Johnson tests positive
Seven-time NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson has tested positive for the coronavirus and will miss this weekend’s race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
The 44-year-old Johnson is the first driver in any NASCAR series to test positive and the news cast a shadow over the historic NASCAR-IndyCar doubleheader races coming up Saturday and Sunday. There was no indication any races would be affected.
Hendrick Motorsports said Johnson will not return until he is cleared by a physician. Has no symptoms, but was tested today after his wife tested positive.
Johnson is scheduled to retire from full-time NASCAR competition at the end of the season.
Johnson has made 663 consecutive Cup Series starts – the longest streak among active drivers.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Highly touted prospect Makur Maker verbally committed to Howard University on Friday, picking the Bison over college basketball powerhouses UCLA, Kentucky and Memphis.
The five-star recruit is the highest-ranked player to commit to a Historically Black College or University since ESPN began tracking rankings in 2007. Maker is a 6-foot-11, 235-pound center who declared for the NBA draft in April before opting to consider college basketball. He is the brother of former Milwaukee Bucks center Thon Maker.
Maker, ranked No. 16 by ESPN, announced Friday on Twitter he was committing to Howard and coach Kenneth Blakeney.
Maker was born in Kenya and grew up in Australia before his family moved to North America.
RUNNING
Former marathon world record holder Wilson Kipsang was banned for four years after a series of missed doping tests.
A ruling published by the Athletics Integrity Unit states that the Kenyan runner was found to have missed three tests and failed to provide timely information on his whereabouts on a fourth occasion, all in 2018 and 2019.
Kipsang was also found to have tampered with the doping control process by making false claims in relation to two of the missed tests.
Kipsang won the bronze medal in the marathon at the 2012 London Olympics and broke the world record the following year in Berlin. Kipsang has also won the London Marathon twice and the New York and Tokyo Marathons once each.
AUTO RACING
Felipe Nasr tested positive for the coronavirus and will miss the IMSA sports car race Saturday at Daytona International Speedway.
Action Express Racing said that Gabby Chaves will replace Nasr and the Brazilian would quarantine in Miami.
Nasr, the 2018 IMSA prototype championship, was scheduled to drive the No. 31 Cadillac DPi-V.R. with Pipo Derani.