DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The JDC-Miller MotorSports No. 5 Cadillac DPi led the way after the completion of four hours during the 59th Rolex 24 at Daytona Int’l Speedway on Saturday evening.

Vautier, who is sharing the No. 5 entry with fellow Frenchman Loic Duval and Sebastien Bourdais, has been in the car for more than an hour and cycled back into the lead after a round of pit stops just before the completion of the four hour of racing.

The No. 5 team was leading the way by more than four seconds after four hours over the No. 01 Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac DPi currently driven by Formula One veteran Kevin Magnussen, who is sharing the car with NTT IndyCar Series champion Scott Dixon and Renger van der Zande.

Third overall and in the DPi class belonged to defending race winners Wayne Taylor Racing, who had Ricky Taylor in the No. 10 Acura DPi after four hours. The WTR team sat more than 10 seconds behind the JDC-Miller Cadillac DPi at the four hour mark.

The LMP2 division was in the control of the No. 11 WIN Autosport Oreca 07-Gibson piloted by Tristan Nunez at the four-hour mark, with Nunez holding a nearly six-second lead in the class over the No. 52 PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports Oreca 07-Gibson that was being piloted by Scott Huffaker.

Riley Motorsport found itself in control of the LMP3 class after four hours were complete, with the team’s No. 74 Ligier JS P320 sitting at the top of the class pylon by a reasonably comfortable margin of more than 40 seconds over Lance Willsey in the No. 33 Ligier JS P320 fielded by Sean Creech Motorsports.

In GT Le Mans, the dominant Corvette Racing squad was once again back at the front, with the No. 3 Corvette C8.R driven by Jordan Taylor leading the second No. 4 entry driven by Nick Tandy by nearly two seconds.

Behind the Corvette duo, their closest pursuer was the No. 25 BMW M8 GTE driven by Philip Eng, who was more than 13 seconds arrears of the leading Corvette in class.

The GT Daytona class saw an intense fight between the No. 14 AIM Vasser Sullivan Lexus driven by Kyle Kirkwood and the No. 57 HTP Winward Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT3 driven by Indy Dontje just as the clock clicked over the four hour mark.

Dontje managed to take the lead from Kirkwood down the backstretch and into the bus stop after chasing down Kirkwood in the darkness around the Daytona Int’l Speedway road course.

The race was slowed early on by four caution periods for incidents or debris, with the race completing its first uninterrupted hour of racing just shy of the four-hour mark.

The first incident of the race took place just as the GT Le Mans class was coming to the green flag. Bruno Spengler, at the wheel of the No. 25 BMW M8 GTE, slammed into the rear of the WeatherTech Racing Porsche driven by Kevin Estre.

The Porsche ended up spinning and bouncing off the Risi Competitzione Ferrari before continuing with significant damage, with IMSA officials issuing a drive-through penalty to Spengler for causing the incident.

CHICAGO -- The Chicago Blackhawks canceled practice Saturday out of concern about potential exposure to COVID-19.

The workout was supposed to be held at the team's practice facility. The Blackhawks say the move was made "out of an abundance of caution."

"The Chicago Blackhawks organization has, and will continue to follow, all recommended guidelines to protect the health and safety of players and staff as set by the NHL as well as local and state agencies," the team said in a statement.

Chicago lost 2-1 to Columbus on Friday night. The Blackhawks are scheduled to host the Blue Jackets again on Sunday night.

The Blackhawks have three players on the NHL's COVID-19 protocol list: defenseman Adam Boqvist and forwards Alex DeBrincat and Lucas Wallmark.

Alex Ovechkin scored the game-winning goal in overtime of Saturday's 4-3 win over the Boston Bruins after missing nearly two weeks following a violation of the NHL's COVID-19 protocols.

"It sucks, obviously," Ovechkin said about missing the past four games earlier Saturday. "No one wants to be suspended. No one wants to put yourself in that position. It's over. You learn from it and move on."

The Washington Capitals rallied in their captain's absence, picking up seven of a possible eight points. Saturday's game against the Bruins was an important one for Washington; it marked the first time former Bruins captain Zdeno Chara will face his old team after they let him walk in free agency.

