I Dig Sports
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. Racing on a tight, quarter-mile oval almost guarantees every race car in the NASCAR Cup Series field is bound to have its fair share of battle scars.
However, that wasnt the case for Ryan Blaney for much of the 200-lap Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium.
Despite starting shotgun on the field, the Team Penske driver methodically climbed his way to 10th by the races halftime break with little to no damage to his race car.
While hed endure contact in the second half of the race, much like every driver in the 23-car feature field did, the driver of the No. 12 Ford again climbed to the runner-up spot as he hounded the rear bumper of leader Chase Elliott.
Despite constant pressure, Blaney was forced to settle for second.
I got to 10th before the break and I kind of got to the top five relatively quick a couple of restarts went my way and by the time I got to second I saved a pretty good bit even to get to second because I knew it might go the whole way, and then it was just kind of like a game between the 9 (Elliott) and myself like who can save more right-rear tire, Blaney said.
I just didnt quite have enough to lean on there at the end. I started pushing like with 25 to go and I just didnt have enough. I was like, Uh oh. I needed some help by lappers and I just never really could get there.
I kind of just didnt have enough to lean on, but it was fun coming from the back and just not quite having enough, but its always fun when you can move forward like that.
While the Clash certainly had its chaotic moments, Blaney enjoyed the combination of tight racing and stadium-like atmosphere.
From the crowd yesterday that hung out for three hours from the modifieds to when we first got out on the track is a lot of commitment, and there was a lot of energy on the frontstretch before we got going there and thats what its all about, Blaney said.
It was really, really cool to be here and Im happy that it was a good show for everybody. Im looking forward to hopefully coming back next year.
I dont see why you wouldnt come back, so I hope everyone had a good time.
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. Pole winner Chase Elliott held off a dramatic charge from Ryan Blaney to win Sunday nights Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium in front of a teeming, vociferous sellout crowd at the historic quarter-mile.
Adroitly working lapped traffic in the closing stages of the 200-lap season-opening exhibition race, Elliott crossed the finish line 1.333 seconds ahead of Blaney, who started last among the 23 competitors on a driver points provisional.
Elliott claimed his first victory in the Clash, which came to Bowman Gray after a three-year stint in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. The driver of the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet reveled in the NASCAR Cup Series return to the iconic short track after an absence of 54 years.
This environment is special, said Elliott, who led 171 laps, including the first 96 before surrendering the lead to eventual third-place finisher Denny Hamlin. This is a place that has a deep history in NASCAR. I think they deserve this event, truthfully.
I hope we didnt disappoint. It was fun for me at least, and well hopefully come back here one day.
Hamlin led twice for 28 laps, but faded after Elliott retook the top spot from him on Lap 126. And when Blaney slipped past Hamlins Toyota on Lap 147, it became a two-driver race.
But Blaneys car tightened up in the late going, preventing the driver of the No. 12 Team Penske Ford from challenging for the win. Blaney thought better of making an overly aggressive move on the series seven-time most popular driver.
Im not going to bulldog into him and get chased out of here with pitchforks, Blaney quipped I just didnt quite have enough right rear at the end to make a move on him.
Joey Logano finished fourth, followed by Bubba Wallace, who advanced from his 14th-place starting position. Ross Chastain, Austin Cindric, Tyler Reddick, Shane van Gisbergen and Chris Buescher completed the top 10.
Hamlin rued the final restart on Lap 121, after the seventh caution for Brad Keselowskis spin off Wallaces bumper.
I just didnt do very well on that restart there, and kind of lost the bottom, and Chase took advantage of it, Hamlin said. Once you get the lead, its a lot easier to hang on to it.
I thought that they were just a little better that second half than we were, along with the 12 (Blaney) was as well. We just have to get a little bit better, but overall, a good day for our Sport Clips Toyota.
In the last chance qualifier that determined positions 21 and 22 in the main event, Kyle Larson charged from the 10th starting position and survived nine cautions to win the 75-lap event and advance to the Clash.
