Dr. Anthony Fauci is cautiously optimistic about the prospect of fans returning to the stands for the 2021 MLB season, telling ESPN's Buster Olney there's a "pretty good chance" of it happening if the rate of COVID-19 infections continues to drop.

"We could have a pretty good chance of having a baseball season that's a full season," Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert, said on ESPN's Baseball Tonight Podcast. "That we could have people in the stands, maybe not right next to each other; there are going to be public health restrictions like mask wearing and things like that."

Fauci cautioned that fan attendance would be dependent on current trends holding and that the full impact of certain coronavirus variants remains to be seen.

Spring training is expected to start with limited fans throughout Florida and Arizona, pending local approval, with teams such as the Boston Red Sox, Houston Astros and Washington Nationals having tickets on sale now.

Fan attendance for the season is determined by local municipalities, but clubs are required to submit a plan to the league office that must be approved as consistent with the advice of their health experts. The Tampa Bay Rays are one team that has announced a specific plan -- in their case, 7,000 fans allowed at Tropicana Field -- for the start of the season in April.

Fauci is uncertain when MLB will see the return of full stadiums, saying it would likely take 75-80% of the population being vaccinated with the rate of infection staying very low.

ESPN's Jesse Rogers contributed to this report.

The New York Yankees and outfielder Brett Gardner have reached agreement on a one-year deal worth $4 million, sources told ESPN's Jeff Passan, confirming multiple reports.

The deal is pending a physical. It includes a second-year player option that if rejected turns into a team option, sources said.

Gardner, 37, became a free agent in November when New York declined a $10 million option, triggering a $2.5 million buyout. He has been with the Yankees since 2008 and is their last player from the 2009 World Series-winning team. His 14-year tenure with one team during his career is tied for fifth among active players.

Gardner hit .223 with five homers and 15 RBIs in the shortened season, down from .251 with career highs of 28 homers and 74 RBIs in 2019. The Yankees agreed to a deal with a $2 million signing bonus and an $8 million salary for 2020, which became $2,962,963 in prorated pay.

"Obviously, he's been a great Yankee, but we'll just see how things unfold here," Yankees manager Aaron Boone had said Wednesday at spring training in Tampa, Florida.

Boone said then that Clint Frazier was projected as his starting left fielder after making great strides last year in his fourth season with the Yankees. Frazier, 26, hit .267 with eight homers and 26 RBIs in 131 at-bats during the pandemic-shortened season, after batting .267 with 12 homers and 38 RBIs over 225 at-bats in 2019.

Drafted in the third round by the Yankees in 2005, Gardner has a .259 average, 129 homers and 539 RBIs.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

TAMPA -- Corey Kluber might be a three-time All-Star and a two-time Cy Young award winner, but he acknowledges that he is now just part of a group of aspirants for a spot in the 2021 new-look Yankees rotation.

"I understand why it's looked as 'Gerrit and the rest,'" said Kluber, in reference to the question marks surrounding a Yankees rotation in which the only pitcher without any concerns is Gerrit Cole, the team's $324 million ace. "I get that. There's some guys without a lot of experience. There's some guys that are coming back from injury. As a group, we can't pay attention to that. We just have to do our best job of preparing ourselves and being in a position that, hopefully, pitch a lot and kind of take away those question marks at the end of the year."

Kluber's use of the phrase "Gerrit and the rest" comes from the uncertainties in the Yankees' pitching staff ahead of the 2021 season. After losing pitchers Masahiro Tanaka, James Paxton and J.A. Happ to free agency, the Yankees will have to depend on several arms coming back from injury, including Kluber and fellow new signing Jameson Taillon (UCL surgery).

Despite a 98-58 record and a 3.16 ERA over 10 seasons in the majors, Kluber has been plagued by injuries in back-to-back years. He suffered a fractured forearm in 2019 after being hit by a comebacker. And a shoulder tear limited Kluber to a single inning in 2020, his first year with the Texas Rangers after being acquired via trade in the offseason.

Kluber addressed the media after throwing his first official bullpen in pinstripes this spring, stating he is on track heading into the 2021 campaign.

"I feel really good right now. No issues with it now or anywhere along the rehab process," Kluber said of his right shoulder, where he suffered a Grade 2 tear of the teres major muscle that did not require surgical repair. "Honestly, the way that I would describe it now is I feel like I'm in a normal spot for spring training. I don't feel like I'm still working on improving the shoulder or anything like that."

