I Dig Sports
MOORESVILLE, N.C. – Seventeen-year-old Canadian driver Raphael Lessard will join DGR-Crosley for two NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series races this year.
Lessard will drive for the team at Iowa Speedway on June 15 and Canadian Tire Motorsports Park in Bowmanville, Ontario, on Aug. 25 driving the Réseau Dynamique Toyota Tundra.
Lessard previously raced a super late model for DGR-Crosley co-owner David Gilliland in 2016 where he went on to win a CARS Super Late Model Tour championship after posting four wins and eight top-five finishes. Looking to get as much seat time as possible, the St.-Joseph de Beauce, Quebec native is racing in Truck Series, NASCAR K&N Pro Series and ARCA Menards Series this season.
“I’m super excited to work with Raphaël again,” said Gilliland. “He’s a great kid. He won a CARS Tour championship with us back in 2016, and it’s been really fun to watch his progression the past few years. He’s done a great job in his first two truck races with KBM. He’s put together solid races, ran all the laps and that’s what it takes to learn and get better at this level. We are looking forward to getting him over here in one of our Tundra’s and continuing to help him learn and grow.”
Lessard has two Truck Series starts ,which occurred this season with Kyle Busch Motorsports. In those two starts, he earned 14th and 11th-place finishes, respectively, at Martinsville Speedway and Dover Int’l Speedway.
“I am really happy to participate in these two additional truck races,” Lessard said. “The DGR-Crosley team has changed several personnel since I last raced with them two years ago. Things do look great, as Crew Chief Kevin ‘Bono’ Manion has an excellent reputation at all levels in NASCAR. In addition, I participated in a test session in Iowa and covered 100 laps, which will allow me to drive hard right from the start of the first practice session. I would also like to thank my partners, especially Réseau dynamique and the people who allow me to have great experiences like these two races.”
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Editor’s Note: Holley Hollan, 17, is a rookie in the NOS Energy Drink USAC National Midget Series. From June 5 through June 10, Hollan will be sharing her experiences with SPEED SPORT subscribers while competing during Indiana Midget Week.
Hollan drives the No. 67k Toyota-powered midget for Keith Kunz Motorsports. Below is her second diary entry, recapping Wednesday night’s events at Gas City I-69 Speedway in Gas City, Ind.
GAS CITY, Ind. – Hey guys, Holley Hollan here after the second night of Indiana Midget Week at Gas City I-69 Speedway, and we definitely made some progress compared to where we were at Montpelier.
Gas City is a small, tight little track and just like most of the rest of the places we’re going to this week, it was my first time racing there.
We started out the night really strong, though, qualifying 10th-quickest and setting ourselves up in a really good position for our heat race.
The heat race was a big moment for me and for the team, as we got the jump from the outside pole and led all the way for my first USAC heat race victory!
RELATED: It’s All Grant In Round Two Of Midget Week
Coming off a rough night at Montpelier, winning that heat race finally gave me a chance to breathe and realize that I do have speed at these new tracks. Locking myself into the feature directly out of the heat race was a big relief, especially given the amount of cars we had at the race track – enough for a C-main.
By the time we got to the feature, things were a little bit tricky because we were buried back in the lineup. We started 17th and were able to make it up to 14th at the finish, despite being bottled up in traffic. All in all, it was just good to be able to roll the car back onto the trailer in one piece.
This experience has been fun so far. Because there’s such a short amount of time between hot laps and qualifying to figure out the track, it can be tricky on a newer driver, but I like that challenge. The entire Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports team works day and night to give us all fast race cars, and being part of such a dedicated organization pushes me to be my best every time I hit the race track, for sure.
Everyone in the KKM pit area is all in and each person on the crew is the definition of a team, because they all work together toward our common goal of winning races and chasing championships.
I want to say a special thanks to all of the members of the Toyota Racing family, especially everyone representing Toyota who came out to support our team at the race track last night at Gas City. We couldn’t do any of what we do without them and their support to grassroots racing is unbelievable!
