Tasmania 188 (Doran 52, Boland 4-44) and 263 (Doran 98) drew with Victoria 199 (, Handscomb 73, Bird 4-43) and 1 for 122 (Handscomb 54*)

Rain ruined the final day of the Sheffield Shield match at the MCG, denying Victoria a good chance of victory after they had made strong progress towards what appeared to be a challenging target.

Peter Handscomb's impressive form, with his second half-century of the match, in an unbroken second-wicket stand of 95 with Marcus Harris had broken the back of the chase before the rain returned and wiped out the rest of the day.

Handscomb scored his runs at a rate rarely seen in a match where ball had held sway. Jake Doran produced the standout innings on the third day with 98 to leave a target of 253.

Peter Siddle had taken the only wicket, removing Nic Maddinson to a thin edge in the sixth over of the day, but the game was getting away from Tasmania when the weather closed in and play was abandoned at 5.30pm.

Phil Mickelson has fallen out of the top 100 in the Official World Golf Ranking for the first time since 1993, when he won the International tournament for his second PGA Tour victory.

He stayed in the top 100 for a record 1,425 weeks.

Mickelson, 50, who did not play this week's Arnold Palmer Invitational, fell to 101 after starting the year at 66. In four official worldwide starts this year, Mickelson has missed two cuts and finished tied for 53rd in the other two events.

He also played one PGA Tour Champions event, where world-ranking points are not earned.

Mickelson, a 44-time PGA Tour winner who has five major championships and is in the World Golf Hall of Fame, is scheduled to play this week's Players Championship.

He first entered the world rankings as an amateur in 1990 when he finished 19th at the Northern Telecom Tucson Open. That put him at 540th in the world. The following year, Mickelson won that tournament as an amateur while a junior at Arizona State.

He entered the top 100 in the summer of 1993 after capturing the International. Although he never reached No. 1 in the world, Mickelson was No. 2 for 270 weeks -- all with Tiger Woods as No. 1.

Mickelson's last victory came at the 2019 AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.

Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry won his second 3-point contest, while Indiana Pacers forward Domantas Sabonis outdueled the Orlando Magic's Nikola Vucevic in the final round of the skills challenge prior to Sunday's NBA All-Star Game.

Curry scored 28 points in the final round of the 3-point contest, nailing his last money ball shot (worth two points) to beat Utah Jazz guard Mike Conley's total of 27.

"I could hear the temperature rise a little bit,'' Curry said of the reaction from the small crowd allowed in State Farm Arena.

"It was some awesome competition,'' Curry said. "I'm glad I got it done.''

Curry became the seventh player to win multiple 3-point contests -- his first title came in 2015 -- and the first to do so in nonconsecutive contests. Larry Bird (1986-88), Craig Hodges (1990-92), Mark Price (1993-94), Jeff Hornacek (1998, 2000 -- no contest in 1999), Peja Stojakovic (2002-03) and Jason Kapono (2007-08) are the other players to win multiple All-Star 3-point titles.

Sunday marked Curry's seventh 3-point contest, tying him with Dale Ellis for the second-most appearances in NBA history, behind only Hodges' eight.

Curry had 31 points in the first round to lead the contest. Also advancing were the Boston Celtics' Jayson Tatum, with 25 points, and Conley, who took injured Phoenix Suns star Devin Booker's spot in the All-Star Game and 3-point contest, with 28.

Tatum led off the final round with 17 points while making only one shot from the "money ball'' rack. Conley nearly duplicated his first-round total and it appeared it might be enough until Curry solidified his reputation as one of the top shooters in NBA history.

The Chicago Bulls' Zach LaVine, Utah's Donovan Mitchell and Boston's Jaylen Brown were eliminated in the first round of the 3-point contest. LaVine and Mitchell, both former dunk contest winners, were each looking to become the first player ever to win both the dunk contest and the 3-point contest.

All-Star Weekend was originally scheduled to be held at Sabonis' home arena in Indianapolis, before the coronavirus pandemic forced the NBA to relocate the festivities to Atlanta.

