FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- A high school football player who was seen on video trash-talking Cam Newton has apologized to the 2015 NFL Most Valuable Player after the exchange between them went viral.

An abbreviated part of the video, in which Newton was repeatedly taunted as a free-agent-to-be who was "about to be poor," sparked passionate reaction from Newton's NFL peers. It occurred at a 7-on-7 football tournament, with Newton coaching his longtime team through his charitable foundation.

The player, Jseth Owens of Perkiomen Valley High School in Pennsylvania, asked for forgiveness as part of a written apology on Twitter.

@CameronNewton @barstoolsports @overtime @espn pic.twitter.com/eBTg1tnnzI

— jseth owens (@jsethowens_5) February 22, 2021

Earlier Sunday, Newton had shared an extended video of the exchange on Instagram, with an accompanying message that explained why he was seeking to speak with the player's father.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Cam Newton (@cameron1newton)

"People often forget as athletes that are often seen on TV -- loved by most, hated by some -- we are real dads, real friends, real brothers, real sons, real human beings. With that being said, when I attend tournaments all across the country with my all-star team, I have given my time, my energy and my expertise to these kids coming into our program for over 11 years and that is not what people want to hear or even want to see.

"People want to see me arguing with another young man and to see me 'get in my feelings.' But the truth is this, I impact kids' lives in a positive way. Make no mistake about it, I allow kids to realize their 'out' by using their football talents to get them to the next level and in most cases out of the hood."

Philadelphia Eagles cornerback Darius Slay, Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back Leonard Fournette, New Orleans Saints defensive end Cameron Jordan, Pittsburgh Steelers tight end Eric Ebron and Denver Broncos safety Justin Simmons were among NFL players who tweeted their support of Newton.

Some Kids in this generation don't appreciate the fact that Professional players are taking the time out to come out an show love an they have the nerves to act like that.. https://t.co/BO2x40H9EA

— Darius Slay (@bigplay24slay) February 21, 2021

Any young athlete watching this video please don't be this kid, Don't miss your chance to learn something from someone who has been their at the highest level in this sport.... STAY HUMBLE https://t.co/BCmGPK8w1W

— 7⃣ Leonard Fournette (@_fournette) February 21, 2021

lil boy was talkin CRAZY... def should've got kicked out the camp ... https://t.co/IXYC1a8itg

— cameron jordan (@camjordan94) February 21, 2021

he ain't triggered social media give kids to say whatever with no respect.. lol boy got in cam shirt ? that "i'm rich" having ppl on they feelings ? #MVPCam (Cam always been one my favorites) ✊? https://t.co/Sf4FJpkj3q

— Eric Ebron (@Ebron85) February 21, 2021

He tried to be funny in front of his friends instead of asking a great like Cam, how to overcome adversity and be an MVP of a league that you have 1% chance of making. Smh.

AT AN EVENT HE DOESNT HAVE TO BE AT..to support yall..? https://t.co/RNcBEyyccz

— Justin Simmons (@jsimms1119) February 21, 2021

Newton, who spent the 2020 season with the New England Patriots after nine seasons with the Carolina Panthers, is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent. He said on the "I Am Athlete" podcast to be released Monday that he has no plans to retire.

"Hell no! I can't go out like that," he said in reference to an up-and-down 2020 season in which the Patriots were 7-9. "I hear all of that talk. My pride won't allow me to do it. There aren't 32 guys better than me."

Gonzaga's bid for a wire-to-wire run at No. 1 keeps chugging along.

Baylor is still right there with the Zags.

Gonzaga received 60 first-place votes from a media panel in The Associated Press men's college basketball poll released on Monday, picking up one vote from last week. The second-ranked Bears received the other four first-place votes in a week of little change.

Gonzaga and Baylor have been 1-2 all season.

Michigan, Ohio State and Illinois rounded out the top five for the second straight week. The Buckeyes held their ground despite losing 92-87 to the Wolverines on Saturday.

The Zags (22-0, 13-0 West Coast Conference) ran over Saint Mary's and San Diego last week in their bid to become the first wire-to-wire No. 1 since Kentucky in 2014-15.

Gonzaga has won 26 consecutive games after blowing out San Diego 106-69 on Saturday and hasn't really been tested despite playing one of the nation's toughest schedules.

"We're just becoming more mature and understand that just winning these games doesn't necessarily mean we're going to get a guaranteed national championship," guard Andrew Nembhard said. "We have to raise our level and keep improving every day so that's what we've been trying to do. It's kind of shown in our play lately."

