I Dig Sports
TOPEKA, Kan. – If Tommy Johnson Jr. keeps the consistent pace he’s put together for more than a year, he knows that will bode well for the outcome of his NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series season.
But the Funny Car standout is more than ready to add a few wins to his resume.
The veteran has advanced to at least the semifinals at nearly half of his races dating back to the start of the 2018 season, but Johnson is still looking for his first win in that span. That’s something he’ll look to change in his 11,000-horespower Make-A-Wish Foundation Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat at the upcoming Menards NHRA Heartland Nationals presented by Minties, June 7-9 at Heartland Motorsports Park. The 17-time event winner hopes to pick up his first career victory at the facility, while also adding another impressive layer to his run of consistent performances.
“One of these days, that tide will turn and we’ll get a win,” said Johnson, who is currently fourth in the Funny Car points standings. “In order to win, you have to be competitive, so maintaining that is key. There are times the guys get bummed because you come so close to getting it done, but it’s still a lot better than losing first round. It’s a great group and they work really hard, and they’ve learned over time the results of being consistent and going rounds.”
Clay Millican (Top Fuel) and Courtney Force (Funny Car) were last year’s winners. It is the 10th of 24 races during the NHRA season and action will be intense with a special Primetime qualifying session at 8 p.m. on June 7. Johnson and his team, led by crew chief John Collins, will have to dial up something big under the lights and then run well during the warmer conditions on raceday, but that hasn’t been a problem over the last few seasons.
Johnson has been impressively consistent to the tune of one final round and three semifinal appearances through the first eight races in 2019, running well in any condition. He firmly believes that it will eventually lead to victories, but a good showing during this stretch of four straight races could pay dividends as Johnson seeks his first world title in the loaded Funny Car class.
“If you want to win a championship, a lot of that groundwork is laid in the summer,” Johnson said. “The more consistent you perform, you’re only going to get better and running well at these summer races is kind of our team’s M.O. We’re excited about the summer months. I sure do like the way our car performs in those conditions and it’s a good stretch to really put yourself in a better position. If you can run well, it doesn’t take long for it to have an impact.”
The races start to come in a hurry as it moves to summer, but Johnson welcomes that, especially with his car running well. He’s also less than two rounds out of second place, meaning Johnson has a great opportunity to make a big move in the class. But to pick up his first win in Topeka, which has shown to be a fast track over the years, Johnson will have to deal with the likes of points leader Robert Hight, defending world champion J.R. Todd, Don Schumacher Racing teammate Ron Capps, who has enjoyed back-to-back wins, John Force and Matt Hagan.
“As a driver, you don’t mind the back-to-back races,” Johnson said. “You can get into a groove and my team is pretty experienced, so they know how to pace themselves. Growing up in Iowa, (Topeka) was close to a home race for me. The track surface has always been good and yielded some big performances, but you also have that heat and humidity, so it throws everything at you. It’s a really tight rope you have to walk, but we’ve learned how to navigate that.”
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BATAVIA, Ohio – Officials with the Lucas Oil Speedway, the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series, and the Lucas Oil MLRA have announced that the 13th annual CMH Diamond Nationals will expand to two nights, July 13-14, with $15,000-to-win late model features both nights.
Efforts to find suitable dates for all the involved series and keep the Show-Me 100 in its original three-day format were not able to be worked out.
The added program and increased purse (an increase of more than $7,500 from the original July 13 feature that was to pay $12,000-to-win) is to help fill the void of the canceled 27th Annual Lucas Oil Show-Me 100 – presented by ProtectTheHarvest.com. Additionally, each non-transfer will receive $200 both nights.
“We looked at all our options for the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series, the Lucas Oil MLRA, for Lucas Oil Speedway, and for our television partners and feel this is the best option for everyone,” said Danny Lorton, Lucas Oil Speedway General Manager.
Severe weather produced damage to the Lucas Oil Speedway complex on May 20 and forced cancellation of the Show-Me 100, which has been a long-standing Memorial Day Weekend event that’s been held at Lucas Oil Speedway since 2010.
“We had hoped to be able to reschedule as a three-day event, but it just wasn’t practical,” Lorton added. “On the plus side, we see the two-night Diamond Nationals as being a terrific weekend of racing at Lucas Oil Speedway with a top field of cars after the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series holds events on Thursday and Friday that weekend at Tri-City Speedway in Granite City, Ill.”
The expanded Diamond Nationals sets up a blockbuster stretch of events for the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series. The nation’s elite drivers will compete in eight action-packed events in just ten days, with over $500,000 up for grabs.
