RICHMOND, Va. – When John Hunter Nemechek bet on himself by dropping back down to the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, his singular goal was to win as many races as possible.

He met that goal for the second time this season with a dominant victory Saturday afternoon at Richmond Raceway – holding off his boss, Kyle Busch, in the process.

Nemechek led three times for 114 of 250 laps in the ToyotaCare 250, taking command for the final time with 17 to go after using fresher tires to pass his Kyle Busch Motorsports teammate, Chandler Smith.

From there, Nemechek stayed clear of Busch’s advances down the home stretch en route to the eighth win of his Truck Series career – as well as the fourth in a row for KBM as an organization.

Though he was shuffled back to ninth during a pit sequence with 52 to go, after several drivers who pitted earlier in the final stage stayed out for track position, Nemechek fought through traffic methodically to get back to the front when it mattered most.

“That was a never-give-up attitude,” tipped Nemechek in victory lane. “I just can’t thank Kyle (Busch, team owner), everyone at Toyota, all of our great partners. It’s pretty cool to be able to come out here and do what we were able to do. We had a really fast truck. I’m super proud of all of my guys and thankful for them. Thankful for our partners, Safeway, ACME … I know the president is here from Safeway and ACME, so that’s pretty cool to get them a win on their own turf. It’s pretty cool.”

Nemechek called Saturday’s win “the icing on the cake,” after he and wife Taylor welcomed a daughter, Aspen, into the world on March 31.

“Taylor and Aspen are actually here in the motorhome, so hopefully we can get to celebrate with them [later on],” Nemechek noted. “It’s been an amazing time with Aspen so far. This puts a lot of different things in perspective, but I just can’t thank all of my guys, all of our partners, everyone enough for believing in me and giving me this opportunity. Two wins; we’re here for wins. Let’s go get more.”

A crash in turn one involving Codie Rohrbaugh set up the day’s penultimate restart with 41 laps left, where ThorSport Racing teammates Matt Crafton and Johnny Sauter lined up on the front row with roughly 20-lap older tires than Nemechek, Busch and others deeper in the field.

Crafton drove deep into turn one after the green flag and washed up into Sauter, sending both Toyota Tundras out of the groove and opening the door for Smith to take the lead on the inside.

Smith led the next five laps uncontested before Kris Wright crashed on the backstretch to bring out the final caution, then darted away when the green flag waved for the final time with 29 laps left as his teammates – Nemechek and Busch – came forward on the top lane to second and third, respectively.

From there, Smith tried desperately to hold the duo at bay, but once Nemechek made the winning pass with 17 to go and brought Busch along with him, the die was cast and there was little Smith could do.

Busch lamented the handling of his truck during the final stage as a key factor that kept him from challenging for the victory, but lauded Nemechek’s performance in winning for the organization.

“We were definitely not good enough in the long run; it would just overheat the tires. We tried to free it up and we got loose … and that helped us last another five laps, but as soon as I felt tight and saw the 4 (Nemechek) wiggle loose, I was like, ’Oh, we don’t have a shot to pass him,’” explained Busch. “We hung with him at least. But the most discouraging thing about today is that KBM ran 1-2-4 with three entirely different setups, so what do we come back here with? That’s what’s most confusing now to me is the next time back, what do we do?

“I think the 4 was just overall better than us,” Busch added. “It was fun to race up there with him and fun to race up there with the rest of the guys. I’m glad we could kind of get single-filed out at the end a little bit to where we could race amongst ourselves, but they were just better than us there.”

Tyler Ankrum broke up a potential KBM sweep of the top-three finishing positions by passing Smith in the closing laps, but Smith hung on for fourth – easily his best finish of the Truck Series season so far.

Sauter faded to fifth at the finish, followed by Todd Gilliland, polesitter Ben Rhodes, Grant Enfinger, Sam Mayer and Austin Hill.

Mayer advanced 31 positions from last on the grid to finish ninth, making him the day’s biggest mover.

Saturday’s race saw the entire 70-lap opening stage go caution-free, marking the longest green-flag stint to kick off a Truck Series race since 2014.

However, from the first stage break on, 11 yellow flags slowed the pace for 79 laps and made for a somewhat segmented feel to the event. The longest uninterrupted run after lap 70 was 36 circuits.

The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season continues May 1 at Kansas Speedway.