Baylor (17-0, 9-0 Big 12) held its season-long spot at No. 2 despite having three more games postponed due to COVID-19 issues. The Bears have not played since beating Texas on Feb. 2 and have had eight games postponed this season.

Baylor is scheduled to play Iowa State on Tuesday.

RISING TIDE

Alabama moved up two spots to No. 6 this week, its highest ranking since reaching No. 4 in 2006-07. The Crimson Tide have won three in a row since losing by three to No. 24 Missouri.

Alabama is within reach of its first Southeastern Conference regular-season title in 19 years after rallying to beat Vanderbilt 82-78 on Saturday.

The Crimson Tide are 13-1 in SEC play, 3½ games ahead of No. 20 Arkansas and LSU. Alabama plays at Arkansas on Wednesday.

TOP 10 RETURN

No. 9 Iowa and No. 10 West Virginia returned to the top 10 this week.

The Hawkeyes, the preseason No. 5, dropped out of the top 10 for the second time this season on Feb. 8 but moved back in this week thanks to a four-game winning streak. Iowa beat No. 23 Wisconsin and Penn State last week.

The Mountaineers spent three weeks in the top 10 before dropping out on Dec. 28. West Virginia knocked off No. 14 Texas 84-82 on Saturday to move up three spots in this week's poll.

JAYHAWKS CLIMB

Kansas is climbing after seeing its record run in the AP Top 25 end two weeks ago.

The Jayhawks have won five in a row, including a six-point win over No. 18 Texas Tech last week, and moved up six spots to No. 17 in this week's poll. Kansas returned to the poll last week after dropping out on Feb. 8, ending a stretch of 231 consecutive weeks in the AP Top 25.

POLL MOVEMENT

No new teams moved in or out of the poll this week. ... No. 11 Florida State had the biggest jump, gaining five spots after beating Pittsburgh. ... No. 12 Houston lost six spots to drop out of the top 10 for the first time since Jan. 11 after losing to Wichita State and beating Cincinnati last week. ... No. 15 Virginia dropped eight spots after losses to Duke and Florida State last week. ... No. 20 Arkansas has its highest ranking since reaching No. 18 in 2014-15 after beating Florida last week.

New York Rangers star Artemi Panarin is taking a leave of absence from the team for personal reasons.

The news comes after a Russian newspaper published allegations from Panarin's former KHL coach, Andrei Nazarov, claiming the winger got into a physical altercation with an 18-year-old woman in Latvia in 2011. Nazarov's interview said Panarin "sent her to the floor with several powerful blows," according to a translation provided to ESPN. Nazarov has previously criticized Panarin's outspoken beliefs toward Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"Artemi vehemently and unequivocally denies any and all allegations in this fabricated story," the Rangers said in a statement Monday. "This is clearly an intimidation tactic being used against him for being outspoken on recent political events. Artemi is obviously shaken and concerned and will take some time away from the team. The Rangers fully support Artemi and will work with him to identify the source of these unfounded allegations."

Nazarov, who played 571 games in the NHL, said a criminal case against Panarin was opened in Latvia but added that somebody paid "a sum of 40k Euro cash" to stop the case, though it was unclear who paid that.

Panarin was traded from Nazarov's team a month after the alleged assault.

Last month, Panarin showed his support for Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny in an Instagram post. Through a Rangers spokesperson, Panarin declined to comment further on the topic in the days following the post.

Panarin, 29, was a finalist for the Hart Trophy as the NHL MVP last season. He has five goals and 13 assists for 18 points in 14 games this season. The Rangers have won two straight but are still four points out of a playoff position in the East Division.

Panarin typically spends his offseasons in Russia and still has family there, including his grandparents. It is rare to see high-profile Russian athletes speak out against Putin or the Russian government, but Panarin has been consistent in his stance.

In a Russian-language interview in 2019, Panarin said that he is frustrated to see economic development stalled and limited to the elite in Moscow.

"I may look like a foreign agent right now, but it's not like that," Panarin said in the 2019 interview. "I think that the people who hush up the problems are more like foreign agents than those who talk about them. If I think about problems, I am coming from a positive place, I want to change something, to have people live better. I don't want to see retirees begging."

