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HAMPTON, Ga. — After 24 years, Speedway Motorsports officials could no longer allow drivers to have the final word in delaying the inevitable repaving of Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Sunday’s NASCAR race will be the final event for the battered and heavily patched track surface. Construction will begin immediately on the makeover, which will include a reprofile, with 28-degree banking on the turns replacing the 24-degree banking. The project was announced Tuesday.

The decision comes in the year Atlanta Motor Speedway is hosting two NASCAR events for the first time since 2010. The move reflects a commitment to again have two events in 2022.

Atlanta Motor Speedway president Brandon Hutchinson said the resurfacing was overdue, no matter the schedule.

“We’ve known for a while a repave had to take place,” Hutchinson said. “Asphalt can only last so long. A repave has been inevitable for some time.”

In fact, the repaving discussion has been a hot topic with drivers in Atlanta for at least five years. The drivers consistently lobbied to keep the old track.

The plans to finally change the surface were announced following 10 months of research, including computer simulations from iRacing. The changes were designed to accommodate the 2022 introduction of NASCAR’s Next Gen car.

Officials did not seek input from NASCAR drivers.

“We try to make sure, and I say this I kind of jest, when a driver is happy about our race track, usually the fans aren’t,” Speedway Motorsports senior vice-president for operations and development Stephen Swift said.

“We want to make sure what we’re creating is what the fans want to see.”

Kyle Larson, who lost to Ryan Blaney in the March race in Atlanta, tweeted that he wished drivers had been consulted.

“I wish they would talk to everybody about it,” Larson posted on his Twitter account. “We have more experience than the fans, you know, I’ve raced hundreds of different racetracks. I feel like we have a better understanding of what really makes good racing.”

Swift said “every kind of stickum” has been used to patch the track.

“We’ve been holding it together, glued together, literally,” Swift said. “It’s just gotten to the point it’s worn out. We’ve just been buying time and that time is now.”

Georgia home-state favorite Chase Elliott, who won last week’s race at Road America in Wisconsin, has joined others drivers in the past in pushing to delay resurfacing as long as possible – but he has changed his mind.

Elliott, who has never won at his home track, said he now supports plans to repave the surface.

“My opinion has kind of changed on it, really,” Elliott said. “I certainly had been in the boat of wanting to leave it alone and not repave it. It’s a place that rewards precision, rewards a driver for really doing a good job behind the wheel in all aspects.”

Elliott said his opinion was swayed by talking with friends who attend races in Atlanta.

“I think it’s time for it,” he said of the decision to repave the track. “I have a lot of friends and folks who go down there, and listening to their comments and my own thoughts as time has gone on, I just feel like it’s time. … I’m good with the change down there and I hope it’s for the better. I think it will be.”

In addition to higher banks, the repaving project also will decrease the width of the 1.54-mile track from 55 feet to 52 on the front stretch, 42 on the back stretch and 40 on the turns.

Larson said that will make for tight turns.

“That’s more than two car widths narrower, so that’s a lot,” Larson said.

Swift said the narrower track will push the cars “in groups together. That creates better entertainment. Atlanta will be first mile and a half to have this kind of racing.”

That change caught Elliott’s attention.

“Narrowing the track is probably the biggest headline I think in all of that I read, and kind of the unknown with that,” he said.

“It sounds like Atlanta has put a lot of thought into it. I think that’s all you can ask for. I think it’s time and I think they’re going about it the right way.”

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Hard-throwing rookie Misiorowski going to ASG

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Hard-throwing rookie Misiorowski going to ASG

Hard-throwing rookie Jacob Misiorowski is a National League All-Star replacement, giving the Milwaukee Brewers right-hander a chance to break Paul Skenes‘ record for the fewest big league appearances before playing in the Midsummer Classic.

Misiorowski was named Friday night to replace Chicago Cubs lefty Matthew Boyd, who will be unavailable for the All-Star Game on Tuesday night in Atlanta because he is scheduled to start Saturday at the New York Yankees.

The 23-year-old Misiorowski has made just five starts for the Brewers, going 4-1 with a 2.81 ERA while averaging 99.3 mph on his fastball, with 89 pitches that have reached 100 mph.

If he pitches at Truist Park, Misiorowski will make it consecutive years for a player to set the mark for fewest big league games before an All-Star showing.

