WASHINGTON -- The Chicago Cubs have decided not to move forward with their protest of Saturday's 5-2 loss to the Nationals.

Cubs manager Joe Maddon had argued that Washington reliever Sean Doolittle used an illegal delivery in the ninth inning of the game and said that he was playing under protest. The Cubs then had 24 hours to submit an official grievance to the league, but they decided not to.

The double toe-tap Doolittle appeared to use as he delivered the ball to home plate has been deemed illegal in the past, but umpires on Saturday did not force the left-hander to alter his delivery, much to Maddon's dismay.

"You're trying to delineate what is right and what is wrong. In my mind it wasn't a judgment call. I thought it was black and white," Maddon said Sunday.

Maddon came out to argue after Doolittle's first pitch of the ninth inning -- a strike to pinch hitter Albert Almora Jr. Although the umpires huddled with each other, and then with Doolittle, they sided with the lefty while deeming his delivery OK.

"[Maddon] thought he was tapping his foot, which in itself is not illegal, and this all kind of stems from his pitcher being called on something that was a little bit different than what Doolittle was doing," crew chief Sam Holbrook said. "So in our judgment, Doolittle did nothing illegal at all."

Holbrook was referring to Cubs reliever Carl Edwards Jr., who was told in the second game of the season that he couldn't do his version of the double toe-tap. Recently, Mariners pitcher Cory Gearrin was also forced to change his delivery after warming up mid-inning. But after some deliberation the Cubs decided not to protest.

"I really didn't anticipate whole lot to be done with it even though I still don't agree with the conclusion because I think it's exactly what Carl did just a different version of it," Maddon said.

"I would not be a good parent had I not spoken up for my guy (Edwards)," Maddon added.

Maddon lodged his protest with one out in the ninth inning. If the Cubs had officially protested to the league and won, the teams would have picked up the game from that point, as Doolittle retired the next two batters to earn the save.

After the game, Doolittle was having none of what Maddon was trying to sell.

"In that moment, he's not doing anything other than rattle me," Doolittle told reporters, according to an mlb.com report. "It was kinda tired. Sometimes he has to remind people how smart he is."

Tom Bosworth leads senior men’s 20km race walk squad to silver in Lithuania

Great Britain took their first ever medals in the European Race Walking Cup when the men’s team claimed silver in the 20km event in hot conditions in Alytus, Lithuania, Ian Richards reports.

Tom Bosworth led the team home with a fourth-place finish, with Callum Wilkinson and Cameron Corbishley producing tremendous last laps to clinch the silver medal from Ukraine and Italy.

Bosworth moved ahead of Christopher Linke during the sixth 1km circuit and held a seven-second lead over the German. At the halfway mark Bosworth had a 13-second lead over the chase pack as he went through in 40:11. Wilkinson had moved up to 13th in 40:51 and Corbishley was in 26th in 42:16, with Dominic King clocking 44.10.

The chase pack had cut his lead to 10 seconds by 14km. Soon after this, Sweden’s Perseus Karlström and Diego García of Spain began to close down on Bosworth.

At the 18km point Russia’s Vasiliy Mizinov (ANA) had passed Bosworth and he was caught by Spanish duo Álvaro Martín and Miguel Ángel López. Bosworth repassed them on the 19th lap.

Karlström pulled away to take the victory in a European lead of 79:54 ahead of Mizinov with 80:18 and García with 80:23.

Bosworth matched his fourth-place finish of two years ago to clock 80:53 and move to the top of the UK rankings.

Wilkinson moved up to ninth, clocking 81:54, and Corbishley moved up to 25th place with a PB of 85:45 which moves him to 17th on the UK all-time list and inside the British qualifying time for the European U23 Championships (86.00). King was disqualified.

“I felt so good today I really thought I would win a medal,” said Bosworth. “I walked 3:57 for the lap they caught me. I rolled my ankle at the point when I was fighting for the bronze medal. I battled back on the last two laps.

“I am gutted to finish fourth again, but the team medal makes up for some of my personal disappointment.”