Results from Fayetteville and various national indoor championships on a busy weekend in the sport

It was a busy week and weekend with top-class action at Toruń (report here) and the British trials (reports here and here) and a sensational 10,000m by Marc Scott in the US (report here) but there was plenty of other top action in Europe and the USA.

American Track League, Fayetteville, February 21

The four-time global 200m champion Allyson Felix is now in the W35 veteran category and she ran her first indoor 200m since 2003 to win in a PB 22.59 ahead of Jasmine Camacho-Quinn’s 22.91 but lost to Darryl Neita’s European qualifier in the 60m of 7.24

Ryan Crouser won the shot with 21.93m despite food poisoning on Friday meaning he had lost 15 pounds.

There was a top quality women’s shot put competition with three all setting PBs over 19.50m with Raven Saunders winning in 19.57 from Maggie Ewen’s 19.54m and Jessica Ramsey’s 19.50m.

Former world champion Jamaican Danielle Williams won the women hurdles in 7.86 with Cindy Sember third in a Euro qualifier 8.01.

Heather MacLean won the 800m in 2:00.53 just ahead of Siofra Cleirigh Butner’s Irish record 2:00.58, with Adelle Tracey gaining a Euro qualifier 2:01.58 in third.

Jaylen Slade won the 200m in a US high school record 20.62 to break Noah Lyles’ previous mark.

A fuller report and leading results are available for AW subscribers in the Clubhouse section here.

Moscow, February 21

World pole vault champion Anzhelika Sidorova won with a world leading 4.90m at her first attempt.

Italian Championships, Ancona, Februaryy 20-21

Gianmarco Tamberi improved on his Toruń form to set a world lead of 2.35m to win the high jump, going clear first time before trying at an Italian record height of 2.38m.

ICYMI, this is how @gianmarcotamber set that world lead of 2.35m over in Italy.

Just look at the celebration!pic.twitter.com/Xkj2G7ybPi

— AW (@AthleticsWeekly) February 21, 2021

Reigning European under-20 long jump champion Larissa Iapichino jumped a world-leading 6.91m to break Heike Drechsler’s long-standing world indoor junior record of 6.88m and equal the national senior record held by her mother Fiona May.

Dario Dester set an Italian heptathlon record of 6076 while Marcell Jacobs won the 60m with 6.55.

Germany Championships, Dortmund, February 20-21

World champion Malaika Mihambo won her fourth German indoor title in a row with a 6.70m leap.

Kevin Kranz equalled the men’s 60m record with 6.52.

Polish Championships, Torun, February 20-21

Ewa Swoboda won the women’s 60m in a fast 7.10.

The world 400m hurdles semi-finalist Patryk Dobek, in only his third 800m, shocked world indoor champion Adam Kszczot with a PB win of 1:47.12 ahead of Kszczot’s 1:47.35.

Paweł Wiesiołek set a world lead and PB of 6103 in the heptathlon.

Dutch Championships, Apeldoorn, February 20-21

Femke Bol followed up her Toruń win as she took another two hundredths of a second off her recent national record and European lead with 50.64.

Liemarvin Bonevacia also did the Euro lead Dutch record double as he won in 45.99.

French Championships, Miramas, February 19-21

Benjamin Robert (1:46.06) defeated former world 800m champion Pierre-Ambroise Bosse (1:46.16).

World indoor record-holder Hugues-Fabrice Zango won the triple jump title with 17.17m.

Valentin Lavillenie won his first French pole vault title with 5.77m as his brother, the former world record-holder Renaud, was third with 5.66m.

Toruń favourite Wilhem Belocian won the 60m hurdles in 7.46 while Claire Palou broke the 31-year-old national 1500m record with 4:12.62.

Micro Meeting, Dublin, February 21

There was a high quality men’s 800m as Mark English won in an Irish indoor record 1:46.10 from 18-year-old Cian McPhillips who ran an Irish under-23 and under-20 record of 1:46.13 as both gained Euro indoor qualifiers. McPhillips had never broken 1:50 indoors or out before.

Leon Reid won the 60m in 6.68 ahead of Israel Olatunde who clocked an Irish under-23 and 20 indoor record 6.73. Reid also won the 200m in 20.96.

Former Brit Georgie Hartigan won the women’s 800m in 2:01.48.

Ethiopian Half Marathon Championships, Dire Dawa, February 21

At an altitude of 1276m Senbere Teferi won the women’s race in 70:52 while Leul Gebreselassie won the men’s race in 61:21 just ahead of Sisay Lemma’s 61:22, a time shared by both Belay Tilahun and Balew Yehune.

