I Dig Sports
CONCORD, N.C. – The B.R.A.K.E.S. (Be Responsible And Keep Everyone Safe) national teen defensive driving program has announced that three-time NHRA Mello Yello Series Top Fuel champion Larry Dixon has joined the organization as a driving instructor and official spokesperson.
The son of 1970 NHRA Winternationals Champion Larry Dixon, Sr., the younger Dixon won NHRA Mello Yello Top Fuel World Championships in 2002, 2003 and 2010. The second-generation Top Fuel racer was named as Rookie of the Year in 1995 and is the second-winningest Top Fuel driver in NHRA history with 62 victories.
“I’ve had the fortune of knowing Doug since high school, both as a fellow competitor and as a friend,” said Dixon. “Doug and his team have also taught two of my children, so I am equally as impressed as a parent. I’m proud to join this great organization and use my platform to help spread the word about the B.R.A.K.E.S. program, which has saved countless lives.”
B.R.A.K.E.S. was established by multi-time drag racing champion Doug Herbert, following the tragic loss of his two sons in a car crash in 2008. To date, the program has trained nearly 37,000 teens across the country. Teens who have taken the course are 64 percent less likely to get into an auto accident.
Utilizing vehicles provided by Kia Motors, the B.R.A.K.E.S. program offers teens extensive behind-the-wheel instruction from professional trainers including current and former law enforcement officers as well as professional racing drivers, teaching the teens and their parents how to be safer on the road. Exercises include Distracted Driving Awareness, Panic Braking, Crash Avoidance, Drop-wheel/Off-road Recovery and Car Control/Skid Recovery.
“The addition of this multi-time Top Fuel champion attests to the passion that Larry has for our mission and his desire to bring his skills and knowledge to teens that participate in our program,” said B.R.A.K.E.S. Founder Doug Herbert. “We’re honored and excited to have Larry as a lead instructor and official spokesperson. The behind-the-wheel guidance he will offer both teens and their parents will be invaluable and ultimately help save lives and make our roadways safer.”
GLENDORA, Calif. – The National Hot Rod Ass’n has announced that the NHRA Awards will once again return to Hollywood’s Ray Dolby Ballroom at Hollywood & Highland on Nov. 18.
This invitation-only black-tie affair, where NHRA will honor its 2019 Mello Yello Drag Racing Series world champions in all four professional categories, will begin with a pre-event cocktail reception at 5 p.m.
A formal sit-down dinner will follow with cuisine provided by renowned Wolfgang Puck Catering. In addition to recognizing the new world champions, the ceremony will feature the recipient of the Auto Club Road To The Future Award and the winner of the NHRA Manufacturer’s Cup. The official after party at the nearby Hard Rock Café will end the evening’s festivities.
Champions in the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series will be honored earlier in the day at Hard Rock Café, located on the Hollywood Boulevard level of the Hollywood & Highland Center, before joining the activities at the NHRA Awards where they will also be recognized.
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – MX Sports Pro Racing has confirmed that 20-year-old AMA Pro Motocross racer Jonathan Mayzak has died.
Mayzak died Sunday as a result of injuries sustained Friday night before the Unadilla National in New Berlin, N.Y., when he was struck by a vehicle while crossing the road in front of the paddock on Route 8.
State Police have charged the 31-year-old man who was operating the vehicle with driving while drug-impaired and vehicular assault. More charges are expected as a result of Mayzak’s death.
Mayzak first competed on a national stage in 2006 when he earned a gate at the 2006 AMA Amateur National Motocross Championship at Loretta Lynn’s in the 51cc (4-6) Class, and again in 2015 in Open Pro Sport. In 2016 Mayzak earned his professional motocross license and was assigned No. 210. This year the No. 210 competed in the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship in four events in the 250 Class, including the inaugural Florida National and historic Southwick National, making the Fast 40 in both.
Mayzak and his fiancé, Kenzie Hebbelman, were planning to marry in October and take a cruise for their honeymoon. In addition to Kenzie, Mayzak is survived by his parents and several siblings, two of which are in the military serving our country.
Services have not yet been announced.
RALEIGH, N.C. -- The Carolina Hurricanes have re-signed team president and general manager Don Waddell to a contract extension.
Owner Tom Dundon announced the signing of the multiyear deal Monday, but team officials did not disclose its specific length or terms.