I’m already looking forward to making my first laps at Putnamville tonight and hoping to keep building on the momentum we’re starting to put together here. Hope to see everyone at the race track!
Hollan’s prior entry can be accessed via the link below:
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BOSTON -- Bruins captain Zdeno Chara was back on the ice -- in a full face shield -- on Thursday morning ahead of Game 5, and will be a game-time decision, according to coach Bruce Cassidy.
Defenseman Matt Grzelcyk, who has been out since Game 2 with a concussion, is also a game-time decision.
The Bruins have been mum on details about Chara's health -- only calling it a "facial injury" -- after he was hit with a deflected puck in the second period of Game 4 and bled profusely. Multiple reports suggest that Chara is dealing with a broken jaw.
Team doctors did not clear Chara to return for the third period of Game 4, though he sat on the bench because he wanted to be with teammates.
"The first thing you worry about is a concussion, because then you're in the protocol," Cassidy said. "We avoided that, Z avoided that, so that was good news. Then it's a matter of what's next? So I guess yesterday we had a better idea and then this morning he was here, obviously, he was on the ice. And now it's just real."
Cassidy said that first, Chara needs to get the OK from team doctors, then it will be up to the defenseman on whether he can play.
An NHL spokesperson said Chara is unable to speak clearly right now. He gave written answers to a few questions from reporters on Thursday.
Asked how he weighs the risk of future injury when deciding whether to play, he responded: "You don't think about that. You think about playing. You don't go into a game thinking you might get hurt."
"Much is made of his professionalism, his toughness, his approach," defenseman John Moore said. "But until you see it in the flesh, you don't really have an appreciation for it. The guy is 42. When I'm 42 I'm certainly not going to be the first guy in the gym weighing all my food, squatting the most on the team. You throw in what he's going through, that's something I'll tell my kids about. When they wake up with a fever and they don't want to go to school. Those are life lessons I'll carry long beyond hockey that I'm grateful to have with Z."
Said Brad Marchand of Chara: "He's willing to play with one leg, one arm. It doesn't matter. He's out there working as hard as he can and sacrificing his body because he knows, at the end of the day, you win."
The Bruins have considered several contingency plans if they are without Chara, Grzelcyk, or both. Cassidy said on Thursday that dressing seven defensemen and only 11 forwards was still an option his staff was considering.
Chara is a left-shot defenseman and the Bruins don't have many experienced understudies on that side.
Rookie defenseman Urho Vaakanainen, a left-shot defenseman, practiced with the main group on Wednesday, although Cassidy said it was a "long shot" for Vaakanainen to play. The 20-year-old Finn played in only two regular seasons games for the Bruins.
"That would be a big ask," Cassidy said, noting Vaakanainen, who played a majority of the season in the AHL, has not been around the NHL club much. "A real big ask."
Veteran Steven Kampfer is a more likely candidate to plug in on the blueline. Kampfer, a right-shot defenseman, played in two Stanley Cup playoff games this spring -- including subbing in for the suspended Charlie McAvoy in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Final. Kampfer scored a goal in that game.
"Whoever comes in, it's kind of a seamless transition," Kampfer said on Wednesday. "I think that's been our identity of our team this year, next man up and making sure that you're ready to go."
The 42-year-old Chara has a goal and four assists with a plus-12 in 20 playoff games this spring. He typically plays on the top pairing with Charlie McAvoy, and is an important player on the penalty kill. Chara played over 24 minutes in Games 2 and 3.
Grzelcyk spoke with reporters on Thursday and said he was still in concussion protocol, but is hopeful to be cleared before the game.
"I'm not really sure how it works," Grzelcyk said. "I'm just taking it day-by-day."
Grzelcyk was knocked out of Game 2 after being boarded by Blues forward Oskar Sundqvist. Grzelcyk has not played since and only began skating with the Bruins players on Wednesday. Sundqvist received a one-game suspension for the hit.