Wearing his Pacers-themed jersey, Sabonis was able to overcome his runner-up finish to 2020 Skills Challenge winner and fellow big man Bam Adebayo of Miami.

"It was fun,'' Sabonis said. "I wanted to come out and make sure I got it done this time.''

The skills challenge featured two guards -- Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic and Phoenix's Chris Paul -- and four forwards/centers. Doncic and Paul each picked up a first-round bye, while the big men duked it out.

However, after Sabonis and Vucevic defeated the New York Knicks' Julius Randle and the Portland Trail Blazers' Robert Covington, respectively, in the first round, each big man got by the guards to advance to the final round.

Each missed two 3-point shots before Sabonis sank his third attempt and then clinched his fist in victory.

Because the events took place just a short time before the All-Star Game itself, participants wore their game jerseys.

Covington, the only non-All-Star in either of the first two events and the only HBCU graduate in the NBA, wore his Tennessee State jersey and announced prior to the contest that he was donating two $25,000 scholarships to students at his alma mater.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Portland's Anfernee Simons was all smiles as he became the first Trail Blazers player to win the NBA dunk contest, which took place during halftime of Sunday night's All-Star Game in Atlanta.

Simons bested rookies Obi Toppin of the New York Knicks and Cassius Stanley of the Indiana Pacers to bring home the trophy, which Simons called "a dream come true."

Simons won the contest over Toppin in the final round via a new rule called the "Judge's choice." Simons and Toppin had one dunk each in the round, and instead of a score, the five judges selected a name, with Simons receiving three votes to Toppin's two.

The contest was judged by five former dunk champions: Hall of Famer Dominique Wilkins (1985, 1990), Spud Webb (1986), Dee Brown (1991), Jason Richardson (2002, 2003) and Josh Smith (2005).

"Having a chance to come in and be a part of it and win it, it's surreal," Simons said.

There was some early controversy when Stanley's first dunk, a left-hander after he moved the ball between his legs in the air, scored only 44 points. Toppin then scored a 48 on a two-handed reverse.

On his first dunk, Simons had a mini hoop placed on the goal with a basketball on top of it. He ran from the side and grabbed the ball off the mini hoop -- probably two feet above the rim -- and dunked it, earning 46 points. His second slam -- which earned a score of 49 for a spot in the final -- was a tribute to Tracy McGrady; Simons donned a T-Mac jersey and went with a 360 dunk off the bounce.

"He was my hero growing up, so I wanted to honor him as well,'' Simons said.

For his final dunk, Simons started in the corner and lobbed the ball up. As he caught it, he jumped as high as he could and blew a kiss to the rim while being as level with it as possible. While he missed actually kissing the rim, he did show off his vertical leap.

Simons said his goal for the last dunk was to kiss the rim, but he also wanted to make sure he didn't hit his head.

"In practice, I never actually kissed the rim, but I was like, 'I gotta commit to it,'" Simons said. "I tried to put a mouthpiece in last-minute, but it didn't fit in my mouth. I just scratched, and I'm just going to emphasize the smooch face so people know I'm next to the rim and trying to kiss it."

Simons said he was going over wild ideas and actively joking about the kiss-the-rim dunk when discussing his plans for the contest, before settling on making an attempt at it.

"I was like, all right, 'Let's actually do it this time.' That was something nobody had ever done," Simons said. "Just very unique and very creative to do. I think a few people can actually do. I think that was going to show the judges a lot."

Toppin also showed creativity, jumping over his father, Obadiah Toppin, and teammate Julius Randle on a dunk which earned 46 points.

In the final, Toppin took off from near the free-throw line, inspiring comparisons to Wilkins' winning form while with the Atlanta Hawks.

Introduced as "Slam Dunk champion Anfernee Simons" during his post-contest media availability, Simons just smiled and said, "Nice intro."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Six-time All-Star forward Blake Griffin has agreed to a deal to join the Brooklyn Nets for the rest of the season, his agent, Sam Goldfeder of Excel Sports, told ESPN on Sunday night.

The Nets are using one of their veteran-minimum-contract slots to sign Griffin, sources said.