The 60-year-old Waddell had been mentioned as a candidate for the Minnesota Wild's GM vacancy. He has been with the organization since 2014, and the Hurricanes made their first playoff appearance in a decade during his first season as the team's full-time GM.
Dundon says Waddell's "leadership and experience are invaluable to our organization."
He was the Atlanta Thrashers' GM from 1998-2010.
This week in golf (Aug. 12-18): TV schedule, tee times, info
Here's a look at what's happening in professional golf this week, and how you can watch it:
PGA Tour
BMW Championship
Thursday-Sunday, Medinah Country Club (No. 3), Medinah, IL
Course specs: Par 72, 7,657 yards
Purse: $9.25 million
Defending champion: Keegan Bradley
Notables in the field: Tiger Woods, Brooks Koepka, Rory McIlroy, Dustin Johnson, Jon Rahm, Justin Thomas
Tee times: N/A
TV schedule: Thursday-Friday, 3-7 p.m. ET (Golf Channel); Saturday, Noon-3:00 p.m. ET (Golf Channel) and 3-6 p.m. ET (NBC); Sunday, Noon-2:00 p.m. ET (Golf Channel) and 2-6 p.m. ET (NBC)
PGA Tour Live: Thursday-Friday, 9:45 a.m.-3 p.m. ET
Korn Ferry Tour
Nationwide Children's Hospital Championship
Thursday-Sunday, The Ohio State University Golf Club (Scarlet Course), Columbus, OH.
Course specs: Par 71, 7,455 yards
Purse: $1,000,000
Defending champion: Robert Streb
Notables in the field: Viktor Hovland, Smylie Kaufman, Beau Hossler, Hunter Mahan, Ollie Schniederjans
Tee times: N/A
TV schedule: Thursday-Friday, 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. ET (Golf Channel); Saturday, 3:00-5:00 p.m.; Sunday, 2:00-4:30 p.m.
PGA Tour Champions
DICK'S Sporting Goods Open
Friday-Sunday, En-Joie Golf Club, Endicott, NY.
Course specs: Par 72, 7,040 yards
Purse: $2,050,000
Defending champion: Bart Bryant
Notables in the field: Fred Couples, Bernhard Langer, Vijay Singh, Kenny Perry, Retief Goosen
Tee times: N/A
TV schedule: Friday, 7:00-9:00 p.m. ET (Golf Channel); Saturday, 5:00-7:00 p.m.; Sunday, 4:30-7:00 p.m.
DeChambeau vows to improve pace of play in Instagram post
After all the slow-play dust settled from Liberty National, Bryson DeChambeau took to social media to address what ended up being the main talking point over the weekend at The Northern Trust.
It began Friday, while paired with Justin Thomas and Tommy Fleetwood, when two videos surfaced on social media of Bryson DeChambeau's methodical pre-shot routine, once on a 70-yard chip and again while surveying an 11-foot putt.
DeChambeau has been one of the focal points all season regarding the Tour's pace-of-play debacle, though he isn't the only one who has been criticized. Following his third round Saturday, DeChambeau sounded off while speaking to reporters.
“It's really kind of unfortunate the way it's perceived because there's a lot of other guys that take a lot of time,” DeChambeau said. “For me personally it is an attack and it is something that is not me whatsoever. People don't realize the harm that they are doing to the individuals.”
A day after finishing the tournament T-24, nine shots behind winner Patrick Reed, DeChambeau posted a statement on Instagram.
Brooks Koepka has been extremely vocal this season about pace of play, and he and DeChambeau spent time Sunday before their final round discussing the hot topic.
Since then, the PGA Tour has announced plans to review its current pace-of-play policy. The Tour suggested the possibility of expanding fines and penalties for those found out of position.
DeChambeau is teeing it up again this week in the second postseason event at the BMW Championship at Medinah Country Club.
Randall's Rant: Enough slow play; golf must act now to accelerate the game
Time misleads, and it can flat out lie.
Jordan Spieth and Tiger Woods showed us the upside of that in golf, and Bryson DeChambeau the downside.
As heavily as he relies on empirical evidence and a scientific approach, DeChambeau asked us to show some faith last weekend.
Time, he basically told us, is on his side in the slow-play imbroglio he found himself involved in again at The Northern Trust.
He is not really a slow poke, he insisted, no matter what our lyin’ eyes tell us. Believe, he implored, in what we can’t see, or at least what we aren’t seeing, because, hey, a couple viral videos can distort the truth.
“How about you look at the full story and see what actually happened during those instances?” DeChambeau said, aiming his remarks at the social media critics.
