The NHL will finish its Lake Tahoe outdoor game between the Colorado Avalanche and Vegas Golden Knights at 9 p.m. local time (midnight ET), after it was paused because of deteriorating ice conditions following the first period.

Puck drop was at 12:12 p.m. PST, under intense sunshine that was melting snow around the rink and causing problems with the ice. The Avalanche lead the Golden Knights 1-0 after the first period on a goal by defenseman Samuel Girard. The teams left for their dressing rooms and remained there until NHL commissioner Gary Bettman announced the game would be completed later Saturday.

"We knew that unabated sunshine was a problem," Bettman said on NBC, which is shifting the completion of the game to NBCSN. "After consulting with our icemakers and both teams, we didn't think it was safe or appropriate to continue this game at this time. Some of the players wanted to continue playing. Others were more concerned. I felt the most prudent thing to do was to discontinue the game now."

Colorado captain Gabriel Landeskog said his team was ready to go back out but was pulled back by league officials. "It's probably a good decision to move it tonight," he said.

The rink was constructed next to the shores of Lake Tahoe on the 18th hole of a golf course at Edgewood Tahoe Resort. The NHL had temporary lights on cranes around the rink, and Bettman was confident the league had enough lightning for the nighttime game.

The NHL decided Saturday morning to move Sunday's outdoor game between the Philadelphia Flyers and Boston Bruins from an 11 a.m. PT/2 p.m. ET start time to a 4:30 p.m. PT/7:30 p.m. ET start due to what's expected to be another sunny day.

The NHL originally moved the game one hourly earlier because of sun concerns during the week.

This created a scheduling domino effect. The New Jersey Devils vs. Washington Capitals game was moved from 7 p.m. ET to 2 p.m. ET to fill the gap created by the rescheduling of the outdoor game. The Bruins vs. Flyers game was shifted to NBCSN.

"This has been the most difficult weather circumstance we've had -- and it's a beautiful day," Bettman said. "The cloud cover is everywhere but where the sun is."

The first sign of trouble came when the Flyers and Bruins had their outdoor practices on Saturday morning moved indoors at the South Lake Tahoe Ice Arena. According to Flyers coach Alain Vigneault, the move was made to preserve the ice quality, as after two practices on Friday it was in rough shape.

With the sun beaming on the rink, players and officials appeared to stumble over ruts during the first period. The snowfall that covered the golf course near the rink had melted considerably since the morning, when South Lake Tahoe had 2-5 inches of snowfall overnight.

The NHL announced contingency plans before the game if there were "unplayable weather conditions." Among them: That the game would be considered "official" once two periods had been played, and the team leading when play is stopped will be declared the winner.

If the score is tied when play is halted after two periods, each team would be awarded one point in the standings and the winner would be determined by a shootout. That shootout would take place immediately after play was stopped at the Lake Tahoe rink; or, if conditions wouldn't permit that, at Ball Arena in Denver on Feb. 22, before the regularly scheduled game between the Golden Knights and Avalanche.

Kevin Durant will miss his fourth consecutive game Sunday, sitting out against the LA Clippers as he continues to get treatment on a strained left hamstring.

Brooklyn Nets coach Steve Nash said on Saturday that the plan was for Durant to continue to do strengthening exercises while being monitored for any inflammation. Nash said that he thought Durant would also get some light on-court work in at practice.

"Like I keep saying, I don't think this is a long-term thing," Nash said. "But there is elements of maybe it being, taking a few more days than we thought or just being cautious. I think right now both are necessary. I don't think he's ready, I think he needs more time, but we're also definitely going to be cautious."

Durant injured his hamstring against the Golden State Warriors on Feb. 13. Before that game, Durant had missed a week in the league's health and safety protocols.

Initially, the Nets said that Durant would miss at least two games and that the injury was "mild."

The Nets are currently on a five-game winning streak -- their longest of the season. Still, their Big Three of Durant, James Harden and Kyrie Irving have played just seven games together this season. Durant has missed a total of 11 games this year.