To view complete race results, advance to the next page.

LEEDS, Ala. – Braden Eves made a perfect return to the Indy Pro 2000 Championship presented by Cooper Tires Saturday, scoring a dominant victory from the pole.

It was the first of two races comprising the Indy Pro 2000 Grand Prix of Alabama presented by Cooper Tires at Barber Motorsports Park.

Eves, 21, controlled the pace in the early stages before edging clear of Exclusive Autosport teammate Artem Petrov.

Rookie Reece Gold completed the podium after his Juncos Racing teammate Manuel Sulaiman was disqualified for an infringement discovered during post-race technical inspection.

Eves, the 2019 Cooper Tires USF2000 Champion who won in only his third Indy Pro 2000 start last year before being sidelined by a neck injury sustained in a crash on the Indianapolis Grand Prix road course, set the ball rolling Friday by beating Parker Thompson’s three-year-old lap record to grab the Cooper Tires Pole Award.

Eves was content to be cautious in the opening laps, secure in the knowledge that overtaking is notoriously difficult on the sinuous 2.3-mile Barber Motorsports Park road course and anxious not to put too much strain on his tires.

He gradually built up his speed, turning faster laps on each of the first nine laps by which time he had managed to stretch his margin over Petrov to just over a second.

Eves continued to extend his lead before taking the checkered flag 4.2740 seconds clear of his teammate.

“That was just amazing. It’s so hard to pass here, so I knew that if I got through the first lap, I should be okay,” Eves said. “Winning the season opener is big when you’re making a championship bid and that’s what we’re after this season. Before my USF2000 title, I won the first race as well and while I’d love to go four-for-four this year, like I did then, it’s going to be tough tomorrow. But I’m so happy, incredible job by Exclusive Autosport. Our first front row lock-out and our first one-two finish … so massive thanks to the team.

“Thanks as well to Artem. We’ve worked hard all off-season and it really helps to have a good teammate to push each other. It’s so great to be back here with the NTT IndyCar Series and with all the fans here – it adds a lot of emotion to the win.”

Sulaiman moved up one position on the third lap after finding a way past New Zealander Hunter McElrea.

He was never able to put any serious pressure on Petrov but remained just a second or so ahead of teammate Gold, who drove a strong race on his Indy Pro 2000 debut to become the best-placed rookie finisher, well clear of fellow USF2000 graduate Cameron Shields.

English rookie Enaam Ahmed – driving for the Italian-based RP Motorsport USA team, which was making its return to the series after being unable to travel last year due to the pandemic – earned the Tilton Hard Charger Award by racing from 13th to fifth.

Ahmed’s final victim, a handful of laps from the end, was the unfortunate McElrea, who had been struggling with handling difficulties following an early incident. The disappointed Kiwi finished just ahead of Pabst Racing teammate Colin Kaminsky.

Jacob Abel, Flinn Lazier, and Hunter Yeany completed the top 10.

Last year’s USF2000 champion, Christian Rasmussen finished an unrepresentative 13th for the Jay Howard Driver Development team, although he had made his way from sixth to fourth in the first few laps before incidental contact forced a pit stop to change a cut tire.

Rasmussen did claim some consolation with The Ticket Clinic Fastest Lap Award, also worth an extra championship point, as he annihilated the old lap record with a new best of 1:16.8238 (107.779 mph).

Rasmussen also will start race two from the pole position by virtue of claiming the second Cooper Tires Pole Award of the year during a separate qualifying session Friday afternoon.

The finish:

Braden Eves, Artem Petrov, Reece Gold, Cameron Shields, Enaam Ahmed, Hunter McElrea, Colin Kaminsky, Jacob Abel, Flinn Lazier, Hunter Yeany, Kyffin Simpson, Enzo Fittipaldi, Christian Rasmussen, Wyatt Brichacek, James Roe, Jack William Miller, Manuel Sulaiman.

Si Woo Kim is making more news with his putting.

A week after he damaged his putter in frustration at the Masters and had to finish his second round by using his 3-wood on the greens, Kim made headlines in a different way on Saturday at RBC Heritage. Despite Kim appearing to hole a birdie putt from off the putting surface at Harbour Town’s par-4 third hole, a rules official penalized Kim one stroke after Kim’s ball dangled on the edge of the hole for over a minute before falling.