One video showed DeChambeau taking 2 minutes and 20 seconds to hit a putt at the eighth hole on Friday, another showed him walking off a 70-yard shot in the same round. He said they were exceptions to the rule in his pace of play.
“Is that every time? No,” DeChambeau said. “That's probably 1 percent of the time that I take over two minutes.”
More than one fellow pro was skeptical that he is rarely that slow.
“It’s every hole, pick a hole,” Justin Thomas said.
In Monday’s aftermath, DeChambeau acknowledged he can be better.
“I’m constantly trying to improve, and I will do my very best to improve my pace,” he said in an Instagram post. “Golf is my passion and livelihood. It’s my responsibility to help improve the game to be more enjoyable for all. Pace of play has been an issue for golf at all levels for a long time, and I'm committed to being a part of the solution, not the problem.”
DeChambeau is one of the game’s bright young stars and personalities, but the slow-play controversies are dragging him down, as they did the entire start of the FedExCup Playoffs last weekend. The slow-play furor spilled outside the game’s niche Saturday with “Good Morning Britain” host Piers Morgan aggressively weighing in on the topic.
“You’re destroying golf @b_dechambeau with your snail-like antics,” Morgan tweeted. “Either speed up and stop being so willfully disrespectful to spectators, viewers & other players – or quit & spare us this agony.”
Ouch!
Slow play isn’t good for DeChambeau’s image, but more importantly, it isn’t good for the game’s. It’s not just media and social critics saying so. It’s the game’s best players. Brooks Koepka, Rory McIlroy and Adam Scott are among the stars fed up with slow play.
Yes, it is a complicated topic, because there are those rare times when slow play can be great for the game. In fact, there are times when it can be absolutely riveting.
Every second Spieth took to recover from his wayward shot into the practice range on his way to winning in the final round at The Open at Royal Birkdale two years ago was terrific theater.
So was every second Woods took to chip in for birdie at the 16th on his way to winning the Masters in 2005.
The problem is all those guys who think a green jacket or claret jug are hanging in the balance on Thursdays and Fridays of regular Tour events.
Koepka, McIlroy, Scott and the other stars who want to see meaningful change need governing bodies to step up more sternly to help.
Yes, it was encouraging to see the PGA Tour respond more than superficially last weekend, with a pledge to “take a deeper look” at the problem and how ShotLink technology may assist. But, like DeChambeau, PGA Tour officials are asking us to have faith in them. The Tour has slow played its slow-play problem for so damn long, faith among players and fans is in short supply.
The PGA Tour needs help.
Anyway, slow play is an issue plaguing more than one tour. The American Junior Golf Association, USGA, R&A, college golf, LPGA, LET, European Tour and the PGA Tour all have their own slow-play policies and penalties.
Somebody once said: “First we make our habits, and then our habits make us.”
The best way to break the game’s slow-play habit is to teach everyone to play by the same pace-of-play rules with the same penalties.
The game may need a slow-play summit to get there.
It needs all the different bodies to collaborate in teaching and reinforcing the same habits. In a world that continues to move faster, the game needs to keep up.
Yes, you can’t fine amateurs, but that’s the beauty of this collaboration. It doesn’t matter where you're playing, the best penalty is to a player’s scorecard. Whether it’s a one-shot or two-shot penalty, there is strong message sent up and down the game’s ranks, for whatever slow-play policy the governing bodies agree upon.
The details of a new uniform policy are important, but the sheer effort the governing bodies would put into a collaboration like that will send a message in itself. The message is that the sport is finally serious about creating new habits to speed up play across every landscape in the game.
Wu (65) fights off jetlag to take early lead at U.S. Amateur
What jetlag?
After helping the U.S. to the gold medal at the Pan American Games, Brandon Wu took a red-eye flight from Lima, Peru on Sunday evening and less than 24 hours later was standing on the first tee at Pinehurst No. 4.
The Stanford grad took a while to get going on a tough scoring day for both U.S. Amateur host courses, but he eventually caught fire late on the easier No. 4. After playing even-par golf through 13 holes with two birdies, Wu strung together three straight birdies beginning at the par-3 14th hole, and he followed his birdie at the short par-4 16th with eagle at the gettable par-5 penultimate hole.
A closing par left Wu with a 5-under 65 and a one-shot lead after the first of two stroke-play qualifying rounds. The top 64 players out of a field of 312 after 36 holes move on to match play, which begins Wednesday on course No. 2.