Durant is averaging 29.0 points. 7.3 rebounds and 5.3 assists for Brooklyn this year.

CHICAGO -- Former Cy Young winner Jake Arrieta is happy to be back in the city where he had his greatest success, saying Saturday that with the Chicago Cubs is "where I wanted to be."

Arrieta, 34, signed a one-year, $6 million deal with the team he helped to a World Series title and will now be managed by his former catcher, David Ross.

"To play for a manager that caught one of my no-hitters is pretty cool," Arrieta said in a Saturday video call with reporters. "This is where I wanted to be. The last few days here, it just feels right."

Arrieta previously pitched for the Cubs from 2013-2017, winning the Cy Young award in 2015, the wild-card game that same season and a World Series ring the next year. Along the way, he threw two no-hitters, elevating his game to be among the best in baseball.

But after signing a free-agent contract with the Philadelphia Phillies in 2018, his production -- and health -- went south. His ERA climbed from 3.96 in 2018 to 4.64 in 2019 and then to 5.08 in 2020. He dealt with a meniscus issue and bone spurs in Philadelphia but said he is healthy now.

"There's always things to prove," Arrieta said. "Not that it's in a negative way. It's really just to prove I'm capable of performing at a high level. The level I expect to perform at. The last three years weren't to my expectations."

The Cubs hoped to unlock the same things they did when Arrieta came over from Baltimore as an ordinary pitcher in a mid-season trade in 2013. Some faces in the organization have changed, but many remain, giving Arrieta a level of comfort in his return.

"I would never want to make it seem like I'm not capable of performing in -- fill in the blank -- but is it a little bit different here in Chicago?" Arrieta said. "Of course. Just being able to put that uniform on, wearing 49 again in Wrigley Field, is going to be pretty special."

Ross added: "Jake is still a top-of-the-rotation-type pitcher. Sometimes getting back to familiar coaches, familiar places can really elevate your game."

Arrieta threw for teams in his hometown of Austin, Texas, during the winter but kept in close contact with the Cubs throughout the free-agent process. After the team began shedding salary -- including the trade of starter Yu Darvish -- Arrieta wasn't sure if there would be room for him.

"At first I thought it was less likely as those things started to happen," Arrieta explained. "[But] their need for pitching is there.

"It was an unusual free-agent market. Unlike one we've seen in the past. Baseball is in a weird spot. Teams have had to change the way they approach certain aspects of the game and rightly so [due to financial concerns]."

Arrieta returns to Chicago as a more experienced leader. He's already attempting to impart his wisdom to the younger pitchers, indicating he's spent a lot of time already with 25-year-old Adbert Alzolay.

"It comes with the territory," Arrieta said. "You get to a point in your career where you're expected to perform not only on the field but off the field. I take great pride in that."

"He understands the presence he has," Ross said.

Arrieta is sure to get a warm welcome from Cubs fans as he's a reminder of their glory years, even though the team might be in a bit of a transition right now. Arrieta is out to show them he's the guy they remember dominating the competition en route to a Cy Young and a championship.

"I have a lot in the tank," Arrieta said. "I have a lot to still accomplish in this game. I'm excited it's going to happen in this Cubs uniform again."

Long jumper moves to fourth on the UK indoor all-time list with 8.08m leap as athletes seek standards for Toruń

Jacob Fincham-Dukes was among the athletes to secure qualifying standards for the European Indoor Championships in Toruń during the first day of trials action on Saturday (February 20).

With the British Indoor Championships in Glasgow cancelled because of the pandemic, athletes are instead competing at a series of three micro-meetings and it was at the Lee Valley event that long jumper Fincham-Dukes soared out to 8.08m.

Over in Manchester, Verity Ockenden and Jack Rowe were among those to run European Indoors 3000m standards, while Jessie Knight, Jodie Williams and Lee Thompson secured 400m marks.