Ovechkin has been sidelined since Jan. 19, the Capitals' first road trip of the season. Goalie Ilya Samsonov tested positive for COVID-19, which forced the NHL to conduct contract tracing. It was determined that Ovechkin, forward Evgeny Kuznetsov, defenseman Dmitry Orlov and Samsonov were all in the same hotel room, which violates the NHL's strict road trip rules for the 2021 season. The Capitals were fined $100,000 as a team.

Several players have told ESPN they believed the NHL came down hard on the Capitals because they wanted to use them as an example.

"It was a shock at first," veteran forward TJ Oshie told ESPN earlier on Saturday. "Just speaking about Ovi, he doesn't miss many games. There hasn't been many games where No. 8 isn't in the lineup. So that alone has been a pretty big difference, when one of the best players in the world, the best goal scorer I have ever seen and our captain on top of it, it's tough. But to lose all four of them was quite a big surprise. Those are guys that you can't replace. We kind of just had a next-man-up mentality, and little by little as a group we tried to work for each other and just play hard for each other."

Ovechkin has only missed 35 games out of a possible 1,191 in his career -- with only 17 due to injury.

Orlov was cleared off the NHL's COVID-19 protocol list but is not in the lineup on Saturday. Samsonov and Kuznetsov have yet to be cleared.

"It's a situation where rules are rules," Ovechkin said on Saturday. "You can see all the names there ... if you make mistake, it can cost you couple of games."

The 35-year-old has won seven of the past eight scoring titles, and in his media session displayed his signature blunt sense of humor.

"I had my bye week already," Ovechkin joked. "I feel pretty rested and ready to go. Obviously, I don't have lots of time to spend on the ice, but I did some workouts in my gym and did some running. Tried to do max of what I could do."

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Carolina Hurricanes goalie Petr Mrazek left Saturday night's 4-1 win over the Dallas Stars in the first period with an upper-body injury and did not return.

Mrazek went down 2 minutes, 47 seconds into the game after being bumped by teammate Max McCormick, knocking the net out of place.

Mrazek received medical attention briefly on the ice before skating off while holding his right wrist.

James Reimer entered in place of Mrazek and stopped 10 of 11 shots in his second appearance of the season.

Counting Saturday, Mrazek, 28, has played in four of Carolina's five games this season. He was 2-1-0 in the first three games with two shutouts, 63 saves and a 1.00 goals-against average.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

SAN DIEGO – Patrick Reed found himself embroiled in another rules controversy, but this time the rulebook was on his side.

After hitting his drive into a bunker and pulling his approach shot wildly left and into the rough at the par-4 10^th hole Saturday at Torrey Pines, Reed determined that his ball was embedded after being told by a nearby volunteer that it did not bounce when it landed.

Reed marked where his golf ball had stopped and picked it up before calling in rules official Brad Fabel, who concurred that Reed's golf ball was embedded and he was entitled to relief. After taking a drop, Reed pitched to 14 feet and made the putt for par.

“At that point, when you have three players, three caddies and the volunteer's really close to the golf ball not seeing the ball bounce, then you have to go by what everyone sees and what everyone saw,” Reed said. “When no one has seen that, then the rules official basically say whether it's free relief or not, and the rules official agreed that the ball has broken the plane and it was relief.”

Social media began to push back on the ruling after a replay clearly showed that Reed’s ball had bounced before settling into the rough. After the round, another rules official, John Mutch, showed the video to Reed and the two other players in his group, Will Gordon and Robby Shelton, to confirm the ruling.

“He operated the way the rules permit him to operate,” Mutch said. “It's similar to virtual certainty, under embedded ball it's called ‘reasonable to conclude,’ but if you hit the ball into a penalty area and you're playing with a couple of your buddies and you're virtually certain that's where the ball went and you operate under the penalty area rule and then later somebody in a group two groups behind you says, ‘Hey, I found your ball in the left rough,’ well, you're not under any penalty because you were virtually certain the ball's in the penalty area and you proceeded according to the rules.”