Griffin informed Nets general manager Sean Marks of his decision to join Brooklyn's championship chase on Sunday evening, a reunion of sorts with his former Los Angeles Clippers teammate DeAndre Jordan.

Griffin had interest from most of the NBA's top playoff contenders and cleared waivers on Sunday night after agreeing to a buyout on the remaining $56.5 million left on his contract with the Detroit Pistons on Friday.

The Nets imagine Griffin, 31, as a small-ball center alternative off its bench.

Brooklyn has solidified itself as a championship contender with the addition of James Harden to a roster that includes Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving.

Because Brooklyn will be in the luxury tax next season, the most they could offer Griffin as a free agent is the $5.9 million taxpayer mid-level exception, according to reporting by ESPN's Bobby Marks. However, Griffin will earn $29.8 million from Detroit next year and has $255 million in career earnings.

Detroit has entered a full-fledged rebuild under the first-year general manager Troy Weaver and the opportunity to play the franchise's younger players has taken precedent for the Pistons.

Griffin was traded less than a season into a five-year, $171 million max deal with the Los Angeles Clippers, arriving in Detroit in late-January 2018.

Injuries have dramatically altered Griffin's game, eliminating the high-flying rim attacks that marked his All-Star career. He now leans heavily on the 3-point shot and his ability to make plays for others.

Griffin averaged 12.3 points, 5.2 rebounds and 3.9 assists in 20 games for Detroit this season.

Thanks to a perfect 16-for-16 performance from the field -- including banking in multiple jump shots -- Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo won his first NBA All-Star Game Most Valuable Player Award, as Team LeBron cruised to a 170-150 victory over Team Durant on Sunday night in Atlanta.

"You know, usually it is closed [on Sundays]," Antetokounmpo said with a smile, when asked about the banked-in jumpers, "but for me, it was open extended hours."

According to Elias Sports Bureau research, Antetokounmpo shattered the previous record of most makes without a miss in an All-Star Game, set by Hal Greer when he went 8-for-8 in 1968. But Antetokounmpo said his perfect shooting night wasn't something that was on his mind during the game.

"It actually wasn't," he said. "I was just trying to just play. When you're around guys like [Damian Lillard] and [Stephen Curry] and Chris Paul, it's just easy. Nobody is worrying about me. I'm just playing one-on-one, nobody is double-teaming. If you feel good, then I feel good that it will be good. I just get up and have fun and just try to get as many shots as I can."

In a game Team LeBron controlled from start to finish, it was Antetokounmpo (who finished with a game-high 35 points), Curry (28 points and eight 3-pointers) and Lillard (32 points and the game-sealing 3-pointer) who led the way. The three fought for the MVP trophy down to the end, with Antetokounmpo ultimately winning it.

In addition to it being the first time he has won the award, it also was a chance for Antetokounmpo to take home an honor named after Kobe Bryant -- something that made it extra special for him.

"Obviously, I'm extremely happy at just having the award with the name of Kobe Bryant in my house," he said. "It's a great feeling. I wanted to win the one last year really bad and I had a chance to win because I felt like I wanted to have the trophy in my house, but this year I wasn't even thinking about winning it, I was just thinking about having fun, and I had the opportunity to play well.

"My team played great, and I was able to just win it and to have the trophy with the name of Kobe Bryant, it's amazing, and I know he would be happy. Yeah, I know he'd be happy."

This All-Star Game, like everything else about this season, was inescapably altered by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Originally scheduled to be in Indianapolis, it was instead moved to Atlanta. Only a handful of fans were in the stands, and strict quarantines were in place for everyone involved.

That, however, didn't prevent the virus from infiltrating the event, as contact tracing forced the league to pull Philadelphia 76ers stars Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons out of the game -- and potentially kept away from the Sixers when the second half of the season begins Thursday.

The situation involving Embiid and Simmons was the exact example NBA Commissioner Adam Silver mentioned Saturday when discussing why, he believes, most NBA players will eventually get the vaccine. While Silver said the NBA will not mandate players get the vaccine, if they do get vaccinated, they would no longer have to quarantine -- and, thus, be unable to play -- if they come in contact with someone who tests positive for COVID-19.