At Lee Valley, Fincham-Dukes’ performance was an outright PB which improves on the 24-year-old’s previous best of 8.00m set outdoors in 2019. The mark moves him to fourth on the UK indoor all-time list behind only Greg Rutherford (8.26m), Chris Tomlinson (8.18m) and Dan Bramble (8.14m) and also surpassed the 8.05m qualifying standard for next month’s European event.

The performance came after a less than ideal build up, too, as the US-based athlete tested positive for coronavirus around a month before the competition and feared he may not be able to make the journey.

But the trip did go ahead and was well worthwhile as he first jumped 7.86m before a foul and his 8.08m in the third round which he followed with a fourth-round foul, 7.61m from his fifth attempt and 7.82m from his sixth. The week before he had also jumped 7.81m at Loughborough.

“Today went better than I could have expected,” said the European U23s finalist. “I am just really happy I got over the qualifier and set a PB. It means a lot.

“I’ve been working really hard over this last year and a half. I did 7.99m indoors a couple of years ago and outdoors last year I was having a bunch of injury problems, so it’s always difficult going into the winter carrying that with you, but I worked really hard and took really good care of my body. I made sure everything I was doing was at a better standard and it’s paying off and there’s more to come.”

Alex Farquharson finished second with 7.55m and Jack Roach third with 7.49m.

The women’s competition was won by European and Commonwealth medallist Jazmin Sawyers who leapt 6.45m, with Abigail Irozuru jumping 6.34m for second.

Paralympic medallist Olivia Breen jumped an indoor PB of 4.65m.

Also in Lee Valley, Jahisha Thomas leapt 12.93m and Efe Uwaifo 15.99m to win the triple jump competitions, while track action focused on the 60m and 60m hurdles.

The men’s 60m saw 2020 British champion Andrew Robertson equal his season’s best with another European Indoors standard of 6.61 to win the final ahead of Oliver Bromby and Harry Aikines-Aryeetey, who both clocked 6.67. Robertson had run 6.67 in his heat.

Alisha Rees won both her 60m races, running 7.41 in the first and 7.37 in the second.

British champion David King is another US-based athlete and despite only arriving in the UK a few hours before the competition he won both his 60m hurdles races, clocking 7.79 and then 7.73. Ethan Akanni equalled his PB with 7.78.

“I’ve just flown in from Phoenix so it must be about 4am or 5am right now, for me,” said King. “There’s been such limited competition opportunity even in America, I just wanted to have the chance to come here and try and run the time.

“I just needed to prove some form and I’m really happy with the time of 7.73. To run that after that trip, I’m really happy.”

Results from Lee Valley can be found here.

The rest of Saturday’s UK Euro trials action took place in Manchester, with Ockenden and Rowe among those achieving European Indoors standards.

Ockenden had run 8:51.63 at Sportcity the week before and this time she clocked 8:56.27 as Amelia Quirk with 8:58.57 and Rosie Clarke with 8:58.97 were also both under the 9:00 3000m mark for Toruń. For Quirk it was a debut indoors performance.

Rowe won the men’s 3000m, clocking 7:54.35 ahead of Andrew Butchart, who is also set to race Sunday’s 1500m, with 7:56.01.

The 2018 British indoor 400m champion Thompson was among the 400m heat winners and he secured a European Indoors qualifying time with 46.72. James Brier (47.14), Tom Somers (47.07) and James Williams (47.30) won the other heats.

Knight and Williams both ran qualifying times to win their heats, clocking 52.46 and an indoor PB of 52.76 respectively.

Zoey Clark won heat three in 53.23.

Andrew Murphy was the sole entrant in the men’s heptathlon but after a 7.24 60m and 6.85m long jump he had three fouls in the shot put.

He returned for the high jump, however, and cleared 1.80m.

Results from Manchester can be found here.

The action continues in Manchester and Loughborough on Sunday.

Novak Djokovic goes for a record-extending ninth Australian Open title on Sunday as Russia's Daniil Medvedev attempts to end the Serb's dominance and win his first Grand Slam.

Djokovic trails Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer, who have 20 each, in the fight to finish with the most men's Slams.

