NEW YORK -- Kyrie Irving will not play against the Milwaukee Bucks on Monday night, marking the seventh consecutive game he will miss as he continues to ramp up his on-court activity.

As Irving inches closer to returning to game action, his debut alongside James Harden and Kevin Durant could come on the Nets' upcoming two-game road trip. The Nets are scheduled to play the Cavaliers on Jan. 20 and 22. Irving has played in Cleveland just once since his trade from the Cavs to the Celtics in 2017 -- on opening night of the 2017-18 season.

Irving, who had been listed as questionable on Sunday night's injury report, has not played in a game since Jan. 5.

For the first five games of his absence, Irving was listed as being out for personal reasons. While Irving was away from the team, footage of Irving dancing and standing next to his sister while she blew out candles at a family birthday party began circulating on social media.

The league's COVID-19 safety protocols say that players are not allowed to go to bars, clubs and lounges or attend gatherings of 15 or more people. Irving was found to have violated those rules and was fined $50,000. Irving also forfeited over $800,000 in salary for the two games he had to miss while in quarantine.

League rules allow for players who have had to quarantine to have a few days to increase on-court workouts before rejoining their team in a game. The Nets did not have a formal practice over the weekend.

In a statement last week, Nets general manager Sean Marks said Irving will "have the opportunity to address his absence when he is ready to do so."

Chris Sale is under contract for four more years with the Boston Red Sox -- plus an option for 2025 -- and with the team hoping that he can contribute throughout the length of the contract, the pace for his return from Tommy John surgery is expected to be deliberate, according to sources.

Sale had the elbow reconstruction on March 30, his 31st birthday, and typically pitchers require 12 to 15 months to recover from that procedure. There was speculation in December that within that timeline, Sale might be back sooner rather than later -- which would fit the pitcher's aggressive personality.

But Sale is about to embark on Year 2 of his five-year, $145 million deal that was finalized early in the 2019 season, and so both the team and the pitcher have reason to take a long view on his recovery. The bulk of the left-hander's production for the Red Sox will happen in the last three years of the deal, and while sources say the team would love for Sale to come back and be a factor at some point in 2021, the Red Sox are apt to take a conservative approach.

The New York Mets and pitcher Noah Syndergaard, however, are taking a more aggressive approach. Though Syndergaard also had his Tommy John surgery in late March, both he and the Mets want to push the timeline on recovery.

Syndergaard will be eligible for free agency in the fall and stands to immediately benefit from a productive season, and the team, in control of Syndergaard for only 2021 before he hits the open market, could use some return on investment from a homegrown player making $9.7 million this year.

The Red Sox acquired Sale in a trade with the White Sox during the 2016-17 offseason, and in the three regular seasons that followed, he made 84 starts and generated a 3.08 ERA, with 763 strikeouts in 519⅔ innings. Arm trouble forced him to the disabled list late in the 2018 season, but he wound up finishing Boston's championship-clinching win over the Los Angeles Dodgers, spinning hard sliders. After battling more physical problems in 2019, Sale tried to come back in spring training of 2020 before breaking down once and for all.

Bath have completed the signing of South African fly-half Tian Schoeman from Cheetahs on an 18-month contract.

He has previously played for Bordeaux in the French Top 14 as well as Blue Bulls in Super Rugby.

Schoeman will provide cover at fly-half for Wales international Rhys Priestland as well as youngster Orlando Bailey.

Glasgow Warriors have signed experienced fly-half Ian Keatley on a deal until the end of the season.

Fly-half Adam Hastings, who will join Gloucester from Glasgow in the summer, is currently injured.

"It's a strange time to be joining the team with everything that's going on with Covid," said Keatley, who registered 1,247 points for Munster.

"However, I'm really happy to be joining a club and a city with a proud rugby history."

Head coach Danny Wilson said: "Ian's experience will be great from a performance point of view.

"He will also be invaluable to the development of our young players, including the likes of Ross Thompson, and also enable us to look at Pete [Horne] in his natural position of inside centre."

England head coach Eddie Jones will be without assistant coach Jason Ryles for the upcoming Six Nations.

The Rugby Football Union say it is hoped Ryles will re-join the coaching staff for England's summer fixtures.

England start their Six Nations campaign against Scotland at Twickenham on 6 February.

Jones will confirm his 28-man squad on Friday 22 January, with the squad meeting at St George's Park next week to begin preparations for the Championship.

Former Australia rugby league international Ryles, 42, joined the England set-up on a full-time basis in autumn 2020 from NRL side Melbourne Storm.

INDIANAPOLIS – Fatheadz Eyewear will return as the primary sponsor for the Hoffman Auto Racing No. 69 sprint car and driver Brady Bacon for the upcoming USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car Series season.