Per Rule 13.3a of the Rules of Golf, "The player is allowed a reasonable time to reach the hole and ten more seconds to wait to see whether the ball will fall into the hole. If the ball falls into the hole in this waiting time, the player has holed out with the previous stroke. If the ball does not fall into the hole in this waiting time: The ball is treated as being at rest. If the ball then falls into the hole before it is played, the player has holed out with the previous stroke, but gets one penalty stroke added to the score for the hole."

As Kim’s group discussed the matter with the official, Kim’s playing competitor, Matt Kuchar, argued on Kim’s behalf that Kim’s ball was still moving up until the point it dropped in the cup.

“It definitely exceeded time,” Kuchar told the official, “but as I go up there, I go, “This ball is moving.” You could tell it was moving. It took a long time … and it did fall in.”

“You can’t hit a moving ball, correct?” Kuchar added.

To which the official responded: “But in this situation the rules are modified because you could argue that there comes a point in time where we’ve got to play that golf ball, and that’s why we put that time limit on it.”

“Wow,” Kuchar responded again. “I was certain it was – certainly I’m wrong.”

Kim wrote down par on the hole and eventually shot even-par 71 to remain at 4 under.

Chelsea coach Thomas Tuchel said his side were closing the gap with Manchester City and their "benchmark" coach Pep Guardiola after the Londoners' 1-0 FA Cup semifinal win on Saturday.

The victory for the Blues -- Tuchel's first over Guardiola -- contrasted with a 3-1 drubbing at home by City in early January, which hastened the departure of former Chelsea boss Frank Lampard and his replacement by Tuchel.

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"If you play against Pep, you know that you play against the highest level in Europe because everywhere where he was on the sidelines, with Barcelona, Bayern Munich and now Manchester City, he was the benchmark for years with his teams and he is again," Tuchel said.

"Our target is to close the gap for the 90 minutes because it's possible in football and if you arrive in a good momentum, you can make this happen," he said.

"I am very, very happy and proud of the performance of our team because we played with a lot of courage."

Saturday's win -- secured with a 55th-minute goal by Morocco forward Hakim Ziyech -- leaves Chelsea in the hunt for silverware in the May 15 FA Cup final against either Leicester City or Southampton, and in the Champions League with a semi-final clash looming against Real Madrid.

Tuchel said beating Manchester City would give the young players in his squad a confidence boost but he reminded them that they now faced a "crucial week" in the Premier League.

Chelsea host Brighton on Tuesday and travel next Saturday to West Ham United who are locked in a battle with the Blues for a top-four finish.

Guardiola congratulated Chelsea for their win but said the match could have gone either way.

"It was a tight game. Anything could happen," he said.

The Spaniard bristled when asked by a reporter whether his decision to make eight changes from the side which beat Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League midweek had contributed to the defeat.

"I am delighted with what we have done so far. The amount of games we have played... and all the players make absolutely everything," he said. "Do you think we don't pay attention in the game?"

Lionel Messi's brace helped Barcelona claim the 2021 Copa del Rey title with a 4-0 victory over Athletic Bilbao in the final on Saturday.

The Blaugrana scored four goals in 12 second-half minutes to hand Athletic their second Copa del Rey final defeat in the past 14 days. The Basque side lost the long-delayed 2020 final to Real Sociedad 1-0 on April 3.

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After a cagey first half, Barcelona opened the scoring on the hour mark through Antoine Griezmann, who turned in Frenkie de Jong's cross after slipping in front of a defender at the near post.

Barca added a second two minutes later when De Jong headed in a sumptuous cross from Jordi Alba. The Netherlands midfielder took advantage of the defence tracking a run at the near post to convert from close range.

Messi added a third with a sensational effort in the 68th minute. After picking up the ball near midfield, Messi exchanged passes with teammates and ghosted by defenders before outfoxing two defenders in the box and coolly slotting home from close range.

He completed the scoring five minutes later when he popped up in the box and guided a Alba cross off Athletic keeper Unai Simon and into the net.

LONDON -- Manchester City are still on course for an incredible season, but history will have to wait. Hakim Ziyech's second-half goal for Chelsea ensured a 1-0 defeat for Pep Guardiola's team in the FA Cup semifinal and ended dreams of an unprecedented Quadruple, for another year at least.