"He has more experience but more things to lose than me," said Medvedev.

"I don't have a lot of pressure because Novak has never lost here in the final. He has all the pressure to get to Roger and Rafa.

"But I think he's the favourite because he hasn't lost here."

Fourth seed Medvedev, 25, will contest his second major final after losing to Spain's Nadal in an enthralling 2019 US Open final.

After falling short of making an epic comeback in New York, Medvedev has another opportunity to become Russia's first male major champion since 2005.

Medvedev is in the form of his life, having earned his 20th match win in a row by beating fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas in Friday's semi-final.

Djokovic ready for the 'battle of the tournament'

If 33-year-old Djokovic is to win his 18th major, he says he will have to solve the puzzles set by "master chess player" Medvedev.

"I'm ready for the battle for the toughest match of the tournament, without a doubt," said the Serb.

"Medvedev is playing at an extremely high quality. He's the man to beat.

"I heard Jim Courier calling him a master chess player because of the way he tactically positions himself on the court, and it's true. You know, he's definitely a very smart tennis player."

Djokovic struggled with an abdominal injury earlier in the tournament, saying it would have forced him to withdraw from any event outside of the majors.

But he has recovered and said he suffered no pain in his semi-final win against Russian qualifier Aslan Karatsev.

On Saturday, Djokovic practised before a match for the first time since his third-round win over American Taylor Fritz when the problem flared up.

Djokovic looking to extend dominance at his 'second home'

Few players have dominated a Grand Slam tournament in the Open era like Djokovic's takeover of the Australian Open.

Nadal is the only man to have won more majors at the same place, claiming 13 titles at the French Open, with another win for Djokovic on Sunday moving him ahead of Federer's eight Wimbledon crowns.

Djokovic describes Melbourne Park as his "second home" and the statistics starkly illustrate his dominance there:

While he has already created history in Melbourne, Djokovic has made no secret that he wishes to overhaul Federer and Nadal in the race to finish with the most men's Grand Slam titles.

For many, that is the key indicator to determine who is the greatest men's player in the history of the sport.

Medvedev plans to turn US Open defeat into positive experience

Since losing in the Vienna quarter-finals in October, Medvedev has won the Paris Masters and ATP Finals title, as well helping Russia win the ATP Cup earlier this month.

Not only is he simply winning matches, he is beating the best. Against Djokovic he is looking to earn a 13th successive win against an opponent ranked inside the top 10.

Medvedev has won three of his past four meetings with Djokovic but facing the Serb with the weight of winning a first major title should be a different proposition.

On what he has learned from losing to Nadal in New York, Medvedev said: "I took a lot of experience. It was my first Grand Slam final against one of the greatest and on Sunday I will face one of the other greatest.

"The experience from the last Grand Slam final is going to be a big key, to not get tight and to just play again."

What they say about each other

Djokovic on Medvedev: "He has a big serve. For a tall guy, he moves extremely well. Forehand maybe was his weaker shot, but he has improved that as well. Backhand is as good as it gets.

"He's so solid. He doesn't give you much. But he's not afraid nowadays to attack and get to the net and take it to his opponents."

Medvedev on Djokovic: "I know that to beat him you need to just show your best tennis, be at your best physically maybe four or five hours, and be at your best mentally maybe for five hours.

"When he's in the zone he doesn't miss. He goes down the line, cross, forehand, backhand, he doesn't miss. That's what is the most, the toughest part of playing against him."

Harlequins beat Sale 24-12 to leapfrog the Sharks and move up to third in the Premiership table.

Alex Dombrandt added a third before Sale flanker Jean-Luc du Preez was sin-binned at the end of the first half.

The Sharks rallied in the second period as Curtis Langdon crashed over and Rob du Preez crossed, but could not stop Quins recording a fourth straight win.

All of those triumphs have come since the departure of head of rugby Paul Gustard last month, as the south-west London club registered back-to-back Premiership wins at The Stoop for the first time this season.

