Brazil’s Castroneves chosen for Motorsports Hall
Helio Castroneves celebrated his record-tying fourth Indianapolis 500 victory in May.
The rewards are still rolling in.
When the popular 46-yearold Brazilian returned to Indianapolis Motor Speedway this week, track officials presented him with a bronze brick and on Friday, he was named as the headliner in a nine-member Motorsports Hall of Fame of America induction Class for 2022.
“The motivation has always been there,” Castroneves said.
“It’s not about the title. I never lost faith. I wouldn’t be going inside the helmet if I didn’t think I had a chance to succeed. For me that keeps me right there on the edge and the competition in the IndyCar Series, it’s so competitive that if you sneeze, you lose a tenth.”
Castroneves, the openwheel selection, will be joined by longtime NASCAR owner Jack Roush, Pete Brock from sports cars, Dick LaHaie from drag racing, NASCAR co-founder RaymondParks and NASCAR builder Banjo Matthews, Denise McCluggage in the media category while motorcycle innovators Trey Vance and Byron Hines will go in as a single entry.
More auto racing
Pato O’Ward kept everyone waiting Friday — even after qualifying ended at Indianapolis. After another few moments, the stewards made it official — the 22 -year-old Mexican in championship contention earned his third pole of the season and fourth overall. Just seconds after Will Power thought he had be taken the No. 1 spot after besting Romain Grosjean, O’Ward crossed the yard of bricks in 1 minute, 10.7147 seconds to pass Power for Saturday’s race. Power went 1:10.7214.
Baseball
The Frontier League game between the Washington Wild Things (36-32) and the visiting Florence Yalls (41-27) was postponed due to weather and will be played as part of a doubleheader at 5:05 p.m. Sunday.
Hockey
Joe Thornton’s pursuit of the elusive Stanley Cup is bringing him to the Florida Panthers. Thornton, 42, signed a one-year deal with the Panthers, making Florida his fourth franchise in a now 24-year NHL career. He has more points than any other active NHL player and is 14th all time on that list with 1,529. The 13 players ahead of him in points are in the Hall of Fame.
• The Anaheim Ducks signed center Mason McTavish, the No. 3 overall pick in last month’s NHL draft. The Ducks also signed secondround pick Olen Zellweger and third-round pick Sasha Pastujov. McTavish is an 18year-old center who spent last season with Olten in Switzerland’s second division. He scored 42 points in 57 games with the OHL’s Peterborough Petes during the 2019-20 season.
Pro basketball
The Los Angeles Clippers re-signed free agent Nicholas Batum, who revived his career during last season’s pandemic-shortened schedule. He signed his new contract in his native France in a livestream on the team’s Instagram account. With Batum locked up, the team has retained all of its free agents who helped lead the Clippers to their first Western Conference Finals appearance in franchise history.
• Forward Thanasis Antetokounmpo re-signed with the Milwaukee Bucks. Antetokounmpo, an older brother of Bucks forward and two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo, has played for Milwaukee each of the past two seasons. The 6-foot6 forward played 57 games with three starts this past season and averaged 2.9 points, 2.2 rebounds and 9.7 minutes.
Tennis
Stefanos Tsitsipas defeated Casper Ruud of Norway, 6-1, 6-4, to advance to the semifinals of the National Bank Open in Toronto. Tsitsipas jumped to a 5-0 lead and finished the first set in 23 minutes. Ruud battled back in the second, holding serve and keeping pace with his opponent’s repeated drop shots. Tsitsipas finally broke him with a shot down the line to lead 5-4. He then went on for the win.
• Top-seeded Aryna Sabalenka beat Victoria Azarenka, 6-2, 6-4, in a quarterfinal between players from Belarus at the National Bank Open in Montreal. Sabalenka, ranked No. 3, trailed, 4-2, in the second set before winning four games in a row.