Skenes, the Pittsburgh Pirates right-hander getting ready for his second All-Star appearance, had made 11 starts in the majors when he was chosen as the NL starter for last year’s All-Star Game at Texas. He pitched a scoreless inning.

“I’m speechless,” said a teary-eyed Misiorowski, who said he was given the news a few minutes before the Brewers’ 8-3 victory over Washington. “It’s awesome. It’s very unexpected and it’s an honor.”

Misiorowski is the 30th first-time All-Star and 16th replacement this year. There are now 80 total All-Stars.

“He’s impressive. He’s got some of the best stuff in the game right now, even though he’s a young pitcher,” said Yankees slugger Aaron Judge, who is a starting AL outfielder for his seventh All-Star nod. “He’s going to be a special pitcher in this game for a long time so I think he deserved it and it’s going be pretty cool for him and his family.”

Carlos Rodón, Carlos Estévez and Casey Mize were named replacement pitchers on the AL roster.

The New York Yankees‘ Rodón, an All-Star for the third time in five seasons, will replace teammate Max Fried for Tuesday’s game in Atlanta. Fried will be unavailable because he is scheduled to start Saturday against the Chicago Cubs.

In his final start before the All-Star game, Rodón allowed four hits and struck out eight in eight innings in an 11-0 victory over the Cubs.

“This one’s a little special for me,” said Rodón, an All-Star in 2021 and ’22 who was 3-8 in his first season with the Yankees two years ago before rebounding. “I wasn’t good when I first got here, and I just wanted to prove that I wasn’t to going to give up and just put my best foot forward and try to win as many games as I can.”

The Kansas City Royals‘ Estévez replaces Texas’ Jacob deGrom, who is scheduled to start at Houston on Saturday night. Estévez was a 2023 All-Star when he was with the Los Angeles Angels.

Mize takes the spot held by Boston‘s Garrett Crochet, who is scheduled to start Saturday against Tampa Bay. Mize gives the Tigers six All-Stars, most of any team and tied for the franchise record.

Royals third baseman Maikel Garcia will replace Tampa Bay‘s Brandon Lowe, who went on the injured list with left oblique tightness. The additions of Estévez and Garcia give the Royals four All-Stars, matching their 2024 total.

The Seattle Mariners announced center fielder Julio Rodríguez will not participate, and he was replaced by teammate Randy Arozarena. Rodríguez had been voted onto the AL roster via the players’ ballot. The Mariners, who have five All-Stars, said Rodríguez will use the break to “recuperate, rest and prepare for the second half.”

Arozarena is an All-Star for the second time. He started in left field for the AL two years ago, when he was with Tampa Bay. Arozarena was the runner-up to Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in the 2023 Home Run Derby.

Rays right-hander Drew Rasmussen, a first-time All-Star, is replacing Angels left-hander Yusei Kikuchi, who is scheduled to start Saturday night at Arizona. Rasmussen is 7-5 with a 2.82 ERA in 18 starts.

San Diego added a third NL All-Star reliever in lefty Adrián Morejón, who replaces Philadelphia starter Zack Wheeler. The Phillies’ right-hander is scheduled to start at San Diego on Saturday night. Morejón entered the weekend with a 1.71 ERA in 45 appearances.

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Bellinger goes deep for 3rd time after Cubs rob HR

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Bellinger goes deep for 3rd time after Cubs rob HR

NEW YORK — Robbed an inning earlier, Cody Bellinger wasn’t sure his first three-homer game had been swiped away again.

“I didn’t know at first,” he said. “For that third one to finally get over feels pretty good.”

Bellinger hit three two-run homers against his former team and was denied a fourth by a spectacular catch, leading the Yankees to an 11-0 rout of the Chicago Cubs on Friday night.

Aaron Judge made a trio of outstanding grabs in right field for the Yankees, who have won five straight games following a a six-game losing streak.

Bellinger, whose dad Clay played for the Yankees from 1999 to 2001, is a two-time All-Star and 2019 NL MVP.

He spent 2023 and 2024 with the Cubs, hitting .266 with 18 homers and 78 RBIs in 130 games last year while missing time because of a broken right rib. The Cubs traded him to New York in December with $52.5 million remaining on his contract and agreed to pay the Yankees $5 million.