The Premier League leaders can still win three major trophies this season, with the league title almost in the bag and a Carabao Cup final against Tottenham Hotspur later this month before a two-legged Champions League semifinal against Paris Saint-Germain. But at Wembley on Saturday, Thomas Tuchel's Chelsea deservedly booked their fourth FA Cup final in five years (they will face Southampton or Leicester City on May 15) by being fitter, slicker and more decisive over 90 minutes. Ziyech's goal was enough to win the game, but the Moroccan winger and substitute Christian Pulisic both saw goals ruled out for offside in a game that Chelsea dominated.

With City's Quadruple chase over, Guardiola insisted he and his players have done well to even get this far.

"What could I say? We have two and a half days to recover and play away and have to travel, we were on the train for three hours and we were stopped one hour," Guardiola said after the match. "It was a tight game, congratulations to Chelsea -- they are a top side. This can happen. These guys [City] fight every game like never before I've seen."

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For Chelsea, this victory extended the revival under Tuchel's management since his appointment as Frank Lampard's successor in January. They have lost just twice in 19 games in all competitions (and kept 14 clean sheets) under the German tactician, reached the FA Cup final and are favourites to win the race for fourth place in the Premier League following West Ham United's surprise defeat at Newcastle United on Saturday. And if they overcome Real Madrid in the Champions League semifinals, they could face City once again, in the final in Istanbul, and deny Guardiola's team a first European Cup by taking it to Stamford Bridge for a second time.

In the past 10 years, City and Chelsea have dominated the English football landscape, and there can be no denying that they have usurped the old order -- Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal -- to become top dogs. City have won nine major trophies and Chelsea have won eight since 2011-12. United (four) and Arsenal (four) have won just eight between them, while Liverpool have only just started winning again by clinching the Champions League in 2019 and Premier League last year.

But while Chelsea have been consistent winners, City have threatened to leave the rest in their wake under Guardiola. Their domestic Treble in 2019 was the first time it had been achieved in English football history, so a Quadruple would have been on another scale.

United's Treble of Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League in 1999 remains the high-water mark, though, now that City have succumbed in the FA Cup. They can still pull off a Treble, of course, by winning the league, Carabao Cup and Champions League, but Liverpool managed that in 1984, so they would only be treading a path already walked by others.

A Quadruple would have been unprecedented and relegated all those previous Trebles to footnotes in the history books, but City's challenge now is to ensure that their pursuit of four trophies does not fizzle out and end in comparative disappointment. If they end up winning the Champions League for the first time, nobody at the Etihad will spend too much time worrying about the FA Cup. But while City remain alive in three other competitions, this defeat -- and last Saturday's Premier League loss against a 10-man Leeds United squad -- highlighted shortcomings and problems that could see Guardiola's team slip up in the Carabao Cup and Champions League.

Chelsea's tactic of hitting City on the counterattack, with the pace of Ziyech, Mason Mount and Timo Werner, was successful on several occasions. It also led directly to Ziyech's goal, when Werner raced into the penalty area before pulling the ball back to the former Ajax man. United deployed a similar tactic in their Premier League win at the Etihad earlier this season, and it is likely that PSG coach Mauricio Pochettino will tell his own flying forwards -- Neymar, Kylian Mbappe and Angel Di Maria -- to expose City's defensive weakness.

And against Chelsea, City looked tired. Worryingly so. The Londoners had an extra day of rest following their Champions League clash with FC Porto in Seville on Tuesday, 24 hours before City's win against Borussia Dortmund in Germany, which is perhaps why Guardiola made eight changes to his team. But those who started still travelled to Dortmund, so they didn't enjoy a midweek off, and they won't have this midweek off either because City must travel to Aston Villa in the Premier League on Wednesday.

Then comes the Carabao Cup final on Sunday, before the first leg in Paris three days later, so the games are mounting and so is the fatigue. The sight of Kevin De Bruyne limping off with a second-half ankle injury will also be a concern to Guardiola.

"It doesn't look good, he has pain," the City manager said. "We will see. Tomorrow he will have a test."

Raheem Sterling was ineffective against Chelsea, as was Brazilian forward Gabriel Jesus, and Guardiola will need his attacking players to carry more threat against Spurs next weekend and PSG in the Champions League.

