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Published

4 years ago

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4:29 PM ET

  • Associated Press

TALLADEGA, Ala. — Bubba Wallace became just the second Black driver to win at NASCAR’s top Cup Series level when rain stopped Monday’s playoff race at Talladega Superspeedway.

Wallace had driven through a crash and to the front of the field five laps before the second rain stoppage of the race. NASCAR tried to dry the track for nearly 45 minutes, but called things off as sunset approached and the rain showing no sign of ceasing.

Wallace had been waiting atop his pit stand and celebrated wildly with his crew when the race was called. Wallace is in his first season driving for 23X1 Racing, a team owned by both Denny Hamlin and Michael Jordan.

Wallace broke down in tears after he returned to his parked No. 23 Toyota. The car number was picked for co-owner Jordan, who wore 23 in the NBA.

“This is for all the kids out there that want to have an opportunity and whatever they want to achieve, and be the best at what they want to do,” Wallace said as he choked back tears. “You’re going to go through a lot of bulls—. But you always got to stick true to your path and not let the nonsense get to you.

“Stay strong. Stay humble. Stay hungry. Been plenty of times when I wanted to give up.”

Wallace is the first Black driver to win at NASCAR’s elite Cup level since Wendell Scott in 1963 — a race where he wasn’t declared the victor for several months. NASCAR at last presented Scott’s family with his trophy from that race two months ago.

Bill Lester, a Black driver who raced intermittently in NASCAR from 1999 through one Xfinity Series start this season, tweeted his congratulations to Wallace.

“Finally, it’s official, you’ve done it!” he posted. “So proud of you and what you’ve accomplished. Your win moves the @NASCAR needle forward on so many fronts. Glad I was a witness.”

In June 2020 at Talladega, NASCAR discovered a noose in the garage stall assigned to Wallace. The finding came just a week after NASCAR had banned the Confederate flag at its events at Wallace’s urging.

The FBI investigated and found that the noose was tied at the end of the garage door pull and had been there for months, meaning Wallace was not a victim of a hate crime. The entire industry rallied around him, though, and stood in solidarity with Wallace at his car at the front of the grid before the race.

The flag ban has been an issue at Talladega, where a convoy of vehicles has paraded up and down Speedway Boulevard outside the main entrance of the speedway in all four races since NASCAR said it would not permit the symbol inside its tracks. The convoy was back this weekend and included one car pulling a trailer that contained a Civil War-era cannon.

Wallace has called the noose incident a low point in his life. He’s been subjected to nonstop online harassment that last year even included a tweet from then-President Donald Trump that falsely accused Wallace of making up the noose.

Wallace never saw the noose and was only told about it by NASCAR president Steve Phelps after the FBI had already been summoned to investigate. He said he never thought about the significance of earning his first career Cup race at the same track in his native Alabama; he was born in Mobile.

“When you say it like that, it obviously brings a lot of emotion, a lot of joy to my family, fans, my friends. It’s pretty cool,” he said.

Wallace went to a makeshift victory lane inside an empty garage stall to celebrate with his 23XI Racing team. The organization was formed a year ago and Wallace was the centerpiece based on all the corporations that entered NASCAR in support of Wallace and his social justice efforts.

23XI will expand to two cars next season with former series champion Kurt Busch joining the team.

Wallace’s win was his first in 142 career Cup starts, though he had six victories in the Truck Series from 2013 through 2015.

No playoff drivers won a race at Talladega this weekend and only Hamlin is already locked into the third round of the playoffs headed into next week’s elimination race at Charlotte, North Carolina.

Hamlin, a three-time Daytona 500 winner, celebrated with Wallace following his seventh-place finish.

“It’s just way more emotional because I know how difficult it is. These guys have worked so hard over the last 10 months to put this team together,” Hamlin said. “We’re still in the beginning stages of our team. We’re still growing. We’ve got some great things on the horizon. It’s just a great morale booster for everyone.”

Brad Keselowski finished second and was followed by Team Penske teammate Joey Logano in a pair of Fords. Busch was fourth in a Chevrolet.