First-half blitz sets platform for Quins win

Sale spent most of a physical first 25 minutes camped in the Quins half, but two counter-attacking moves in the space of four minutes gave the home side the advantage.

Will Evans won possession on both occasions, first with a steal at the breakdown and then gathering an over-thrown Sale line-out, with the moves finished by Marchant on his 100th appearance for Quins.

A line break from Dombrandt and a pass from Mike Brown sent the centre scampering to the corner to open the scoring, and Marchant's second was the simplest of finishes when the bounce of the ball from Aaron Morris' kick forward beat covering Sharks wing Marland Yarde.

Marcus Smith, the Premiership's top points-scorer this season, converted both efforts and then provided a third score for Dombrandt after a smart dummy broke the Sale lines.

Forward Jean-Luc du Preez was then shown yellow for a dangerous clear-out on the Quins number eight.

Sale, with South Africa lock Lood de Jager back from injury as a half-time replacement, put in a committed performance after the break and continued to test the Harlequins defence.

Langdon was held up over the line and moments later the hooker did pile over from close range.

Raffi Quirke was also denied a score by strong tackling by Morris and Brown, but Rob du Preez crossed from the resulting five-metre scrum.

Sale lost momentum after the fly-half missed the resulting conversion and Luke Northmore was denied a try in stoppage time because of a forward pass which would have secured a bonus point for Quins.

Harlequins attack and backs coach Nick Evans:

"Defensively it was a really good performance.

"We showed intent and aggression, especially when defending our 22.

"It was another good performance from Marcus Smith. The ceiling is so high with him.

"He didn't influence the game as much as he'd have liked in the second half, but it's all learning and this was another step in the right direction."

Sale director of rugby Alex Sanderson:

"For 70 minutes we dominated territory but they're the best in the league on the transition at the moment.

"From an attacking point of view we have to take our opportunities.

"We left a couple of tries out there and if we'd been a bit sharper we could have stopped a couple of theirs.

"All credit to Quins, they took their tries well and they're playing with a bit of fizz about them. They're on a bit of a roll."

Harlequins: Brown; Lynagh, Marchant, Esterhuizen, Morris; Smith, Care; Marler, Baldwin, Kerrod, Symons, Lewies, White, Evans, Dombrandt.

Replacements: Elia, Els, Louw, Young, Chisholm, Landajo, Herron, Northmore.

Sale: Hammersley; Solomona, S James, L James, Yarde; R du Preez, Cliff; Morozov, Ashman, Oosthuizen, Postlethwaite, Beaumont, JL du Preez, Ross, D du Preez.

Replacements: Langdon, Rood, John, de Jager, Wiese, Neild, Quirke, Doherty.

Sin-bin: JL du Preez (39).

Referee: Ian Tempest (RFU).

Leicester's forwards dominated Wasps to set up a 27-8 Premiership win in a game where three men were sent off.

But Wiese was sent off after 26 minutes for an illegal clear-out before Hanro Liebenberg was also red-carded late on.

Two minutes after half-time, Kieran Brookes was also sent off but Tom Cruse's try failed to revive Wasps.

Leicester's victory sees them leapfrog Wasps into sixth place in the Premiership.

A day on from two red cards in Bath's victory over Gloucester, the clampdown on making contact to the head continued.

Tigers number eight Wiese came from distance to clear out a ruck on the Wasps line and made clear contact with his shoulder to the head of flanker Ben Morris, to not only leave Leicester a man short with just 26 minutes played but deny his side a try from Cyle Brink.

Wasps prop Brookes' shoulder charge on Tigers lock Tomas Lavanini was not as egregious but clear head contact was also made and the sides were both down to 14 men for most of the second half.

Tigers controlled territory throughout and scored three tries from rolling mauls in a throwback to the club's glory day.

But they failed to find a bonus-point score - opting to kick a penalty for goal rather than back their maul again - and ended the match with 13 men.

In the penultimate minute Wasps wing Josh Bassett leapt to try to take a floated pass but was taken out by Liebenberg in the air.

