I Dig Sports
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — It was a night of excitement, drama, and significant championship point moves in the penultimate round of the Monster Energy AMA Supercross, an FIM World Championship at MetLife Stadium.
The 450SX event dropped the gate with four racers still with a mathematical chance at the title. When the checkers flew the crowd of 61,247 cheered for Red Bull KTM’s Cooper Webb, taking his seventh win of the season and stretching his points lead to 23 with one round remaining and only 26 points available to the winner of each round.
In the Eastern Regional 250SX Class, GEICO Honda’s Chase Sexton took his first Monster Energy Supercross win and also the points lead; he holds a nine-point advantage, but the final round is a 250SX East/West Showdown round where nine points can be easily made up or lost.
When the 22 riders funneled through the first turn, Webb emerged with the holeshot with Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s Zach Osborne and Eli Tomac right behind while Musquin picked himself off the ground after high siding over another rider’s rear wheel. Tomac wasted no time getting around Osborne and the match up was set – number one and two in the points going for a win at the second to last round of the season.
At just under two minutes into the race Tomac got cleanly around Webb, but Webb was not looking to settle for second and the two riders traded the lead and rode several sections side by side during the first five minutes of the 20-minute plus one lap race.
Just before the midway point the leaders looked to have settled into their positions up front; meanwhile Musquin had worked his way up to tenth. Then Tomac got off balance in one of the two whoop sections and crashed softly, handing the lead to Webb.
While Tomac picked his bike up and pursued from fourth, Osborne moved into the lead until a bobble that almost sent him over a berm dropped him back to third. Tomac had the fastest pace and with three and a half minutes and one lap remaining, Tomac got back into second place; but one minute later he repeated his previous mistake and went down in the whoops in what looked like a replay of his first crash.
Webb brought home the victory, his seventh this year – and seventh total after three years contesting the 450SX Class. With more wins than Tomac, and a 23-point lead, Webb can ensure his first Monster Energy 450SX Title with a 20th place (out of 22 riders) at the final round next weekend in Las Vegas.
“It was tough. I was just getting handed [gifts] left and right,” Webb said. “Guys were making mistakes and I felt good. I was starting to battle with Eli for a bit and then tightened up a little. He got a good flow, but he crashed and then Zach was all over me. And I rode good, but man, those guys were a little better. But, I think when they got around me [they found out that] it’s tough to lead out there the way the track is. You’ve got to be so precise, and they made some mistakes and gave me a nice gift… I can’t believe it.”
Osborne was feeling good after proving he has the speed to lead.
“It was an incredible race,” he said. “To lead some laps and pass for the lead and just be in there and get that experience was huge for me. As you said my [late 2018] off-season performance was really, really good and I came into a couple weeks before Christmas and had an injury and it was pretty much worst-case scenario from there. And it’s just been a long, long comeback trail. Our chaplain here at the track, he talked about facing giants this morning and that’s what I feel like I’ve been doing all season. And today I conquered some giants and I’m very blessed to stand here right now.”
In the Eastern Regional 250SX class, Sexton grabbed his first ever Monster Energy Supercross win and took over the points lead in the process.
It was a dramatic day leading up to the Main Event. Sexton was only three points behind Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Austin Forkner; Forkner had earned zero points at the previous round due to a torn ACL in his left knee from a practice crash that same day.
Forkner wasn’t at 100% in qualifying in New Jersey, pulling out midway through the second qualifying session but still qualifying with the third fastest lap time. When the gate dropped on the Main Event JGRMX/Yoshimura/Suzuki’s Alex Martin was out in front with the holeshot, with Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Martin Davalos, Forkner, and Sexton right behind. Sexton got right around Forkner, but before the pack had completed a lap Forkner aggressively slammed his way back past in a 180-degree bowl turn.
Shortly after, Alex Martin went down, and title contenders Forkner and Sexton looked to be closing in on race leader Davalos. Two and a half minutes into the Main Event, Forkner landed hard on a flat landing and aggravated his knee. He rolled off the track in obvious pain, out of the race for a DNF and just one championship point. A little over six minutes into the race, Sexton took the lead away from Davalos and stayed composed on the challenging track to take the win, and with it a nine-point lead in the championship chase with one round remaining. Sexton’s closest competitor, Monster Energy/Star Racing/Yamaha’s Justin Cooper, finished third. Cooper’s teammate Mitchell Oldenburg, split the title contenders for his first podium of 2019. Anything, especially making up big point gaps, can happen at the final round next weekend in Las Vegas where both the Eastern Regional and Western Regional 250SX Classes compete in one combined Main Event for single-event points payout.