Grzelcyk, who has averaged 19:22 in his 19 playoff games this spring, declined to comment on the play on Wednesday, saying the league handled it and he would leave it at that.
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Two college teammates and headline-grabbing amateurs unveiled their pro intentions Thursday.
Oklahoma State stars Matthew Wolff and Viktor Hovland announced that they’ll make their pro debut in two weeks at the Travelers Championship. They’ll be joined in Hartford by former Cal standout Collin Morikawa (who is making his first pro start this week at the RBC Canadian Open) and former USC stud Justin Suh, who debuted as a pro at last week's Memorial Tournament.
Wolff, 20, was named the Haskins Award winner as the top player in men’s college golf earlier this week. Last season he won six times, including a runaway victory at the NCAA Championship.
One of the other finalists for the Haskins was Hovland, the reigning U.S. Amateur champion who earned the Ben Hogan Award as the top amateur and college player of 2018-19. Hovland will play next week’s U.S. Open as an amateur by virtue of his U.S. Am win last summer at Pebble Beach.
Fans will get plenty of opportunities to see these newly minted pros this summer. Beginning at the Travelers, Wolff is expected to receive sponsor exemptions into six of the final seven regular-season tournaments on the PGA Tour, fulfilling his max as a non-member. (He burned one of his seven available sponsor exemptions earlier this year in Phoenix.) Hovland will play at least the Travelers and John Deere Classic, as both invites were announced Thursday.
Morikawa, who was a late addition to the Canadian Open field, is expected to play the Travelers, 3M Open, John Deere Classic and Barracuda Championship. Suh, who missed the cut in his pro debut last week at the Memorial, will also receive the maximum of seven sponsor exemptions, with the Travelers, Rocket Mortgage, John Deere and Barracuda upcoming. A fifth and final Tour start this summer will be announced next week.
All of these former college standouts will be looking to earn enough FedExCup points to either earn their Tour card for the 2019-20 season or gain entry into the Web.com Tour Finals this fall.
There will be plenty of turnover in the college golf ranks for the 2019-20 season, as seven of the top eight players either turned pro early or graduated. That leaves Arizona State’s Chun An Yu and Texas’ Cole Hammer, who was named the Phil Mickelson Award winner as the nation’s top freshman, as the main headliners for next year. On the team side, Oklahoma State has been the dominant program in men’s college golf over the past two seasons, but without Wolff (sophomore), Hovland (junior) and two graduates (Zach Bauchou and Hayden Woods) the Cowboys will be looking to restock heading into the fall.
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Teen disqualified from U.S. Open sectional after bathroom trip
Published in
Golf
Thursday, 06 June 2019 07:09
Teenager Skyler Fox saw his U.S. Open hopes end abruptly Monday, in part because of an ill-timed bathroom run.
Fox, 16, is an accomplished junior player in the Pittsburgh area, having won the Class 2A boys' state title each of the last three years. He advanced to U.S. Open sectional qualifying after shooting a 70 at Beechmont Country Club in Cleveland on May 18 to earn one of seven spots available.
While Fox was unlikely to advance to Pebble Beach after shooting a 6-over 78 in his opening round Monday at Woodmont Country Club in Rockville, Md., he never got the chance to attempt a comeback. According to a Golfweek report, Fox began suffering from a migraine headache during the round and went straight from the green to his car to grab medicine before heading to the bathroom.
By the time he got to the scoring area to sign his card, officials had already put an "NC" next to his name to indicate he had failed to turn in a scorecard. But he reportedly didn't mention the headache upon reaching the scorers' table and was subsequently disqualified under Rule 3.3b(2), which indicates players must "promptly return" a scorecard after completing a round.Fox said the other two players in his group were just leaving the scoring area when he arrived, but according to USGA communications manager Brian DePasquale, Fox "went to lunch and did not enter the scoring area until the following group had returned their cards," some 15 minutes after his round had ended.