Kluber, one of the many players who went through an offseason full of doubts before agreeing to a one-year, $11 million deal with the Yankees, had high praise for the club, calling it "the measuring stick for any professional sports organization."

He also extended his admiration and respect for Cole, who on Thursday called himself a longtime fan of Kluber's and described him as "a true craftsman."

"Gerrit's success speaks for itself. He's one of the best pitchers in the game," Kluber said. "I think overpowering is probably the first word that comes to mind. Just the way he's able to suffocate lineups, pretty much three, four times through. Obviously, he has outstanding stuff. But stuff only goes so far. You can see, when you watch him and you pay attention, how well he understands pitching, and how he can use that extremely impressive stuff that he has to go out there and just overpower lineups."

In addressing whether the start-and-stop nature of the pandemic-shortened 2020 season contributed to his shoulder injury, Kluber admitted he is still in the dark as to what caused it.

"I wish I had an answer," he said. "I spent a little bit of time probably trying to figure out an answer, but I don't think I'm ever going to. I don't think we can pinpoint to one thing as to why it happened when it did, anything like that. I try to focus on the things that I can control. For me that was rehabbing to the best of my ability, and now it's trying to prepare for a season."

Watch the best shots from Daniil Medvedev's 6-4 6-2 7-5 demolition of Stefanos Tsitsipas to reach the Australian Open final.

REPORT: Daniil Medvedev beats Stefanos Tsitsipas & meets Novak Djokovic

Watch extended Australian Open match highlights on BBC TV and iPlayer.

Available to UK users only.

France scrum-half Antoine Dupont has tested positive for Covid-19, just over a week before the Six Nations meeting with Scotland in Paris.

All members of the 31-man squad have been tested, with the other results not yet known.

Head coach Fabien Galthie and assistant William Servat tested positive earlier this week and have been isolating.

French health minister Olivier Veran announced on Thursday that anyone testing positive would need to remain out of contact with others for 10 days, up from seven.

A replacement for Dupont has yet to be named, with France recalling tighthead prop Demba Bamba following injury.

The Lyon forward missed the wins over Italy and Ireland with a hamstring problem as Galthie's team moved top of the table.

Les Bleus, aiming for a first title since 2010, have made two other squad changes, with Toulon duo Jean-Baptiste Gros and Swan Rebbadj also included.

Dorian Aldegheri drops out following Bamba's return, with Baptiste Pesenti and Hassane Kolingar the others making way.

MURRIETA, Calif. – The Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Team will kick off the new American Flat Track Championship season next month with a revamped, two-rider lineup in the AFT Singles Class.

Returning for her third season with the team, 19-time AFT Singles winner Shayna Texter-Bauman will line up to once again battle for the top spot alongside new teammate and reigning AFT Singles runner-up, Max Whale.

The duo will compete aboard the KTM 450 SX-F Factory Edition.

“I’m really happy to bring a two-rider program back to AFT, thanks in a big way to our new partnership with Rocky Mountain ATV/MC,” said team manager Chris Fillmore. “I feel that our program will really benefit from having two riders this season. As teammates, Shayna and Max already have a good chemistry and it will be good for them to really push each other on and off the track. It’s also valuable to have two riders providing feedback when we’re testing and at the races.

“We look forward to getting Shayna back on the podium this season and furthering her achievement as the winningest rider in AFT Singles history, and we’re excited to bring Max on board in 2021,” Fillmore added. “Max is young and very motivated for the top spot, so I expect his hard work to pay off. We’re really looking forward to seeing both riders achieve their goals this season.”

Texter-Bauman, a multi-time race winner, collected two podium finishes last season in the AFT Singles Class where she finished 12th overall in the championship.

The Pennsylvania native has been working hard during the offseason to put her No. 52 KTM 450 SX-F Factory Edition into the mix up front this year.

“Being a part of the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Team is an honor that I am very proud of,” said Texter-Bauman. “I’m more motivated than ever to achieve the goals that I have set for myself in the 2021 season. The team has been working hard and we are all anxious to get back to racing.”

Whale will debut his No. 18 KTM 450 SX-F Factory Edition in 2021 as he enters his fourth season in the AFT Singles Class.

The Australian has progressively climbed through the ranks over the last four years, taking home a respectable second overall in last year’s championship with two race-wins and four podium finishes.

With an all-new bike and team behind him, Whale looks to battle up front this season with hopes of claiming the 2021 crown.