“It’s unfortunate that the Show-Me 100 will not be contested this year,” said Rick Schwallie, Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Director. “We appreciate everyone’s understanding as we’ve dealt with the impact the storm had on Lucas Oil Speedway. The Show-Me 100 and Memorial Day weekend are traditional, and we look forward to returning to that tradition in 2020. The expanded Diamond Nationals will be two thrilling events and we’re proud to offer these lucrative purses to the race teams.”
Those who purchased advanced tickets to the Show-Me 100 will receive refunds, as will all those who had reserved camping spots for the Show-Me 100.
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Kaapo Kakko, the No. 2-ranked prospect for the 2019 NHL draft, will not be participating in the NHL scouting combine this week in Buffalo, New York, the NHL confirmed Tuesday.
The league did not offer a reason for his absence, but Kakko just completed a gold medal run with Team Finland at the IIHF Men's World Championship in Slovakia on Sunday and took part in the team's homecoming celebration Monday in Finland.
In Sunday's gold medal game, Finland defeated Canada 3-1 to claim its third-ever gold medal at the senior level in men's hockey. According to reports in Finnish media, 2.54 million people tuned in to the final, representing nearly half the population of the country.
The team was feted by an estimated 50,000 fans at a downtown park in Helsinki on Monday after receiving a Finnish Air Force escort home.
Kakko has made significant gains this season on consensus No. 1 draft prospect Jack Hughes. At the recent world championship, Kakko registered six goals and one assist to record the second-highest point total by a U18 player in World Championship history.
It also marked Kakko's third world championship in as many tries. He also helped Finland win the World Men's Under-18 Championship in 2018 and the World Junior Championship in January. He is the youngest player in IIHF history to complete the trifecta.
Additionally, the Finnish phenom had one of the best scoring seasons by a U18 player in Finland's top pro league. Kakko posted 38 points in 45 games for TPS Turku in Liiga play. Only Florida Panthers center Aleksander Barkov and Nashville Predators winger Mikael Granlund had higher point totals at the same age.
The NHL expects 103 prospects for the 2019 NHL draft to participate in the combine. NHL teams are already interviewing players in Buffalo, with the physical testing portion of the combine to be held Saturday.
Kakko's agent, Mike Liut, said NHL clubs "are fully in support" of his client missing the scouting combine to celebrate the country's world championship.
The New Jersey Devils hold the No. 1 overall pick, with the New York Rangers owning the second pick in the 2019 NHL draft.
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DUBLIN, Ohio – As Tiger Woods made the turn during the final round of last month’s Masters, Jack Nicklaus was busy looking for bonefish in the Bahamas. The changing tides in the Atlantic Ocean took priority over the conclusion of the year’s first major.
But once things took a turn along Amen Corner, the 18-time major champ stopped to take notice.
“I have to say that once I sat down and saw his shot at [No.] 12, I didn’t move again,” Nicklaus said Tuesday ahead of the Memorial Tournament. “What he did was pretty special to watch.”
The par-3 12th turned out to be the pivotal juncture of the tournament, as Woods grabbed a share of a lead he would not relinquish the rest of the way. His one-shot victory marked his fifth green jacket, one shy of Nicklaus’ all-time mark, and it was his first major win since the 2008 U.S. Open.
While Woods took a prudent line and found the middle of the green on No. 12, his playing competitors Francesco Molinari and Tony Finau both came up short in the water, as did Brooks Koepka and Ian Poulter in the penultimate group. It was all enough to make Nicklaus shake his head given the grave risk historically associated with drifting toward a Sunday pin on the short but treacherous par 3.
“When the guys started filling up Rae’s Creek on the 12th hole, I’m watching them one after another hit the ball right of the bunker and I said, ‘Really? You just can’t hit the ball right of the bunker,’” Nicklaus said. “How many times have you seen the tournament lost because they hit it right of the bunker. Tiger hit the ball … over the left side of the bunker into the middle of the green, and the tournament is over.”
Woods’ win at age 43 immediately drew comparisons to Nicklaus’ sixth and final Masters title in 1986 at age 46. But Nicklaus eschewed the notion that the two victories are on equal footing, elevating Woods’ latest accomplishment given his competitive standing in the modern game.
“In ’86 I won because I found lightning in a bottle. I really wasn’t into the game of golf at that time. I was into it, but it wasn’t my main priority,” Nicklaus said. “Tiger, on the other hand, he came back from injury. He came back, he worked hard to get himself back in shape to be able to play. He had to figure out what he had between the five inches between his ears. … And he did a very nice job of that. I was just very proud of him, very happy for him. And he just played the way a champion should play.”
Note: Watch Tiger Woods' opening round at the Memorial Tournament on PGA Tour Live, beginning at 8 a.m. ET on Thursday.