Kevin Harvick, Christopher Bell, Alex Bowman and William Byron head to Charlotte in danger of elimination.

UP NEXT

The final race in the second round of the playoffs is at The Roval at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The hybrid road course/oval is where the field of 12 will be trimmed to eight. Chase Elliott is the two-time defending race winner at The Roval. His victory last October was his first of three wins in the final five races that lofted Elliott to his first Cup championship.

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Fresh Prince of the Fall Classic: A Will Smith wins World Series for sixth-straight year

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5 hours ago

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November 3, 2025

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Fresh Prince of the Fall Classic: A Will Smith wins World Series for sixth-straight year

Forget advanced analytics, draft capital and payroll flexibility — apparently, a team needs just Will Smith to win the World Series.

With the Los Angeles Dodgers defeating the Toronto Blue Jays in seven games on Saturday night, a team with a player named Will Smith on their active roster has won the Fall Classic six years in a row.

The Dodgers accomplished the feat in 2020 and 2024 with catcher Will Smith, while the Atlanta Braves, Houston Astros and Texas Rangers swapped reliever Will Smith among them from 2021-23.

What’s even odder about this stat is that Will Smith doesn’t even need to dominate in the World Series to win. While Will Smith the pitcher has put up a respectable 3.38 ERA in his three World Series, Will Smith the catcher has a batting average of .194 with 14 hits, four homers, 10 RBIs and nine runs scored in 80 career Fall Classic plate appearances.

But those numbers don’t tell the full tale of the latter’s impact.

On Saturday night, Smith hit the first extra-inning home run in a winner-take-all World Series game in MLB history. It was his fourth career go-ahead homer in the postseason, tying Javy López and Gene Tenace for the second most by a catcher all time, behind only Johnny Bench with five. He also became the first catcher to homer in a Game 7 of the World Series since David Ross did it in 2016, and only the sixth catcher ever to do it. The ball he hit in the 11th inning traveled 366 feet — the exact same distance as Blue Jays infielder Ernie Clement‘s flyout with bases loaded that ended the ninth.

For good measure, the Dodgers clinched their back-to-back championship by turning a game-ending double play, making them just the third team ever to clinch the World Series in that fashion.

While Will Smith the catcher is locked up on the Dodgers for a while, Will Smith the pitcher last signed a one-year $5 million contract with the Kansas City Royals in December 2023 and is a free agent.

ESPN Research contributed to this story.

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Triple threat: Dodgers favored to win title in ’26

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5 hours ago

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November 3, 2025

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Triple threat: Dodgers favored to win title in '26

With their second straight World Series title and third championship in six seasons, the Los Angeles Dodgers have built a dynasty that seemingly can’t be stopped. According to bookmakers, it may not.

The Dodgers opened as the consensus favorite to win another World Series in 2026, showing +375 odds at ESPN BET. Next come the New York Yankees at a relatively distant +700 before another somewhat significant drop to the Houston Astros and Philadelphia Phillies at +1200.

On paper, sportsbooks see a Dodgers core that is leaps and bounds ahead of the rest of MLB. DraftKings sportsbook director Johnny Avello said the unique talent of the team’s lineup, even at the bottom, and an impeccable pitching staff keep Los Angeles in the outright-favorite conversation every season.

“Every year, it seems like we’ve been putting up the Dodgers as the favorite and we’ve been putting up just about the same price, like somewhere between +350 and +450,” Avello told ESPN. “There’s no reason why they shouldn’t be the favorite every year as long as they’re going to continue to keep putting a team like this out there.”

The World Series runner-up Toronto Blue Jays check in with +2000 odds to win it all in 2026, tied with the Chicago Cubs for 11th on ESPN BET’s board. It’s a significant improvement from their +6000 odds entering the 2025 campaign, which would have made them the longest preseason underdog to win a World Series since 2003 had they pulled it off against the Dodgers.

