Speeds hit 243 mph as weather disrupts Indy 500 preparations

First came the wind — 41 mph gusts that created some of the most challenging conditions in Indianapolis Motor Speedway history — and the rain was expected to follow.

It put IndyCar on its heels on “Fast Friday” as race officials scrambled to save qualifying for the Indianapolis 500. Not a single drop of rain had fallen when IndyCar adjusted its Saturday schedule in hopes of avoiding any disruption to qualifying for its marquee event next weekend.

Drivers were on edge and few willing to complete a full four-lap run without lifting off the gas during blistering fast mock qualifying runs. Conor Daly, with a Chevrolet engine for Ed Carpenter Racing, maxed out at an eye-popping 243.724 miles per hour in Turn 3, where the wind was fiercest and blowing south to north from Turn 2.

Two-time winner Takuma Sato topped the speed chart for the third consecutive session with a late lap at 232.789 mph. He bumped Alexander Rossi from the top; Rossi ran only one full lap all day.

It was a six-hour session in which IndyCar allowed a horsepower boost ahead of qualifying, which is scheduled to begin Saturday for the 33-car field. The pole will be awarded Sunday in a shootout among the fastest six drivers.

College football

MOUNTAIN WEST TO ELIMINATE 2-DIVISION FORMAT » The Mountain West Conference

will eliminate its twodivision format in football for the 2023 season.

The conference announced that the two teams with the highest winning percentage will compete in the league championship game. The decision came two days after the NCAA threw out requirements dictating how conferences can determine their champions and the Pac-12 scrapped its two-division format.

The two-division format will remain in place for the 2022 season.

Baseball

LONGTIME NEW YORKER WRITER, EDITOR ROGER ANGELL DIES » Roger Angell, a famed baseball writer and reigning man of letters who during an unfaltering 70-plus years helped define The New Yorker's urbane wit and style through his essays, humor pieces and editing, has died. He was 101.

Angell died of heart failure, according to The New Yorker.

He was a past winner of the BBWAA Career Excellence Award, formerly the J. G. Taylor Spink Award, for meritorious contributions to baseball writing, an honor previously given to Red Smith, Ring Lardner and Damon Runyon among others. He was the first winner of the prize who was not a member of the organization that votes for it, the Baseball Writers' Association of America.

Tennis

WIMBLEDON'S RUSSIA BAN PROMPTS TOURS TO CUT RANKING POINTS »

The women's and men's professional tennis tours will not award ranking points for Wimbledon this year because of the All England Club's ban on players from Russia and Belarus over the invasion of Ukraine, an unprecedented move that stands as a significant rebuke of the sport's oldest Grand Slam tournament.

The WTA and ATP announced their decisions two days before the start of the French Open — and a little more than a month before play begins at Wimbledon on June 27.

In a technical sense, this renders the event an exhibition, because there are no ranking points at stake. Still, it remains Wimbledon, with its traditions and prestige, from the grass underfoot to the all-white clothing, from the Royal Box to the strawberries and cream, not to mention millions of dollars in prize money, and so the expectation is that everyone eligible to enter will do so.

Soccer

FIFA PLANS TO ANNOUNCE 2026 WORLD CUP SITES ON JUNE 16 » FIFA intends to announce the 2026 World Cup sites during a news conference in New York on June 16.

Seventeen U.S. stadiums in 16 areas remain in the bidding for the first 48team World Cup, with the Los Angeles area submitting both SoFi Stadium in Inglewood and the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, site of the 1994 World Cup final. Three stadiums each in Canada and Mexico are expected to be used.

The bid plan envisioned 16 total sites for the tournament. FIFA targeted midMay for announcing site selections, and then pushed that back a month.

The 2026 World Cup will be the first with three cohosts. FIFA selected the bid as joint host in June 2018.

MARY ALTAFFER — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, FILE Author Roger Angell gestures during an interview at his office at The New Yorker in April 2006. Angell, a longtime New Yorker writer and editor, has died, the New Yorker announced Friday. He was 101.

MICHAEL CONROY — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Will Power climbs into his car during practice for the Indy 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Friday.