On Lap 72, Larson grabbed the lead from Josh Berry, who was making his first competitive start for Wood Brothers Racing at the track where team patriarch and NASCAR Hall of Famer Glen Wood secured all four of his Cup Series victories.
Larson took the top spot for the first time on Lap 30 and led a race-high 36 circuits en route to the win. However, Larsons No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet sustained damage after he surrendered the lead to Erik Jones for a restart on Lap 65.
In a melee moments after racing resumed, Jones spun in a three-wide mishap with Berry and Larson and dropped out of contention.
My car was way better than it was yesterday, said Larson, whose eighth-place finish in his Saturday heat relegated him to the last chance qualifier. That was fun. I was able to get to the front without really getting into too many people.
But then after that long break (for local champion Burt Myers hard wreck on Lap 61), I cycled really tight for that restart and allowed Erik to get in front of me and just kind of lost control of the race at that point. Then, the next restart, it got crazy, and I got a bunch of damage.
Berry, who started 13th, held second to secure the 22nd spot in the Clash. Berry and Larson finished 13th and 17th, respectively, in the main event.
It got pretty rough, Berry said. You hate that it comes to that, but it is what it isits the Madhouse, its Bowman Gray Stadium, its a tight race track, and youre going to run into each other.
Batters find life tougher in the SA20, but is it all the pitches?
One metric that can be used to answer that question is to judge the number of close games, which we'll define as matches that were won by 10 or fewer runs of with six or fewer balls to spare. In the 30 group stage matches in 2025, there have been six tight matches, including one which was DLS affected. In 2024, there were 10 and 2023, nine. Similarly, this season, the number of matches won by a margin of more than 30 runs or six wickets is 20, the same as last year but seven more matches than the 13 in 2023.
Word from those who have had bat in hand is that pitches are more challenging because they are slower, lower and have turned more than usual. Considering that the competition takes place at the same time - early January to early February - every year, it's puzzled many that the surfaces are behaving like it's much later in the summer and explanations have been hard to come by.
Evan Flint, the former head groundsman at both Newlands and the Wanderers, believes the age and continual use of the surfaces across the country is starting to show. "Ideally a pitch should be relaid every 10 to 15 years, however with increasing content it's impossible to do," he told ESPNcricinfo "A new pitch takes 12 to 18 months before it can be used again, so this puts too much strain on the other three or four central pitches."
That could mean that this season proves be an outlier, with the tired surfaces on their last legs, following what has also been a heavy international load. Before the SA20, there were Tests at four of the six venues (last season there were only Tests at two) and white-ball internationals at all six. "A lot of the central pitches were used before the tournament started and used surfaces often get slower over the course of the season," Flint said.
In addition, heavy rain everywhere except the Western Cape added to the challenges at the start of the competition, especially for inexperienced groundsmen. There is a new curator at Kingsmead, and, since Flint left, fairly new curators at the Wanderers and Newlands, which means that there's a lot of learning that takes place on the job and occasionally even those who have been around for a long time, don't get it right. "It's also a difficult job, so even with all the experience it can sometimes go wrong," Flint said.
And that just has not worked as well. The 2025 league phase has seen the lowest percentage of runs scored in boundaries: 53.8%. In 2024, almost 60% of runs came in boundaries and in 2023 it was 56.8%. Fleming also mooted the idea that they may be due to when the games are played.
"One of the things I'm learning from being here a few years is that the starting time is a little bit of a challenge," he said. "A lot of domestic cricket is played through the evening hours where the wickets have played quite well. We've found there's quite a distinct difference between the last part of the day and then moving into the evening, even if the wicket's dry."
Most SA20 games start at 5.30pm local time, which is daylight in the Western Cape, where the sun sets at 8pm in peak summer, twilight in Gqeberha and on the Highveld and just about sunset in Durban. That means some matches are played as mostly day games, others as day-night and the rest as night games.
