The Riverside Press-Enterprise
Byron wins appeal, regains his NASCAR playoff points
An appeals panel on Thursday reinstated the 25 points William Byron had been docked by NASCAR for deliberately spinning championship rival Denny Hamlin, a critical decision that helps his playoff hopes.
The three-person panel found that Byron did break a NASCAR rule for spinning Hamlin under caution. But Hendrick Motorsports had appealed the NASCAR penalty, which was initially a $50,000 fine and the loss of 25 critical points in the championship race.
The panel instead upped the fine to $100,000 and gave Byron back his points. The favorable ruling moved Byron from below the elimination line headed into Sunday’s race at Charlotte Motor Speedway, where the playoff field will be cut from 12 to eight.
Byron was 10th in the standings with the loss of points; he’s now seventh and 14 points above the cutline.
The decision from the panel upended the standings headed into the second elimination race of the playoffs.
Austin Cindric and Chase Briscoe, who were tied for eighth, both dropped below the cutline. Christopher Bell dropped from 33 points below the cutline to 45 points out, and Daniel Suarez now sits in eighth in the standings.
The controversy surrounding Byron’s action at Texas Motor Speedway two weeks ago was because the NASCAR officials in the scoring tower missed the deliberate spin of Hamlin. It was done out of anger under caution; despite the lengthy caution period and massive replay screen in the Texas infield, NASCAR simply missed it and wasn’t able to issue an in-race penalty.
• Santino Ferrucci will return to full-time Indycar racing next season in A.J. Foyt’s flagship car after two seasons filling in as a substitute driver for other teams.
AJ Foyt Racing said that Ferrucci will drive the No. 14 Chevrolet, which is fielded out of Foyt’s headquarters in Waller, Texas.
Ferrucci, 24, entered eight Indycar races over the last two seasons.
Ferrucci last season drove for Rahal Letterman Lanigan, Dreyer & Reinbold Racing and Juncos Hollinger Racing, with a best finish of ninth at Texas. He finished a career-best fourth at the Indy 500 in 2020 when he drove for Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser-sullivan.
GOLF World ranking rejects LIV Golf points bid
The Official World Golf Ranking won’t be awarding points to LIV Golf events this year, denying the MENA Tour’s request to immediately add the Saudi-funded series to its schedule.
The OWGR said in a statement the MENA Tour did not give it sufficient notice and there would not be time to finish the review ahead of the LIV Golf Invitational in Bangkok that starts today or the event in Saudi Arabia next week.
In a move that indicates how quickly LIV Golf wants world ranking points for its 48-man fields, it created an alliance with the little-known MENA Tour, which hasn’t run a tournament of its own since March 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The MENA Tour stands for Middle East and North Africa and is a developmental tour that has been getting the bare minimum of world ranking points since 2016. It has 54-hole events with a 36hole cut, offering a $75,000 purse. LIV Golf events have a $20 million purse for 54-hole events with no cut.
The MENA Tour now is aligned with the Asian Development Tour, a step below the Asian Tour. LIV Golf already has invested $300 million in the Asian Tour, creating an “International Series” that began this year.
The OWGR said it would wait until its review is complete before deciding whether to award points to the MENA Tour’s new “Limited Field Tournaments.” It said the MENA defined that as “any MENA Tour-approved event” of fewer than 80 players.
Meanwhile, the OWGR said regular MENA Tour events will still get points. That won’t be the case for LIV Golf this year. After the events in Bangkok and Saudi Arabia, the last tournament is only for teams.
Bryson Dechambeau and Harold Varner III are among those that appear certain to fall out of the top 50 by the end of the year, meaning they likely would have no path to play in the Masters and would have to go through qualifying for two other majors.
• Tom Hoge wanted to be sure to take advantage of pristine conditions Thursday morning in Las Vegas. He did more than he expected, making two eagles on his way to an 8-under 63 for a one-shot lead in the Shriners Children’s Open.
One of the eagles came with a gap wedge in his hand, part of a six-hole stretch he played in 6-under par in the middle of his round at the TPC Summerlin.
The other eagle was a 35foot putt down the hill on the par-5 16th. Equally important, Hoge kept bogeys off his card.
Si Woo Kim had a 64 and was tied for second with Maverick Mcnealy, while Tom Kim had a 65 and Max Homa a 67.
• Jon Rahm overcame early jitters from playing at home and shot a 7-under 64 in the opening round of the Spanish Open in Madrid to sit one stroke behind leaders Ashun Wu, Kiradech Aphibarnrat and Darius van Driel.
Rahm made six birdies, an eagle and a bogey at Club de Campo Villa de Madrid.
Wu took the early lead after making eight birdies and no bogies in a round of 63. Thailand’s Aphibarnrat made five straight birdies after a bogey on No. 12 in a busy round of
63. He also made three other birdies, an eagle and another bogey. Van Driel had nine birdies and a bogey.
Also a shot back were Swede Joakim Lagergren and Frenchman Matthieu Pavon.
NHL LW Robertson signs new deal with Stars
Jason Robertson never wanted to be away from the Dallas Stars as long as he was. The restricted free agent’s new contract finally got done a week before the season opener.
After missing the first two weeks of preseason practice, Robertson signed a $31 million, four-year contract though the 2025-26 season.
His $1.5 million base salary this season will be supplemented by a $3 million signing bonus. His base salary will be $8 million in 2023-24, $9.2 million in 2024-25 and $9.3 million in the final season.
Robertson, who was born in Arcadia, turned 23 right after last season, when the left wing had 41 goals and 38 assists in 74 games. His 13 power-play goals led the team.
A second-round draft pick (39th overall) by the Stars in 2017, Robertson has 125 points (58 goals, 67 assists) in his 128 NHL games.
SOCCER Messi says World Cup in Qatar will be his last
Lionel Messi has confirmed that the World Cup in Qatar next month will be the last of his career.
The 35-year-old Argentina star will play in his fifth World Cup but is still seeking his first title at the showpiece tournament.
“There’s some anxiety and nerves at the same time ... it is the last one,” Messi said in an interview with Star Plus.
It is the first time the Paris Saint-germain striker has spoken openly about his future after the tournament, which starts on Nov. 20.
Messi did not make it clear whether he would retire from the national team after Qatar.
Argentina won the World Cup in 1978 and 1986. The team will open the tournament on Nov.22 against Saudi Arabia in Group C before facing Mexico and Poland.