DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Officials from Rette Jones Racing announced Saturday morning that Brittney Zamora has been tapped to drive the team’s No. 30 Ford Fusion in the Lucas Oil 200 driven by General Tire ARCA Menards Series season opener on Feb. 13 at Daytona Int’l Speedway.

Team co-owner Mark Rette will guide Zamora as she prepares to make her superspeedway ARCA debut.

Square1 Flex, VISA, Pit Road Pals and Davis Groupe Promotions will serve as Zamora’s marketing partners for the first ARCA Menards Series race of the year.

A native of Kennewick, Wash., Zamora burst onto the racing scene with success in the Northwest Super Late Model Series in 2017 and ’18 and became the first female to win a championship in the series.

Zamora carried the title honors for two consecutive seasons, drawing the attention of many, including ARCA Menards Series West championship team Bill McAnally Racing who signed her for a full ARCA Menards Series West schedule in 2019.

In her rookie ARCA West season, she scored two poles, netted six top-five and 10 top-10 finishes and captured fifth in the championship standings. She earned a career-best third twice at Tucson (Ariz.) Speedway and Evergreen (Wash.) Speedway.

She joined Jefferson Racing in 2020, but the COVID-19 pandemic played havoc with her racing schedule, leaving her to piece races together on a variety of different levels.

“I am really excited to be joining Rette Jones Racing for my first superspeedway race,” said Zamora. “It is going to be a great experience and I am going to learn a lot. Daytona is a track I have always dreamed of racing at.

“I am confident in Mark (Rette), the RJR team and myself to be successful at Daytona. If luck stays on our side, I know we will have a strong chance to be in contention for a podium and possibly even a win.”

Rette Jones Racing is no stranger to success at Daytona. In January 2020, the Mooresville, N.C.-based team topped the speed charts with female driver Dominique Van Wieringen and contended for a top-five finish before being swept into an accident nearly halfway into last February’s race.

In 2017, RJR finished second in the ARCA season-opener with team co-owner Terry Jones, who led 25 of the event’s 80 laps. Jones was preparing to a potentially winning move in the closing laps, but a late-race caution forced the event to end under yellow flag conditions.

“I’m excited,” said Rette. “Brittney should be too. I really feel like our No. 30 Square1 Flex Ford Fusion is going to be fast and I know Brittney isn’t afraid to drive, so we should be right up there with the best of the best in the series.

“I’m glad she turned some laps during the open ARCA Menards Series test in January and hopefully that track time will prove to be valuable for when she climbs aboard our race car with an opportunity to become the first female winner in ARCA national series history.

“We had that chance last year with Dominique but came up short. I’m thankful to have a second opportunity to do that this year with Brittney.”

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – WWE Superstar Sasha Banks will serve as the Honorary Starter for the 63rd Daytona 500 on Sunday, February 14.

She will waive the green flag on the Great American Race, which is set for a 2:30 p.m. ET start at the 2.5-mile World Center of Racing.

“I am honored to be the official starter of the Daytona 500. I would like to thank NASCAR and our partners at FOX for this opportunity,” said Sasha Banks.  “I can’t wait to get out to the track in front of the great fans and find out which driver has what it takes to be a ‘Legit Boss’.”

Banks can be seen each week on Friday Night SmackDown, which airs live every Friday night on FOX. The current SmackDownWomen’s Champion, she is one of the most celebrated Superstars in WWE, having held every major Women’s Championship in WWE. As a pioneer of the WWE Women’s Division, Banks has continuously broken down barriers and shattered glass ceilings, helping usher in WWE’s current Women’s Evolution. She is a former NXT Women’s Champion, a multi-time Raw Women’s Champion, and one half of the first WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions.

“The tradition of having high-profile athletes, including those from WWE, as part of the Great American Race continues this year with Sasha Banks as our Honorary Starter, and we couldn’t be more excited,” said Daytona International Speedway President Chip Wile. “She is a true champion, and I know our fans will be anxious to see her drop the green flag on the historical 63rd Daytona 500.”

Banks’ appearance at the Daytona 500 marks the second consecutive year that a WWE Superstar has been a part of pre-race ceremonies. In 2020, Sheamus was the Honorary Pace Car Driver.

BARBERVILLE, Fla. – Brandon Sheppard’s season-opening run at the Sunshine Nationals in January has only poured more fuel in the fire to claim another Big Gator championship trophy during the 50th DIRTcar Nationals.