In the under-20 men’s 10km, Chris Snook was a brilliant fifth, clocking 43:45 for the highest ever finish by a British athlete in that event. The race was won by Italy’s Riccardo Orsoni in 42:43.

Snook said: “Despite being ill recently it is great to finish fifth in Europe. I am a bit disappointed not to walk faster and get the 43:00 qualifying time for the European Juniors.

“My plan was to go with the main pack, but unfortunately I couldn’t quite hold the pace in the second half.”

In the women’s 20km Heather Lewis and Bethan Davies both set of in search of the British standard for Doha of 93:30.

Lewis finished 21st in 97:43, Davies was 25th in 99:02 and Erika Kelly was 40th in 1:47:58 on her GB debut as the team closed in eighth place.

The home crowd went home happy as Živilė Vaiciukevičiūtė took victory in 89:48 ahead of Spanish duo Laura García-Caro in 89:55 and Raquel González in 90:17.

In the men’s 50km, France’s world champion Yohann Diniz led from gun to tape to take victory in a championship record of 3:37:43. He lapped every other competitor twice apart from silver medallist Dzmitry Dziubin of Belarus (3:45:51) and João Vieira of Portugal in 3:46:51.

In the first ever women’s 50km, Eleonora Giorgi won in a European record of 4:04:50.

Julia Takacs of Spain set a national record of 4:05:46 for silver, with former world record-holder Inês Henriques in bronze in 4:13:57.

The under-20 women’s 10km was won by Turkey’s Meryem Bekmez in 43:57 ahead of her compatriot Evin Demir in 46:49.

Great Britain’s team silver saw them finish ninth in the medal table overall.

CONCORD, N.C. — Bubba Wallace hasn’t been having a lot of fun in the last few months.

A difficult start to the season, combined with financial woes at Richard Petty Motorsports, left Wallace doubting himself and his ability. He desperately needed something good to happen to lift his spirts and those of his No. 43 team.

On Saturday night at Charlotte Motor Speedway, good things happened for Wallace and Richard Petty Motorsports.

Wallace, who admitted he “didn’t give a damn,” muscled his way into the Monster Energy NASCAR All-Star Race for the first time with a determined drive during the Monster Energy Open.

It wasn’t easy, but nothing ever is for Wallace, who has had to fight and scrape for nearly every opportunity he has gotten in racing. On this particular Saturday night, Wallace simply refused to lose.

“We needed this, I needed this,” Wallace lamented after racing into the Monster Energy NASCAR All-Star Race. “It’s been tough.”

Strategy was the name of the game for Wallace and his crew chief Derek Stamets. When a caution flag waved with only a few laps left in the first stage of the Monster Energy Open, Stamets called for Wallace to stay out.

He lined up in the second row and pushed Kyle Larson into the lead, but Wallace wasn’t about to let Larson drive away. A tap to Larson’s bumper gave Wallace a run on the inside and somehow Wallace managed to complete the pass.

Unfortunately racing hard with Larson opened the door for fast-closing William Byron, who got to Wallace’s inside and beat him to the finish line to win the first stage and advance into the All-Star Race.

“I was pissed off. I was really pissed off after that. I let that one go. I thought that was it,” Wallace admitted.

But it wasn’t. Somehow, as if by divine intervention, Wallace got another opportunity in the second stage when Daniel Hemric and Ryan Preece crashed racing for third with two laps left.

“The caution came back out again, same scenario. I was like alright, ‘I’m going to get it this time.’ You’ve got to do what you’ve got to do,” Wallace said.

Most of the field pitted and Stamets called for Wallace to stay out, setting him up to restart second alongside Alex Bowman. This time Wallace wasn’t going to let anyone take victory away from him.

He got a push from Daniel Suarez behind him to get out front, but Suarez wanted to win, too. Two laps of intense racing followed, with Wallace managing to best Suarez to hang onto the lead. Suarez tried his best to take the lead from Wallace exiting turn four on the last lap, but Wallace blocked the move and sent Suarez spinning through the infield.

Wallace won and advanced to the All-Star Race.