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BYRAM, Miss. — With a run from mid-pack to the top, Derek Hagar was the class of the field Saturday night at Jackson Motor Speedway with the Griffith Truck and Equipment ASCS Gulf South and Stealth Recovery ASCS Mid-South Regions.
Topping King of the Wing IV, Hagar took the green from the 10th starting spot. Pacing around the low line of the Mississippi oval early on, Hagar began moving around with his No. 9jr cracking the top five before lap 10.
Seemingly stalled with the raced moving past the midway point, Derek battled several laps with Channin Tankersley for the third spot. Taking the spot away, slower traffic in the mix brought Tim Crawley to a near stop; allowing Hagar to take away second.
Running past Dale Howard for the lead, a red with five laps to run cleared the racing groove for Derek to steadily pull away for the win.
Dale Howard held on for the runner-up spot with Tim Crawley in tow. Moving up from 13th, Marshall Skinner brought his No. 26 home fourth with Channin Tankersley completing the top five.
The finish:
Feature (25 Laps): 1. 9JR-Derek Hagar, [10]; 2. 47-Dale Howard, [1]; 3. 1X-Tim Crawley, [2]; 4. 26-Marshall Skinner, [13]; 5. 17-Channin Tankersley, [4]; 6. 91A-Ernie Ainsworth, [11]; 7. 2-Joseph Miller, [7]; 8. 3G-Paxton Gregory, [3]; 9. 01-Shane Morgan, [17]; 10. 16-Cody Tankersley, [14]; 11. 10-Landon Britt, [16]; 12. 88-Brandon Blenden, [6]; 13. 48-Cody Stacy, [5]; 14. 21M-Jason Shavers, [20]; 15. 121-Todd Bliss, [18]; 16. 40-Howard Moore, [8]; 17. 6-Dustin Gates, [9]; 18. B52-Bill Mason, [21]; 19. 52-Cody Karl, [15]; 20. 21S-Spencer Meredith, [19]; 21. 93-Jake Knight, [12]; 22. 21-Butch David, [22]
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PORT ROYAL, Pa. – Logan Wagner took the lead from his father, Mike Wagner, early and then drove to victory in Saturday’s 410 sprint car main event at Port Royal Speedway.
The younger Wagner took the lead on lap five and proceeded to lead the remainder of the 25-lap 410 sprint car feature aboard the Zemco Racing No. 1. He beat Lucas Wolfe to the checkered flag by .759 of a second.
Mike Wagner finished third ahead of Danny Dietrich and Ryan Smith.
Smith backed up his top-five result in the 410 sprint car feature with a victory in the United Racing Club 360 sprint car feature.
Starting from the eighth position, Smith avoided two early incidents and made his way up to second after one lap was completed. Smith spent most of the feature chasing Wolfe, eventually overtaking him for the lead with six laps left.
Smith pulled away to a 1.402-second victory over Wolfe, who ended the evening with two runner-up results. Steve Buckwalter, Austin Bishop and Josh Weller completed the top-five in the URC feature.
Nick Sweigart was the winner in the 305 sprint car class.
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PETALUMA, Calif. — Shane Golobic patiently paced a rocket-fast Geoff Ensign in the early laps and pounced on him in traffic to claim a lead he would keep all the way to the checkered flag, winning the Sprint Car Challenge Tour at Petaluma Speedway Saturday night.
Golobic started the 35-lap race on the pole, but Ensign was the class of the field early on, diving to the bottom groove from fifth on a lap three restart and coming out on top of a three-wide fight for the lead through turn one before motoring away in a car old enough–in race car years—to get a senior citizen discount at the pit gate.
Ensign’s multi-car length lead evaporated as he hit traffic by lap nine on the three-eighths mile oval and Golobic struck his winning move seven laps later, gambling on a outside pass while Ensign was stuck in the bottom groove behind a lapped car. When Golobic opened that door, Chase Johnson and Caleb Henry followed, dropping Ensign to fourth.