Fatheadz came on board as the primary sponsor for the team part of the way into last season and helped boost Bacon and the Hoffman family to the USAC National Sprint Car Series championship.

The title was the 12th owner’s title for Hoffman Auto Racing and Bacon’s third driver’s crown.

Bacon has been a part of Team Fatheadz for 11 consecutive years and looks forward to another successful season.

“The support we have received from Rico Elmore and Fatheadz Eyewear over the years has been crucial to our continued success. We are so grateful for the role Rico played in our championship season in 2020 and hope to defend our title once again flying the Fatheadz colors this year,” explained Bacon. “I am also excited to introduce our fans to Fatheadz’s expanding number of great new lines and styles of eyewear and apparel.”

“We are extremely proud to represent Fatheadz Eyewear again in 2021 and feel fortunate to be involved with a great company whose high standards, quality, and values mirror our own,” added Rob Hoffman, President of Hoffman Auto Racing.

Last season, Bacon notched six wins, 17 top-five and 24 top-10 finishes in 27 feature starts en route to the USAC sprint car title, adding it to prior championships in 2014 and ’16.

“Brady has served as a great ambassador for Fatheadz through the years. We are excited to have him back as part of Team Fatheadz this year, and look forward to supporting him as he chases another championship,” said Fatheadz owner Rico Elmore.

The Fatheadz Eyewear No. 69 will kick off its USAC title defense with Bacon at the wheel in Ocala, Fla., during Winter Dirt Games XII at Bubba Raceway Park, Feb. 11-13.

The races mark the opening act of the 50-race USAC National Sprint Car Series schedule.

SANDUSKY, Ohio – ThorSport Racing officials have announced the organization is parting ways with Ford after three years together.

In the last three seasons, the team captured its third NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driver’s championship, a regular-season title, and Ford’s 100th series win. In addition to 10 wins, 83 top-five and 163 top 10 finishes, 12 pole awards and 1,707 laps led.

The team has not yet announced a manufacturer or driver roster for the upcoming NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season, which is set to begin on Feb. 12 at Daytona Int’l Speedway.

Prior to switching to Ford prior to the 2018 season, ThorSport Racing fielded Toyota entries from 2012 to ’17.

STATESVILLE, N.C. – Our Motorsports has announced that 20-year-old Blaine Perkins has joined the team to drive the No. 03 Chevrolet Camaro in select NASCAR Xfinity Series events.

This will mark Perkins’ debut in one of NASCAR’s top three national series.

Perkins, a native of Bakersfield, Calif., debuted in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West at 15 years old and raced full-time there during the 2016 and 2017 seasons. After two years racing on short tracks in California in 2018 and ’19, Perkins returned to the rebranded ARCA Menards Series West last year.

In the 11-race season, Perkins amassed three wins and eight top-five finishes to finish second in the series standings.

“We are very fortunate to have Blaine join our team,” said team owner Chris Our.  “He’s got a ton of talent; he’s very smart and eager to learn.  He’s been a winner in every series he’s raced.  We’re looking forward to getting him to the track, to get him the experience he needs to be a winner at the national level.”

Perkins is currently scheduled to drive in six races for Our Motorsports with the potential for more races pending additional sponsorship. NASCAR Cup Series driver Tyler Reddick is scheduled to drive the No. 03 Chevrolet in the Xfinity Series opener at Daytona Int’l Speedway.

“It’s both an honor and privilege to make my NASCAR National Series debut with Our Motorsports in the NASCAR Xfinity Series,” said Perkins. “This year I’m looking to gain as much experience and knowledge as I can, and being able to work with Brett Moffitt, the 2018 truck series champion, will be a great opportunity for me. Coming from Bakersfield, Calif., racing has been a huge part of my life since I started racing go-karts 10 years ago. I’m ready to take the next step in my career and look forward to the 2021 season.”

Perkins’ debut in the Our Motorsports No. 03 Chevrolet Camaro is scheduled to be at Martinsville Speedway in April.

Additional races and sponsorship announcements will follow at a later date.

SALEM, Ind. – Officials from Showtime Speedway officials and the Champion Racing Ass’n have announced that SpeedFest 2021 has been canceled.

The super and pro late model doubleheader was originally forced to change venues when local COVID issues forced Georgia’s Watermelon Capital Speedway to cancel the event.

Florida’s Showtime Speedway stepped up in an effort to host the event instead, but issues outside the control of all the officials forced the cancellation. A major contributing factor was the low car count in pro late models for a one day show in the region.

“We appreciate Robert’s willingness to try and host the rescheduled event, but in the end, it just wasn’t meant to be for SpeedFest 2021,” said CRA co-owner R.J. Scott. “Everyone involved wants nothing less than a great show, and it was looking like the last second reschedule was not going to allow that to happen.”