Both Gordon and Shelton declined to comment.

Reed, who was leading the Farmers Insurance Open by four strokes after making the turn on Saturday, struggled on the back nine with four bogeys on his way to a third-round 70 for a share of the lead with Carlos Ortiz at 10 under.

This isn't the first time Reed has been involved in a controversial rules situation. Most notably, Reed appeared to improve his lie in a bunker and was penalized two strokes at the 2019 Hero World Challenge, although he said at the time “it is my word against their word.”

SAN DIEGO – Carlos Ortiz’s third-round 66 was the best card of the day at the Farmers Insurance Open by two strokes and, by all accounts, a flawless effort on a major-championship caliber course.

Stress-free is how Ortiz described his round that moved him into a tie for the lead, but there was one glaring exception: the ninth hole.

“Oh, my God, I don't want to walk you through that. I mean, it was one of those holes that I hit it five times and I made 5,” he laughed. “I hit it five times, I didn't putt it.”

Ortiz’s tee shot sailed into the right rough, and he was only able to advance his next shot on the par 5 some 150 yards. He punched his third shot 100 yards short of the green and hit his next over the green and into an impossible position.

“I tried to knock down a wedge and hit it just a touch too hard, went over the green, left myself short sided,” he said. “I hit a perfect chip shot. I mean, kind of almost like a flop shot, checked and made it. I mean, I feel like I played three holes in one hole, it was just exhausting hitting out of the rough.”

Ortiz chipped in from 58 feet for an unlikely par.

“I was really aggravated and I was really energized after making that chip. I don't know how to react,” he laughed. “I was mad at the same time, but happy I made it.”

SAN DIEGO – Adam Scott was just two shots off the lead after 54 holes at the Farmers Insurance Open, but his eventful third round had taken a toll.

“I had 72, it felt like 80 at one point and it felt like it was going to be 67 at one point,” he said. “It's a hard golf course and I got a little out of sorts coming in there, which is disappointing, but I'm a couple back and got a chance tomorrow.”

Scott finished with an even-par 72, but there was nothing even about his day. The Australian didn’t make his first par until the fifth hole after starting his round bogey-birdie-birdie-double bogey.

After heating up to finish the front nine in 3 under par, he continued to struggle with his ball-striking and played his final nine holes in 3 over.

“If you're not on top of your game on these tough courses, it's a pretty demanding golf course in that wind today, a lot of holes into the wind on the back nine,” he said. “It was tough putting the last nine holes today. You didn't want to leave yourself anything and I didn't hit any greens on the back nine, so it was hard work for me.”

This is just Scott’s second start at the Farmers Insurance Open, and after finishing runner-up in 2019, he will begin the final round in contention despite his wild day.

United States forward Jozy Altidore won't play in Sunday's friendly against Trinidad & Tobago due in part to injury, as well as a possible transfer involving the Toronto FC star, according to U.S. manager Gregg Berhalter.

Berhalter, addressing reporters via a Zoom call ahead of the match, said that Altidore was training hard and well, but sustained an injury two weeks ago, one that was a "very, very minor strain" that didn't show up in scans.

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"From there on in he just worked his way back and he was also in full training today," said Berhalter about Altidore. "But with the transfer window looming, and the game being tomorrow, it's a chance we didn't want to take with Jozy, so he will not be participating."

The U.S. manager added that "a number of clubs" have expressed interest in Altidore. Sources confirmed the possibility he could be on the move, and emphasized the fact that the player's relationship with TFC -- and GM Ali Curtis in particular -- had reached a breaking point, and that he no longer wants to play in Toronto.

Sources told ESPN that a considerable sticking point is the years and money remaining on Altidore's contract. Altidore signed a three-year extension in 2019 that runs through 2022. A source said the deal has a no-trade clause. According to the MLS Players' Association, Altidore's 2019 salary, the most recent year for which data is available, paid him $6.33 million in guaranteed compensation. One source told ESPN that an unspecified club in Liga MX had expressed interest.