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Nicklaus: Woods has 'got to be a little selfish' with health and schedule
Published in
Golf
Tuesday, 28 May 2019 09:30
DUBLIN, Ohio – Even before Tiger Woods slipped into his fifth green jacket earlier this year, Jack Nicklaus remained adamant that time was on Woods’ side regarding his pursuit of Nicklaus’ mark of 18 major titles. Now that Woods is one step closer to the most famous record in golf, Nicklaus isn’t changing his tune. But he is offering a word of caution.
Woods’ 15th major win shook the sport last month, and it reignited debate over whether he could make a serious run at Nicklaus’ total as he approaches his 44th birthday. During his annual news conference as tournament host of the Memorial Tournament, Nicklaus reiterated that Woods has a great chance to match or beat his mark – even if there’s still a competitive side of him that hopes he remains alone atop the record books.
“Nobody wants their records broken. I don’t want him to break my records, but I don’t want him not to be able to play, and not be physically sound to play,” Nicklaus said. “I mean, if he’s physically sound and it’s his desire to win and he breaks it, you know, well done. That’s what it should be. That’s what sports is all about.”
But Nicklaus was quick to point out the biggest variable when it comes to Woods’ renaissance: his health. While the spinal fusion surgery he underwent in 2017 has cleared a path for his return to the upper-echelon of the game, not even Woods knows how long his once-ailing body will be able to perform at its current level. And he’s not getting any younger.
“You’ve had as many operations as he’s had, he may be solid enough that it’s all right. And if he is, I think he probably will break my record,” Nicklaus said. “But he’s 43 years old, and when you get to be 43 years old you start to get a little creak here and a little creak there, and all of a sudden every day is not the same.”
As an example, Nicklaus recounted a round the two played together before this year’s Masters, one in which Woods fired a stress-free 64 but mentioned that his neck was bothering him. The injury was cited as a precautionary reason why Woods bypassed the Arnold Palmer Invitational in early March despite his stellar track record at Bay Hill.
For Nicklaus, it was a sign that Woods’ best option moving forward might be to work smart, not hard. Woods’ light schedule following his Masters triumph shows he may be of a similar mindset.
“He’s going to have a lot more of those problems. We all have a lot of those problems,” he said. “But if you manage them and you know how to take care of yourself, you know how to pace yourself, you can do that. And he’s at the age where he needs to pace himself. He can’t just do everything everybody asks him to do. He’s got to be a little selfish, and that’s OK.”
Note: Watch Tiger Woods' opening round at the Memorial Tournament on PGA Tour Live, beginning at 8 a.m. ET on Thursday.
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Rose's longtime caddie taking indefinite medical leave; duo splits 'for now'
Published in
Golf
Tuesday, 28 May 2019 09:35
DUBLIN, Ohio – World No. 3 Justin Rose has split with his longtime caddie Mark Fulcher who continues his recovery from heart surgery, but the Englishman left the door open for the two to reunite.
“After an amazing 11 years with [Fulcher], our successful run together has finished for now, as [Fulcher] is required to take an indefinite leave of absence from caddying to focus on his health and well-being,” Rose wrote in a statement released on Twitter. “I also have no doubts that we will stride up a 72nd hole late on a Sunday afternoon together in the future.”
Fulcher, who had surgery in mid-January to repair the mitral valve in his heart, returned to work at last month’s Masters and has been on Rose’s bag for his last four events, including a third-place finish at the Wells Fargo Championship.
In his statement, Rose said Fulcher was advised by his doctors that “a further period of recuperation is required.”
Gareth Lord, who filled in for Fulcher following his surgery, is on Rose’s bag this week at the Memorial.
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How much would you pay to caddie 18 holes for Tiger Woods? The answer, at least for one auction bidder at this year's Tiger Jam, proved to be a hefty sum.
Woods held his annual charity gala in Las Vegas over the weekend, with proceeds benefiting his TGR Foundation in its focus on youth development and education. One of the most high-profile items up for bid was a chance to caddie for Woods during the pro-am of the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas in December.
While the same item went for $50,000 at last year's auction, that was before Woods slipped into a fifth green jacket at the Masters. This time around, the winning bid went to National Funding CEO Dave Gilbert, who pledged $75,000 according to multiple reports. With the Hero event ending on Saturday because of scheduling with the Presidents Cup, Gilbert's opportunity to take the bag from normal looper Joe LaCava at Albany will be on Tuesday Dec. 3.
Woods returns to action this week at the Memorial Tournament for his final start before the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach.
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Thomas back in action at Memorial with fully healed wrist
Published in
Golf
Tuesday, 28 May 2019 10:24
DUBLIN, Ohio – It wasn’t easy, but Justin Thomas opted for the long road to recovery.