On double header days, the early match is entirely a day game, starting at 1pm, and on Sundays, the matches start at 3.30pm and end just after sunset. Under lights, the ball tends to come on quicker and there perhaps isn't as much of that as there could be, but match times are set at what's best for broadcasters, not batters and that may sum up how we should actually measure the SA20.
On screens, it is seen as the tournament with some of the best vibes: the crowds are diverse and engaged and have gotten behind their teams, some of the world's biggest names have smiles on their faces when they're playing, and even when they're losing.
In the aftermath of Capitals' 95-run defeat in their final game, the players gathered on the outfield with the families and their former captain Wayne Parnell, had a hit about with Parnell's two young children and looked on as MICT set up a net on the field so they could train for their week in the playoffs.
Capitals felt no need to send either their new coach, Jonathan Trott, or their new captain Kyle Verreynne, to explain their dismal season and instead put up their rookie Keagan Lion-Cachet to the press afterwards. He was all smiles in defeat and "couldn't have asked for anything else," other than to be part of the tournament that has brought cricket in South Africa back to life.
"I've learned so much more than what I knew in the beginning, and cricket is a game where the more you learn the better you get," he said. "The more people share their own experiences and skills with you, the more you learn."
And one thing about the SA20 in its early years, is that it's a tournament that will keep learning.
Firdose Moonda is ESPNcricinfo's correspondent for South Africa and women's cricket
WPL 2025: Chinelle Henry replaces injured Alyssa Healy at UP Warriorz
Garth, who has turned out for Gujarat Giants (GG) in the past, was a big part of Australia's Ashes campaign, playing all three ODIs, two T20Is and the one-off Test, picking up nine wickets overall. A 28-year-old bowling allrounder who started out with her native Ireland before moving to Australia, Garth has 49 wickets from 59 T20Is to go with 764 runs.
Graham, also 28, has been a part of the WPL in the past, with Mumbai Indians (MI), but hasn't played a game in the tournament. And though highly rated in Australia, where she has been a part of Hobart Hurricanes and Perth Scorchers in the WBBL, she has only played one ODI and five T20Is in an international career that started in 2019. She has eight wickets in T20Is.
The third edition of the WPL will kick off on February 14 with a match between RCB and GG in Vadodara.
Finch keen for BBL auction, Maxwell questions power surge
Currently, overseas players are selected through the draft - with clubs now able to pre-sign one name before that event - while a trade window, that is currently open, has been introduced for the first time this season, but Finch has said the majority of domestic players should also be included in a process more aligned with how the IPL operates.
"I'd like to see an auction come in," Finch told the Powerplay on ESPN's Around The Wicket. "Each team potentially has the ability to retain maybe four of their players and then you say everybody else in the country, you're into an auction. I think that that would create a great spectacle.
"We see it in the IPL, it's brilliant, creates evenness across the board I think. What it does give you as well is it gives you what the players are worth. So at times, depending on what your team needs, you might have to overpay for someone. But if it's an auction, that's generally what the price of a player is."
Maxwell, though, was uncertain about the idea, raising concern about clubs losing an identity with established names. "You've still got to have a way to keep your homegrown players in your home state, [to] still have that relevance," he said.
The BBL continues to be challenged on retaining overseas players with a number leaving in early January for either the SA20 or ILT20.
Meanwhile, when asked what he would change about the tournament, Maxwell argued that while he could see the appeal of the power surge - the two overs of fielding restrictions that can be taken by the batting side after the 10th over - he felt it skewed the skills that were required away from how the rest of T20 is played.
"I'd get rid of the power surge," Maxwell said. "I think unless the power surge was introduced in international cricket, I think it's sort of probably lost its relevance. As a player, I think it probably misrepresents middle-order batting.
"When you get picked for your country, you don't have that luxury of having those two overs in the back ten to boost your strike rate, boost your score. It's lost on the art of middle order batting to be able to find your way through those last ten overs. I know it's great for broadcasters. I know it's great for fans. But until it's made an international rule, I don't think we should have it."