Japan Walking Championships, Kobe, February 21

Toshikazu Yamanishi won the 20km in a world-leading 1:17:20 from Eiki Takahashi’s 1:18:04 and Koki Ikeda’s 1:18:45.

More to follow…

Elliot Giles, Andrew Pozzi, Keely Hodgkinson and Holly Bradshaw are on the squad of 41 named for the event in Toruń

The British team for the European Indoor Championships in Toruń, Poland, on March 4-7 is packed with medal hopes and exciting up-and-coming athletes.

Contenders for the podium in Poland include former European indoor pole vault champion Holly Bradshaw, reigning world indoor 60m hurdles champion Andy Pozzi and US-based sprint hurdles sisters Tiffany Porter and Cindy Sember.

The squad is also bolstered by some of the endurance runners who have shone in recent weeks on the international circuit. They include Marc Scott, who is travelling over from his base in Oregon to compete in the 3000m in Poland fresh from his stunning 27:10.41 for 10,000m and 7:36.08 for 3000m outdoors in recent days.

Elliot Giles and Jamie Webb, the 800m duo (pictured above) who smashed Seb Coe’s 38-year-old UK indoor record this month, are set to race despite missing last weekend’s trials.

Another 800m sensation, Keely Hodgkinson, is in the team too following her world under-20 indoor record this season, although fellow 800m runner Jemma Reekie is one of a handful of notable absentees from the team.

The biggest name not in the team, of course, is Dina Asher-Smith, who has called time on her indoor season due to a minor injury.

Traditionally the European Indoor Championships is a good event to give up-and-coming athletes experience and Holly Mills has been rewarded for her fine pentathlon performance at the trials by being invited to compete in the combined events.

Long jumper Jacob Fincham-Dukes has also been rewarded for his fine form in the trials, whereas Sophie McKinna will hope to make further improvements on her great recent form.

There are also good relay squads and the 41-strong team could ultimately be bigger as well if British Athletics’ request for more field events additions is accepted.

The team will do well to match its tally of four golds and 12 medals at the last championships, which was held on home soil in Glasgow in 2019, but they will certainly travel to Poland with healthy hopes under new head coach Christian Malcolm.

Men

60m: Harry Aikines-Aryeetey, Oliver Bromby, Andrew Robertson. 400m: Joe Brier, Lee Thompson, James Williams. 800m: Elliot Giles, Guy Learmonth, Jamie Webb. 1500m: Piers Copeland, Archie Davis, Neil Gourley. 3000m: Andrew Butchart, Jack Rowe, Marc Scott. 4x400m: Brier, Efe Okoro, Tom Somers, Owen Smith, Thompson, Williams. 60m hurdles: Andrew Pozzi. Long jump: Jacob Fincham-Dukes

Women

400m: Jessie Knight, Ama Pipi, Jodie Williams. 800m: Ellie Baker, Isabelle Boffey, Keely Hodgkinson. 1500m: Holly Archer, Katie Snowden. 3000m: Amy-Eloise Markovc, Verity Ockenden, Amelia Quirk. 4x400m: Zoey Clark, Beth Dobbin, Yasmin Liverpool, Knight, Pipi, Williams. 60m hurdles: Emma Nwofor, Tiffany Porter, Cindy Sember. Pole vault: Holly Bradshaw (Scott Simpson; Blackburn). Long jump: Abigail Irozuru. Shot put: Sophie McKinna. Pentathlon: Holly Mills

In his latest column for BBC Sport, Jamie Murray talks about narrowly missing out on another Australian Open final, the uncertainty of what happens next for tennis and using video technology to help make a "big change" to his game.

You can't avoid a bit of jetlag and I was up early this morning as my body adjusts back to British time. I'm used to it now after years travelling the world on the tour and I just have to deal with it.

I did a Covid test when I got back and it produced a negative result. That means I'm allowed to train at the National Tennis Centre, although I have to do a lateral flow test every four days. Other than that, I will be quarantining at home.

Clearly there is still a lot of uncertainty about what will happen over the coming months because of the pandemic.

Obviously a lot of people across the world are having a hard time and we want things to ease for us all as soon as possible.

Speaking from a tennis perspective, we don't know yet what the next few months will look like.

As far as I'm aware the tournaments on the calendar are going ahead as planned, but whether that is with crowds, limited crowds or no crowds, we don't know. Every country is different.