“Damn it feels good to win something,” Wallace acknowledged.

The joy was evident. Tears flowed and Wallace got a hug from his best friend, fellow NASCAR star Ryan Blaney, in the garage. But perhaps the most important thing that happened in the moments after his triumph in the Monster Energy Open came in a conversation with his mother, Desiree.

“The first thing my mom says to me after the Open, she walks up on the grid here and she’s like, ‘You know who that was, ya know? That was God. He’s not giving up on you yet,’” Wallace said. “I’ve realized that. As many dark moments as I’ve had and telling myself to give up, I know it’s like a broken record, but man it’s been tough. It’s been really tough to keep climbing in and keep going.”

Wallace returned to the track for the Monster Energy NASCAR All-Star Race, joining the sports top stars in a battle for a $1 million payday.

The native of Mobile, Ala., backed up his stunning run in the Monster Energy Open with a fifth-place result in the All-Star Race. He didn’t win the $1 million, but he left Charlotte Motor Speedway with a smile on his face and that might have been worth more than the money.

“I honestly haven’t had this much fun in a long time,” Wallace said. “I guess dating back to the Bristol spring race last year. Since then it’s been a struggle. It’s a big night for us. A big night of momentum.

“I’m showing teeth in my smile, so it says a lot.”

SALISBURY, N.C. – Though Tanner Holmes is known in racing circles as “The YouTube Kid” due to his popular vlog series, lately he’s begun gaining respect in the dirt sprint car world as well.

Holmes, who has regularly competed in outlaw karts over the past few years, has already won two winged 360ci sprint car features this season – a feather in the cap of the Oregon teenager as he works to build his burgeoning racing career.

The 15-year-old is hoping to add another notch to his resume on Wednesday night when he returns to outlaw kart racing for the sixth-annual QRC Speed51 Open presented by HMS Motorsport at Millbridge Speedway.

Holmes has made the 51-lap, $5,151-to-win feature each of the last two years, but he’s yet to finish inside the top 10 during the biggest race of the year at the sixth-mile, North Carolina dirt oval.

That’s a mark he’d like to fix with a victory at a track he said he “really enjoys coming to.”

“Trying to tame the North Carolina dirt isn’t an easy task, by any means, but I really love coming out east and taking a shot at it every year,” said Holmes. “Last year, we passed a ton of cars on Tuesday during the two-stroke show and just couldn’t quite translate that same speed into the big race on Wednesday. We ran somewhat well every night, but we just couldn’t catch the right breaks.

“This time around, I am shooting for a little bit of redemption, because I know we’re capable of running up front in the right circumstances.”

Holmes was quick to note that he has learned a lot about improving his outlaw kart skills since he began running his sprint car last year, even though the bigger car doesn’t drive the same as his kart does.

“It’s a double-edged sword when it comes to things translating from one car to the other, but the confidence factor is always a big thing,” explained Holmes. “Of course, it takes two different driving styles to be successful in sprint cars compared to outlaw karts, but I firmly believe that running both cars can and does help, especially when you’re coming back down from the sprint car to the outlaw karts.

“There’s a lot to learn when it comes to hitting your marks in a sprint car, and I think the karts are just a little bit less line-sensitive in that you can sometimes search around a little bit more with them,” he added. “Right now I feel really confident no matter which car I’m driving, and I feel like I’m as on my A-game as I’ve ever been. Now it’s about being smooth and keeping the speed up over the whole week.”

Holmes raced during the winter with the Red Bluff Outlaws, proving he’s found his place within the ultra-competitive Open division by finishing as the runner-up in the championship and visiting victory lane several times during the 13-race schedule.

“All winter long, we ran Red Bluff, and we really came out with a great result. To finish second in points behind Tyler Seavey is nothing to hang your head over, because he’s one of the best there is right now in outlaw-kart racing,” noted Holmes. “What I was really proud of was that we won three A-mains during the winter season, which gives me a lot of confidence going into the summer and a big race like this.