But when Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James was asked about being vaccinated Sunday afternoon during his pregame media availability, he declined to say whether he would get it.

"That's a conversation that my family and I will have. Pretty much keep that to a private thing," James said. "Obviously, I saw Adam had his comments about the vaccination. But things like that, when you decide to do something, that's a conversation between you and your family and not for everybody. I'll keep it that way."

James, who said early last month that the NBA's choosing to hold an All-Star Game amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic was a "slap in the face," lived up to the other quote he had about the game that day.

"I'll be there if I'm selected," James said. "But I'll be there physically, but not mentally."

James, who hadn't scored fewer than 13 points in any of his prior 16 All-Star appearances, had only four points on 2-for-7 shooting -- including whiffing on two wide-open layups -- in 13 minutes. James said after the game he would be taking advantage of every second he had to recover before the Lakers open the second half of their season.

"I hope so," James said, when asked if he had enough time to recover. "Is it enough time? I'll take any time, obviously. So I'll take full advantage of the time that we have. Is it enough time? No, it's never enough time, but we're not on the side of time. I'm not on the side of time. I'll take full advantage of what I have and be OK with it."

Team LeBron, with its victory, donated more than $1 million to the Thurgood Marshall College Fund, while Team Durant donated $500,000 to the United Negro College Fund. James also has now been on the winning team in each of the past four years since the NBA switched to the captains format in 2018.

"I hope that they allow me to retire from being an All-Star captain, so I can retire with a perfect 4-0 record," James said afterward.

"I always try to pick the right team, and I've been lucky enough for four years to pick the right team. Guys go out and compete and play to win. I've been on the winning side of all four."

Curry, meanwhile, showed he was ready for business by winning the 3-point contest for the second time in his career. He then couldn't miss in the first half, scoring 22 points and initially giving himself a shot at the MVP award.

Curry, along with Paul George, said they preferred the one-day All-Star format, compared to the usual weekend full of pomp and circumstance. They did want one change: having fans in the stands.

"[The game] felt the same," Curry said. "The only thing is you can't really see the crowd in normal years, outside the courtside rows, but the energy is definitely louder, more engaged with more people.

"But the only thing that was really missing was the courtside kind of vibe. The who's who sitting down there, and just the energy down on the court. I remember watching it last year in Chicago and that was half the fun of the new format, the ending, was everyone who was courtside or in the lower part of the stands just all locked in and engaged in the game, and there's some dope photos of that. That's the biggest piece that was missing."

Several players also expressed their happiness that Mike Conley, now playing in his 14th NBA season, made his All-Star debut. He did so in a unique way: by contesting a jump ball at center court with another point guard, Paul, to start the second quarter.

"It was great to get out there," Conley said. "I was not prepared for the tip. I was getting ready to guard someone, and they're like, 'Mike, go jump, go jump!'

"I wish I'd won the tip, but other than that, I had a great time."

Still, teammate Donovan Mitchell couldn't help but give Conley a hard time for it taking a bit before he finally made his first basket.

"He's 65 years old," Mitchell quipped, "so it took him awhile to get going."

After last year's thrilling conclusion in the debut of the "Elam Ending," Team LeBron's control over the game made it academic this time around. Thanks to winning the second quarter by 19 points -- sandwiched between one-point victories in the first and third quarters -- Team Durant started the fourth quarter needing to score 45 points to win, while Team LeBron needed only 24.

The only drama in the end was whether Curry or Lillard, who both spent the night trading half-court 3-pointers, would hit one to win the game. After Curry tried, and missed, Lillard -- who has made game-winners his forte -- lined one up and buried it to give Team LeBron the win.

Global governing body makes a series of pledges to coincide with International Women’s Day

To coincide with International Women’s Day, World Athletics has launched a campaign called #WeGrowAthletics designed to build on the strides the sport has taken towards greater gender equality.

As part of the launch today (March 8), the global governing body is making a number of pledges to commit to further advance the role of girls and women in athletics in three core areas of the sport – empowering women in leadership positions, breaking with traditions and shining a spotlight on women’s stories across its platforms.