In part, that’s because it was his worst start to the season since joining the World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Models full-time in 2017.

In the first two races of the 2021 season at Volusia Speedway Park, Sheppard – the three-time defending World of Outlaws champion – finished ninth and seventh, respectively – an average finish of eighth. His previous worse start in the first two events of the season was in 2018 when he finished 12th and second – an average finish of seventh.

He’s no stranger to success at Volusia, though. Sheppard and his Rocket1 Racing team won five straight races at the Florida half-mile from 2019 to 2020. He’s also a two-time DIRTcar Nationals Big Gator champion – his most recent Gator title coming last year.

Sheppard said initially it took time for him to find his rhythm at Volusia before going on a winning spree. With the new dirt that was put down on the track, he’ll have to learn it all over.

“It definitely changed the car up a bunch,” Sheppard said.

Few changes were made to his car for this season, he said. But with the new dirt, he and his team had to throw out their previous notes and start over.

During Sunshine Nationals, drivers found the best way around the new clay was to run up against the wall on both corners. Many described the feeling as sliding into the corner, feeling like there is no traction, but then the car finds bite and takes off – tricky, but fun.

The new way for racing the track threw Sheppard for a loop, at first, and forced him to change his driving style.

“Everyone knows I’m the first one that will go run a cushion wide open,” he said. “But it is a little different. The track is hard and slimy. It’s not that the cushion is fast, it’s just faster than the slick part of the racetrack. It doesn’t have that grip across the track like it usually does. It’s usually kind of patchy and have wet spots here and there and go where you can bounce off of them and get yourself going. Definitely different. We’ve been working hard to get things rolling again. I think we’ll be fine.”

He’ll have four chances to perfect a new Volusia set up with the World of Outlaws Late Models continuing its 2021 season with four straight nights of racing at Volusia during the 50th DIRTcar Nationals (Feb. 10-13).

He’ll also have four chances to get a better start on his hunt for a fourth Series championship – which would tie him with Josh Richards for the most Series titles. After Sunshine Nationals, Sheppard sits fourth in points, 26 points behind current Series points leader Kyle Strickler. He is also 10 points behind his closest points rival in 2020, Ricky Weiss.

And while the season is only two races deep, Sheppard said points are still a consideration – to an extent.

“You want to win races and the points will play out how they play out,” Sheppard said. “We’re going for the win every night. We’re not going to do anything crazy that’ll give us a DNF or anything like that.”

He may have had his worst start to the season in his career, but that’s had no hindrance on his confidence of being able to claim a third Big Gator title.

“We know our stuff is pretty fast,” Sheppard said. “We’ve been fast here the past few times. Confidence is up. We’ve just got to get to work. That’s all there is to it.”

After a season in which barriers were broken and NASCAR managed to kick-start the national sports scene while a pandemic raged, there are still more changes at hand as the sanctioning body prepares to open the new season this month at Daytona Int’l Speedway.

The many changes to the team lineups are earth-shaking, and that goes for drivers, crew chiefs and other personnel. The biggest changes are in the driver’s seat.

The most significant won’t come as a surprise. For the first time since 2002, Jimmie Johnson won’t be in the No. 48 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports. The seven-time Cup Series champion has hung up his NASCAR helmet and will try his hand on road courses in the NTT IndyCar Series this season.

He leaves with 686 career starts, 83 victories and those seven championships, locking him in a select group with only Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt.

Alex Bowman moves from the No. 88 formerly driven by Dale Earnhardt Jr. to the No. 48, alongside crew chief Greg Ives, who also moves over to the 48 squad. Full backing from Ally Financial awaits the duo.

That’s not the only change at HMS, either. The biggest news of the late-season rush surrounding the championship battle was the reinstatement and subsequent return to the series of Kyle Larson, who will drive the No. 5 car for Hendrick Motorsports.

Larson lost his ride at Chip Ganassi Racing after an incident during an iRacing event and was banned from the sport for the remainder of the season. After bootstrapping a winged sprint car campaign that saw him win a slew of races and ignite the sort of buzz that used to be attached to somebody with the last name Kinser or Swindell, Larson successfully applied for reinstatement to NASCAR.

He takes over the former No. 88 team, with Cliff Daniels on the pit box. Sponsorship has not yet been announced.

Chase Elliott, the reigning Cup Series champion returns in the No. 9 and William Byron completes the Hendrick brigade in the No. 24 Chevrolet.