Leicester director of rugby Steve Borthwick told BBC Radio Leicester:

"I think the players showed great character and worked exceptionally hard to come through some difficult times in the game and I thought the players managed going down to 14 men extremely well.

"The rules are clear and the referees have protocols to follow and we have to deal with that.

"In the Bath game on Friday and here it's very clear what's acceptable and what isn't. Player welfare has to be paramount."

Wasps head coach Lee Blackett:

"It's very disappointing; you're not going to win at Welford Road turning up like we did today.

"We couldn't win the gain line, we were losing collisions and then when we did have the ball, we came up with errors and never gained field position.

"They were in total control throughout but the positive is we'll have a reaction next week."

Leicester: Steward; Van Wyk, Moroni, Scott, Murimurivalu; Henry, Wigglesworth (capt); de Bruin, Montoya, Cole, Green, Lavanini, Liebenberg, Brink, Wiese.

Replacements: T Youngs, Leatigaga, Heyes, Wells, Reffell, Van Poortvliet, McPhillips, Kelly.

Wasps: Minozzi; Kibirige, Fekitoa, Gopperth, Bassett; Atkinson, Vellacott; West, Taylor, Brookes, Rowlands, Gaskell, Shields (capt), Morris, T Willis.

Replacements: Cruse, Harris, Toomaga-Allen, Douglas, Vailanu, Schwarz, Umaga Le Bourgeois.

Referee: Craig Maxwell-Keys (RFU).

Exeter suffered a controversial second home Premiership loss of the season to Northampton after Joe Simmonds failed to take a last-minute conversion.

Simmonds was ruled to have started his run-up, allowing Saints to sprint from their line and kick the ball from the tee into touch.

Shaun Adendorff and Jack Yeandle traded tries and Piers Francis' boot won it.

The Saints centre landed two penalties in the final quarter to put the visitors 13-7 up before the late drama.

It was a fitting end to a performance of many mistakes by the home side who missed the chance to return to the top of the Premiership.

Saints led through Adendorff's fourth try in six games but were forced to defend for much of the game.

Yeandle's try drew Exeter level before the break but the home side squandered several further chances on Northampton's line.

Sam Simmonds and Will Witty dropped the ball with the line at their mercy and they twice lost line-outs inside Northampton's 22.

Exeter were camped on Saints' line for a great portion of the game but, Yeandle's try from a quick-tap penalty aside, the visitors defended resolutely, even surviving George Furbank's yellow card without conceding a point.

Northampton had the upper hand in the scrum with a first-half penalty leading to a pushover try for Adendorff and another scrum penalty bought them field position from which Francis kicked them ahead.

Francis' second successful penalty, also from 40m, crucially extended the lead beyond an unconverted try.

Exeter gave themselves a chance of snatching a last-gasp victory when they worked lock Skinner over in the right corner.

But Joe Simmonds' conversion attempt never materialised.

The replacement fly-half paused as the Saints players charged towards him, and was left perplexed as referee Christophe Ridley ruled he he had started his run-up with a movement of his shoulder.

Exeter director of rugby Rob Baxter:

"Sometimes you go 'maybe we don't deserve to win this game' and that's probably what happened at the end.

"We had our opportunities, we had 5m pressure that we would normally come away with more than we did but credit to Northampton, they repelled us a few times.

"From what I've been told, I think Joe moved so I don't have any complaints. They charged and that's what you are allowed to do. We complain about what we got wrong ourselves."

Saints rugby director Chris Boyd:

"He (Simmonds) definitely moved. If he had kicked that goal, I think we would probably have been unlucky.

"Over the 80 minutes, I think we did enough to probably deserve the victory.

"When we have come here in the past and Exeter have got five metres from the line, they have usually scored fairly easily against us.

"Today, I thought our goal-line defence and our set-piece work, particularly the scrum, was pretty decent. The difference was that we fronted up physically close to the line in terms of defence."

Exeter: Hogg; O'Flaherty, Hendrickson, Devoto, Hodge; H Skinner, Maunder; Hepburn, Yeandle (capt), Williams, Witty, S Skinner, Ewers, Capstick, S Simmonds.