“I figured out a lot of consistency over the past few months, which was something that maybe I didn’t have as much of in the past, and I’m hoping that’s something that can help me going into this week.”

In addition to both nights of the QRC Speed51 Open at Millbridge, Holmes will also tackle the second-annual Clash at the Creek on Sunday night at nearby Mountain Creek Speedway as well.

The young gun is seeking a marquee victory to add to his resume, and he’s hoping that he’ll be able to have that at some point over the next four days of competition.

“I think it would be a huge breakthrough for me if I could get to victory lane during this North Carolina swing, because that big-time win is definitely something that I feel like I do need,” Holmes said. “No matter what night it comes in, if I could get to victory lane … there’s so many eyes on this four-day stretch and so many good competitors in the field that we’ll be racing against this week.

“I think we’ve got the car to do it and the team to do it with, so now it’s up to the driver to put myself in a good spot, make the right moves and see how it all shakes out.”

Practice for the QRC Speed51 Open presented by HMS Motorsport at Millbridge Speedway begins on Monday, May 20.

Feature racing takes place on both Tuesday, May 21 and Wednesday, May 22.

BOWMANVILLE, Ontario – K-PAX Racing teammates Alvaro Parente and Andy Soucek piloted their Bentley Continental GT3 to victory in Sunday’s Blancpain GT World Challenge event at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.

Canadians Martin Barkey and Kyle Marcelli won in the Pro/AM class.

The 90-minute, 68-lap race was held under sunny conditions. Pro division pole sitter Parente from Portugal, in the No. 9 Bentley Continental GT3 led the pack to the line and the green flag ahead of second-on-the-grid Finland’s Toni Vilander, co-winner of Saturday’s race in the No. 61 Canadian team R. Ferri Motorsport Ferrari 488 GT3.

In the Pro/Am division, pole sitter Norwegian Dennis Olsen, piloting the No. 91 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R, slotted into third overall with Scottish driver Ryan Dalziel slotted into fifth overall and second in class. The Japanese team of Naoto Takeda and Takuya Shirasaka led the Am/Am division.

At the end of the first lap Parente held a .572-second lead over Vilander, with Olsen in third, Belgium’s Maxime Soulet in the second K-PAX Racing Bentley Continental GT3 in fourth and Dalziel in fifth.

The leaders held their positions through lap 20 with Parente building his lead to over a second. In the Pro/Am division Marcelli in the #80 Racers Edge Acura NSX entry began to close on Dalziel for second in class running sixth overall. By lap 26 Parente and Vilander had gapped the rest of the field by more than three seconds.

The pit window opened on lap 30. The first to enter the pits was Soulet who changed over to Brazilian teammate Rodrigo Baptista. By lap 33 with the pit window still open, Vilander closed to .600 of a second on leader Parente. Two-laps later the lead was down to .461 of a second. On lap 34 Dalziel passed the car over to teammate American David Askew.

The leaders came in on lap 36, with Parente changing out for teammate Soucek, and Vilander changing out for Molina from Spain.  Soucek was able to leave the pits just ahead of Molina.

When the pit window closed on lap 38, Soucek had the No. 9 Bentley out front with Molina in the #61 Ferrari in pursuit. Baptista remained in third, while Olsen’s teammate Anthony Imperato  maintained the lead of the Pro/Am division.

By lap 47, Soucek pushed his lead over Molina to 7.5 seconds, with Baptista in third and Pro/Am leader Imperato in fourth overall.

On lap 50, Imperato entered the pit for a mechanical issue putting Barkey into the Pro/Am lead, seventh overall in the race. Imperato exited the pits back in 10th overall and third in class.

At the checkered, Soucek crossed the line first to claim the second race win of the season for the team. Molina and Baptista finished second and third, respectively. In Pro/Am Barkey crossed the line eighth overall and first in Pro/Am.

“Looking at the results from the weekend, second yesterday, first today we are really happy with that and got great points,” said Parente. “Andy’s qualifying session makes it look even better because unfortunately it happened but if it hadn’t happened, maybe we would’ve put it on pole for both races. Really good race weekend with good points, we both drove well, and the team did perfect.”