My partner Bruno Soares is back in Brazil at the moment and spending time with his family too. We're not totally sure what our plans are, but we are looking at playing in Acapulco and Miami assuming they go ahead next month as planned.

We should have exemptions through the ATP to travel and compete. For the players, there is the added stress of trying to get flights, not knowing if you are going to test positive on arrival and then having long periods sitting in your room in quarantine.

It's not a great set-up for your mental health. It is a strange time and I don't know how long it will keep going like this.

Novak Djokovic floated the idea about an NBA-style bubble recently. In an ideal world, the tour would move to one country for six or seven weeks and have a host of tournaments.

However, in reality, that's obviously very difficult because the tour doesn't run the tournaments.

Hopefully the world can get vaccinated, and we can get back to competing in a normal world with people free to come and watch us play.

But it stills feels as if we are a way off from that happening.

How an iPad & video analysis contributed to Melbourne success

Losing in the Australian Open semi-final was a tough one to take.

We started really well against Joe Salisbury and Rajeev Ram - who were the defending champions - and we were a bit unlucky, a few things went against us that got them back into the match.

That gave them something to hold onto and some momentum. It was an odd one really and very disappointing to not reach the final.

Bruno and I had played well in Australia up to that point and we felt we had a great chance to go on and win another Grand Slam title.

Nevertheless it was a fantastic start to the year. We won our first eight matches of 2021 - having won one of the warm-up events and then reaching the Australian Open semi-finals - so we have a lot to look forward to for the rest of the year.

I wouldn't say it was a surprise as such that it has gone so well, we had the benefit of having played together before and put in a lot of work.

For me personally, I worked really hard on my serve in the off-season and I was very pleased with how that went.

That part of my game was the biggest limiting factor for me over the previous 18 months or so, and I wanted to give myself a good base from which to start the year on.

I made some big changes. I'm no longer tossing the ball up and taking a big step into the serve.

The reason why I have tweaked it is to get myself into position where I could get up and attack the ball, landing inside the court to allow me to move forward quicker and play my first volley.

It is something I had struggled with over the past couple of seasons. I was aware of it but hadn't been able to fix it.

As soon as we finished last season, I thought I had to get on top of this and tried to start making the changes, knowing I had the time to work on it.

Even a very small change feels massive and weird. It is all muscle memory because your body is used to doing it for a certain way for so many years.

I have done a lot of video analysis, using an iPad on the court to give instant feedback. This captures the serves and you can see straight away the motion and the technical changes I was trying to make.

Once I got out to Australia I was still filming a bit but mainly watching other people's serves, their set-ups and positions from where they hit the ball from.

There isn't a player - either historically or on tour now - that I was trying to emulate. But when you see everyone doing it along those lines, you know you're on the right track.

It felt good throughout the whole trip and it gives me a lot of confidence going forward. If I can maintain that then I think things will go well for me and Bruno this season.

Jamie Murray was talking to BBC Sport's Jonathan Jurejko

AALST, Belgium – The Repsol Honda Team revealed its new MotoGP liveries with a virtual presentation for the first time in Honda’s history on Monday, ahead of the new MotoGP season.

Multi-time MotoGP champion Marc Marquez will make his return to the premier class from injury this year, joined by Pol Espargaro, who is fresh off his best premier class season to date.

Espargaro will achieve a life-long dream this year by wearing the Repsol Honda colors aboard the factory Honda RC213V.

With over 100 premier-class starts, the 29-year-old is among the most experienced riders in MotoGP and arrives in the best form of his career.

Placing fifth last year in the World Championship standings with five podiums and two pole positions, Espargaro brings both experience and a fire to succeed to the team.

“The lead up to this season has been one of the most exciting of my career, it’s been like waiting for my first season or my MotoGP debut. To ride for the Repsol Honda Team is every rider’s dream and something to be truly proud of,” noted Espargaro. “Every few weeks I have taken another step, seeing the bike at my home, now wearing the leathers. The final step is to ride the RC213V for the first time at Qatar, this excitement is motivating me to train more and be the best I can be for the 2021 World Championship.

“I am here in the Repsol Honda Team in order to achieve success and fight at the top, this is the goal for 2021.”

For Marquez, the upcoming season is a new beginning as he is set to return from his season-ending injury sustained in Jerez last year.

Focusing exclusively on his recovery from a broken right humerus, Marquez has been working diligently to return to his best and come back strong for the new season.