This pledge is the result of an internal review across World Athletics’ departments and work with key stakeholders and partners to identify areas in which more progress can be made.

All digital platforms will feature a new version of World Athletics’ logo – inspired by the colours of the suffragette movement – during March 8-14 and there will be a specially designed emoji running alongside the #WeGrowAthletics hashtag on Twitter.

The pledges have been brought together under three core pillars…

#WeGrowAthletics by empowering women to pursue leadership positions

World Athletics will continue its work to grow the number of women in leadership positions across the sport and remains committed to its Council being gender balanced by 2027.

#WeGrowAthletics by breaking with traditions

World Athletics pledges to review age-old traditions around the presentation of women’s performances and achievements to emphasise the importance of women’s competition. The governing body believes there is often an unconscious bias in traditions such as the way results are presented, for example.

Given this it pledges to review World Athletics event timetables to put greater focus on highlighting women’s events. Statistics and rankings on its website are also going to default to women’s disciplines.

#WeGrowAthletics by ensuring a platform for women’s voices and tackling online abuse

World Athletics pledges to put greater emphasis on how and by whom women’s stories are told on its platforms together with making them a safer space for everyone and will continue to work with social media platforms to eliminate and remove sexist, racist and other inappropriate comments and posts in order to make these platforms inspirational places for women to share stories.

World Athletics President Sebastian Coe said: “Gender equality should no longer be a theoretical discussion in any organisation. We should all be taking action by identifying barriers, reviewing our policies and practices and creating clear pathways for women to rise, contribute and participate at all levels.

“Athletics has historically led the way in gender equality since the beginning of the professional sport era in the 1980s with an equal programme of events and prize money for both women and men. We want the strides we have made in our sport, thanks in most part to trailblazing women on and off the field of play, to inspire others.”

He added: “We have much more to do but I am confident these pledges, together with those of our partners and stakeholders, will allow more women to hurdle historically established barriers on the way to greater gender equality.”

Many of World Athletics’ partners and stakeholders will be supporting this pledge, including Mondo, Fifty Digital, World Athletics Productions and the World Athletics Championships Oregon22. At the latter event, for example, a women’s discipline is now likely to conclude the championships.

Bryson DeChambeau captured his eighth career PGA Tour victory Sunday at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Here’s everything you need to know from the very difficult final round at Bay Hill Club and Lodge:

Leaderboard: DeChambeau (-11), Lee Westwood (-10), Corey Conners (-8), Jordan Spieth (-6), Andrew Putnam (-6), Richy Werenski (-6)

What it means: In addition to his U.S. Open triumph, DeChambeau has now won Jack Nicklaus’ tournament (2018 Memorial) and Arnold Palmer’s. He’s also proven to be one of game’s best – if not the best – tough-course players in the world. Bay Hill was a beast on Sunday, with a field scoring average more than 4.6 shots higher than in Round 3. Add this to his dominant performance at Winged Foot and Bryson’s brawn seems best suited for the most strenuous tests.

How it happened: A four-man tournament was reduced to two front-runners when Westwood birdied the par-5 12^th to tie DeChambeau. At 11 under, the final twosome was two shots clear of the field. They remained deadlocked until Westwood three-putted from 38 feet at the 14^th. Conners did eagle the par-5 16^th to briefly get back within one, but promptly bogeyed the 17^th. Meanwhile, DeChambeau parred No. 16 and stayed one up on Westwood, who missed a 7-footer for birdie. The two parred No. 17 and when Westwood rolled in a 7-footer for par on 18, it meant DeChambeau had to make his from 5 feet for the win. After backing off once, he emphatically drilled it. 

Round of the day: DeChambeau's 1-under 71. The field averaged more than 75.5 shots in the final round and 71 was the lowest score of the day (shot by three players). After a bogey at the first hole, DeChambeau didn't drop a shot the rest of the day, parring his final 12 holes.

Shot of the day: There was DeChambeau’s 377-yard tee shot on the par-5 sixth.

There was also DeChambeau’s 50-foot par save at the par-4 11th.

But the Shot of the Day was the winner, the 5-footer for par at the last.