Showtime Speedway will continue to host racing on Jan. 24, with the track set to host a super late model feature paying $10,000 to the winner. Additional details regarding that event will be announced later by track officials.

TULSA, Okla. — Jason McDougal was the talk of the town during the alphabet soup portion of Saturday’s 35th Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals and he wasn’t even in the field for the grand finale.

Whether he should have had a chance to be is another discussion entirely, but the fact remains that McDougal made a run of historic proportions inside the River Spirit Expo Center.

Not since 2004 — when J.J. Yeley came out of an F Main to qualify for the A Main — had a driver participated in six features on championship day during the Chili Bowl.

McDougal did just that, only to be denied a shot at even more racing in the most heartbreaking of fashions.

The Broken Arrow, Okla., native found himself “buried in the soup,” as the locals say, after having to come out of the C Main on his preliminary night Thursday due to a lack of passing points.

He transferred to the B Main easily and rallied from 13th to the lead, but his car lost power under yellow with three laps to go and McDougal couldn’t continue, placing him into an I Main for Saturday’s finale.

McDougal won that contest from fourth, starting a monumental run through the alphabet.

He went from 10th to second in the first H Main, 12th to second in his G Main and 17th to second in his F Main before his Klatt Enterprises team put on some fresh tires for McDougal’s second effort.

That charge began in the E Main, where a 15th-to-second run allowed McDougal to tag the back of the first D Main, where the electricity in the air ramped up to a feverish pitch.

Could McDougal go from as deep as anyone had ever come from in the alphabet to make the MAVTV portion (which annually begins with the night’s C Mains) of the program?

It took the help of a few timely cautions, but McDougal cracked the top five — where he needed to be in order to transfer out of his D Main — with two laps to go after a restart following a Sam Hafertepe Jr. spin.

At that moment, it appeared McDougal was going to make history by going to his seventh feature of the day. Unfortunately, sixth-running Ryan Bernal had other ideas.

Entering turn three coming to the checkered flag, Bernal sailed his NOS Energy Drink No. 87w into the corner, getting into the back of McDougal’s black No. 4b and sending it spinning to a stop.

The crowd fell deathly quiet for a split second as the realization of what had happened sunk in. Then a cacophony of noise erupted, with cheers for McDougal and an even louder chorus of boos for Bernal.

Bernal was swiftly disqualified for aggressive driving, denying him the transfer spot he had muscled his way into, while McDougal emerged from his car with a mix of exhaustion, disappointment and pride on his face.

Though the run ended in an instant, the enormity of what he had done was in full force.

“It’s crazy to think we just tied Yeley and I believe we had a car that could have made it all the way through there,” McDougal said in his trailer after the D Mains ended. “It just didn’t work out.”

Bernal entered the Klatt Enterprises trailer during the interview to speak with McDougal and crew chief Bob East, so McDougal elected to choose his words carefully before he had a chance to talk directly with Bernal.

Asked if he expected contact on the last lap, McDougal said, “Not like that. I was running the bottom in (turns) three and four and the corner before … so it is what it is.”

For his part, Bernal took responsibility for the incident during an interview on the Chili Bowl’s pay-per-view stream moments after he learned of the disqualification.

“You know, there’s obviously a lot of pushing and shoving when it’s for a transfer spot at the Chili Bowl,” Bernal noted. “Just a stupid move on my part. Honestly, I drove it in there too hard. I thought he was going to the top. He obviously protected the bottom and then, you know, I got into him.

“It was my fault.”

Though it was little consolation, McDougal was named the Rich Vogler Hard Charger Award recipient for the 2021 Chili Bowl, advancing more positions (54) than any other driver throughout Saturday’s program.

Regardless of the final outcome, McDougal admitted he took solace in matching a page of Chili Bowl history and hopes that it will lead to a full-time opportunity that would put him back into the weekly conversation in dirt-track racing.

“I really enjoy what I do and where I’m at in life,” McDougal said. “KT (Kevin Thomas Jr.) has taken me in and I’ve gotten to see racing from a different sort of perspective than what I maybe did before. I ran midgets with Bob (East), but racing got kind of got old to me for a minute.

“It seems like it’s finally fun again, though, and I’m really happy about that and hope to continue.”

SPEED SPORT’s LIVE From the Chili Bowl coverage is supported by MyRacePass, KICKER, Curb Records and Swann Communications! To find out more about each of our partners and to check out all of SPEED SPORT’s Chili Bowl coverage, visit our Chili Bowl Index Page! DON’T MISS SPEED SPORT’S LIVE From the Chili Bowl on Saturday, Jan. 16 at 6:30 p.m. ET on MAVTV and watch the Chili Bowl finale LIVE Saturday, Jan. 16 at 8:30 p.m. on MAVTV!