“Geoff was in a tough spot, being in the lead in traffic,” said Golobic. “If he stayed low, I was going high, but if he moved up on the track, I was going low.”
Ensign said he was trying to be patient and simply waited too long to make a move on the lapped car that held him up. “My car was getting tight and I was waiting for him to make a mistake so I could drive under him,” said Ensign. “He did make a mistake that let me get by him, but he did it three laps later.”
Golobic bet consistently on the bottom groove during a couple of yellow flag restarts to keep the lead but faced his biggest challenge with five laps to go after a yellow flag for the stalled car of Bradley Terrell. On the restart, Chase Johnson powered past Golobic through turns one and two and seemed to have the race won before biking the car in turn three, giving Golobic the chance to drive underneath him and to the checkered flag.
Behind them, Ensign, driving a 12-year old car that had been reassembled and painted just the night before and powered by an engine whose age is a mystery, motored past Henry to take the third while Tim Kaeding stormed around the top side of the track to move up six spots in the last five laps to finish fifth.
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HOT SPRINGS, Ark. -- Landeskog entered the $150,000 Bachelor Stakes coming off an impressive victory to begin his career.
He came out of it with his first loss Saturday, finishing second by 1¾ lengths to 5-1 shot Nitrous at Oaklawn Park in Arkansas.
One of his co-owners knows the feeling.
The 3-year-old gelding is named for Colorado Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog and co-owned by Avs defenseman Erik Johnson. Colorado opened its Western Conference semifinal series against San Jose with a 5-2 loss Friday night.
Trained by Doug O'Neill, Landeskog was making his stakes debut after a front-running, 5¾-length victory March 31 in his career debut. He took control early in the Bachelor, leading through the first half-mile before getting reeled in by Nitrous.
Sent off as the second choice in the wagering, Landeskog returned $4.20 and $2.80.
O'Neill says he had Landeskog gelded because of his high energy and shin soreness that he experienced early in his career.
"Lo and behold, it definitely seemed to work," the Southern California-based trainer said.
Landeskog was purchased for $75,000 and has earned $84,000 over his first two races.
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Stanley Cup Playoffs Daily: Stars, Blue Jackets even it up
Published in
Hockey
Sunday, 28 April 2019 06:05
The Columbus Blue Jackets' double-overtime win over the Boston Bruins caps off seven straight nights of overtime playoff hockey, and you won't find us complaining.
Here's a recap of last night's action (check out replays of every playoff game on ESPN+) and what to watch for tonight, in today's edition of ESPN Stanley Cup Playoffs Daily:
Jump ahead: Last night's games | Three Stars
Play of the night | Today's games | Social post of the day
About last night ...
Game 2: Dallas Stars 4, St. Louis Blues 2 (Series tied 1-1). This game got wacky late in the first period when, during a 4-on-4, the teams combined for three goals in two minutes. Ben Bishop is now 12-3 in his playoff career following the loss. Production beyond the top line for the Stars no longer feels like a problem. Through eight games, Stars rookies Roope Hintz and Miro Heiskanen have combined for 10 points (six goals four assists). Hintz's second line, with Mats Zuccarello and Jason Dickinson on the wings, has been particularly good. The Blues had some good looks on the power play, but went 0-for-5. They also decided to keep Jordan Binnington in net despite a rough start, and he sharpened up and finished with 34 saves.
0:41
Stars even series behind goals from Hintz, Janmark
Roope Hintz and Mattias Janmark both score in the first period to lead to the Stars 4-2 win over the Blues.
Game 2: Columbus Blue Jackets 3, Boston Bruins 2 (2OT) (Series tied 1-1). For the second straight game, this one needed to be decided in extra time. The Blue Jackets had a hard time generating offense early. The game was a bit choppy, with some bloodshed, quite a few turnovers and not many shots. Tuukka Rask would make two terrific saves on Nick Foligno -- one at the end of regulation, one in overtime -- to keep the Bruins in it. Not to be outdone, Sergei Bobrovsky had a series of spectacular saves too, including stoning Patrice Bergeron on two strong chances. Matt Duchene played overtime hero on the power play as the Blue Jackets take home-ice advantage away from the Bruins.
