham have agreed on a one-year contract worth $2.3 million.
Cunningham averaged 6.6 points and 4.2 rebounds last year with the Pelicans.
Soccer
REVOLUTION FIRE COACH >> The New England Revolution have fired coach Jay Heaps, who had been with the team as a player or coach for 15 seasons.
Assistant coach Tom Soehn will take over for the rest of the season.
Under Heaps, the Revolution made the playoffs three times and reached the MLS Cup in 2014. In all, he had a 75-81-43 regular-season record and was 4-3-1 in the playoffs. GALAXY DEFENDER TO MISS TIME >> The Los Angeles Galaxy will be without defender Daniel Steres for up to two months after he suffered a stress fracture in his lower back.
The timetable means Steres may not make it back before the end of the MLS regular season. He has made 21 starts this season and scored three goals. U.S. WOMEN SWEEP NEW ZEALAND >> Alex Morgan scored twice and the U.S. women’s national team concluded a two-game series against New Zealand with a 5-0 victory in Cincinnati.
The U.S. defeated the Ferns 3-1 in the first game last Friday in Colorado.
College football
AUBURN LOSES ANOTHER
PLAYER >> Auburn defensive lineman Byron Cowart has left the program and been granted his release.
Coach Gus Malzahn confirmed Cowart’s decision on Tuesday, a day after he dismissed former starting quarterback Sean White from the team.
Malzahn said the onetime top national recruit came to him “numerous times over the last couple of weeks disappointed with his playing time.”
Cowart has only three tackles in three games. The 6-foot-3, 283-pound junior arrived rated as the nation’s No. 1 recruit according to ESPN and Rivals.com. GEORGIA QB BACK ON FIELD >> Georgia quarterback Jacob Eason is back at practice but it’s not known if he’ll be cleared to play Saturday when the 11th-ranked Bulldogs host No. 17 Mississippi State.
Eason strained a ligament in his left knee in Georgia’s victory over Appalachian State. Freshman Jake Fromm has played well since taking over, most notably leading Georgia (3-0) to a victory at Notre Dame in his first start.