SPEED SPORT has been reporting on and covering motorsports happenings from all over the world for 85 years, so we thought it would be fun to take a look back in the archives to see what happened 10, 25 and 50 years ago each week.

So check out what SPEED SPORT was covering 10, 25 and 50 years ago this week in Looking Back!

10 Years Ago (May 13, 2009): After being acquitted of tax evasion charges in a federal court in Miami on April 17, Helio Castroneves returned to Team Penske’s Indy car program and captured the Indianapolis 500 pole for the third time in his career. His speed of 224.864 mph was enough to bump his teammate, Ryan Briscoe, from the pole during Pole Day.

Other Happenings: Mark Martin, driving the Hendrick Motorsports No. 5, survived a caution-plagued Southern 500 to earn the 37th victory of his Cup Series career; Brian Birkhofer pocketed $30,000 for his victory in the SuperClean Diamond Nationals at Lucas Oil Speedway in Missouri; Stevie Smith earned a pair of All Star Circuit of Champions victories at Port Royal Speedway while Todd Shaffer collected a win at Williams Grove Speedway; Donny Schatz took the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series points lead with a win at Eldora Speedway.

25 Years Ago (May 11, 1994): Following a diatribe in the May 4 issue of the Washington Post where sportswriter Thomas Boswell called for the banning of motorsports following the deaths of Ayrton Senna and Roland Ratzenberger, readers of The Post responded in overwhelming fashion. Readers responded to The Post’s “Point/Counterpoint,” in which editors asked readers to pick a side, pro racing responses outranked anti-racing replies by a 145-1 count.

Other Happenings: Ayrton Senna was laid to rest in his native Brazil in one of the largest funerals in the country’s history after his fatal crash in the Grand Prix of San Marino; Dave Blaney bagged $25,000 after winning a World of Outlaws feature at Hagerstown (Md.) Speedway; Scott Brayton topped the charts with a 227.658 mph lap during Indianapolis 500 practice; Derrike Cope took Zook Racing, the former Davey Allison Racing team, to victory lane in Busch Grand National action at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

50 Years Ago (May 14, 1969): Lee Roy Yarbrough survived a collision with race leader Bobby Allison with four laps left to win the Rebel 400 at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway. The contact between Yarbrough and Allison caused the race to end under the caution flag, allowing Yarbrough’s damaged Ford Talladega to take the checkered flag first. Allison said post-race that Yarbrough’s teammate, Cale Yarborough, triggered the crash by forcing Allison into the first turn wall.

Other Happenings: Parnelli Jones was declared the winner of a confusing SCCA Trans-Am race at Michigan Int’l Speedway. He was originally scored fourth at the flag, with Mark Donohue named winner before a scoring recheck found Jones was the actual winner; In the same Trans-Am race, a spectator was killed when Horst Kwech careened off track in the first corner and into an area occupied by fans; Mario Andretti was the clear-cut favorite to win the Indianapolis 500 pole after topping the practice charts; Andy Hampton won the 200-lap ARCA event at the Nashville Fairgrounds in a 1969 Dodge Charger.

INDIANAPOLIS– Oriol Servia became the latest, and probably final driver officially named to the Indianapolis 500 entry field late Monday as Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports announced its third entry.

Chicago-based Team Stange Racing LLC has partnered with Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports to field a car for Servia. Servia’s No. 77 Team Stange Racing with Arrow SPM Honda will be sponsored by MotoGator and Lucas Oil.

“I am so pleased to announce this great partnership with Arrow SPM today as Team Stange Racing makes its entry into IndyCar racing,” stated John Stange Jr., co-owner, Team Stange Racing. “We are so blessed to partner with a company like MotoGator who is committed to building a winning IndyCar program with TSR. Once we developed our plan, we knew that we wanted to launch at the world’s greatest race with so much history and it being so special to me personally. The second thing to do was to partner with a quality team that we could align and grow with as we build our team to compete in the NTT IndyCar Series eventually full time in 2021/22.”

Servia, a Spaniard with 10 Indianapolis 500 starts under his belt, has been competing in IndyCar for more than 15 years. The 1999 Indy Lights champion has a best Indianapolis 500 start of third (2011) and a best finish of fourth (2012).