The biggest splash in a year where there were so many came when it was announced Michael Jordan would form a NASCAR Cup Series team with longtime friend Denny Hamlin. The duo tabbed Bubba Wallace to drive the No. 23XI Racing Toyota.

Mike Wheeler, Hamlin’s former crew chief at Joe Gibbs Racing, will call the shots for Wallace and the team purchased Germain Racing’s charter. It also has a technical alliance with JGR. The ride is fully funded by a bevy of sponsors and is sure to have a lot of eyeballs on it beginning at Daytona.

Speaking of JGR, there were a few changes there as well.

Christopher Bell now drives the team’s No. 20 Camry, replacing Eric Jones, while Adam Stevens moves from Kyle Busch’s No. 18 to be Bell’s crew chief. Jones signed with Richard Petty Motorsports to pilot the iconic No. 43 for The King, with Jerry Baxter as his crew chief.

Busch will have Ben Beshore as his crew chief after several seasons with Stevens. The No. 11 team (Hamlin and crew chief Chris Gabeheart) and the No. 19 team for Martin Truex Jr. and crew chief James Small have relatively few changes for the coming season.

Ross Chastain, who was slated to move up to the Cup Series in 2019 but was caught in the DC Solar imbroglio at Chip Ganassi Racing, finally makes it to the top series in the No. 42 Chevrolet after Matt Kenseth re-retired at the end of the season. Kenseth had replaced Larson when the latter was suspended last season.

Daniel Suarez left Gaunt Racing and moves to a new team, Trackhouse Racing, formed by Justin Marks. The Mexican driver will have Travis Mack as his crew chief, coming off two seasons with Michael Annett at JR Motorsports in the Xfinity Series, and a technical alliance with Richard Childress Racing that includes the use of ECR Engines. During the offseason, RCR and Hendrick Engines announced they would combine their efforts to produce a Chevy engine to take on their rivals at Ford and Toyota.

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Gerard Pique has thrown a spanner in Victor Font's campaign to become the next Barcelona president by demanding he remove a tweet featuring a short video from an interview the defender did this week.

Font linked a quote from Pique which said Barca must "look to the future because the past only serves to learn from our mistakes" with his own campaign for the presidency, which carries the slogan "Si al Futur" (Yes to the future).

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"Victor, with all respect, these words have nothing to do with what you are trying to transmit with this tweet," Pique wrote on Twitter on Friday. "I ask you to delete it and not to use my image for your benefit."

Font quickly replied with an apology and removed the tweet from his personal account and from the "Si al Futur" account.

"Gerard, we used this reflection because it is in line with our thoughts," he said. "In no case did we want to create any problem for you. We have deleted it."

Font is one of three candidates to replace Josep Maria Bartomeu, who resigned as president in October, when club members vote on March 7, with Joan Laporta and Toni Freixa the other two.

Laporta, who was previously Barca president between 2003 and 2010, is leading the polls, ahead of Font, and Pique's social media intervention could serve as a further boost to his campaign given the centre-back's popularity among the club's supporters.

On the pitch, Barca will look to continue their good start to 2021 on Sunday when they travel to Real Betis in search of their sixth straight win in La Liga.

Four of those five wins have come away from Camp Nou and, after next Wednesday's Copa del Rey semifinal at Sevilla, Barca will have played 11 of their 12 games in the calendar year away from home or at a neutral venue.

Most of those games have involved late kick-offs and early morning returns to Barca, with Koeman's side yet to have a free midweek since the turn of the year.

"At some point, UEFA or the Spanish league will have to do something because they are killing the players with this schedule," Koeman said in a news conference on Saturday.

Barca will be without the injured quartet of Pique, Sergi Roberto, Philippe Coutinho and Ansu Fati when against Betis. A win will move them within seven points of leaders Atletico Madrid, although they will have played two more games.

Real Madrid's Kosovare Asllani has scored one of the fastest hat tricks in football history, finding the net three times in just 155 seconds in a 3-1 Primera Iberdrola win over Valencia.

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The Sweden international opened the scoring in the 67th minute with a free-kick.

Less than a minute later, she lobbed the goalkeeper to double Madrid's lead, before a close-range finish saw her complete her hat trick in the 70th minute.

Earlier in the match, Asllani -- who has previously starred for Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City -- also had a first-half strike ruled out for offside.

She completed an eventful afternoon when she was substituted in the 88th minute, after being struck in the face by a ball which rebounded off the woodwork.

