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Many have heaped praise on Kyle Larson after his exceptional start to the 2017 season with four runner-up finishes, one win, and the points lead through eight races. Kevin Harvick even called Larson the “best driver to come into NASCAR since Jeff Gordon” in an interview after Larson won at Auto Club. But on Friday morning in a pre-practice media session at Richmond, Larson called himself the “last true racer”…

Also losing 15 minutes of practice time for deferred failed race inspection at Texas will be Denny Hamlin, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chris Buescher, Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Two of MLS’s marquee players battle on Friday as Toronto FC host Houston Dynamo on Friday night. Sebastian Giovinco, the 2015 MLS MVP, will take on Erick “Cubo” Torres, who has been on fire for the Dynamo to start the season. Torres has seven goals already this season, including two game-winners, leading Dynamo to a 4-2-1 record. The 2016 MLS Cup runners-up haven’t enjoyed quite as much success to start the…

16. Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. ($7,000) – This is a new Stenhouse. With limited practice time and a beat-up race car, Stenhouse continued his excellence at Bristol. It’s not just Bristol, the Roush Fords are for real this year. (4.5 fppk) 17. Clint Bowyer ($8,500) – He’s a short track guy. Bowyer probably won’t earn fast lap or laps led points, but that’s not a deal breaker. At his price, a top-10 finishing…

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16. Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. ($7,000) – This is a new Stenhouse. With limited practice time and a beat-up race car, Stenhouse continued his excellence at Bristol. It’s not just Bristol, the Roush Fords are for real this year. (4.5 fppk) 17. Clint Bowyer ($8,500) – He’s a short track guy. Bowyer probably won’t earn fast lap or laps led points, but that’s not a deal breaker. At his price, a top-10 finishing…

Sports teams mutate over a decade, and so the Capitals and Penguins – teams that take the ice Thursday night – will bear almost no resemblance to the ones that played here in 2009. That was the first time the Caps advanced to the second-round in the Rock the Red era, and it was the start of hockey taking center stage in D.C. sports – or as close to center…

(CNN)An 85-year-old is the unlikely star of Britain’s cycling revolution. ‘);$vidEndSlate.removeClass(‘video__end-slate–inactive’).addClass(‘video__end-slate–active’);}};CNN.autoPlayVideoExist = (CNN.autoPlayVideoExist === true) ? true : false;var configObj = {thumb: ‘none’,video: ‘sports/2017/04/26/tour-of-yorkshire-cycling-explainer-uci-europe-tour-england-orig.cnn’,width: ‘100%’,height: ‘100%’,section: ‘domestic’,profile: ‘expansion’,network: ‘cnn’,markupId: ‘body-text_9′,adsection: ‘const-article-inpage’,frameWidth: ‘100%’,frameHeight: ‘100%’,posterImageOverride: {“mini”:{“height”:124,”width”:220,”type”:”jpg”,”uri”:”//i2.cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/170421081436-tour-de-yorkshire-street-small-169.jpg”},”xsmall”:{“height”:173,”width”:307,”type”:”jpg”,”uri”:”//i2.cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/170421081436-tour-de-yorkshire-street-medium-plus-169.jpg”},”small”:{“height”:259,”width”:460,”type”:”jpg”,”uri”:”//i2.cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/170421081436-tour-de-yorkshire-street-large-169.jpg”},”medium”:{“height”:438,”width”:780,”type”:”jpg”,”uri”:”//i2.cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/170421081436-tour-de-yorkshire-street-exlarge-169.jpg”},”large”:{“height”:619,”width”:1100,”type”:”jpg”,”uri”:”//i2.cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/170421081436-tour-de-yorkshire-street-super-169.jpg”},”full16x9″:{“height”:900,”width”:1600,”type”:”jpg”,”uri”:”//i2.cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/170421081436-tour-de-yorkshire-street-full-169.jpg”},”mini1x1″:{“height”:120,”width”:120,”type”:”jpg”,”uri”:”//i2.cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/170421081436-tour-de-yorkshire-street-small-11.jpg”}}},autoStartVideo = false,callbackObj,containerEl,currentVideoCollection = [],currentVideoCollectionId = ”,isLivePlayer = false,moveToNextTimeout,mutePlayerEnabled = false,nextVideoId = ”,nextVideoUrl = ”,turnOnFlashMessaging = false,videoPinner,videoEndSlateImpl;if (CNN.autoPlayVideoExist === false) {autoStartVideo = false;if (autoStartVideo === true) {if (turnOnFlashMessaging === true) {autoStartVideo = false;containerEl = jQuery(document.getElementById(configObj.markupId));CNN.VideoPlayer.showFlashSlate(containerEl);} else {CNN.autoPlayVideoExist…