“I work and prepare all year for this race, so it’s kind of ironic that we are actually announcing a program this late,” Servia said. “I am proud to represent Lucas Oil again, and couldn’t be more excited to introduce the world to MotoGator and Team Stange, which you will hear a lot more very soon. At last year’s 500, I did perhaps the best driving I’ve ever done and came really close. I’m here to finish that job, and I know for a fact that everyone on this program has worked really hard preparing this event with the same aim. It may look like we are arriving almost late to the game, but we are arriving ready.”

Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports President Jon Flack echoed Stange’s sentiments.

“We couldn’t be more excited about adding a pilot of Oriol’s caliber to our driver lineup for the Indy 500, and it is equally satisfying to partner with TSR and welcome MotoGator to the program,” said Flack. “This is a really big step for Team Stange Racing and MotoGator, and Arrow SPM will give it everything it has to make them proud and leave a lasting impression on the motorsport community.”

Opening day of practice for the 103rd Indianapolis 500 is Tuesday, May 14.

CLERMONT, Ind. – Racers from the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship and the Indy Pro 2000 Championship Presented by Cooper Tires gained oval experience Monday during a test at Lucas Oil Raceway.

The Canadian-owned Exclusive Autosport team enjoyed an especially productive day with Danial Frost and Russian Nikita Lastochkin leading the way in Indy Pro 2000 and Mexico’s Manuel Cabrera emerging with the fastest time in USF2000.

Monday began in the classroom with the traditional Oval Clinic hosted by Road to Indy veteran and Lucas Oil School of Racing Director of Operations Gerardo Bonilla. Also on hand to pass along a wealth of knowledge and experience to an enraptured audience were popular Brazilian Tony Kanaan, whose long list of accomplishments includes winning the 1997 Indy Lights championship, the 2004 IndyCar title and the 2013 Indianapolis 500, plus Indy Pro 2000 Race Director and five-time Indianapolis 500 starter Johnny Unser and IndyCar Race Director Kyle Novak.

“It’s good have someone who is successful to talk to the kids,” said Kanaan. “It was a pleasure to come talk to them – if I put one thing into their heads that will help them drive today and in the race next week, then that’s a good thing. I came to America and went straight into Indy Lights, and I was lucky to have a mentor like (former Tasman Motorsports Team Principal) Steve Horne, and I repeated much of what he told me to the drivers today.

“This is the beauty of being part of the Road to Indy. The ladder series is part of IndyCar and all the drivers support it. This is the future – in a few years, I’ll be watching the races and I’ll see drivers in the Indy 500 and I can say ‘I remember talking to those kids!’ I think that is why the ladder series has been so strong: everyone puts a lot of effort into making this work. I don’t see anything like this anywhere in the world so to me, this is the best place to be.”

Frost was clearly the class of the field in Indy Pro 2000, heading all three sessions which totaled more than two hours of track time. His best time was a full half-second clear of his nearest challenger in the first 45-minutes of running this morning and he continued a similar dominance throughout the day to post a best lap of 20.2860 (121.739 mph) this afternoon and lay down a firm marker in advance of next week’s Cooper Tires Freedom 90 at the fast and challenging LOR oval.

Lastochkin’s time of 20.7516 seconds, also set Monday afternoon, remained good enough for second on the day to ensure a clean sweep for Exclusive Autosport, although Moises de la Vara jumped to third fastest at 20.7641 moments before the final checkered flag for DEForce Racing.

Last year’s USF2000 champion, Kyle Kirkwood, also improved to 20.8025 in the final period to edge out Jacob Abel and series points leader Rasmus Lindh.

Three different drivers took a turn in the spotlight during Monday’s trio of USF2000 test sessions, although once again it was Exclusive Autosport which led the way as  Cabrera’s time from the opening session, 22.1141 seconds, an average speed of 111.675 mph on the .686-mile oval, remained as the fastest lap of the day in preparation for the Cooper Tires Freedom 75.

Cabrera, 18, also displayed good pace on the IMS road course last weekend, although his results were compromised by an incident in the first race and a mechanical problem in the second. The youngster will no doubt gain a welcome boost of confidence from Monday’s performance, even though his day was curtailed by an incident moments before the end of the opening 45-minute session.

