Reddick frustrated after falling just short of first career Cup Series victory
Tyler Reddick jumped from 35th at the start of Sunday’s race all the way to a runner-up finish at the Dixie Vodka 400 at the Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Reddick recognized the positive of that accomplishment. But missing out on what would have been his first career win in the NASCAR Cup Series left the 25-year-old Reddick frustrated.
“Obviously, this is a 400-mile race,” Reddick said. “I didn’t have a very good restart there toward the end, and it was the difference unfortunately. We needed to hold on, but we just couldn’t.”
Reddick finished 2.777 seconds behind William Byron, who cruised over the final 57 laps to his second career victory.
That margin kept Reddick from becoming the third consecutive firsttime winner to open this Cup Series season.
Reddick, who recorded his 11th career top-10 Cup Series finish, had gotten off to a rough start to the season after finishing
27th at the Daytona 500 and 38th last week on the Daytona Road Course.
“[Finishing] second is great, but it’s not enough because we’re still not in the mix yet,” Reddick said. “We have to figure out how we can continue to have nights like this and keep fighting and stay hungry. There are positives, but there isn’t a whole lot you can take from here and apply it to other tracks.”
GRAND MARSHALL TAGOVAILOA
Dolphins starting quarterback Tua Tagovailoa usually spends his Sundays calling out plays on a football field.
But this Sunday, Tagovailoa had his eyes on the race track — albeit remotely — as he served as the Grand Marshall of the Dixie Vodka 400.
In a recorded message, Tagovailoa called out a mock snap count and put his hands as if to catch the ball from the shotgun formation before addressing the race’s 38 drivers: “Alright, huddle up, we’re going to crank these engines up on one, ready … gentlemen, start your engines!”
THIS AND THAT
One of the minor crashes in Sunday’s race involved Aric Almirola and Ryan Blaney, who brushed each other near the wall on Lap 200. Almirola then bumped sideways into the wall as each driver suffered damage to their cars prompting a caution.
Almirola, who is of Cuban heritage and grew up in Tampa, began the race in the No. 16 position and was chasing his third career Cup Series win. Blaney, who opened No. 14, was seeking his fifth career Cup Series win.
Steve Letarte, former crew chief-turned NBC Sports NASCAR analyst, returned to the pit box on Sunday working for Spire Motorsports as part of Corey LaJoie’s
team after their regular crew chief Ryan Sparks
and other members of the team couldn’t participate due to COVID-19 protocols.
Letarte was a crew chief for nine seasons at Hendrick Motorsports and led Jeff Gordon to 10 Cup Series victories and Dale Earnhardt Jr.
to five. Letarte had not served as a crew chief since 2014.
Unfortunately, LaJoie’s fifth career Cup Series start in Homestead ended early when he was forced to pull into the garage when his car started smoking on Lap 153. LaJoie had entered the race with an average finish of 31.2 on the HomesteadMiami track.
In his first live at-bat in nearly a year, Orioles first baseman Trey Mancini marked his return to baseball after missing all of 2020 because of stage 3 colon cancer with a base hit in the team’s spring training opener Sunday against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
All through the morning to the standing ovation before his first at-bat and his hit to cap it off, Mancini reflected on the moments from this past year that he’s attempted to move past as baseball takes over his life yet again.
“All day, [I’ve] just kind of been running through the last year and everything that me and Sara [Perlman, Mancini’s girlfriend] and my family have been through,” he said. “It’s almost been a year to the day, a couple days off since I was last in a game. It definitely was a moment where it felt like it maybe came full circle a little bit.
After outfielder Cedric Mullins singled to open the Orioles’ first inning, Mancini soaked in nearly a minute of applause before he stepped in the batter’s box.
Mancini worked the count full before singling to center field for his first hit of the spring.
“It was amazing,” Mancini said. “I almost teared up a little bit, I’m not going to lie, when I was up there and everybody gave me a standing ovation and I saw all the guys on the field clapping on the Pirates, clapping in the dugout, our team and all our fans.
“It meant the world to me. It was a really, really cool moment and one of the favorite moments of my baseball career. I think it was a huge day for me, personally, getting back in a game. Just another kind of milestone that I can check off here.”
Mancini missed the entire season after surgery in mid-March and six months of chemotherapy treatment, but came back for a full schedule of offseason workouts.
ELSEWHERE
Yankees: Aaron Judge tossed several balls into the crowd, just like always. Only this year the fans can’t toss them back to the New York Yankees star in a friendly game of catch.
So while the souvenirs stay in the seats because of COVID-19 protocols, the slugging right fielder is still getting something in return.
On the opening day of the exhibition season,
Judge went 0 for 2 in the Yankees’ 6-4 loss to Toronto in a game shortened to seven innings, as Major League Baseball is permitting in these early spring training matchups.
An announced crowd of 2,637 at Steinbrenner Field — about 25 percent of capacity — marked the first time the Yankees have played before fans since a spring training game last March 12.
“We’re all excited to finally have some fans even though it wasn’t a packed house, but anything is better than nothing,” Judge said.
Royals: Kansas City is reportedly close to locking up third baseman Hunter Dozier to a multi-year contract extension that will buy out his remaining salary-arbitration eligible seasons as well as his first few potential years of free agency. FanSided national baseball insider Robert Murray reported the sides were close to a four-year contract extension.
Alex Ovechkin broke a second-period tie to give the streaking Washington Capitals a 3-2 victory over the host New Jersey Devils on Sunday.
Ilya Samsonov made 19 saves in helping Washington win its third straight. Nicklas Backstrom and Jakub Vrana also scored.
Rookies Mikhail Maltsev and Yegor Sharangovich scored for New Jersey, which has lost five of six. Mackenzie Blackwood had 20 saves.
Before Sunday, Ovechkin had only one goal in his past eight games.
Flyers 3, Sabres 0:
Carter Hart stopped 28 shots and Philadelphia shut out host Buffalo.
Sean Couturier and Michael Raffl scored 75 seconds apart early in the second period. James van Riemsdyk also scored in the second by tipping in Joel Farabee’s pass from the blue line.
Buffalo dropped to 2-7-1 in its past 10 games.
Bruins 4, Rangers 1:
Charlie McAvoy had a goal and an assist as Boston beat host New York.
Tuukka Rask made 20 saves and earned his
299th NHL victory. Charlie Coyle scored twice and David Pastrnak added two assists as the Bruins snapped a two-game skid. Trent Frederic also scored for Boston.
Alexandar Georgiev made 31 saves. Colin Blackwell scored for New York.
Predators 3, Blue Jackets 1: Nick Cousins, Eeli Tolvanen and Erik Haula scored, and Juuse Saros made 28 saves to lead host Nashville.
Kevin Stenlund scored and Joonas Korpisalo made 26 saves for Columbus, which has lost five straight.
Islanders 2, Penguins 0: Oliver Wahlstrom and Jean-Gabriel Pageau each scored power-play goals and rookie Ilya Sorokin made 20 saves as the host Islanders beat Pittsburgh.
The Islanders went
8-2-2 during February, with all four losses coming against the Penguins — who they were playing for sixth time in the month.
Blackhawks 7, Red Wings 2: Patrick Kane scored his 400th NHL goal as host Chicago routed Detroit. Kevin Lankinen made a career-high 44 saves.
Evgeny Svechnikov scored for the second straight game for Detroit. Sam Gagner also scored.