“Riding for the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Team this season, I feel like we have a really strong chance at the top spot,” said Whale. “I have been fortunate enough to spend a bit of time with the team in California during the offseason and it’s been awesome. I really feel at home on the KTM 450 SX-F Factory Edition, doing a lot of testing and just enjoying my time out here.

“It’s been a dream of mine to ride for Red Bull KTM and I just really want to come out and do these guys proud and end up with the number one plate.”

TUCSON, Ariz. – A pair of drivers will be taking their talents to the Tucson Speedway’s eighth annual Chilly Willy 150 and look to be among the favorites even before taking their first lap around the three-eighths-mile oval.

The wealth of expertise and experience they have consulted or will have available come race weekend are a large part of that consideration.

Tyler Tanner went to college at Arizona State University and, around that time, had the opportunity to compete in a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Phoenix Raceway, but does not recall previously attending any events at the Tucson short track located about two hours south.

That comes despite the fact that his father, two-time former NASCAR Northwest Tour champion Kelly Tanner, won at the facility in 1997 during the popular and well-known Winter Heat program that used to occur over the winter months each year.

“To be honest, we haven’t really even talked about it at all, considering the driving aspect is approaching 25 years,” Tyler Tanner, the 2019 Super Late Model track champion at Washington’s Evergreen Speedway, recently noted. “But I’m sure we will as it gets closer or on our way there.”

Instead, Tanner has relied on feedback from recent races in which he has participated elsewhere, as well as some basic guidance from a past Chilly Willy event winner.

“I texted Chris Eggleston about things like what gear to run, just to make sure we have the pit box properly equipped,” Tanner mentioned. “We’ve been leaving all our equipment in Arizona after Vegas last November to do Irwindale and Chilly Willy.”

The Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, site of the Spears SRL Southwest Tour’s penultimate race in 2020, and this year’s opener at Irwindale Speedway’s All-Star Showdown were a prime tune-up for the upcoming event.

Tanner’s improvement was noticeable.

“We went to Vegas and struggled and weren’t one hundred percent prepared, so the biggest thing about Irwindale was going and being competitive,” Tanner documented about his turnaround from missing the main event field at the Bullring to finishing a solid seventh within an 80-day span at Irwindale, a track layout similar to Tucson in size and banking.

“Realistically it wasn’t perfect, but I was happy with it and confidence-wise it was reassuring.”

The 29-year-old competitor has recently been balancing life between locations more than 2,000 miles apart after moving from his hometown of Auburn, Wash. to Mooresville, N.C.

Currently working for Magnus Performance Products, designing and engineering drivetrain components, it is a one race at a time approach at the moment for when the No. 65 Hamke race car sponsored by 9D Creative (a fast-growing multimedia business founded by his girlfriend Molly Helmuth, also a past Super Late Model racer on both coasts), Floor Coverings International, and HyperCo will appear next.

“We’ll see how Tucson goes and whatever makes most sense we’ll do next,” Tanner predicted. “The motivation for relocating was to do some racing here, but timing hasn’t been right yet. I want to do it right. It’s easier to race on the west coast when you have guys to go with you to the race track, so for now it’s more practical to just buy a plane ticket and do that.”

To continue reading, advance to the next page.

MOORESVILLE, N.C. – CarParts.com announced Friday morning that the company has extended its partnership with Michael McDowell and Front Row Motorsports.

CarParts.com will become an integral part of the team and McDowell’s NASCAR Cup Series season, including full season associate branding and primary sponsorship at four races.

CarParts.com will be the primary partner on the No. 34 Ford Mustang at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) Int’l on Aug. 8, followed by the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course on Aug. 25, the return of McDowell to Daytona (Fla.) Int’l Speedway on Aug. 28, and the playoff race at Las Vegas (Nev.) Motor Speedway on Sept. 26.

CarParts.com offers an easy-to-navigate, mobile-friendly shopping platform, connecting drivers with the parts they need to get from point A to point B with confidence.

The company has delivered more than 50 million parts across America and counts the recent Daytona 500 champion as a loyal customer.

Last year, CarParts.com and McDowell partnered to make updates to his Ford F-150 with various parts through a video install series, including a tonneau cover, exhaust system, and brakes.

“The story of Michael McDowell winning the Daytona 500 mirrors CarParts.com’s story,” said Houman Akhavan, Chief Marketing Officer for CarParts.com. “Both of us were building a really strong foundation under the radar. Both of us were building great teams. He was building a great car, and we were building a great company. Then, one day, everyone who had overlooked both of us realized that we were a force to be reckoned with.”