Three Stars
1. Matt Duchene, C, Columbus Blue Jackets. Duchene's fourth goal in six playoff games. Double-overtime winner, enough said.
2. Roope Hintz, C, Dallas Stars. After recording one multi-goal game in the regular season (and just nine goals total), the Finn has two multi-goal games now in the postseason, and is tied for the team lead with four goals total.
3. Artemi Panarin, LW, Columbus Blue Jackets. It's looking smarter and smarter for GM Jarmo Kekalainen to have kept Panarin around instead of trading him at the deadline; the Breadman became the first Blue Jackets player with four goals in a single postseason with his game-tying goal at 8:03 of the second period, an absurd shot from a seemingly impossible angle.
Play of the night
This pass is a beauty.
So soft, so sweet. Hintz goes between the legs of a Blues defender to set up Miro Heiskanen with a gorgeous feed.#GoStars | #StanleyCup pic.twitter.com/tZanMv7dX3
- Dallas Stars (@DallasStars) April 27, 2019
Dud of the night
We've been lauding Charlie Coyle as one of the best trade deadline acquisitions this season, and he has been mostly terrific. But the turnover that led to Panarin's second goal was criminal. Can't be making blind backhanded passes in your own zone in the playoffs.
Brutal Charlie Coyle turnover leads to Artemi Panarin's second goal of the game pic.twitter.com/4foqqr9Mcn
- Pete Blackburn (@PeteBlackburn) April 28, 2019
On the schedule
Carolina Hurricanes at New York Islanders, Game 2, 3 p.m. ET (Hurricane lead the series 1-0)
If you like tight, low-scoring playoff hockey, well, Game 1 was for you. Carolina is one of the hottest teams in the playoffs right now; after losing the first two games to Washington, the Canes have now won five of their last six. To earn a home split, New York will likely rely heavily on Robin Lehner again. Lehner has given up just one goal in each of his past four games, though the Isles had a 10-day layover sandwiched in.
Colorado Avalanche at San Jose Sharks, Game 2, 7:30 p.m. ET (Sharks lead the series 1-0)
In Game 1, the Avalanche couldn't keep up with San Jose's second gear late in the game. The Sharks, surprisingly, had their legs after an emotionally and physically taxing opening-round series against the Golden Knights. It was a big night for Joe Thornton's line (five points). And don't look now, but Martin Jones had another good outing. It was a rough night for Colorado defenseman Erik Johnson and Samuel Girard, the latter returning from injury.
Social post of the day
��....... pic.twitter.com/44zdLs7EFw
- Tyler Seguin (@tseguinofficial) April 27, 2019
Not everyone agreed with Miro Heiskanen finishing outside the top three in Calder Trophy voting.
Quotable
Justin Faulk just found out Hamilton the Pig was not on the road for Game 1. "Nice to know it's not just the pig. Some of the boys in the room get some credit, too."
- Luke DeCock (@LukeDeCock) April 27, 2019
Wherein Hamilton the Pig becomes 2019's Bark-Andre Fleury.
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Rahm-Palmer, Stallings-Mullinax share Zurich Classic lead
Published in
Golf
Saturday, 27 April 2019 13:20
AVONDALE, La. – Jon Rahm and Ryan Palmer shared the lead with Scott Stallings and Trey Mullinax as the Zurich Classic finally got back on schedule.
Rahm and Palmer played 30 holes Saturday in the event delayed by rain for more than seven hours Thursday, finishing off a 7-under 65 in the alternate-shot second round and shooting 64 in best-ball play in the third.
''It's been 4:30 four nights in a row,'' Palmer said. ''Dinners at 9 and back up at 4:30. Took its toll on me. Just feeding me sugar and food trying to keep my energy up. Tomorrow we'll be on a lot of rest. If we're on tomorrow in alternate shot, we're going to be hard to beat.''
Rahm carried the team in the third round, with the Spaniard making eight birdies.
''He's just fun to be around,'' Palmer said. ''He's actually a great guy. I've enjoyed every second with him. When you're up close and personal and watching it and see the shots he can hit around the green, you know, his short game is phenomenal. You can learn something from that, too, so I learned a lot. Honor to be a part of it.''