"We have not had a midweek free for eight months," Guardiola said. "We have played a lot of games, and it will continue. Now it is the Premier League, the Carabao Cup next week. It's just one more game."

But this is the business end of the season, when all great teams overcome injury and tiredness by finding an extra something to get them over the line. There are plenty of obstacles in City's path, though, before they reach that finishing line, and winning three trophies this season will still be a tall order.

Guardiola has always insisted it would be close to impossible to win four, and he has been proved right. The question now is how many they can still win, and whether this season will ultimately leave City feeling like they could have won more.

Tonight we have Rohit Sharma's Mumbai Indians facing off against David Warner's Sunrisers Hyderabad. We'll have the likes of Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav, the Pandya brothers and Jasprit Bumrah against the likes of Rashid Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jonny Bairstow and Mujeeb Ur Rahman. If this blog doesn't load for you, click here. For our ball-by-ball commentary, click here

Bryce Young stepped into the first-team quarterback role and impressed during Alabama's spring game on Saturday, winning Most Valuable Player honors after completing 25 of 44 passes for 333 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions.

Young, a former five-star prospect, was Mac Jones' primary backup as a freshman last season. He appeared in nine games, including late during Alabama's win over Ohio State in the national championship game.

Coach Nick Saban said after the scrimmage that Young played well all spring.

"We continue to work on him kind of having a presence out there that affects other people in a positive way," Saban said. "And I think he's starting to get more and more respect from the other players by the way he plays.

"But every scrimmage we had he performed really well and I thought he performed well today."

Young wasn't the only underclassman to stand out during the spring game, which saw a number of veterans sidelined by injuries, including starting wide receiver John Metchie, defensive back Malachi Moore and offensive lineman Emil Ekiyor.

Freshman early enrollee Agiye Hall -- a four-star prospect and the No. 3-rated receiver in the 2021 class, according to ESPN -- caught four passes for 72 yards.

"He's someone we think has a lot of potential," Saban said of Hall. "He makes a lot of contested catches. He's got great size and he's really got some explosive speed."

Sophomore Jah-Marien Latham was named most valuable lineman. The 6-foot-3, 285-pound defensive tackle finished the scrimmage with one sack, two quarterback hurries and four tackles.

Junior defensive back DeMarcco Hellams led all players with 12 total tackles. He also broke up a pass and forced a fumble.

Saban said that overall it was a "very productive spring" for the team.

"For the most part, we didn't have any issues all spring long, so we made a lot of practice," he said. "I'm not satisfied with where we are -- we have a lot of work to do as a team."

Alabama is scheduled to open the season on Sept. 4 against Miami in Atlanta.

NEW YORK -- New York Yankees catcher Gary Sanchez left Saturday's game an inning after taking a foul ball off his right hand.

New York said X-rays of Sanchez's hand were negative and that he has a contusion on his right index and middle fingers. The club said he's day to day.

Sánchez's throwing hand was unprotected when Tampa Bay's Randy Arozarena tipped a pitch that appeared to hit Sánchez in the knuckles in the fourth inning.

Sánchez fell to the ground and writhed in pain before a trainer came out to inspect him. He remained in the game and finished the inning, then flew out to center field in the bottom of the fourth. He was replaced by Kyle Higashioka to begin the fifth.

The two-time All-Star was 0-for-1 with a walk Saturday and is hitting .237 with two homers and four RBIs this season.

MILWAUKEE -- Brewers outfielder Christian Yelich, who has missed four straight games because of a sore back, was placed on the 10-day injured list Saturday.

"There's nothing new, nothing to add," manager Craig Counsell said. "That's what it is. We'll take a couple more days without baseball activities and see where that leaves us."

The move was retroactive to April 14. The Brewers announced Yelich's injury as a lower back strain.

Milwaukee filled Yelich's spot on the roster by recalling right-handed reliever Eric Yardley from the organization's alternate training site in Appleton, Wisconsin.

Yelich, the 2018 NL MVP, is hitting .333 with no home runs and 1 RBI.

Two other Brewers starters, second baseman Kolten Wong and outfielder Lorenzo Cain, are also on the injured list, weakening the offense.

"We'll just have to fill in around them until those guys get back. We're not expecting this to be long term,'' Counsell said.

The Brewers host the Pirates on Saturday in the second game of a three-game series. Pittsburgh won 6-1 on Friday.