Wu’s hot start comes as little surprise, as Wu is ranked eighth in the World Amateur Golf Ranking and has had a red-hot summer. After going 3-0 in match play to help Stanford to an NCAA team title in late May, Wu qualified for both Opens, at Pebble Beach and Royal Portrush, making the cut at the former. He also was invited to play both Pinehurst courses in early July as part of media day, though the courses were much softer than the firm and fast conditions players saw Monday.
Of the 27 players under par after Day 1, just four of them played No. 2 – William Walker III (2-under 68), Van Holmgren (68), Julien Sale (68) and Spencer Ralston (69).
Notre Dame’s Palmer Jackson and Arizona’s Trevor Werbylo share second at 4 under while 2016 U.S. Amateur runner-up Brad Dalke, an Oklahoma grad, is part of a four-way tie for fourth with Auburn grad Jacob Solomon, Australia’s Blake Windred and Texas Tech’s Sandy Scott.
World No. 1 Cole Hammer, who is trying to lock up the McCormack Medal this week, opened with a 75 on No. 2, as did world No. 3 David Micheluzzi. The third player in the group, No. 2 Conor Gough, shot 79.
Brandon Wu got off to a hot start Monday with a 5-under 65 at Pinehurst No. 4 to take the first-round lead at the U.S. Amateur. But let's be honest, Wu was already a lock to make the U.S. Walker Cup team.
Seven players will be named to the squad Sunday after the conclusion of the final match at Pinehurst. The winner, if American, receives an automatic spot, and three players – Cole Hammer, Akshay Bhatia and Stewart Hagestad – have already been named to the team.
Here's a look at how the American contenders stack up after Day 1 of U.S. Amateur stroke play:
Brandon Wu (5-under 65, No. 4)
John Pak (6-over 76, No. 2)
Steven Fisk (71, No. 2)
Quade Cummins (69, No. 4)
Ricky Castillo (72, No. 2)
Sahith Theegala (71, No. 4)
Alex Smalley (74, No. 4)
-----
Austin Eckroat (72, No. 2)
Pierceson Coody (72, No. 2)
Michael Thorbjornsen (69, No. 4)
Chandler Phillips (75, No. 2)
Isaiah Salinda (68, No. 4)
Cameron Young (71, No. 4)
Spencer Ralston (69, No. 2)#
John Augenstein (70, No. 4)
#-new addition from previous day; replaces William Mouw (78, No. 2)
The United States is making plans to bid for the hosting rights to the 2027 Women's World Cup, U.S. Soccer Federation president Carlos Cordeiro indicated on Monday.
Cordeiro was speaking on a conference call with reporters in which he announced that Kate Markgraf has been named GM of the U.S. women's national team while Earnie Stewart had been promoted from his GM position with the U.S. men to be the USSF sporting director, overseeing all of the technical aspects of the federation.
In outlining Markgraf's responsibilities, Cordeiro said that she will take charge of what he is calling "Vision 2027."
"Not surprisingly, that is linked to us bidding to host the 2027 Women's World Cup," Cordeiro said.
This is not the first time that Cordeiro has hinted that the U.S. will bid for the tournament's hosting rights. During his speech at the USSF's Annual General Meeting in Scottsdale, Ariz. last February, Cordeiro said, "We need to ensure excellence across all our women's teams. So when we look ahead to 2027 we can imagine -- dare I say, dream -- of once again hosting the Women's World Cup right here in the United States, including a win on home soil."
There are some practical considerations that need to be addressed before the USSF can submit a bid. FIFA has yet to name a host for the 2023 Women's World Cup. Argentina, Australia, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Japan, New Zealand and South Africa have all submitted registrations to host the tournament. A joint bid from North and South Korea has also been submitted.
FIFA is expected to name a host in March of 2020. Once that takes place, focus can shift to find a host for the 2027 edition of the tournament.
The decision to bid on the hosting rights must also be approved by the USSF Board of Directors, but one federation source said that it was "very likely" that the USSF would submit a bid.
The U.S. has previously hosted two Women's World Cups. The first was in 1999 when the U.S. prevailed in a penalty shootout over China at the Rose Bowl.
The U.S. was a last-minute replacement to host the 2003 Women's World Cup after a SARs epidemic in China resulted in FIFA opting to relocate the tournament. That competition was won by Germany.
Phone: (800) 737. 6040
Fax: (800) 825 5558
Website: 
Email: 