"The kid had to go to the bathroom," Fox's father, Joe Fox, told Golfweek. "It wasn't like he was winning the thing. So would it really have killed you to let him finish?"
The Woodmont sectional hosted 63 players, with four U.S. Open spots up for grabs. There was ultimately a 3-for-2 playoff at 2-under 142, meaning Fox would have needed a 64 in his second round to have a chance to advance.
USGA senior director Craig Winter reportedly added that the other two players in the group didn't know where Fox had gone after the opening round, and a brief search for him was complicated by the fact that "nobody knew what he looked like." But had Fox shared his explanation with officials at the time, the outcome might have been different.
"It's well-established in the rule that players, should they become suddenly ill, have time to figure out, recuperate, see if they can continue," Winter said. "And that's no different if you just started your round or you're returning to scoring."
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Tiger Woods will begin his quest for a fourth U.S. Open title alongside two other men who know what it takes to win the event.
Thursday the USGA released full-field tee times for next week's tournament at Pebble Beach, leaving open a handful of spots for players who have not yet rounded out the 156-man field. Making his return to the course where he won by a record 15 shots in 2000, Woods will play the first two rounds alongside 2013 U.S. Open champ Justin Rose and 2015 winner Jordan Spieth. They'll tee off at 5:09 p.m. ET Thursday and 11:24 a.m. ET Friday.
Another marquee grouping will include Phil Mickelson, as he renews his quest to round out the final leg of the career Grand Slam. Mickelson won earlier this year at Pebble Beach, and he'll play the first two rounds with Graeme McDowell, who won this event in 2010 the last time it was played at along the Monterey coastline. Rounding out the trio will be 2016 winner Dustin Johnson, as the three will play at 11:13 a.m. Thursday and 4:13 p.m. Friday.
Brooks Koepka will be looking to become just the second player to win three U.S. Open titles in a row, and he enters after successfully defending his title at last month's PGA Championship. Just like at Bethpage, Koepka will play the first two rounds with reigning Open champ Francesco Molinari, but instead of Woods they'll be joined by U.S. Amateur champ Viktor Hovland. Koepka's three-peat bid will start at 4:47 p.m. Thursday, while the group will tee off at 11:02 a.m. Friday.
Rory McIlroy earned the first of his four major titles at the 2011 U.S. Open, and he'll play the first two rounds at Pebble Beach with former Ryder Cup teammate Jon Rahm and Australia's Marc Leishman. They will tee off Thursday at 10:51 a.m. and 4:36 p.m. on Friday.
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With his driver cooperating and his irons on point, Keegan Bradley tried not to let the frustration get to him after starting the RBC Canadian Open with six straight pars.
"I had a couple brutal lip-outs," Bradley told reporters. "I just kept telling myself to keep going."
Good that he did, since Bradley turned a frustrating start into one of his best rounds of the year. The veteran reeled off five straight birdies on Nos. 7-11, and he ultimately carded a 7-under 63 that gave him a one-shot lead after the morning wave at Hamilton Golf & Country Club.
Bradley has long been a solid ball-striker, but his putter has been uncooperative at best. Even amid a solid season he is ranked 206th on Tour in strokes gained putting, as it remains a weak spot in his otherwise stout game. But Thursday Bradley had it rolling on the greens, making four putts over 7 feet across his final 12 holes to take an early lead.
"I hit almost every fairway, almost every green, and then holed some putts," Bradley said. "With me, it's all about the putter. When that thing gets going, I can do stuff like I did today."
Bradley ended a lengthy victory drought last fall at the BMW Championship, but he was a late add to this week's field as he looks to build some U.S. Open momentum following a missed cut last week in Ohio. After a round in which he putted from off the fringe on the lone missed GIR and holed his fair share of birdie tries, Bradley was glad to have made the detour north of the border.
"When they're combined it's pretty rare. I've had good ball-striking days, and then maybe you don't putt as well and shoot a couple under," Bradley said. "Today they matched up. Just got to go for it when that happens."