Finch acknowledged he had held a similar view when he was a player, but having now retired from the game saw the value the power surge brings.
"I think that it provides entertainment right through an innings," he said. "It keeps games alive. Like if a team needs 15 and over, with a power surge up your sleeve, there's still half a chance."
Lyon: Australia 'not there yet' in journey to greatness
The Border-Gavaskar Trophy triumph confirmed Australia's spot in a second consecutive World Test Championship (WTC) final, with the ICC's top-ranked side winning more Test matches in the past cycle than any other team.
Elder statesman Lyon saw signs of greatness in the win in Galle, where Australian appeared in control from a first over that featured three fours off Travis Head's bat. But Lyon does not feel the current crop of Australian players can yet lay claim to being a truly great side.
"We want to become a great Australian team. We're on that journey, we're not there yet. That's our end goal," he said. "Part of that journey is making sure that when we close the window, we nail it shut. It's all about being ruthless and doing our best thing for long periods of time."
The win in Galle ensured Australia would continue to hold every bilateral trophy for which they are eligible, alongside the ODI World Cup and the WTC trophy.
But Lyon was quick to point out that Australia had drawn and not won the past two Ashes series played in England, last winning outright on the road in 2001. Australia have also not won the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in India since Ricky Ponting's side took out the four-match series 2-1 in 2004.
"There's a few things [Australia needs to achieve]," said 37-year-old Lyon. "This is only me and my thoughts as well. We've got some great players within that change-room, there's no point hiding behind that. "
Australia will have to wait until 2027 for chances at away series wins in India and England. The country's greatest ever offspinner, Lyon said he "100 percent" hoped to play on that next trip to spin-friendly India as a 39-year-old.
The trio took 17 of Australia's 20 wickets in Galle, but the team does not have a subcontinent Test tour planned between the ongoing two-match series and India in 2027.
"We're going okay, but I still feel like we've got a lot of improvement to do. That's about being ruthless," Lyon said of the offspinning trio. "We're three totally different bowlers with three totally different mindsets as well. I feel like I'm learning off Todd and Matt, and I feel like they're pushing me to try and get better as well. Hopefully I'm passing on a little bit of knowledge here and there."
Lyon is mostly free of a left hip injury he suffered in the summer, though he is still in pain if he falls on the area.
"But I didn't have to land on it today, so all good," said Lyon, who took match figures of 7 for 135 in Galle. "Apparently I ripped the deep tissue off the fascia [hip muscle], whatever that means. Apparently there was a bit of excess blood or something in there. Not ideal, but all good now."
Injured Shields seals undisputed heavyweight title
FLINT, Mich. -- Claressa Shields has entered a league of her own.
The undefeated world champion boxer captured the undisputed heavyweight title with a unanimous decision victory over previously unbeaten Danielle Perkins on Sunday night.
She dropped Perkins (5-1, 2 KOs) with a right hook in the final seconds of the 10th and final round to secure the victory, but the fight almost didn't happen.
Shields (16-0, 3 KOs) pushed through a shoulder injury entering the match and couldn't lift her left arm for two or three days.
"I actually think I'm going to have to have surgery on my left arm. I tore my labrum last week, so the fight almost didn't happen," Shields said. "I didn't want to let Flint down, but I really couldn't use my jab the way that I wanted to, but I didn't the best that I could. I iced it, I did therapy and now I think I'm going to have a shoulder surgery."
Shields still managed to connect on 29% of her punches, and 36% of her power punches, according to CompuBox Stats while Perkins only landed 19% of her punches. The judges scored the fight 97-92, 99-90, and 100-89 all for Shields.
With the win, she became the first boxer, male or female, in the four-belt era to become the undisputed champion in three different weight classes (junior middle, middle and heavyweight).
She holds the WBC, WBA, IBF and WBO heavyweight titles. For women's boxing, the heavyweight division is considered 175 pounds and up.
In her heavyweight debut on July 27 in Detroit, she also scored a second-round TKO victory over Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse with Perkins on the undercard.