Last season, CarParts.com partnered with FRM and McDowell on various promotions, sweepstakes, contests, and other activities to get more involved in the sport and spark engagement with NASCAR fans.

One event in particular — when McDowell and Bubba Wallace made contact on the track during the All-Star race — led to a cascade of charitable contributions after CarParts.com bid on the bumper involved.

The initiative included donations of $20,034 to Motor Racing Outreach in McDowell’s name, another $20,043 to Victory Junction in Wallace’s name, and finally the bumper itself to a NASCAR fan.

Both CarParts.com and FRM look forward to finding more ways to connect with fans during the season.

“It’s great to have CarParts.com back with us in such a big way,” said McDowell. “We always knew they were with us, part of the family and supporting us. Now we can do something even bigger and better as we start our season. We have all year to spread the word about CarParts.com to NASCAR fans. I’ve used their site and it’s easy. They have every part you need.

“It’s just awesome to see this come together and I can’t wait to see what they have planned for us.”

GETTYSBURG, Pa. — Ask Danny Dietrich what he wants to become during the upcoming season and beyond, and the answer is simple.

“We’ve been a really good car in the past, but I want to become dominant,” Dietrich said. “You see all the greats … Fred [Rahmer], Lance [Dewease], Greg [Hodnett], who won 20 to 30 races a year. That’s what I want to be.”

As a new season dawns in central Pennsylvania, the storylines and faces seem fresher than ever, but the area’s most polarizing personality wants to overwrite it all.

Winning 13 times and earning a Central Pennsylvania points title, which came down to the final race Nov. 13 at BAPS Motor Speedway, is no longer fulfilling. Dietrich just wants to win at a clip such as those enshrined in the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame once did.

“I want to go out and just be dominant,” Dietrich said. “I want people to get tired of me. It’s just that simple. I want the competition to get tired of us.”

Sometimes it may be tough to discern what Dietrich wants. Go to his Twitter account — which sits at 20,800 followers, more than Posse stars Freddie Rahmer, Anthony Macri, and Dewease combined — and one will quickly find his outspoken takes.

He gets into side altercations seemingly more than any other driver and finds himself at the center of attention often.

But anyone who truly gets to know Dietrich and watch him in his element will start to understand his passionate nature.

While he rarely shies away from speaking his mind, he’s quick to lend a hand in the pit area or simply anyone in need.

He pushes for safety innovation. He sometimes feels he is the only one who will speak up.

“I truly think we need more people like myself in the sport who stand up for themselves,” Dietrich said. “There are just too many [people] who I call prima donnas. I think about all the hard work that Fred [Rahmer] or Greg [Hodnett] or Lance [Dewease] put into it. They didn’t expect to go out and win. You had to put the work in, and sometimes take advice from an older driver.”

Dietrich has long cared about the sport and now he wants to take his career and reputation to bigger places. He wants to put himself alongside icons like Rahmer, Dewease and Hodnett. He often studies their framework, too.

Memorable triumphs in the National Open at Williams Grove Speedway and a hearty number of wins over the course of a season separate Dietrich and the aforementioned trio.

Accomplishments are just the beginning when describing the gap between Dietrich and the Hall of Fame drivers he wants to put himself alongside.

“The biggest thing with Lance and Greg is they’ve always stayed level-headed,” Dietrich said. “When they went to the track, they had a job to do. Fred did, too, but he’s like me at times. We’re not as level-headed. Greg and Lance, they’ve always stayed calm. They didn’t really do anything to make people mad in a sense. They drove hard. They just went there to do their job and go home.”

Dietrich has noticed his voice carries more and more weight as the years pass, especially since Dewease is one of the few veteran figures that remain.

“There’s drivers, kids in the stands that look up to you,” Dietrich said. “And that’s why I’ve kind of settled down a bit recently.”

But Dietrich’s “settled down” is different from the world’s definition.

“You still want to sell t-shirts,” Dietrich said with a slight laugh. “You still want to have a fanbase. You don’t want to give all that up.”

Dietrich won’t give up the want to put on a show. He is, however, here to prove he’s matured enough since last summer.

“You just have to stay focused,” Dietrich said. “That’s the biggest thing.”

He became a dad over the winter to Emmitt, who now keeps Dietrich in line at two months old. Last year, when Dietrich was mired in the worst stretch of his 410 career, going 16 races without a podium, he learned more about himself than he ever had.

“I basically learned there was nothing wrong with the car,” Dietrich said. “I was just worn out. We just needed to get back doing what we do. I’m tired of searching. It just creates more work when you’re searching.”

