NASCAR playoffs round of 8 begins; focus on track
There has been a NASCAR reset, on the track at least, with the third round of the playoffs beginning Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and a new Cup champion set to be crowned after four races.
Kyle Larson was knocked out of contention for consecutive championships after being eliminated at Charlotte, nosed out by two points by Chase Briscoe of Stewart-Haas Racing — a team now accused of race manipulation and fined $300,000 by NASCAR over the last week.
The back and forth of penalties, suspensions and accusations between NASCAR and Stewart-Haas Racing, which fields a Ford for Kevin Harvick, one of the most outspoken critics of its new Next Gen car, has team co-owner Tony Stewart too furious to even comment. Stewart even says he wouldn’t go to another NASCAR race if he doesn’t have sponsorship commitments.
But Larson — the hottest driver in the country last year — also was edged out of the playoffs by his own Hendrick Motorsports teammate, William Byron.
NASCAR had missed Bryon intentionally spin Denny Hamlin under caution and levied punishment two days later. But an appeals panel ruled NASCAR could only fine Byron and not essentially change the score post-race by deducting points, restoring 25 playoff points for Byron and pushing him into the playoffs.
The favorite to succeed Larson? Maybe Chase Elliott, who was headed to what would have been a career-high sixth win of the season at Charlotte until a late caution and overtime. NASCAR’s four-time most popular driver won the title in 2020, and Larson’s win last season made it two straight Cup championships for Rick Hendrick.
Christopher Bell just might be the dark horse to pick at the betting window — the round opens in Las Vegas, after all. Listed as an 8-1 favorite by FanDuel Sportsbook for the title, Bell was the best driver of the first round with an average finish of fourth in the first three races.
Back-to-back poor finishes to open the second round put the Joe Gibbs Racing driver on the verge of elimination, but when the late cautions at Charlotte flipped the race, Bell pounced and earned the victory and the automatic berth into the third round.
“This whole last two weeks, I had been extremely deflated, just kind of down in the dumps,” Bell said after his Charlotte win. “Now I can promise you I’m as excited as ever heading into these next three races.”
Swiatek ousts Gauff in San Diego quarters
World No. 1 Iga Swiatek advanced to the semifinals of the San Diego Open with a dominant 6-0, 6-3 win over No. 8 Coco Gauff in the quarterfinals.
The victory extended Swiatek’s undefeated record against Gauff to 4-0 and improved her record against top-10 opposition to 11-1 this season.
Into her third consecutive semifinal, Swiatek will face World No. 6 Jessica Pegula in today’s semifinal.
Donna Vekic maintained control of her rivalry with Aryna Sabalenka via a hardfought quarterfinal triumph.
Former top 20 player Vekic defeated No.3 seed Sabalenka 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-1 in 2 hours and 37 minutes to reach her first semifinal of the year. Vekic improved her head-to-head lead over Sabalenka to 5-1.
• Lorenzo Musetti put on another strong performance at his home tournament, beating Mackenzie McDonald 6-3, 6-2 to reach the semifinals of the Firenze Open in Florence, Italy.
“It is pretty special here. I can hear the crowd. It is really noisy and really Italian,”
the third-seeded Musetti said. “I am taking all the energy the crowd is giving me.”
Musetti, 20, who is ranked 28th and playing in his home region of Tuscany, will face either top-seeded Felix Auger-Aliassime or eighth-seeded Brandon Nakashima for a spot in the final of the indoor hardcourt tournament.
Also, Swedish qualifier Mikael Ymer reached his third semifinal of the season and will next play American J.J. Wolf, into his first tour-level semifinal.
Boston Marathon winner suspended
Boston Marathon winner Diana Kipyokei of Kenya was suspended after testing positive for doping at the race and allegedly obstructing an investigation.
The Athletics Integrity Unit said Kipyokei’s sample after winning in October last year had traces of triamcinolone acetonide. It is a glucocorticoid prohibited at races when an athlete does not have permission to use it as a medication.
The case deepened suspicions the substance is a doping product of choice for athletes from Kenya. The AIU said 10 Kenyans have tested positive for triamcinolone since the start of 2021, with only two cases in athletics from the entire rest of the world in the same period.
Keenan to coach Italian hockey team
Mike Keenan was named coach of the Italy hockey team, giving the Stanley Cup winner a chance to guide the host country at the 2026 Milan-Cortina Olympics.
Keenan, who will be 76 in 2026, last coached Chinabased Kunlun Red Star in the KHL in 2017. Keenan coached the New York Rangers to the Stanley Cup in 1994 and also won the KHL at Metallurg Magnitogorsk in 2014.