Palmer saved bogey with an 8-footer on the par-3 17th after both players hit into the water, and Rahm made a 15-foot birdie putt on the par-5 18th to match Stallings and Mullinax at 23-under 193.
''That putt Ryan made was probably the most important shot we made so far in the tournament,'' Rahm said. ''Felt like a birdie, and then to keep tied for the lead, very important.''
Stallings and Mullinax played 27 holes, shooting 70-62.
''We play a lot of practice rounds together,'' Stallings said. ''We've known each other for a few years. Just kind of we played so much together it just kind of made sense. We know each other's games pretty well.''
Mullinax looked ahead to the final round.
''I really enjoy alternate shot,'' Mullinax said. ''Scott hits the ball great. Hitting it nice. We're both putting well. I don't feel like there is much pressure on us. Just go out and do our thing.''
Brandan Grace and Justin Harding were a stroke back. The South Africans played 32 holes, shooting 68-61.
''I think we played 50 odd holes,'' Harding joked. ''We certainly moved up the board. It's just a matter of continuing the momentum throughout the rounds.''
Peter Malnati and Billy Hurley III were 20 under. They shot 66 after finishing the second round Friday.
Sergio Garcia and Tommy Fleetwood were another stroke back with the teams of Joel Dahmen-Brandon Harkins, Austin Cook-Andrew Landry, Hank Lebioda-Curtis Luck, Russell Henley-Ryan Blaum and Russell Knox-Brian Stuard. Brothers Brooks and Chase Koepka topped the group at 18 under along with Henrik Stenson and Graeme McDowell.
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McDowell: Molinari ‘flogging dead horse’ in regard to slow play
Published in
Golf
Saturday, 27 April 2019 13:41
AVONDALE, La. – Graeme McDowell understands where Edoardo Molinari is coming from.
Molinari took to Twitter to vent about slow play after playing a five-and-a-half-hour round Saturday at the European Tour’s Trophee Hassan II, saying, “It’s time that professional golf does something serious for slow play.” He then tweeted out a list of every player who has been timed, penalized and fined this season because of slow play in European Tour, WGC and major tournaments.
“I saw his tweet this morning when he came off the course, ‘We need to play faster, blah, blah, blah.’ I get it,” McDowell said Saturday at the Zurich Classic. “I hear where Edoardo is coming from, but he is, what shall we say, flogging a dead horse?
“It’s not a dead horse, but it’s pretty dead. What do you want to do? We can’t get around there much quicker. Is 20 minutes going to change his life? Listen, I like Edoardo, nice kid, but I think he’s just frustrated.”
McDowell pointed out that he feels like the pace-of-play policy on the European Tour is more stringent than the PGA Tour’s policy, though he said even that is “getting tougher and tougher.”
“Listen, golf courses are long, golf courses are hard, we’re playing for a lot of money, it’s a big business, it is what it is,” McDowell said. “There’s just no way to speed the game up really. You can try these small percentiles, but at the end of the day it’s very hard to get around a 7,600-yard golf course with tucked pins with a three-ball in less than 4:45, 5 hours. You can’t do it.”
As for Molinari sharing an in-house document with the world and in turn calling out his fellow players, McDowell doesn’t have a major issue with Molinari’s actions. McDowell is not on the list, which includes Tiger Woods and Patrick Reed along with three players – Louis Oosthuizen, Erik Van Rooyen and Adrian Otaegui – who each received $3,000 fines.
But the Northern Irishman did disclose that he’s received some bad times on the PGA Tour this season.
“It should be public, you know, name and shame,” McDowell said. “I’m willing to admit I’ve been timed five times so far this year, been put on the clock five times, which is halfway to my 10, which is halfway to a $25,000 fine. I’m aware, but you get in the wrong group on the wrong week and you’re gonna get timed. Henrik Stenson is on six times [according to the list]. Is Henrik a slow player? No, it’s just one of those things.
“I hear Edoardo. We all hear him. We all wish we could play a little faster to attract more people to the sport. We’re trying.”
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Co-leaders Rahm, Palmer taste the rainbow at Zurich Classic
Published in
Golf
Saturday, 27 April 2019 13:58
AVONDALE, La. – Jon Rahm and his partner, Ryan Palmer, teamed up to card nine birdies in Saturday’s third round of the Zurich Classic.