Altidore has previously clashed with Toronto management. Last year, he criticized the club's handling of an ankle injury to midfielder Michael Bradley, one that eventually required surgery and sidelined him for several months. ESPN television analyst Herculez Gomez later reported that Toronto was "considering a move" for Altidore.

Toronto FC didn't respond to a request for comment about a possible transfer involving Altidore.

Altidore has spent the last six seasons with Toronto, a period where he scored 67 goals and added 24 assists in 136 league and playoff appearances. In that time he led the Reds to a domestic treble in 2017, but has struggled with injury in two of the last three seasons.

During his career he has spent time with the New York Red Bulls, Villarreal, Xerez, Hull City, Bursaspor, AZ Alkmaar and Sunderland. At international level, Altidore has made 115 appearances for the U.S., scoring 42 goals.

In the meantime, Berhalter is continuing to prepare the U.S. for Sunday's match. In terms of his lineup, the U.S. manager said that Atlanta United's Miles Robinson will partner with New York Red Bulls defender Aaron Long in the center of the U.S. defense. The New England Revolution's Matt Turner will start in goal, which would give him his first cap.

Berhalter is also putting together contingency plans in case MLS locks out players in a dispute over a new Collective Bargaining Agreement. In the short term, there is the March international window and Olympic qualifying in late March to consider.

"The first scenario would be getting them to camp early in preparation for the European fixtures in March," said Berhalter. "The second scenario would be taking an all European team. In March, the plan is to go to Europe. We've done that already due to COVID, and we can certainly adapt to that. My intention would be to bring our strongest team and that certainly includes players from Major League Soccer. But we'll just have to see."

Spanish newspaper El Mundo claims it has obtained a copy of Lionel Messi's Barcelona contract, saying figures confirm the star player's deal is the biggest in sports history.

According to the report, Messi would receive a maximum of €555,237,619 (US$673,919,105) over four seasons, if a series of conditions were met.

The contract was agreed in November 2017 and expires on June 30 this year, when Messi will leave Camp Nou if there is no agreement with the club over an extension.

Messi tried to leave Barcelona last summer, arguing that a clause in the deal allowed him to walk away for free, before eventually backing down.

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The size of Barca's financial commitment to Messi, 33, is one of a number of deals that have left the club's accounts in a perilous position.

Their most recent set of accounts revealed that Barca's total debt is over a billion euros and player wages are responsible for almost three-quarters of the club's budget.

The El Mundo report -- which was released late on Saturday night -- said Messi's 30-page contract saw Barcelona agree to pay the forward €138,000,000 per season, including variables.

It included a signing-on bonus of €115,225,000 for accepting the renewal and a "loyalty" bonus of €77,929,955.

The newspaper claims that with five months still left to run on the deal, Messi has already earned €511,540,545.

? Portada de EL MUNDO del domingo 31 de enero. Ya disponible en Orbyt y en nuestra edición digital con la mejor información #ContratoMessi pic.twitter.com/7eSiodkSCb

— EL MUNDO (@elmundoes) January 30, 2021

The contract has coincided with Barcelona's decline as a force at the highest level in Europe.

Messi led the team to win La Liga in 2018 and 2019, but the Champions League has eluded them, being dramatically eliminated from the competition by Roma, Liverpool and Bayern Munich in successive seasons.

Those disappointments led Messi to attempt to force a departure in August 2020 in a move that shocked world football.

That was followed by the resignation of the president who agreed Messi's 2017 contract, Josep Maria Bartomeu, in October.

Club elections to choose a new president -- for whom resolving Messi's future will be high on the agenda -- were set for Jan. 24 but have been postponed until March due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Manchester United must learn how to beat the best if they want to be the best once more. Neither they nor Arsenal may be the force of old, but both are still members of the Premier League's "big six" and, with the Gunners depleted through absentees, a 0-0 draw represents another missed opportunity for United, classified alongside a stalemate with Liverpool earlier this month.