The hat trick ranks among the fastest ever scored in both men's and women's professional football.

Brazil World Cup winner Bebeto netted the quickest hat trick ever in the men's Spanish First Division, scoring three goals in four minutes for Deportivo La Coruna against Albacete in 1995.

Forward Bafetimbi Gomis scored the fastest treble in men's Champions League history, in eight minutes for Lyon against Dinamo Zagreb in December 2011.

Real Madrid Femenino are second in the Primera Iberdrola table, eight points behind rivals Barcelona, who have two games in hand.

The team were officially formed last July, after the club acquired the Madrid-based CD Tacon.

Asllani, 31, scored the first goal in the side's history in a 1-1 draw with Valencia in October.

Liverpool forward Diogo Jota is ranked world No. 1 on PlayStation's FIFA Ultimate Team Champions leaderboard after finishing the weekend at 30-0.

The 24-year-old joined Liverpool from Wolverhampton Wanderers in the summer and impressed with nine goals for his new club -- including a run of six goals in four matches in October and November -- before he picked up an injury in December.

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Jota has not played since a 1-1 draw against FC Midtjylland in the Champions League on Dec. 9 and, since then, Liverpool won just four times in 13 games across all competitions.

But Jota has clearly used his time at home wisely as he improved his FIFA skills.

Jota has has always been keen gamer and shared his recent achievement on his personal Esports Twitter page.

??? ?? ??? ? ? ? ? ? ?@DiogoJota18 pic.twitter.com/9EZaBsk3eq

— DiogoJota Esports (@diogojotaegames) February 6, 2021

"Since my dad gave me my first PlayStation as a kid, it's been like another passion of mine. I always played football on it," Jota told The Athletic in December.

In April 2020, while football was in the middle of a stoppage due to the coronavirus outbreak, Jota won a Premier League FIFA tournament, where each team selected one player to represent them.

Jota, then at Wolves, beat future teammate Trent Alexander-Arnold in the final.

George Linde thought his season was over when he saw bone through the skin of his little finger while fielding in his follow through in Pakistan's first innings during the second Test.

It was his third over, and the 23rd of the match, when Babar Azam drove the ball straight back to Linde, who reached out to stop it as it clipped his left hand and rolled away. With spots of blood visible on his whites, Linde immediately left the field, fearing the worst.

"I started running off when I saw bone sticking out and I just popped it in myself," he said, without flinching. "I went for X-rays and for some reason my finger wasn't broken. I was quite happy with that."

Not just happy, but hopeful that he would still be able to play a part in the Test.

On the same day, with his finger stitched and a dressing wrapped around it, Linde was seen practising and trying to adjust his grip. The next day he returned to bowl two overs. The day after that, he made a run-a-ball 21 and bowled another nine, in which he took three wickets for 12 runs to keep South Africa in the game. He admitted he was in some pain. but not enough to keep him out of the game.

"I always say you never know when you will get another opportunity to play for your country. It's not going to get me down, because it's just pain. There are people who are sick at home, people who are losing their jobs, people who are dying from Covid or other diseases or something. My injury is nothing compared to that," he said. "Yes, I'm in pain, but I'm fighting it because I'm playing for my country. I'm not going to stand back for anything just because my finger hurts a little. It hurts for ten minutes, then you get an injection and then you go on."

"There are people who are sick at home, people who are losing their jobs, people who are dying from Covid or other diseases or something. My injury is nothing compared to that."

GEORGE LINDE

Linde is playing in just his third Test match, 15 months after making his debut in India and, with all his appearances coming in the subcontinent, is justified in wondering when his next cap might come. Not only do South Africa have no more Tests scheduled this summer but the state of the FTP means their next trip to Asia is uncertain, and even home fixtures are not confirmed. When they are, Linde's place isn't, because South Africa tend to play one specialist spinner at home and Keshav Maharaj is their first-choice.

That means Linde has to make the most of the chances he's been given, even if that means changing things about the the way he bowls. In this match, he has to remember a little something extra every time he prepares to deliver a ball. "I had to make a small adjustment with the grip. I didn't even know I use my pinkie (little finger) when I bowl. It's weird because every time I bowl, I have to first lift it up a little bit to get a better grip," he said.

So far, so good, with Linde appearing in full control in the second innings. He accounted for the wickets of Azhar Ali, Fawad Alam and Faheem Ashraf, who he could have dismissed for a duck had Dean Elgar held on to a catch at slip.