"I felt strong in there, but I know Danielle Perkins felt stronger. That girl was strong as hell," Shields said. "She was strong, she was definitely a problem. My experience and my skills got me over it and also, I've been in plenty of street fights with bigger people and I had to use some of my skills in that today, too. So, when I dropped her in the last round, it's because she got greedy."
She scored the bout's lone knockdown in waning seconds of the tenth round, but she also wobbled Perkins during the third round with an overhand right while connecting on some big right hooks as well. The crowd chanted "Whoop that trick" from the Hustle & Flow soundtrack as Shields landed those big shots.
"Flint is a different type of place. I can tell you that the people that we have here, they are fight fans for one. They're so supportive and they take you for who you are," Shields said. "So, them even saying, 'Whoop that trick,' you will never hear that in no other women's boxing match ever in history because it's just not even something that people even accept coming from women.
"People accept that from me here, coming from Flint and they understand me, and they know that I'm just as hood, just as street, but I'm also business and savvy and I'm very smart so they accept me for the full package, and I just love them so much for that."
Shields said she passed on an opportunity to fight at Barclays Center in New York so she could return to Michigan for a homecoming bout at the Dort Financial Center in Flint. During her ring entrance, she was joined by rapper Papoose and fellow undisputed champion Terence Crawford was among those in attendance.
Crawford said he was happy to support Shields in making history as the first-ever undisputed women's heavyweight champion of the world.
"I think it was a great fight. Perkins came to fight, she put up a good fight. She was big, she was strong. Claressa had the speed, timing and experience," Crawford told ESPN. "And at times, when she had to dig deep and make it a dog fight, I felt like she won that transaction as well. The whole turnout was a good night."
Shields, 29, is ESPN's No. 1-ranked heavyweight and No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter but said the fire still burns inside her to cement her place in history, even as she has been dubbing herself the "G.W.O.A.T" -- Greatest Woman of All-Time.
Sunday's bout also marked Shields' first time entering the ring since the December launch of her biopic, "The Fire Inside."
"It ain't enough. That's how I think. I think that I didn't get my flowers for so many years so even though I'm getting them now, it's like that's not enough," Shields said. "I deserve more than that. I'm fighting for a million dollars. So. I'm supposed to be getting paid five. This ain't it. So, for me, that's where the fire comes from."
England errors led to second-half collapse - Warburton
Six Nations Rugby Special pundit and former Wales captain Sam Warburton analyses the mistakes made by England during their 27-22 loss to Ireland in their opening game.
WATCH MORE: Ireland start title defence with convincing win over England
Watch Six Nations Rugby Special on BBC iPlayer.
Available to UK users only.
Forwards
Fin Baxter (Harlequins), Ollie Chessum (Leicester Tigers), Luke Cowan-Dickie (Sale Sharks), Chandler Cunningham-South (Harlequins), Ben Curry (Sale Sharks), Tom Curry (Sale Sharks), Theo Dan (Saracens), Ben Earl (Saracens), Ellis Genge (Bristol Bears), Jamie George (Saracens), Joe Heyes (Leicester Tigers), Ted Hill (Bath Rugby), Maro Itoje (Saracens), Curtis Langdon (Northampton Saints), George Martin (Leicester Tigers), Asher Opoku-Fordjour (Sale Sharks), Bevan Rodd (Sale Sharks), Will Stuart (Bath Rugby), Tom Willis (Saracens).
Backs
Oscar Beard (Harlequins), Elliot Daly (Saracens), Fraser Dingwall (Northampton Saints), George Ford (Sale Sharks), Tommy Freeman (Northampton Saints), Ollie Lawrence (Bath Rugby), Alex Mitchell (Northampton Saints), Cadan Murley (Harlequins), Harry Randall (Bristol Bears), Tom Roebuck (Sale Sharks), Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs), Ollie Sleightholme (Northampton Saints), Fin Smith (Northampton Saints), Marcus Smith (Harlequins), Ben Spencer (Bath Rugby), Freddie Steward (Leicester Tigers).
