Elliott snaps 26-race streak without a win
Chase Elliott had a front-row seat for the Hendrick Motorsports trophy celebrations and photo shoots and all the kitschy social media posts created as one by one — and as his three teammates won, and won and won again — they all brought home checkered flags.
Elliott rarely needs a motivational nudge to park his Chevy in victory lane, so while he felt happy for the drivers, he didn't necessarily use their successes as a means to create artificial fire to try to match them.
“My drive to win and my job to do my job to the best of my ability doesn't change whether we are struggling, whether are we doing very good, whether I'm in a contract year or not, whether my teammates have won and I haven't,” Elliott said.
He drove to the best of his ability again Monday at Dover Motor Speedway and earned his first victory of the season, making Hendrick Motorsports drivers 4 for 4 in the win column this season. It's barely May and Elliott, Kyle Larson, William Byron and Alex Bowman already are locked into the playoffs.
The summer run will be a tuneup for the 10-race shootout.
There's a new car this season in NASCAR — and the same old results for Hendrick at Dover.
Elliott snapped a 26-race winless streak when the 2020 NASCAR champion led the final 53 laps to win his 14th career Cup race. He gave team owner Rick Hendrick another triumph on the mile concrete track. Elliott followed Bowman's checkered flag a year ago as a Hendrick driver won for the 22nd time at Dover. Hendrick swept the top four spots last season; this one clinched the four playoff spots.
NFL CARDS' HOPKINS SUSPENDED 6 GAMES FOR VIOLATING PED POLICY >>
Arizona Cardinals three-time All-Pro receiver DeAndre Hopkins has been suspended without pay for six games for violating the NFL's policy on performance-enhancing substances.
The league announced the suspension on Monday.
It's a stunning blow for the Cardinals, who finished with an 11-6 record last season but faded down the stretch when Hopkins was out of the lineup because of injuries. Now they'll be without the 29-year-old for a big chunk of the upcoming season.
Hopkins played in 10 games last season, catching 42 passes for 572 yards and eight touchdowns. He missed much of the last half of the season — including the team's playoff loss to the Los Angeles Rams — because of hamstring and knee injuries.
FALCONS RELEASE RB DAVIS AFTER TOUGH SEASON >> After a disappointing season with his hometown team, running back Mike Davis was being released by the Atlanta Falcons, a person familiar with the move said.
The move was not surprising for a team dealing with salary cap woes, especially after the 29-yearold Davis rushed for just 503 yards and three touchdowns last season. He averaged 3.6 yards per carry.
The Falcons signaled they were moving in a different direction during last week's draft, picking BYU running back Tyler Allgeier in the fifth round.
Horse racing
ZANDON IS 3-1 FAVORITE FOR KENTUCKY DERBY >> Zandon and filly Nest are the morning-line favorites for the 148th Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks, respectively, at Churchill Downs, which will host both marquee races at full capacity for the first time since 2019.
Zandon, trained by Chad Brown, drew 3-1 odds and will start from the No. 10 post among 20 horses for the $3 million marquee event for 3-year-olds. The colt moved to second in Derby points behind Epicenter after rallying from the back of the field to win last month's Blue Grass at Keeneland in Lexington. He has two wins, a secondplace finish and a third in four career starts.
Epicenter, initially expected to be the Derby favorite following consecutive graded stakes wins including the Louisiana Derby in March, is the 7-2 second betting choice after drawing the No. 3 post. Messier, one of two colts trained by Tim Yakteen after he took over this spring for suspended Hall of Famer Bob Baffert, is the 8-1 third choice and will start from the No. 6 post.