For the pair, that not only meant an 8-under 64 that earned them a share of the 54-hole lead with Trey Mullinax and Scott Stallings at 23 under, but also nine “treats.”
A day earlier, Rahm’s caddie, Adam Hayes, brought a bag of Skittles with him onto the golf course and started giving them to Rahm and Palmer after every birdie. They made seven of them in a sweet 7-under 65 foursomes round.
“We figured we needed to get something going, so we had Skittles for birdies,” Palmer said, “so every birdie we made, [Hayes] pulled out [the bag] and fed each one of us one Skittle.”
I’m ready pal. Let’s go get it. What a blast. @Skittles for birdies. Let’s do it. https://t.co/ZFU20wy0iP
— Ryan Palmer (@RyanPalmerPGA) April 28, 2019
That tradition continued Saturday in four-balls, where Rahm played the role of candy man by accounting for all but one of the birdies. The final one came from 15 feet at the par-5 18th hole, with Palmer looking at a 3-footer for birdie.
“Completely stealing Ryan's momentum,” Rahm quipped.
Added Palmer: “I get one chance to make birdie…”
Palmer, though, made arguably the most crucial putt of the round a hole earlier. Both players hit their tee balls in the water on the par-3 17th, but Palmer was able to hit his third shot to 9 feet and make the bogey putt to avoid further damage.
“That putt Ryan made was probably the most important shot we made so far in the tournament,” Rahm said. “Felt like a birdie, and then to keep tied for the lead, very important.”
Instead of playing ahead of Sunday’s final pairing, Rahm and Palmer will go off last alongside Mullinax and Stallings. Tee time is at 12:42 p.m. local time. Bring the Skittles.
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LOS ANGELES - Minjee Lee overcame a triple bogey Saturday to take the lead into the final round of the Hugel-Air Premia LA Open.
Lee shot a 4-under 67 to reach 11-under 202 at Wilshire Country Club. The 22-year-old Australian birdied the first two holes before dropping the three strokes on the par-4 third. She rallied with birdies on Nos. 5, 6, 10, 14 and 17 - all par 4s - for a one-stroke lead over Denmark's Nanna Koerstz Madsen.
''Sort of fought my way back to my score today,'' Lee said. ''After that (triple) I wasn't super nervous or anything. I just sort of tried to believe in myself and just go out there and make as many birdies as I can, try and hit as many good shots as I can.''
Ranked fourth in the world, Lee won the last of her four LPGA Tour titles in May in Michigan in the LPGA Volvik Championship. She tied for third last week in Hawaii for her third top-three finish of the season.
''Both of us, Nanna and I, we made a lot of birdies today,'' Lee said. ''I think we sort of fed off each other, which was really nice. Yeah, nice confidence for tomorrow.''
The 24-year-old Koerstz Madsen also shot 67.
''I'm glad to be done,'' Koerstz Madsen said. ''I got the putter going on the last couple holes, but it was a little bit shaky all day kind of.''
She's trying to become the first LPGA winner from Denmark
''Do the same thing as the last two days, three days,'' Koerstz Madsen said. ''Really just focus on my own game. If it's enough, that's good and I'm happy with whatever. I mean, I'm already happy with how I've been emotionally this week. Just going to enjoy tomorrow I think.''
Inbee Park was 7 under after a 68. The South Korean star has 19 LPGA victories - seven in majors - but is winless in more than year.
''It's extremely hard to stay patient on these greens,'' Park said. ''I really feel like I should be 15-under par easily by now. These greens are just so complicated, and you can't be aggressive or it's either you leave it a foot short or you're 5 feet by.''
Top-ranked Jin Young Ko and Morgan Pressel were 6 under. Ko had a 67. She's the only player with multiple victories this year, taking the Founders Cup in Phoenix and the major ANA Inspiration in Rancho Mirage.
Pressel shot 70. She won the last her two LPGA titles in 2008.
''It's just tough to be aggressive on a lot of these putts out here, even when you're uphill,'' Pressel said. ''You don't want to be left with a downhiller coming back, especially late in the day. Poa can get a little bit bumpy.''
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