STAFFORD SPRINGS, Conn. Staffords premier SK Modified division has added another contender for NAPA Rookie of the Year honors, with Alexander Pearl making the move up from the SK Light division for the upcoming season.
Pearl will be behind the wheel of the No. 71 car with sponsorship from USNE Power, helping to light the fuse on his rookie campaign.
Its a really big opportunity for us, said Pearl. Weve been looking at moving up to the SK division for some time, and we feel like now the time is right. USNE Power is going to help us out tremendously. We got together with USNE through a mutual connection, and thats pretty much how this deal came together. We went up and visited Dave Miller at his shop a couple of weeks ago, and hes been a great person to meet and talk with. The operation that USNE has and the reach they have across multiple states is pretty cool. Its exciting to be part of their team. There are a lot of people behind the scenes who helped put this deal together, and Im really thankful for that.
I have to thank my Dad and my grandfather, along with the rest of my crew, for coming back on board for next season.
Pearl has been a mainstay in the SK Light division since he began racing full-time in 2018. Since then, Pearl has recorded 12 career SK Light wins, placing him ninth on the SK Light all-time win list heading into the 2025 season.
Pearl has also finished in the top-four of the SK Light points standings every year from 2019-2024, after finishing seventh during his first full season. While Pearl has found success at the SK Light level, he is aware that finding success in the SK Modified division especially as a rookie driver can be a fleeting prospect.
Im sure well have some growing pains, but were shooting for some top-10s and maybe some top-fives, said Pearl. If the cards fall our way, maybe we can compete for a top-3 finish or even a win. We have solid expectations going into the season, and were just going to try to learn as much as we can in a new division and get comfortable racing with the best drivers in the country.
A successful year would be finishing as many races as possible because you have to run all 40 laps to learn. Its the toughest division in the country, but we can run really well if everything falls into place for us.
Just as Pearl will find the chase for success in the SK Modified division to be tough, the race for NAPA Rookie of the Year honors should also be a thrilling duel, with Pearl racing against defending SK Light champion Tyler Chapman for top rookie honors.
Pearl and Chapman have been racing together for over 10 years, dating back to their time spent in the Monday night Wild Thing Karts program at Stafford. Pearl is looking forward to the challenge of racing against Chapman for the 2025 NAPA Rookie of the Year title.
I think the Rookie of the Year battle is going to be really exciting between Tyler and me this season, said Pearl. We both have different driving styles, but over the course of a season, its going to be interesting to see how everything shakes out. I think were going to have a great race for Rookie of the Year. We actually started racing each other back in the Tiger B division in Wild Thing Karts over 10 years ago, so weve been racing against each other for a long time now, and Im excited to duel it out for Rookie of the Year.
There are some drivers you like to race with and some drivers you dont like to race with, and Tyler is definitely a driver that I like racing with.
As a preview for his full-time foray into the SK Modified division, Pearl made three starts in the SK Modified division last season, racing in the NAPA SK 5k, the TC 13 Shootout and the NAPA Champions Night feature.
Pearl was one of the 13 cars to qualify for the TC 13 Shootout on Sept. 13, finishing 11th in the 13-lap sprint. As a rookie part-time driver, he was forced to start at the back of the pack for each of his three SK starts, but he was able to work his way up to 12th in each race. Pearl will be looking to put his SK Modified experience to good use as he prepares for his first full season.
We ran a couple of races last year, and we ran the Fall Final the year before that, so we got our feet wet, and now were at the point where we feel like were ready to move up to the next level and be competitive, said Pearl. The experience will definitely help, but theres nothing like the SK Modified division at Stafford.
Its the toughest division in the country, and Im sure well have some growing pains, but were prepared and going to do the best we can. It was so cool to race against some drivers Ive been watching since I was a kid. Being part of the field in the best division in the country was eye-opening, and I think we did pretty well with what we had, and that helped us make the decision to go full-time this season.
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