He homered in a three-run third off Chris Flexen and in the fifth against Caleb Thielbar for this 18th multihomer game. Bellinger nearly went deep in the seventh but was robbed by Kyle Tucker on a drive above the right-field wall.

“I was watching it. He timed it up perfect, so I was a little sick about it, honestly,” Bellinger said. “But it was a good catch.”

“Boys were giving me a hard time after he robbed it. Boonie was giving me hard time,” Bellinger added.

A four-time All-Star and a Gold Glove winner, Tucker snatched the ball as a fan tried for it, the spectator clasping both sides of the outfielder’s glove.

“I caught the ball and he caught my glove, so I figured even if I dropped it they’d probably look at it and get it overturned,” Tucker said. “I’ve probably had some encounters with me trying to go into the stands and catching a ball and me hitting someone’s hand or whatever but I don’t know if anyone’s ever actually kind of caught my glove while doing it.”

Bellinger homered in the eighth off Jordan Wicks, just above the red glove of leaping center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong and into the dark glove of a kid in the front row.

“The fan just beat to the spot,” Crow-Armstrong said. “He just had a better chance of catching it higher than I did.”

Bellinger, who had rounded first, watched and then smiled when he saw he had hit No. 3.

“Glad the fan caught it before PCA could grab it,” said Bellinger, who met the boy after and got the ball back. “I’ve seen PCA rob so many homers. He’s a freak athlete out there.”

Bellinger is batting .406 over a career-high 16-game hitting streak, raising his average to .285 with 16 homers and 54 RBIs.

He had spoken with his Cubs ex-teammates during batting practice.

“No, no, no revenge,” he said. “Honestly, ultimately it was just fun to be out there. I saw a bunch of guys I hadn’t seen in a while and I shared a bunch of good memories with them for these past two years.”

Jazz Chisholm Jr. and manager Aaron Boone encouraged Bellinger to emerge from the dugout for a curtain call.

“He was a little reluctant, but then the Bell-lin-ger” over the dugout got pretty loud. So I think he succumbed to it,” Boone said. “Belly’s loved being here and loved playing here in a meaningful place to him, going back to his childhood.”

Bellinger turns 30 on Sunday and can opt out of the final season of his contract this fall. With long balls and wide smiles, he seems to have found a home in the Yankees clubhouse.

He tried not to make much of getting the three homers against the Cubs, but Bellinger’s teammates could sense the significance.

“It’s always good to go against your old teammates that you spend a lot of time with, you know, you respect,” Boone said. “To perform right away against them I’m sure probably is a little cherry on top for him.”

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M’s Raleigh hits 2 more HRs, brings total to 38

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M's Raleigh hits 2 more HRs, brings total to 38

DETROIT — Cal Raleigh hit his 37th and 38th home runs in Seattle‘s 12-3 victory over Detroit on Friday night to move within one of Barry Bonds’ 2001 major league record for homers before the All-Star break.

Raleigh hit a solo homer off former teammate Tyler Holton in the eighth to tie the American League record of 37 before the All-Star break set by Reggie Jackson in 1969 and matched by Chris Davis in 2013.

“[Holton] and I are really good friends, and I’ve caught a lot of his pitches,” said Raleigh, who was in the lineup as the designated hitter instead of at catcher. “I don’t think that helped much, but I’m sure he’s not very happy with me.”

Raleigh hit a grand slam off Brant Hurter in the ninth.

“I didn’t even know it was a record until just now,” Raleigh said. “I don’t have words for it, I guess. I’m just very grateful and thankful.”

It was Raleigh’s eighth multihomer game this season, tying Jackson (also in 1969) for the most such games before the All-Star break in MLB history, according to ESPN Research. He also tied Ken Griffey Jr. for the most multihomer games in Mariners franchise history.

Seattle has two games left in Detroit before the break.

“Cal Raleigh … this is just unbelievable,” Mariners manager Dan Wilson said. “He’s already set the AL record and now he’s only one short of Barry. There are two games, so who knows?”

Raleigh hit 10 homers in March and April, 12 in May, 11 in June and has five in July.

“This is a very boring comment, but baseball is all about consistency,” Wilson said. “This hasn’t been one hot streak, he’s doing this month after month. That says everything.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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