Thomas returns to the PGA Tour this week at the Memorial Tournament, which will be his first start since the Masters. A nagging right-wrist injury led to Thomas missing the PGA Championship as well as the Wells Fargo Championship, and last week’s Charles Schwab Challenge.
“It was really hard [not playing],” Thomas said. “Missing Quail Hollow was a no-brainer, I could have played the PGA but I probably would have injured it more and the same with last week. I knew if I gave it another week it was never going to be an issue again so I just let it heal.”
Thomas, who was told the recovery would take anywhere from a month to two months, said he has no pain or limitations with his wrist.
Following an MRI two weeks prior to the PGA Championship, Thomas was allowed to begin chipping and putting and his rehabilitation moved along quickly after that.
“I learned from it. I learned different things about the body that you can maybe do differently next time to try to speed up the process,” he said. “I was lucky it wasn’t anything bad and I just had to be smart with it and not injure it more.”
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BURTON, England -- Declan Rice has played down talk of a move away from West Ham amid interest from Manchester United.
The midfielder, who is preparing for the Nations League finals with England, has been linked with a move to Old Trafford as part of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's summer shake up, but the 20-year-old insists he is not thinking of leaving the London Stadium.
"I know there is speculation," Rice said on Tuesday.
"During the season last year I signed a five-year contract with West Ham. My focus is fully on playing for West Ham. I've got a great connection with the fans -- I love them, they love me.
"That's the way it is at the moment. I'm not thinking about anything else."
Rice has enjoyed a spectacular rise this season -- despite his campaign beginning on a sour note after being substituted at half-time during West Ham's 4-0 defeat to Liverpool on the opening day.
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He was left out for the next three Premier League games by manager Manuel Pellegrini before returning against Everton to nail down his place for the rest of the season and earn a call-up to Gareth Southgate's England squad.
"After the game against Liverpool I thought I wasn't cut out for the Premier League," said Rice.
"The transfer window was still open and I was honestly thinking about going to speak to the manager to go on loan somewhere.
"The manager said I would get another chance and I had to keep working and that's what I did.
"I got my head down and that opportunity came against Everton and I haven't looked back since."
Rice has been capped twice by England since switching his international affiliation from Republic of Ireland in February.
After starting the 5-1 win over Montenegro in March, he is in line to get the nod in the Nations League semifinal against Netherlands in Guimaraes on June 6 -- a clash that could see him come up against Frenkie de Jong, who has sealed a €75 million move to Barcelona after starring in Ajax's run to the Champions League semifinals.
"De Jong has got his move to Barcelona and it's fully deserved," said Rice.
"He's a top, top player and it will be great to come up against him in the Nations League.
"When you start out in football, you always want to play at the top -- play in the Champions League. If you were in football and you didn't want to do that there would be no point playing.
"The Nations League is massive. It's really important. We've got ourselves into the semifinal. We've got a massive chance now to create history.
"With the squad Gareth has put together, with the players that we have, for sure we've got to be looking at the Nations League and winning it.
"It would stand us in good stead for the future and the Euros next year and the World Cup after that."
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Toronto FC assistant Robin Fraser has emerged as the front-runner to become the next head coach of the Colorado Rapids, multiple sources have told ESPN FC.
Fraser, 52, has interviewed with the Rapids to take over for interim boss Conor Casey and is now considered to be the favorite for the position, with one source saying that Rapids management will take Fraser's candidacy before investor-operator Stan Kroenke at some point this week.
The Rapids, through a team spokesperson, declined to comment on the status of the head coaching search.
Fraser is highly-respected within MLS circles. A former standout defender in the league's nascent days, he was capped 28 times by the United States and has spent over a decade on MLS sidelines, including as head coach of now defunct Chivas USA for two seasons. He is known as a smart tactician.
The Rapids, currently with the worst record in the league, fired head coach Anthony Hudson earlier this month. They seem set for a rebuild, especially with Tim Howard retiring at the end of the year and the roster built under Hudson lacking a strong spine.
Fraser has found success in recent years, enhancing his already strong reputation tactically. In 2013, with the New York Red Bulls, he was the right-hand man on head coach Mike Petke's staff that won the Supporters' Shield, the first trophy in club history. Then, in 2017, he was the top assistant under Greg Vanney as Toronto won a domestic Treble of titles which included the Canadian Championship, Supporters' Shield and MLS Cup.
According to one source, the vast majority of candidates interviewed by Colorado were from, or had, strong ties to MLS -- a stark contrast to Hudson, who had no connection to the league before he was hired in November of 2017.
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