“Perfect race today. Good start from the beginning, a lot of pressure from Toni (Vilander),” said Soucek. “I think they started on new tires, we started on used which was the difference for the opening laps, but Alvaro held Toni behind which was key for the pit. We know K-PAX does a very good job on the pit stops, we also did a good job on the driver change so we were spot on, I think. I could push on the first few laps to make a bit of a gap on the new tires from Miguel (Molina) and after that I was just talking to the team instead of looking back to know the gap to the guys behind. Clean race, all perfect. The car felt really good and I want to thank K-PAX for another great car because every time we come to the U.S., the car is just phenomenal, and Alvaro did a mega job yesterday in qualifying. We are a good driver pairing, I just hope we can keep winning the races and be on the podium to get the points and be right up there at the end of the championship.”

TOLEDO, Ohio – Chandler Smith won the rain shortened ARCA Menards Series Sioux Chief PowerPEX 200 presented by Federated Car Care Sunday at Toledo Speedway, leading 140 of the race’s 152 laps.

Rain threatened throughout the day, but the race started on time. Smith started second, alongside Venturini Motorsports teammate Michael Self, who earned the General Tire Pole Award in qualifying on Saturday.

Self would lead the first ten laps but faced pressure from Smith the entire time. Eventually, Smith would dip to the inside and work his way by and drove off to a full straightaway advantage over the battle for second.

Smith could see the rain was coming as the race ran to its ultimate conclusion, and even hoped it would come sooner than later.

“Whenever you’re the leader and you can see rain coming and the race is past halfway you want it to hurry up and get there,” Smith said. “I knew as soon as it started raining it wasn’t going to stop so we needed to get out front and stay out front. That’s what we did. These Venturini Motorsports guys do a great job giving me racecars that can dominate these races. I drive them the same way I drive my late model cars and that’s where we were able to beat them all today. We had more drive off the corners and that’s what it took.”

Ty Gibbs finished second, his third runner-up finish in four career ARCA Menards Series races.

“I don’t know what the record is for most second-place finishes before someone gets their first win,” Gibbs asked, “but I think we’re in the hunt for it. We’re getting a little tired of finishing second at this point. We just ran out of time before the rain came. I think we needed another ten laps and we could have had something for them at the end.”

Christian Eckes finished third, Self was fourth, and Sam Mayer was fifth.

The race was slowed a total of four times by caution flags, two for incidents and two for rain, one of which ultimately ended the race. The first incident happened on lap 30 involving Joe Graf Jr. and Hailie Deegan, both of whom made contact with the foam blocks lining the outside wall in turn three. Graf would finish 17th and Deegan would finish 18th, and last, in her series debut.

The second incident of the day involved the championship leader going into the race Travis Braden, who hit the blocks in turn one on lap 79. Braden would finish 13th, falling back to second in the standings, 25 points behind Self.

The finish:

Chandler Smith, Ty Gibbs, Christian Eckes, Michael Self, Sam Mayer, Carson Hocevar, Bret Holmes, Tanner Gray, Tommy Vigh Jr., Corey Heim, Tim Richmond, Alex Clubb, Travis Braden, Rick Clifton, Dick Doheny, Mike Basham, Joe Graf Jr., Hailie Deegan.

KOSICE, Slovakia -- Dylan Larkin scored a tiebreaking goal midway through the third period and the United States went on to beat Germany 3-1 Sunday at the world championships.

The win clinches a spot for the Americans in the quarterfinals ahead of a matchup with red-hot Canada on Tuesday in their final preliminary-round game.

Jack Eichel put the Americans ahead by two goals late in the third and Cory Schneider was strong in net, helping them win a fifth straight game in Group A since opening the tournament with a 4-1 loss to the host Slovaks.

Frederik Tiffels put the Germans ahead 1-0 midway through the first period and James van Riemsdyk pulled the Americans into a tie less than two minutes later.

Michael Frolik scored to help the Czech Republic beat winless Austria 8-0 in Bratislava in Group B.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.