Rookie Yuven Sundaramoorthy set the pace in the second session for Pabst Racing, just over one-tenth quicker than teammate and Mazda Scholarship winner Hunter McElrea.

Colin Kaminsky ended the day third fastest with a time .0115 of a second slower than Cabrera.

The final session saw yet another rookie, 14-year-old Jak Crawford narrowly on top for DEForce Racing. Jack William Miller, Darren Keane, another 14-year-old, Nolan Siegel, Alex Baron, Eduardo Barrichello and McElrea also were within one tenth of a second of Crawford’s benchmark in the final session.

SAN JOSE -- Robert Bortuzzo wasn't the only hero for the St. Louis Blues in their 4-2 victory over the San Jose Sharks in Game 2 of the Western Conference finals.

He's just the only one they wanted to talk about.

Oh, they mentioned goalie Jordan Binnington (24 saves), who improved to 10-2-0 in games after a loss this season, with a .934 save percentage and a 1.80 goals-against average. They acknowledged the clutch opening goal by Jaden Schwartz, who continued his postseason renaissance after a disappointing regular season.

But they really just wanted to talk about Bortuzzo's goal at 16:34 of the second period, as a defenseman who has never been known for his offensive flourish roofed a shot past Martin Jones that ended up being the game-winning tally.

"That was unbelievable. He gets it on his stick and he's so calm, and then he makes that shot ... it's one of the hardest backhands I've seen. We were all very impressed," center Ryan O'Reilly said.

"Picked the corner, too," said center Brayden Schenn, before quipping, "I'm sure Bortuzzo has a few like that. Check the highlight reel."

Schwartz joked that Bortuzzo scores those kind of goals "all the time" in practice. Binnington said, "That was really smooth. Nice play by him. He's got that in his arsenal."

Having Binnington and Schwartz make plays in a critical game of the Western Conference Final isn't exactly surprising. Bortuzzo making them is quite surprising. Not only because he had just two assists in 30 previous postseason games with the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Blues, but because he's been in and out of the lineup this postseason with St. Louis, playing just eight of their 15 playoff games. He only played two of seven games against the Dallas Stars in the previous round, before appearing in the first two games against the Sharks.

"It's never fun coming out [of the lineup]. But it's how you handle it. It's using the time off to get better," he said.

How the 30-year-old Bortuzzo handles it is indicative of his character, according to Schenn. "He's a glue guy in our locker room. Whether he's in the lineup or out of the lineup, his attitude doesn't change. He's a team-first guy. You need those guys," he said.

The Blues needed him in Game 2. The score was tied at 2-2 late in the third period, the Sharks having rallied from a 2-0 deficit on two more Logan Couture goals, giving him 13 in the playoffs. Bortuzzo was out with new defensive partner Joel Edmundson and the Blues' best line in the first two games of the playoffs: Pat Maroon, Robert Thomas and Tyler Bozak.

The Blues do their best work deep inside the offensive zone, and their defensemen were encouraged to join the play a bit more in order to facilitate that. Maroon got the play started on the forecheck, the puck finding its way to Bortuzzo. He passed to Bozak, who passed to Edmundson, who saw Bortuzzo sprint to the goal after catching Sharks veteran center Joe Thornton flat-footed at the blueline. Edmundson fed him, and Bortuzzo did the rest.

"I found a way to sneak in behind Thornton and put it home," he said.

Again, one does not expect Robert Bortuzzo to score a critical goal. He has 14 of them in 335 regular-season games since the 2011-12 season. He didn't have one in the Stanley Cup Playoffs until Monday.

Does he remember his last playoff goal, in general?

"In all of hockey?" he asked.

It was actually in 2007, while Bortuzzo was with the Kitchener Rangers. Remember that goal?

"I don't," he said, with a laugh. "I don't know if you have people that can dig that stuff up, but it's been a while."

Later in the game, Bortuzzo made a play that was much more in keeping with his reputation in the NHL, dropping to the ice to block a rocket off the stick of Kevin Labanc of the Sharks in front of Binnington. "[Brent] Burns had it down low, found a high guy and it was a huge block by Bortuzzo. Key moment in the game. I think we fed off that," said the Blues rookie goalie.

He also played 1:47 on the penalty kill for the Blues, on a night when the Sharks were 0-for-2 on the power play.

"It felt good to contribute in any way," he said.