Replacements: Innard, Kenny, Street, Armand, Lonsdale, Hidalgo-Clyne, J Simmonds, Whitten.

Northampton: Tuala; Proctor, Hutchinson, Francis, Sleightholme; Furbank, Mitchell; Waller (co-capt), Matavesi, Painter, Ribbans, Ratuniyarawa, Isiekwe, Ludlam (co-capt), Adendorff.

Replacements: Marshall, Auterac, Hill, Coles, Wood, Taylor, Mallinder, Naiyaravoro.

Referee: Christophe Ridley (RFU).

INDIANAPOLIS – Cole Bodine and Clauson Marshall Newman Racing will compete in select USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car Series races this year with the support of Driven2SaveLives.

Bodine, from Rossville, Ind., has been behind the wheel of a midget for Clauson Marshall Racing in select races since 2018 and ran full-time with the USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget Series for CMR last season.

He finished 10th in points and will also continue to drive the Driven2SaveLives No. 39BC midget.

CMR, co-owned by Tim Clauson and Richard Marshall, was established in 2016 to compete in the USAC National Midget Series. In 2017, CMR brought NASCAR Cup Series driver Ryan Newman on board as an additional co-owner of the Clauson Marshall Newman Racing USAC sprint car entry.

In its first full season, CMNR and driver Tyler Courtney captured the USAC National Sprint Car Series championship.

Entering the upcoming season, CMR will continue to field midget entries for Bodine, Courtney, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Ryan Newman in select events.

“I am humbled and honored to continue the legacy that Bryan created with his decision to be an organ donor by representing the Driven2SaveLives program through Indiana Donor Network in 2021 with Cole Bodine competing in select USAC National Sprint Car and Midget events,” said Clauson. “While we will not be chasing a USAC title this year, we will be present at all of the Indiana USAC events along with other high-profile races.

“During this past season we were honored to get to represent two Hoosier Donor Heroes in Allie Schaffer and Cade Frey and share their stories, and we look forward to honoring more donor heroes in the state of Indiana during the 2021 season.”

“From the dirt tracks of Indiana and across the country to the Indy 500, the Indiana Donor Network has been a loyal partner that we are proud to represent,” added Marshall. “We accept and embrace the challenge for 2021 to continue spreading their message of how organ donation saves lives, along with one of our favorite slogans – ‘Be Like Bryan.'”

After last season’s USAC National Midget Series season, Bodine went on to compete at the Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals for the team and came home with his second A-Main event appearance and an 11th-place finish from the 24th starting position.

Next year will be his first season competing in a Clauson Marshall Newman Racing-prepared, Driven2SaveLives-backed sprint car.

“I am honored to continue racing for Driven2SaveLives and Clauson Marshall Newman Racing in 2021. Our 2020 season didn’t go how we had hoped, but to be able to continue learning with a team I have been with for so long is something I am truly thankful for,” said Bodine. “Driven2SaveLives took a chance on me, and I am excited to continue my journey with them and help them honor not only Bryan but all donor heroes.

“I can’t wait to get the 2021 season started.”

Driven2SaveLives has partnered with Clauson Marshall Racing since 2017 and has been a key part of the Clauson Marshall Racing program since then.

Bodine will run all Indiana USAC National Sprint Car and USAC National Midget races in 2021, as well as other select races that fit in to the team’s schedule.

“Driven2SaveLives, an Indiana Donor Network Program, is extremely excited to continue its partnership with Clauson Marshall Racing and Cole Bodine,” said Taylor McLean, the Marketing Program Specialist for Driven2SaveLives. “Cole has been an amazing ambassador for organ, tissue and eye donation and has helped our program reach more race fans the last year. We couldn’t think of a better representative for our donor heroes as we hit the dirt tracks across Indiana and continue to sign people up to be organ donors.”

