Sport

3:00 PM ET Facebook Twitter Facebook Messenger Pinterest Email print comment Dale Earnhardt Jr. had just finished meeting with a few guests of his sponsor Nationwide at his motor home less than three hours before the Brickyard 400. About to hop in a van to go to a Chevrolet appearance, he has a couple of minutes to chat with a reporter. Then his brother, Kerry, comes over with some people…

Kyle Larson is ready for a hectic weekend befitting his status as one of racing’s rising stars. Larson is set to race in Saturday’s Knoxville Nationals, squeezing in the prestigious sprint car event before returning to Michigan to compete in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race. Chip Ganassi, Larson’s team owner on the Cup circuit, gave him permission to race Saturday in Knoxville, Iowa. He qualified ninth in his Cup car…

3:00 PM ET Facebook Twitter Facebook Messenger Pinterest Email print comment Dale Earnhardt Jr. had just finished meeting with a few guests of his sponsor Nationwide at his motor home less than three hours before the Brickyard 400. About to hop in a van to go to a Chevrolet appearance, he has a couple of minutes to chat with a reporter. Then his brother, Kerry, comes over with some people…

Kyle Larson celebrates his A-main victory Wednesday night at Knoxville Raceway.(Photo: Frank Smith, Special to the Register) Chip Ganassi heard all of your pleas. And Friday, he decided to make you very happy. The NASCAR team owner gave his blessing to allow his star driver, Kyle Larson, to come back to Iowa on Saturday night — in the middle of a Monster Energy Cup Series weekend at Michigan International Speedway —…

Clint Bower at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Photo credit: Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images If someone deserves an award for simply living life as the Good Lord intended, it’s NASCAR’s Clint Bowyer. He’s the most unapologetic country boy there is, and his views on Formula One, that series with them Eu-ro-peans over there driving spaceship cars that aren’t even V8s, are amazing. Bowyer’s views aren’t just amazing, actually, they’re television worthy. Every Ferrari-…

Brad Keselowski will start on the pole for Sunday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Pure Michigan 400 (at 3 p.m. ET on NBCSN), after taking the top spot from fellow Ford driver Ryan Blaney, who had posted the fastest times to that point, but bobbled twice in his run in the final qualifying round on Friday at Michigan International Speedway. Keselowski grew up in Rochester Hills, Mich., a…

Petr Cech has proved that when it comes to goalkeeping, he’s just as accomplished on ice as he is on the hallowed turf of the football pitch. Three days before Arsenal’s first game of the Premier League season, the Czech veteran dashed off to make a special appearance in an exhibition ice hockey game in his native country — a testimonial for former NHL star Martin Havlat. Doing his best…

Two soccer players have been barred for life from Iran’s national team after they appeared in a match against players from Israel, prompting anger among the sport’s many fans in the Islamic Republic. Masoud Shojaei and Ehsan Haji Safi played last week in a European league match for the Greek team Panionios against Maccabi Tel Aviv, an Israeli club. That appeared to violate a longstanding rule prohibiting Iranian athletes from…

Louisa Fyans, an F.A. spokeswoman, said in an email that when the association updated its rules in 2014, it took into account that some owners had significant gambling interests. “These clubs would be materially impaired by the F.A.’s position on betting,” she said, so the association created “provisions whereby those individuals could continue to have both an interest in football clubs and in betting companies/entities but subject to very stringent…

“Win on Sunday, sell on Monday” – probably the oldest marketing adage in motorsports – might not work like it once did. If it did, teams in NASCAR’s top series likely would be running SUVs and crossovers – in high demand these days – instead of Toyota Camrys and Ford Fusions. But Chevrolet is clearly hoping its new Sprint Cup Series race car – a Camaro ZL1 it unveiled Thursday…

Louisa Fyans, an F.A. spokeswoman, said in an email that when the association updated its rules in 2014, it took into account that some owners had significant gambling interests. “These clubs would be materially impaired by the F.A.’s position on betting,” she said, so the association created “provisions whereby those individuals could continue to have both an interest in football clubs and in betting companies/entities but subject to very stringent…

NASCAR driver Kyle Larson and his hometown of Elk Grove get star turns on two networks this weekend – not counting coverage of his next race. Larson, who turned 25 on July 31, currently ranks third in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup standings and will try to win his third consecutive race at Michigan International Speedway in Sunday’s Pure Michigan 400, which will be telecast live at noon Sunday on…

“Win on Sunday, sell on Monday” – probably the oldest marketing adage in motorsports – might not work like it once did. If it did, teams in NASCAR’s top series likely would be running SUVs and crossovers – in high demand these days – instead of Toyota Camrys and Ford Fusions. But Chevrolet is clearly hoping its new Sprint Cup Series race car – a Camaro ZL1 it unveiled Thursday…

We’ve launched a big expansion of our soccer predictions here at FiveThirtyEight. We’re now forecasting 24 club soccer leagues, with two more — Champions League and Europa League — to come in a few weeks. We’ve added leagues from South America (Brasileirão and the Argentine Superliga), along with 14 new European leagues, including five second-tier leagues, such as the English Championship. For the most part, the methodology behind our forecasts…

“Win on Sunday, sell on Monday” – probably the oldest marketing adage in motorsports – might not work like it once did. If it did, teams in NASCAR’s top series likely would be running SUVs and crossovers – in high demand these days – instead of Toyota Camrys and Ford Fusions. But Chevrolet is clearly hoping its new Sprint Cup Series race car – a Camaro ZL1 it unveiled Thursday…

We’ve launched a big expansion of our soccer predictions here at FiveThirtyEight. We’re now forecasting 24 club soccer leagues, with two more — Champions League and Europa League — to come in a few weeks. We’ve added leagues from South America (Brasileirão and the Argentine Superliga), along with 14 new European leagues, including five second-tier leagues, such as the English Championship. For the most part, the methodology behind our forecasts…

When NASCAR driver Erik Jones returns to his home state of Michigan to race, everything is familiar. He arrived there on Sunday after the race at Watkins Glen and spent the week in the house he grew up in. He visited with old friends, heard everyone call soft drinks “pop” instead of “soda” and saw half the state covered in maize and blue and the other half in green and…

Last year, the Iranian Olympian Alireza Khojasteh withdrew from the judo competition at the Rio Games, citing personal reasons. It is widely thought that he did so to avoid the possibility of facing an Israeli opponent. It took Iranian officials more than a week to announce the suspension of the two soccer players, who both played the full 90 minutes in their team’s 0-1 defeat in the second leg of…

Mayor Eric Garcetti and the L.A. 2028 Olympic bid committee are in a tremendous hurry to pass the new Host City Contract that they negotiated privately with the International Olympic Committee last month through the City Council. They’ve hosted zero public community gatherings to specifically discuss the 2028 bid — unless you count one-minute comments at Friday’s ad hoc council meeting — but they want you to think that previous…

x Embed x Share CLOSE NASCAR fans and amateur racers on how the sport has changed. Robin Buckson, The Detroit News Buy Photo From left, Nino Phillips of Mt. Clemens, Jonathan Rangel and his father, George Rangel, both of Columbus Township, and Rick Sheppard of Mt. Clemens talk about NASCAR racing at Gus’ Coney Island in Mt. Clemens.(Photo: Robin Buckson, The Detroit News)Buy Photo Mount Clemens — They care a…