With Toronto leading 4-2 in the top of the eighth inning in Saturday night’s epic Game 7, Los Angeles was +750 on the live money line at ESPN BET. Pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who locked up the championship in the 11th inning after several stellar starting performances, was awarded World Series MVP after entering the series as a +3500 underdog to do so.

“The Dodgers were the most bet team to win the World Series and many bettors were happy to see the team win back-to-back championships,” BetMGM senior trader Matthew Rasp said in an email release. “LA opened as favorites to three-peat and we expect the Dodgers to be heavily supported by bettors once again.”

DraftKings, which opened its 2026 World Series market in recent weeks, said the Dodgers already are garnering 40% of the wagers and 25% of the handle to win another championship; the Blue Jays are second in the book’s rankings with 12% of bets and 22% of money.

Los Angeles was extremely well-supported by the betting public throughout the 2025 season: Going into the divisional round, ESPN BET said it had three times as many bets on the Dodgers to win the World Series than any other team.

At the bottom of the 2026 World Series odds board lie the Chicago White Sox and Colorado Rockies, both sporting astounding 500-1 odds. Both teams have become popular fade targets for bettors throughout recent seasons.

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Cubs earn major-league-high 3 Gold Glove awards

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5 hours ago

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November 3, 2025

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Cubs earn major-league-high 3 Gold Glove awards

  • Associated Press

Nov 2, 2025, 10:10 PM ET

CHICAGO — The Chicago Cubs had a major-league-high three Gold Glove winners this year, with Pete Crow-Armstrong, Ian Happ and Nico Hoerner taking home baseball’s most famous fielding honor.

It was the first Gold Glove for Crow-Armstrong, part of a breakout season for the All-Star center fielder. Happ won for the fourth consecutive year in left field, and it was the second Gold Glove for Hoerner at second base.

“Four straight’s pretty special,” Happ said. “We had an unbelievable defensive team this year. Just all around, I think we built off each other and kind of fed off each other and the energy, and it was a real source of pride amongst the group.”

Hoerner also won in 2023. He was slowed at the beginning of this season as he made his way back from right flexor tendon surgery on Oct. 11, 2024.

“To have an injury that directly impacts your defense and still win this award, yeah, it feels really good,” Hoerner said.

Kansas City, Boston and San Francisco each had two winners. Eight players earned the award for the first time, St. Louis-based Rawlings announced Sunday.

Bobby Witt Jr. and Maikel Garcia of the Royals became the first shortstop-third baseman teammates to win in the same season since J.J. Hardy and Manny Machado for the Orioles in 2013. It was Witt’s second straight Gold Glove at shortstop.

Patrick Bailey and Logan Webb of the Giants are the first battery from the same team to win a Gold Glove in the same season since Yadier Molina and Adam Wainwright for the Cardinals in 2013. It was Bailey’s second straight win at catcher.

The Red Sox winners were right fielder Wilyer Abreu and center fielder Ceddanne Rafaela. Abreu, 26, also won last year, and Rafaela, 25, earned the award for the first time.

New York Yankees pitcher Max Fried and Cleveland left fielder Steven Kwan joined Happ as four-time winners. Atlanta first baseman Matt Olson earned his third Gold Glove.

Detroit catcher Dillon Dingler, Texas second baseman Marcus Semien, Houston utilityman Mauricio Dubón and first baseman Ty France rounded out the AL winners. France was traded from Minnesota to Toronto on July 31.

San Diego right fielder Fernando Tatis Jr., St. Louis shortstop Masyn Winn, third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes and Miami utilityman Javier Sanoja also won in the NL. It’s the second Gold Glove for Tatis and Hayes, who was traded from Pittsburgh to Cincinnati on July 30.

Semien earned a $100,000 bonus for winning the honor. Kwan and Witt each got $50,000, and Hayes earned a $25,000 bonus.

Voting was conducted among managers and up to six coaches from each team, who can’t select players on their own club. Since 2013, voting has been factored with a Society for American Baseball Research defensive index, which comprises about 25% of the total.

The utility category is based on a SABR formula and additional defensive statistics.

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