SNOHOMISH, Wash. — Wally Parks used the Boy Scouts of America Handbook as a guideline 70 years ago when he founded the National Hot Rod Ass’n to keep the streets of Southern California — and those with the racing itch in the post-war car culture — safe.

A few years before his passing, he said he was astonished to see the huge enterprise it had become, with all the moving parts and passion that generates electricity at every sensory-overload experience that is a drag race.

As the NHRA plans a year-long celebration of its 70th birthday this season, why should it not, in the spirit of Wally Parks, take a surprising approach and dedicate itself to doing something meaningful for its racers?

After all, a scout promises to be trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean and reverent. And part of the Boy Scout motto is to help other people at all times.

Why not plan a twist on this birthday party?

Instead of receiving gifts, the “birthday boy” could give something valuable to its guests who show up? It’s better to give than to receive, anyway. Even if the NHRA in 2020 had far less revenue than the $93,599,685 it earned in 2019 (according to its public disclosure copy of its 990 tax form from the Internal Revenue Service), it still could afford to give to the racers.

The friendly, courteous, kind and cheerful part doesn’t cost a dime. And if Camping World and its CEO, Marcus Lemonis, regard the NHRA as a valuable property with which to associate, NHRA executives might remember Lemonis’ philosophy.

Lemonis said, “You know, it’s funny — when you’re kind to people and you’re thoughtful and you communicate well and you lay out what your goals are and you’re respectful of their goals, magically, business is a lot easier. When you go into business with very much of ‘What can I get out of it? How’s this going to work for me, singularly?’ in any business, it usually doesn’t work out.”

If that’s not motivation enough, consider the tremendous resource Lemonis is. One professional-class racer told SPEED SPORT that former NHRA series sponsor “Coca-Cola was too big to care.”

Well, Coca-Cola no longer is involved and Lemonis does care. Yes, he’s a businessman — one who has made his mark not by simply taking but rather giving. And he had a feasible and meaningful idea that the NHRA could latch onto that would fulfill the mission statement it provided for the IRS: “Preserve and promote the sport of drag racing” and “Improve business conditions in the sport of drag racing … and promote and advance the common business interests of those engaged in the sport.”

In a constructive vein, Lemonis already has outlined what the NHRA can do to help. He said it applies to NASCAR as well.

“I don’t think the sanctioning bodies in either case do enough to educate the teams, to train the teams and to guide the teams on the business of sponsorship and corporate relationships,” Lemonis said. “I almost want to host a seminar for a day or two for literally creating the road map so that people understand: Here’s how it works. Here’s how the associate sponsorships work. Here’s how the primary works. Here’s what you’re supposed to do. Here’s how much you have to ask for. Here’s what you should expect. … All those variables. I don’t think we do enough of a job to map that out for people.” Such an educational session, he indicated, would target the smaller teams, the ones “who don’t have the weight of money behind them to function.”

Lemonis said, “If there’s anything I was concerned about or critical of, it would be that. There’s a difference between somebody who has sold sponsorship and knows how to do it and a company who sponsors things telling you what they actually want.

“You even can take it down to: What are the drivers supposed to do? How are they supposed to interact? And what’s too much? How do you overdeliver and underpromise? How do you go above and beyond to make that corporate sponsor feel like they’re getting not a good return on investment but an exceptional return on investment? And I don’t know if anybody’s sort of mapping that out. You’ll see me play a very, very active role in that process.”

NHRA officials certainly wouldn’t want to be accused of having a cavalier let-them-eat-cake attitude. It’s an idiom that would indicate the privileged are oblivious to the plight of the more modest among them and don’t care about their needs.

But goodness, who says a top NHRA executive who draws an annual salary, for instance, of $708,589 or $682,623, can’t be generous, right?

The NHRA literally can serve cake and maybe even Bill Bader’s legendary $1/pound ice cream from the Norwalk, Ohio, drag strip. Have some fun, but this ongoing birthday party could show the NHRA is trustworthy, loyal and helpful.

And maybe somewhere, Wally Parks would give his successors a salute for carrying on his mission.