But, truth be told, it especially feels good to contribute offensively, if his teammates' reaction is any indication. "He usually has great breakout passes, but I've never seen him that far up the ice," joked Oskar Sundqvist. "Awesome goal, awesome celly."

That celebration, where Bortuzzo just seemed to bellow like a beast after the goal, was something he promised Schwartz before the postseason.

"[Goal-scoring] isn't really my game. It goes in the back of your mind," Bortuzzo said. "But I told Jaden that if I do score a playoff goal, you're going to like the celebration."

Did he like the celebration?

Schwartz smiled.

"I loved his celebration," he said.

Young paceman Wes Agar has returned to South Australia after spending two seasons in Victoria as one of the few changes to the Redbacks squad for next season.

Agar, 22, the younger brother of Ashton Agar, had a rookie contract with the Redbacks in 2016-17 and played five List A games before returning to Victoria. He earned a rookie contract with Victoria in 2018-19 and played two JLT Cup games last season but has yet to play any first-class cricket.

He re-joins South Australia where he already plays BBL cricket with Adelaide Strikers.

The Redbacks scarcely made a change to their contract list despite not winning a single Sheffield Shield game last season and just two JLT Cup matches.

"We have faith in our experienced players but we need more consistency from this group and we also need the young players in our system to keep growing and developing if we are to build success at domestic level," South Australia high performance manager Tim Nielsen said.

Top order batsman Kelvin Smith and fast bowler Elliot Opie were cut from the main squad along with rookie Michael Cormack.

The Redbacks signed three new rookies, Jacob Dickman, Henry Hunt and Tim Oakley. Dickman has been rewarded for performances in SACA premier cricket while Hunt hails from Canberra and was the leading run-scorer in the Futures League last year. Oakley was the leading wicket taker in SACA premier cricket last season.

South Australia Men's 2019-20 squad Alex Carey, Travis Head, Adam Zampa, Wes Agar, Tom Andrews, Tom Cooper, John Dalton, Callum Ferguson, David Grant, Jake Lehmann, Conor McInerney, Joe Mennie, Harry Nielsen, Patrick Page Jnr, Kane Richardson, Luke Robins, Alex Ross, Chadd Sayers, Cameron Valente, Jake Weatherald, Nick Winter, Daniel Worrall Rookies Jacob Dickman, Henry Hunt, Spencer Johnson, Tim Oakley, Lloyd Pope, Ben Pengelley

Any hopes fast bowler Daniel Worrall had of making Australia's Ashes squad have been dashed after a stress fracture in his lower back ended his season with Gloucestershire.

Worrall, 27, has not played since experiencing back soreness during Gloucestershire's Royal London Cup match with Middlesex at Lord's on April 21.

Gloucestershire released a statement confirming that scans had found a stress fracture in Worrall's back.

"Dan had multiple investigations where the Gloucestershire medical team eventually diagnosed a stress fracture in his back, which will require a period of time on the sidelines before returning to bowling," the statement said.

Gloucestershire confirmed he would not play the remainder of the English season and the club is searching for another overseas bowler.

South Australia's sports science and sports medicine manager John Porter said: "Daniel's injury is a recurrence of a pre-existing stress injury and he will have the next 12 weeks off bowling. We are aiming for him to return early in the Australian domestic cricket season."

It is wretched luck for the injury-ravaged Worrall. He had his county stint last season ruined by a foot fracture that saw him miss the start of the Australian domestic summer with South Australia.

He returned with a bang taking 17 wickets in two Sheffield Shield games prior to Christmas to put his name in the mix for an Ashes call up. He then suffered another back injury that curtailed the start of his BBL campaign.

Worrall returned to play a big part in the Melbourne Stars run to the BBL final, taking 4 for 23 in the semi-final win over Hobart Hurricanes, before injuring his hamstring in another Shield game in March.

Tiger Woods, restaurant manager Erica Herman, who is Woods' girlfriend, and The Woods restaurant in Jupiter, Florida, are being sued for the wrongful death of an employee, who after working a shift in December drank alcohol at the restaurant before being killed in a driving accident.