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Taylor, Hadwin looking to end native drought in Canada
Published in
Golf
Thursday, 06 June 2019 08:20
Every time the RBC Canadian Open rolls around, the name Pat Fletcher is nearly impossible to avoid.
Sixty-five years after his victory, Fletcher's win remains the last time a Canadian captured the PGA Tour's only event north of the border. It's also the only time since 1919 that the event has been won by a Canadian.
There are several native sons in the field hoping to end the drought that dates back to Fletcher's 1954 title, and two in good position to do just that this week at Hamilton Golf & Country Club are Nick Taylor and Adam Hadwin. Taylor's first and only Tour title came at the 2014 Sanderson Farms Championship, but he opened with a 6-under 64 that included a run of six birdies in seven holes and sits one shot off the early pace set by Keegan Bradley.
"It's been turning around all season, and it was nice to have it here this week," Taylor told reporters. "To roll some putts in was a nice way to get the round started and finished off nice, too."
Hadwin earned his lone Tour victory at the 2017 Valspar Championship, and at No. 69 he entered this week as the highest-ranked Canadian in the world. Hadwin has made five straight cuts dating back to April and was bogey-free in his opener at Hamilton en route to a 65 that left him one Taylor and two off of Bradley's lead.
"I didn't sleep as well as I may have liked to last night. Just kind of thinking about the week, thinking about things, picturing walking up 18 with a lead on Sunday," Hadwin told reporters. "Maybe a little too early to think about that, but it happened. ... Been playing really good golf, just a matter of staying patient and keep hitting greens and make a few putts."
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Paris Saint-Germain have become favourites to sign Ajax captain Matthijs de Ligt due to the efforts of former sporting director Leonardo, who is set to return to the French champions after nearly six years away, sources have told ESPN FC.
After a disappointing 2018-19 season in which the Parisians claimed only the Ligue 1 title, PSG are moving to revive their once-ambitious project by bringing back the Brazilian who laid the bones for Qatar Sports Investments (QSI) after their 2011 takeover of the club, and his priority is the signature of coveted defender De Ligt.
According to the sources, Leonardo is in Paris finalising his return to the Ligue 1 giants in a position of considerable influence that should diminish, if not totally extinguish, current sporting director Antero Henrique's Parc des Princes role -- as had been on the cards for some time.
The former PSG and Brazil midfielder is in constant contact with De Ligt's agent Mino Raiola, according to the sources, with compatriot Maxwell also heavily involved in the negotiations for the 19-year-old.
The sources say PSG are confident they can sign De Ligt despite interest from the likes of Barcelona, Manchester United and Juventus. However, the French capital outfit were also confident they'd won the race to sign Ajax teammate and fellow Netherlands international Frenkie de Jong before they were ultimately pipped to the midfielder by Barca.
De Ligt and Raiola are convinced that PSG would be a smart sporting decision for the teenager as they could guarantee maximum game time, the sources added, though Thomas Tuchel's men can also, crucially, meet Raiola's exorbitant commission demands.
Should Leonardo succeed in securing De Ligt, PSG would be open to selling fellow defender Presnel Kimpembe this summer, with the club confident they can bring in at least €40 million for the youth academy-raised France international.
ESPN FC sources have indicated such a sum would represent approximately half of the proposed De Ligt fee, and that signing the Dutchman could see captain Thiago Silva sold if a good offer arrives. Or, he could be allowed to play out the final year of his contract before leaving.
PSG remain in need of substantial sales before the end of the month to stay out of UEFA's financial fair play (FFP) crosshairs, with Thomas Meunier attracting the most interest. However, the decision not to renew Gianluigi Buffon's lavish contract frees up significant space on the wage bill.
Per the sources, Les Parisiens' original plan was to focus on sales until the end of June before launching an assault on the transfer market. But they've been since informed that immediate action would be required to secure the in-demand De Ligt.
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