And while it would be tempting to highlight Wednesday's defeat to Sheffield United as evidence of their fallibility, a more sustained pattern for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's has come in matches against their closest rivals; in six matches against Man City, Liverpool, Tottenham, Chelsea and Arsenal this season, United have yet to win, with four draws and two defeats.

Scoring would help. The conclusion of this latest outing means it is 538 minutes since their last goal against their main rivals, and that was a Bruno Fernandes penalty in a game against Spurs, which ended in a 6-1 defeat.

United certainly had their chances at Emirates Stadium and Solskjaer highlighted three big moments: The first came in a first half his side largely dominated when Marcus Rashford could not get a shot away when the ball arrived to him at the back post; the second and third were spurned by Edinson Cavani in a more even second period.

Cavani somehow missed an open goal when Luke Shaw fired a cross at him, then directed an acrobatic volley flew inches wide, one minute from full-time. The frustration in front of goal was reminiscent of similar shortcoming against Liverpool earlier this month, when Bruno Fernandes and Paul Pogba could not beat Alisson with opportunities to win the game.

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"Every game in the Premier League is tight, but the two you are talking about, we felt we were close to winning them," Solskjaer said. "We had two massive chances against Liverpool, two good saves by the keeper. Today, two massive chances again but just wide. To get those four extra points, we need a little bit more quality and be more clinical. We went for it today; we felt the game was there to be won."

And it was, just like at Anfield, when the Premier League champions were bereft of key players and appeared more vulnerable than usual. Arsenal's line-up was minus arguably their three most influential players, with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in quarantine after tending to his sick mother, Bukayo Saka not risked due to a sore hip and Kieran Tierney failing to recover from a calf problem.

Whether subconsciously sitting back as a result or forced to do so by United's intense high press, Arteta's side played on the counter-attack in the opening period as the visitors controlled the early exchanges. Fred went closest to the opening goal, but home goalkeeper Bernd Leno made a brilliant save to push a floating, goalbound shot around the post.

Despite losing another key man at half-time with the withdrawal of Gabriel Martinelli, Arsenal improved after the restart as Alexandre Lacazette hit the crossbar with a superb free kick and Nicolas Pepe went close with a low shot that skimmed wide.

"We made some changes with a few things that we had to fix to be much more efficient, to be much closer to them, to be more effective in our high press and the areas where we could regain the ball and then we had a better structure to attack," Arteta said later.

"We were more of a threat and we stopped giving the ball back to the opponent when we won it and we had much space to run, which is something that against United can really punish you and in the first half we didn't do that well enough."

However, United had the best chances after the break as well, only for Cavani to fall short. The 33-year-old has had a positive impact since moving to Old Trafford last summer, but has scored just one goal in nine league games since his two-goal rescue mission at Southampton on Nov. 29.

Meanwhile, Fernandes is the undoubted United talisman and, as is invariably the case, if he does not fire, neither does his team. The Portuguese midfielder went close with one first-half effort but it is five games since he scored or made a goal in league play. United's mini-slump -- they have one win in their last four -- is no coincidence.

But four points from 18 available in big-six showdowns is not enough to sustain a title challenge. Solskjaer's record against the same teams last season was much better, but he is being judged by higher standards this term; the lowest tally any of the previous 10 champions have managed is 16, a mark that United can only equal by winning their last four battles of the English giants.

"We need of course to take our chances and we've got the players to do that, we just haven't done it," United's manager said. "We just keep on working, keep on working with them on the training ground. Definitely, we have something for our forwards to sort out. But they've scored so many goals throughout their careers.

"We don't think about the title race or the title now," Solskjaer added. "We're in January. We are just focusing on getting back on the road. I think the disappointment [against Sheffield United] was big. The point today gives us more belief again because we feel we dominated. The reaction and the approach to the game was very good."

Both sides can accentuate the positives. Arsenal have kept five clean sheets in six league games since beating Chelsea on Dec. 26 and were able to give loan signing Martin Odegaard his debut as a substitute, while United set a club record by completing an 18th consecutive away game without defeat.

But there will also be accompanying sense of what might have been. And for United in the big games, it is a familiar feeling.