South Africa put down three catches in total and allowed the Pakistan lead to swell to 200, but Linde doesn't think the match has got away from them yet. "It's quite difficult to get wickets here, especially against a good opposition. We bowled well and were maybe a bit unlucky with a couple of dropped catches," he said. "But we are hungry to win this Test match. I'm pretty confident the batsmen will take us over the line in the next innings."

Asked what he thinks is chaseable on a pitch with variable bounce and where reverse swing could come into play, Linde was bullish and believes South Africa could still have another hundred runs to play with. "Anything under 300, we will take. Hopefully it will be 250, or 220 or 230. I think realistically under 270 or around 300,"he said. "I am pretty confident we will chase down."

Ezra Moseley, the former West Indies fast bowler, has died at the age of 63 following a traffic accident in his native Barbados.

According to local reports, Moseley - who played a brief but significant role in two Tests against England in 1990 - was struck by a car while riding his bicycle in Christ Church, near Bridgetown, and pronounced dead at the scene.

Had it not been for a stress fracture in his back, diagnosed at the age of 24, Moseley might well have risen to become a more vaunted member of the seemingly endless line of West Indian fast bowlers that ruled the sport in the 1980s and early 90s.

Instead, he ended up securing a shorter but undeniably significant place in West Indies' Test history, due to one delivery that arguably changed the course of his one and only series.

As the sole member of the 1983 rebel tour to South Africa to overturn his life ban from the sport, Moseley managed to overcome the opprobrium that tarred most of the other members of the tour party, and having returned to Barbados after a spell with Eastern Province, he was selected to make his Test debut at Port-of-Spain at the age of 32.

West Indies were in some disarray going into that contest, having lost the opening Test of the series in sensational fashion to Graham Gooch's unfancied England team, and with a team shorn of their captain Viv Richards as well as Patrick Patterson and Malcolm Marshall, they were once again up against it in Trinidad, with England chasing an obtainable 151 to claim a 2-0 series lead.

However, Moseley's slippery pace would change the course of the match and the series, as he twice struck Gooch on the hand with rising deliveries, the second blow forcing the captain to retire from the match and the series with a broken - a fact telegraphed in an iconic photo of Gooch roaring with pain, as England's physio Laurie Brown tended to the wound.

A combination of rain and controversial West Indies delaying tactics secured a draw for the hosts, and though Moseley would play just the one more Test, a series-levelling win at Barbados, West Indies battled back to preserve their decade-long unbeaten run, and his place in folklore was secure.

In all, he claimed six Test wickets at 43.50, in addition to seven at 39.71 in nine ODIs, the last of which came against Australia, also at Port-of-Spain, in 1991. In all, he claimed 279 first-class wickets at 23.31 in a 135-match career. He also picked up 102 wickets in 79 List A matches.

Moseley's big break in cricket had come as a 22-year-old in 1980, when he was signed by Glamorgan on the strength of his performances in Barbados club cricket, and he lived up to his billing with 50 wickets in each of his first two seasons, after which he went on to debut for Barbados in 1981-82.

However, he was then forced to undergo a back operation and it was during his lengthy recuperation that he was signed up for the West Indies rebel tour of Apartheid South Africa, and at the age of 25 his career at the highest level seemed over before it had begun. He played one more season for Glamorgan in 1986, as well as a stint as a professional in Lancashire League cricket.

After retiring he remained in the game as a coach, and ended up at St Michael, one of Barbados's top secondary schools, where he played a key role in the development of the current West Indies captain, Jason Holder.

He also he served as a national selector for Barbados men's and women's team, and also served as assistant coach for the West Indies' women's team.

The Houston Astros and shortstop Carlos Correa have reached a settlement and avoided arbitration, the team announced Saturday.

The two sides agreed to a one-year deal worth $11.7 million, according to multiple reports.

"I'm happy that we were able to come to an agreement and avoid arbitration," Correa said in a statement. "Arbitration is not a good process."

Correa had been seeking $12.5 million in 2021, while the Astros had offered $9.75 million.

The 26-year-old hit .264 with five home runs in 58 games last season but saw his numbers improve to .362 with six homers and 17 RBIs in 13 playoff games. Houston lost to the Tampa Bay Rays in Game 7 of the ALCS.

Correa made $2,962,963 in 2020, a proration of his original $8 million salary, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

MLB Network first reported financial details of the settlement.