Biggest disappointment, Part I: Spieth. With birdies at Nos. 4 and 6, Spieth was a co-leader. But there were no more red numbers. He bogeyed the eighth hole, made a string of pars, and then bogeyed Nos. 15, 17 and 18. It added up to a 3-over 75 and a T-4.

Biggest disappointment, Part II: Rory McIlroy. The past champion was four back to start the day and never gave himself a chance. He bogeyed the second hole and put two balls in the water off the tee at No. 6. McIlroy finished with 76 but still managed a top-10 when Keegan Bradley, who went 64-78 over the weekend, bogeyed the final hole.

Quote of the day: "I don't even know what to say about winning Mr. Palmer's tournament. It's going to make me cry." – DeChambeau

The 2021 NBA All-Star Game festivities are tonight in Atlanta. Due to COVID-19, it's all happening Sunday. That's right, all the skills, all the scoring, all the 3s and all the dunks in one night.

It's Team LeBron vs. Team Durant with LeBron James and Kevin Durant serving as captains. They drafted their teams earlier this week. The Utah Jazz, the team with the NBA's best record, had Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert picked last.

Sunday's festivities started with some drama as Philadelphia 76ers' All-Stars Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons were ruled out of the game after coming in contact with a barber who later tested positive for the coronavirus.

Here's the schedule for tonight's events:

ALL OF ALL-STAR IN ONE NIGHT... #NBAAllStar to feature the Game & Skills competitions on one night TONIGHT on TNT!

? 5pm/et: TNT NBA Tip-Off presented by CarMax
? 6:30pm/et: #TacoBellSkills & #MtnDew3PT
? 8pm/et: 70th NBA All-Star Game
? Halftime: #ATTSlamDunk pic.twitter.com/0uCVTUlkAl

— NBA (@NBA) March 7, 2021

These are the best looks, shots, dunks and action from the All-Star Game:

Sneaker sneak peek and pregame fashion

That 9-time All-Star drip ?@JHarden13 ⭐️ #NBAAllStar pic.twitter.com/tJQ07tAQCZ

— Brooklyn Nets (@BrooklynNets) March 7, 2021

The stars are in the building. ?

All of #NBAAllStar in One Night action begins at 6:30 PM ET on TNT! pic.twitter.com/ugO7XJ6COT

— NBA (@NBA) March 7, 2021

.@jaytatum0 showing off the fit ? pic.twitter.com/z2bN7rFd8j

— Boston Celtics (@celtics) March 7, 2021

CP3. RoCo. Luka. Julius. Domas. Vooch.

The #TacoBellSkills participants arrive!

All of All-Star in One Night action begins at 6:30 PM ET on TNT! #NBAAllStar pic.twitter.com/HykjjD7LgO

— NBA (@NBA) March 7, 2021

Statue of Liberty vibes for @ObiToppin1 in the #NBAAllStar Dunk Contest ?? pic.twitter.com/jKUvpkqMll

— Nick DePaula (@NickDePaula) March 7, 2021

Ready for the festivities ?
2X #NBAAllStar, let's go. @luka7doncic | @Chime pic.twitter.com/WcmVShhWUh

— Dallas Mavericks (@dallasmavs) March 7, 2021

Tonight's fit #NBAAllStar

⭐️ #TacoBellSkills Challenge
4:30 PM

⭐️ 70th NBA All-Star Game
6PM

? @NBAonTNT@CP3 | #TeamLeBron pic.twitter.com/sUv3lU8o5z

— Phoenix Suns (@Suns) March 7, 2021

All-Star threads! ?⭐️?#NBAAllStar | @RealDealBeal23 pic.twitter.com/D35EAMoJ7U

— Washington Wizards (@WashWizards) March 7, 2021

Kawhi's "Neo Flame" New Balances for #NBAAllStar pic.twitter.com/Z3QDMzXdLQ

— Nick DePaula (@NickDePaula) March 7, 2021

Zach's All-Star attire ? pic.twitter.com/2t8TwTvMxj

— Chicago Bulls (@chicagobulls) March 7, 2021

Steph's getting ready

It's been a minute!! Game day baby ?? #NBAAllStar pic.twitter.com/xdKv9b8LWS

— Stephen Curry (@StephenCurry30) March 7, 2021

CONCORD, N.C. — Call me a curmudgeon if need be because, as they say, if the shoe fits wear it. But the Daytona 500 certainly isn’t what it used to be.