“After a long time away it was nice to see my bike again and wear my leathers. 2020 was a difficult year for everyone and especially for me with the injury and watching the races from home. But I have continued to work with the doctors, with my team and with myself to recover and return to MotoGP,” said Marquez. “Of course, I would have liked to return sooner, but it is very important to listen to the doctors and my body until I am fully fit. I can imagine the best comeback that is to start riding again the bike and be the same, but it will be difficult to be like this. But we will see if it takes one race, two races, half the season to be the same Marc. I will not be at the Qatar Test, as I aim to return only when I am 100 percent and there is still some work to do.”

The iconic Repsol Honda livery will be another constant in 2021, as Repsol and Honda continue their more than quarter-century long partnership.

With 180 premier class wins, 447 premier class podiums and 15 championships, the combination the most decorated in professional motorcycle racing and determined to return to those levels of success after a rough campaign last year.

“We of course look forward to achieving the results that have always been our trademark, like fighting for victories, podiums and championships. This is the reason why, after more than 25 years, we continue side by side with the best partner in MotoGP, Honda,” said Ana Camps, Sponsoring, Media, Advertising and PR Deputy Director for Repsol. “The alliance between our two companies goes beyond a sponsorship agreement and is based on technology: collaboration between Honda’s facilities in Saitama and the Repsol Tech Lab in Madrid. We know that Marc is an extraordinary rider and a unique person with a great ability to overcome anything, so we have no doubt that he will soon amaze us again. Marc, of course, has all our support to achieve the goals he pursues.

“We also look forward to the arrival of a new rider, Pol Espargaro. He is a great professional and a mature rider and will now have an opportunity to prove his amazing talent.

“We enter another season full of anticipation and desire. After what has been a difficult 2020, we are continuing to learn and to work to return to the top of championship, added HRC Director Tetsuhiro Kuwata. “From the technical side, HRC have been working as hard as always to keep improving the RC213V. We have a new rider in the shape of Pol Espargaro this year who brings good experience and a desire for victory. We are all eagerly awaiting the first test with him. On Marc’s side, we have been closely following his recovery and will continue to do everything we can to support him to return as strong as possible.

“Finally, I would like to thank Repsol and all of our sponsors for their continued support. Without them we would be unable to go racing, they are not just sponsors but partners on this great challenge.”

The Repsol Honda will travel to Qatar for MotoGP pre-season testing, where Espargaro will get his first taste of the Honda RC213V. Marquez will not attend the Qatar test as he continues to focus on his recovery.

MILTON, Fla. – Mark Smith registered his second USCS Outlaw Thunder Tour victory of the year during Sunday’s feature at Southern Raceway.

Smith started sixth and raced his way to the front of the pack, eventually beating Saturday’s feature winner Tim Shaffer to the checkered flag.

Paulie Colagiovanni, Zane Devault and Chris Martin completed the top-five.

The finish:

1. M1-Mark Smith[6]; 2. 72-Tim Shaffer[3]; 3. 10C-Paulie Colagiovanni[8]; 4. 16B-Zane Devault[1]; 5. 44-Chris Martin[4]; 6. 24-Garet Williamson[13]; 7. 28M-Conner Morrell[9]; 8. 5T-Ryan Timms[14]; 9. 28F-Davie Franek[10]; 10. 22-Connor Leoffler[19]; 11. 1X-Brent Crews[2]; 12. 43-Terry Witherspoon[18]; 13. 27-Carson McCarl[7]; 14. 70-Nick Tucker[11]; 15. 66-Chase Dunham[21]; 16. 20B-Cody Bova[16]; 17. 7E-Eric Gunderson[24]; 18. (DNF) 33W-Mike Walter II[12]; 19. (DNF) 4-Danny Smith[17]; 20. (DNF) 28-Jeff Willingham[23]; 21. (DNF) W20-Greg Wilson[15]; 22. (DNF) 3-Todd Gracey[5]; 23. (DNF) 10-Terry Gray[20]; 24. (DNF) 3(43)-Shawn Murray[22]

GAFFNEY, S.C. – Chris Madden was one green-white-checkered restart away from redemption at Cherokee Speedway on Sunday.

His last visit to the three-eighths-mile oval, a home track to the Gray Court, S.C.-native, ended in shreds after a tire expired while leading in the closing laps of the 30th Blue Gray 100 in November.

He was not about to let that happen again.