There are also moments like last year’s Pennsylvania Speedweek. Going into race five of nine in the series at Grandview Speedway, Dietrich held a 12-point lead over Kyle Larson and remained focused as ever to finish the week in the national spotlight.

Then, the tide turned. Larson snatched the win and the Speedweek points lead for good. He went on to win 12 of his final 19 sprint car races in central Pennsylvania, matching Dietrich for most wins in the area last year.

Dietrich, meanwhile, began his stretch of maturation. Now, he’s ready to put it all together for perhaps his best season yet.

No, Dietrich isn’t hitting the road anytime soon, but he’s still going to be racing plenty.

“People don’t realize how much that wore us out,” Dietrich noted of his schedule last year. “We won’t be doing that again. I have a little one now.”

Dietrich will chase his second Williams Grove Speedway track title this year, and he’ll also race often at Lincoln Speedway as well.

Those pursuits loom ahead as Dietrich comes off a second-place finish with the World of Outlaws at Volusia Speedway Park during the 50th DIRTcar Nationals.

“Volusia shows just how capable we are,” said Dietrich, who also set quick time that night. “Hey, if we can run good there, throw our notes away, and come back [to Pennsylvania] with that momentum, we’ll be one step ahead of everyone else.”

He doesn’t care what you think: Dietrich knows his capabilities. He also knows he’s outspoken sometimes.

In the end, he just wants to go down as one of the best.

“We have big things coming for us,” Dietrich said. “I think we’ll have a better year than we’ve ever had.”

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Nearly a week after the grinding conclusion to the 63rd Daytona 500 at Daytona Int’l Speedway, Team Penske teammates Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski still haven’t discussed the finish.

The pair came together in turn three of the 2.5-mile superspeedway after Keselowski got a push in the draft from Michael McDowell, who was running third with half a lap to go in The Great American Race.

As Keselowski looked underneath Logano to challenge for the victory, Logano moved down to block Keselowski’s run. The pair of Ford Mustangs made contact with both Logano and Keselowski spinning in front of the oncoming pack.

McDowell sneaked between the two and ultimately won the Daytona 500, while Keselowski and Logano left the race track with destroyed race cars and crushed dreams.

Logano met with reporters Friday morning for the first time since the crash to discuss the finish, noting that even if he could have made a different move on the final lap, “what’s done is done.”

“You can’t change it now; that’s the bottom line,” said Logano. “I was up in the mirror and watching everything develop behind me. When the 34 (McDowell) and the 2 (Keselowski) hooked up, they came at me with a run, I threw a mild block, and when Brad moved to the left to pass me … that got the 34 off-center on his bumper. These Cup cars are very unstable when they’re getting pushed. It’s not like when we used to tandem, when we had a pair of 400s across the back. There’s not much mechanical grip in our cars anymore.

“With the lower ride heights, we’re trying to get the spoiler out of the air to make speed. When a car gets off-center as much as McDowell was on Brad, it’s going push him around, just like we saw the first (lap-14) crash happen,” Logano continued. “At that point, from watching it in slow motion and trying to dissect it, I saw Brad’s hands turn to the left and the back end of his car was further left than he is, so that meant he was going to the right at that moment spinning out. That’s why I got tagged so hard in the left-rear and (got) spun out so quick. That’s how I see it happened.”

Logano’s hope during the closing stages was that because he had several Ford drivers lined up behind him in the draft, he’d be relatively safe near the finish.

Unfortunately, those hopes were dashed in the third turn coming to the checkered flag.

“It’s quite the bummer that (the crash) happened because you’re so close to winning The Great American Race and you think 30 laps before … when you’ve got four Fords behind you and everyone is working together that everything will be fine. I was pretty stoked about the situation,” Logano noted. “It’s kind of the best scenario you can possibly be in for the last 30 laps of that race and then once I saw Brad lay back and shuffle the 4 (Kevin Harvick) out I said, ‘OK, this game is about to change. This isn’t going the way I would expect it to,’ and I knew that things were going to be a little different.

“That’s what developed in the last few laps. Cars were laying back so much trying to form runs and I was backing up trying to keep everyone tight behind me and not get so far out (in front), because everyone was checking up behind me trying to form runs. I knew everyone would be bumper to bumper and all that came to fruition when we went down the back straightaway and everyone opened it up. You saw some cars on the bottom and that top lane had five cars pushing each other.

“There will always be a few runs coming at you that way and that’s just how it ended this year.”

To continue reading, advance to the next page.