Nicholas Immesberger, 24, had a blood-alcohol reading of .256, more than three times the legal limit in Florida, according to the suit filed in West Palm Beach, Florida. The lawsuit says Immesberger lost control of his car on Federal Highway in Martin County and suffered fatal injuries. He was pronounced dead at the scene on Dec. 10, 2018.

The attorneys for Immesberger's family, who filed the lawsuit, are holding a news conference at 10 a.m. ET Tuesday.

Immesberger was a bartender at The Woods, and the suit alleges that Woods, Herman and other employees were aware that Immesberger had a drinking problem but regularly overserved him during and after his work shifts.

The lawsuit alleges that Woods and Herman were "drinking with him at The Woods bar only a few nights before the fatal crash of December 10, 2018.''

Woods and Herman returned home from a trip to Australia the night of Dec. 7.

"Tiger knew, or reasonably should have known, that Immesberger was habitually addicted to the use of any or all alcoholic beverages, and/or was a habitual drunkard,'' the lawsuit says.

It is unclear if Woods or Herman were at the restaurant on Dec. 10.

Woods is playing in the PGA Championship this week at Bethpage Black in Farmingdale, New York, and was at the course early Monday to practice. His agent, Mark Steinberg, could not be reached for comment.

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- It's not that Denver Broncos quarterback Joe Flacco won't help rookie quarterback Drew Lock, it's that Flacco doesn't think mentoring the young passer is the biggest part of his job description.

"Listen, I have so many things to worry about. I'm trying to go out there and play good football. I'm trying to go out there and play the best football of my life,'' Flacco said Monday, after the Broncos' first day of organized team activities. "As far as a time constraint and all of that stuff, I'm not worried about developing guys or any of that. That is what it is. I hope he does it well. I don't look at that as my job. My job is to go win football games for this football team.''

Later Flacco added: "Listen, I hope he does learn from me because that means we're out there and we're slinging it around and having a lot of fun.''

In the end, Flacco said, he is learning a new offense as well and that Lock would glean more from offensive coordinator Rich Scangarello than anyone else during the process. The Broncos made Lock the second of two second-round picks -- the 42nd selection overall -- in last month's NFL draft.

The Broncos' decision-makers, including coach Vic Fangio and president of football operations and general manager John Elway, have repeatedly said Flacco is the team's starter and that Lock would initially compete with Kevin Hogan for the backup job.

Fangio said Monday he didn't think it was Flacco's job to make sure Lock was catching on quickly.

"That's on Drew to soak in and learn. Joe's learning a new system himself,'' Fangio said. "As we move along there will be a lot more interaction to get to know each other, but primarily it's on Drew to learn.''

Flacco said before the draft he hoped to prove to the Broncos in the early portion of the team's offseason workouts that they didn't need to select a quarterback in the draft, but that he would still consider himself to be the starter.

Ultimately, Flacco said, "it's out of my control.''

Flacco, who was acquired in a trade with the Baltimore Ravens earlier in the offseason, suffered a hip injury last season and was ultimately replaced in the Ravens' lineup by rookie Lamar Jackson. Flacco has repeatedly said he tried to be "a good teammate'' to Jackson last season, but that he felt he could still be a starter for "a while.''

Asked Monday what he thought when the Broncos selected Lock, Flacco said, "Listen, I've told you guys how I felt about it. There really isn't much more that needs to be said. I told you that it's not really in my control.''

Asked if Lock's arrival motivated him, Flacco said: "I think I've talked about that before, too. That is probably along the lines of him being drafted, it's one of those things. There is definitely little things that motivate you every year. At the same time, I have plenty of other things that have kept me motivated throughout my career and will continue to keep me motivated this year. That won't be the single or the biggest thing.''

During this past weekend's rookie minicamp, Lock said he looked forward to working alongside Flacco and that he understood "that I have to do the work,'' as the Broncos roll through the offseason and into training camp later this summer.

"It will definitely be a different transition,'' Lock said. "... If I'm going through this transition I'm glad to be behind Joe and hear what he has to say, learn from him. I'm excited to meet him, excited to get in the room with him and learn from a guy who's won a Super Bowl.''

"I'm not a selfish person, I don't think,'' Flacco said. "There are times where you have to be selfish. But listen, Rich does such a good job in those meeting rooms. Drew is going to learn from listening to him talk and then us getting the reps on the field and seeing how we all do it as a collective group of quarterbacks.''