FILE – In this March 2, 2014, file photo, Tony Stewart waves to the crowd during driver introductions prior to a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series auto race in Avondale, Ariz. First went Jeff Gordon. Then Tony Stewart. Now Dale Earnhardt Jr. is packing his bags to leave NASCAR. All have their own reasons, but the nation’s most popular auto racing series is a victim of its own popularity. (AP Photo/Ross…

NASCAR issued penalties to two national series teams following the races at Bristol Motor Speedway: The No. 78 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series team of Furniture Row Racing and the No. 22 NASCAR XFINITY Series team of Team Penske.  Martin Truex Jr. drove the No. 78 Toyota to an eighth-place finish at Bristol, but NASCAR officials found one of the car’s 20 lug nuts was improperly installed in a post-race…

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Amanda Spencer (top), watches her son, Kasey Spencer, 11, play Connect Four at the Special Olympics, held at Walkertown High School.

NASCAR heads to Richmond for its second short track in as many weeks as the sport comes to terms with the announcement its most popular driver, Dale Earnhardt Jr., is retiring at the end of the season.  Junior may be known for his restrictor-plate prowess but he’s had success at Richmond (three wins) and Phoenix (three wins), two tracks which are very similar in terms of setup and banking. Earnhardt is one of…

Before Dale Earnhardt Jr. began his current streak where’s he had a stranglehold on NASCAR’s Most Popular Driver award for 14 consecutive seasons, it was Bill Elliott whose name was seemingly permanently engraved on the trophy, taking the honor 16 times in an 18-year span. So with Earnhardt having announced his full-time retirement from the Monster Energy Cup Series on Tuesday, and with popular drivers Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, and…

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NASCAR issued penalties to two national series teams following the races at Bristol Motor Speedway: The No. 78 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series team of Furniture Row Racing and the No. 22 NASCAR XFINITY Series team of Team Penske.  Martin Truex Jr. drove the No. 78 Toyota to an eighth-place finish at Bristol, but NASCAR officials found one of the car’s 20 lug nuts was improperly installed in a post-race…

If you follow Danica Patrick on social media, you know how devoted she is to her dog, Dallas. Now, the Stewart-Haas Racing driver, in conjunction with sponsor Code 3 Associates, is doing something very special to raise awareness for cancer research in animals. Code 3, a anon-profit organization specializing in animal rescue and recovery in disaster areas, will feature the One Cure program led by the Colorado State University Flint…

Before Dale Earnhardt Jr. began his current streak where’s he had a stranglehold on NASCAR’s Most Popular Driver award for 14 consecutive seasons, it was Bill Elliott whose name was seemingly permanently engraved on the trophy, taking the honor 16 times in an 18-year span. So with Earnhardt having announced his full-time retirement from the Monster Energy Cup Series on Tuesday, and with popular drivers Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, and…

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For the first time, NASCAR is hosting in Charlotte its annual party celebrating the completion of the first half of the season. Also for the first time, the party will be open to fans. And as part of the event, Maren Morris, of country music’s biggest stars, will headline a performance at the Fillmore. The NASCAR Silver Bullet Bash on May 18 will kick off the All-Star weekend at Charlotte…