Madden started Sunday’s Drydene Xtreme DIRTcar Series feature on the front row, got the jump on polesitter Ross Bailes out of turn two and had led every lap before the caution flag was displayed three separate times in the final five laps for blown tires on Dennis Franklin, and top-five contenders Trent Ivey and Zack Mitchell, with two laps remaining.

As Madden paced around under yellow, the intensity was building as those watching from the track and on DIRTVision wondered if he could make it two more times around under green on his own tires.

But inside the cockpit of his Drydene Rocket Chassis No. 44, Madden was cool as ice. When asked if he had recalled the unfortunate ending to his run at the Blue Gray 100 under caution, his answer was pleasantly straightforward.

“No, because it was 40 laps this time,” Madden said with a smile after the race.

As it turns out, he really did have no reason to worry. Madden’s Hoosier Racing Tires had plenty of tread left on them as he picked up the throttle on the final restart and cruised to the $5,000 victory in the track’s first running of the Frostbite 40.

“My car was extremely good tonight. Not too tight, not too loose, we were pretty well-balanced,” Madden said.

While the better part of his cruise through the first 35 laps was mostly uneventful, Madden did have one scare when a lapped car spun around right in front of him heading into turn one, forcing him to take sudden evasive action to avoid major contact on lap seven.

“He was going one direction at one moment and came back across the racetrack in front of me. It was kind of a sketchy moment there for a minute. It wasn’t that close, but it was too close for comfort,” Madden said.

After scoring the victory on Saturday night in the series debut at Lake View Motor Speedway, Ross Bailes ran another solid race aboard the Billy Hicks-owned No. 79 Longhorn Chassis to cross the stripe second.

Bailes chased Madden all race long but was unable to make up any ground on him, even after multiple restarts in the home stretch.

“Tonight, I had a second-place car; I didn’t have anything for Chris [Madden],” Bailes said. “He was way better than we were. I didn’t think we were bad; he was just that much better.”

At one point, Bailes was running more than four seconds behind Madden in traffic before the caution flew with four laps remaining. Even Bailes himself noted Madden’s strength in traffic.

“[Madden] got through lapped traffic way better than I did,” Bailes said. “It’s like he’d get up to a lapped car and was able to get underneath them and get by. It took me five or ten laps to get by one car.”

Madden came into the weekend 17 points over nearest Kyle Strickler, who crossed the stripe Sunday in third. Madden now goes into the final round at Modoc Raceway next Saturday night 25 points ahead in the standings, looking for his second Xtreme championship in the first two seasons of activity.

“We go to some of those places like [Modoc], and I’m not really good at those places,” Madden said. “I needed a little bit of comfort before I went. Kyle [Strickler’s] running extremely well right now.”

Another notable finish Sunday night was Stewart Friesen, the Super DIRTcar Series big-block modified and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series star, who placed fifth again after having to come out of the Last Chance Showdown.

He won the 10-lap affair to punch his ticket into the main event, and starting 16th, advanced 11 spots of position to grabs his second-straight top-five finish in his first two starts with the tour.

The finish:

Feature (40 laps): 1. 44-Chris Madden [2][$5,000]; 2. 79-Ross Bailes [1][$2,500]; 3. 8-Kyle Strickler [5][$1,700]; 4. 57-Adam Yarbrough [7][$1,400]; 5. 44F-Stewart Friesen [16][$1,200]; 6. 52-Josh Richeson [10][$1,000]; 7. 42K-Cla Knight [15][$800]; 8. 421-Anthony Sanders [13][$700]; 9. 17-Billy Franklin [11][$600]; 10. 2-Matthew Nance [23][$550]; 11. 17V-Tim Vance [21][$500]; 12. 88-Trent Ivey [4][$500]; 13. 57M-Zack Mitchell [6][$500]; 14. 24D-Michael Brown [14][$500]; 15. 29-Larry Grube [24][$500]; 16. 23-Michael Rouse [9][$500]; 17. 18D-Daulton Wilson [3][$500]; 18. 2F-Dennis Franklin [19][$500]; 19. O3-David Yandle [22][$500]; 20. 9-Johnny Pursley [20][$500]; 21. F1-Payton Freeman [18][$500]; 22. 18-Brett Hamm [8][$500]; 23. 6-Dillon Brown [12][]; 24. 48-Kenny Collins [17][] 

Hard Charger: 2-Matthew Nance [+13]