Like many in the racing community, I grew up watching the Daytona 500 on television and it was one of the most anticipated events of the winter.

Among our family and friends, it was even more important than the Super Bowl.

We planned weeks ahead and had gatherings complete with food, drink and betting pools. In those days, the Daytona 500 and NASCAR wasn’t covered 24/7 in much of the country and tuning in on race day, or the day before to watch the delayed telecast of the Twin 125 qualifying races, was how many of us found out what to expect for the coming season.

It was an event, and the drivers were truly the best in the business from all disciplines of American automobile racing.

For decades TV coverage of the 500 came on at noon and the race started soon after. It would all be over before 4 p.m. and there was still time left in the day to do other things. For many, it was breakfast, church, Daytona 500.

For others, it was brunch, Bloody Mary, Daytona 500.

But the goal was always the same; to watch our favorite drivers go as fast as they could for 500 miles at the World Center of Racing.

When we first started watching, it was simply Daytona, later it became The Great American Race, a moniker that only added to the prestige and interest of race fans across the land.

It was NASCAR’s best — Richard Petty (our family’s favorite), Bobby Allison, David Pearson (not our family’s favorite), Darrell Waltrip, Dale Earnhardt … the list goes on.

But because of the rules of the time, both from a car standpoint and because of the unique qualifying format, the race was open to everyone. No one was guaranteed a spot in the Daytona 500.

There were always more than 50 drivers and cars vying for the 40 starting spots. Among them were superstars from other genres of racing such as A.J. Foyt, Mario Andretti, Johnny Rutherford and Al Unser Jr. There were also low-budget entries with “a dollar and a dream.”

Superspeedway legends, short-track heroes and no-name dreamers are what made the Daytona 500 The Great American Race.

However, as NASCAR grew in popularity and the television networks and sponsors had more skin in the game, things began changing.

And that brought us to where we are today. The race starts after 3 p.m., and as a result frequently competes with the late afternoon showers that plague Florida. This year’s race and last year’s would have been completed if started at noon.

Instead, both were rain delayed with last year’s completed on Monday and the 63rd running of the Daytona 500 finishing early on Monday morning with many enthusiasts, including this one, sound asleep.

But those who slept didn’t miss much as the race ended with the predictable carnage that has become common place for The Great American Race. Millions of dollars in equipment was rendered useless in a split second.

These multi-car “big ones,” as the television shills refer to them, have become so predictable and expected that the drivers aren’t even mad about them anymore. No one blames anyone and nobody swings at anybody. It simply “is what it is.”

Being “what it is” is not what made race fans of so many and not what made Daytona the World Center of Racing and the 500 The Great American Race. It was about the thrilling and the unexpected.

The fields aren’t as interesting anymore either. This year, 44 cars showed up for the 40-car field with eight teams competing for four available positions in the field. The other 36 spots were already spoken for thanks to NASCAR’s charter system.

Also, thanks to that charter system, we got to see 62-year-old Derrike Cope in the Daytona 500 for the first time since 2004. I fondly remember cheering for Cope to defeat Dale Earnhardt in the 1990 Daytona 500.

Cope’s victory is a great moment in Daytona 500 history; his final appearance at Daytona was not. He shouldn’t have been there, but the charter system allowed it and kept speedy youngsters Ty Dillon and Noah Gragson out of the race.

It remains that NASCAR kicks off its season with the Daytona 500, considered to be the series’ biggest race, but part of that lure was always the large purses available, not only for winning, but for simply making the race.

NASCAR has standardized purses and doesn’t release that information to the public. It would sure be interesting to know how much Michael McDowell made for winning this year’s race, or what Spire Motorsports’ take was for putting two cars in the top 10.

Call me a curmudgeon, but the old gray mare ain’t what she used to be.