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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.

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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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U.S. shut out by Switzerland at hockey worlds

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U.S. shut out by Switzerland at hockey worlds

HERNING, Denmark — Switzerland, last year’s runner-up, shut out the United States 3-0 and handed the Americans their first loss at the ice hockey world championship Monday.

Damien Riat, Jonas Siegenthaler and Dean Kukan scored in the Group B game in Herning. Netminder Leonardo Genoni stopped 23 shots for the shutout.

“Give credit to Switzerland,” U.S. coach Ryan Warsofsky said. “But I know our group has a lot more in them. We’ll regroup and get ready to play Norway.”

Riat put Switzerland ahead with 7:14 remaining in the first period, redirecting the puck into the goal from the air. It was the first goal the U.S. conceded at the tournament.

The second followed 3:13 later by Siegenthaler from the blue line. Kukan’s came halfway through the final period from the top of the left circle.

“After the first goal we did a better job,” Swiss forward Kevin Fiala said. “We got into it more and more, and shut them out.”

Fiala recorded an assist in his first game at the worlds. He joined the Swiss late after his Los Angeles Kings were eliminated from the NHL playoffs in the first round.

U.S. goalie Joey Daccord made 24 saves.

The U.S., which beat Denmark 5-0 and Hungary 6-0 in its first two games, will next face Norway on Wednesday.

In other games, Martin Necas had two goals and David Pastrnak had a goal and two assists as the defending champion Czech Republic used a four-goal middle period to ease past Denmark 7-2.

Nick Olesen also had a goal and an assist for Denmark.

In Stockholm, Sweden topped archrival Finland 2-1 on goals from Leo Carlsson and Jonas Brodin for a third victory in regulation from three games.

Austria defeated Slovakia 3-2 in a penalty shootout.

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Leafs’ Domi fined $5K for hit to Panthers’ Barkov

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Leafs' Domi fined K for hit to Panthers' Barkov

Toronto Maple Leafs forward Max Domi was fined $5,000 — the maximum amount allowed by the league’s collective bargaining agreement — for boarding Florida Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov as time expired in Game 4 of their second-round Eastern Conference playoff series Sunday.

Toronto was trailing 2-0 when the final buzzer sounded, and Domi hit Barkov from behind, sending him headfirst into the boards. Domi was given a minor penalty for boarding at the time while several other scrums broke out before officials moved players off the ice.

Florida’s victory evened the best-of-seven series at 2-all. Game 5 is set for Wednesday in Toronto.

Toronto coach Craig Berube didn’t comment on the Domi hit directly Monday, but he did say he thought Dmitry Kulikov‘s hit on Mitch Marner “was way worse”

On that play, the Panthers defenseman caught Marner up high with an elbow, leaving the Leafs forward momentarily dazed. No penalty was called on Kulikov.

It wasn’t the first elbowing incident to draw attention in the series.

In Game 1, Panthers forward Sam Bennett sent an elbow to the head of Leafs netminder Anthony Stolarz shortly before Stolarz left the game. He was later hospitalized for further evaluation and hasn’t been able to resume skating since. There is currently no timeline for his return.

The physical intensity of the series might continue to rise now that it’s down to being a best-of-three. Based on how Game 4 played out, the Leafs are prepared to push back when they host Florida on Wednesday.

“We expected [the physicality], and I think we’re fine with it,” Berube said. “We’re handling it. We’re physical. I thought we were the more physical team [in Game 4].”

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Stars’ Heiskanen still on pace to return vs. Jets

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Stars' Heiskanen still on pace to return vs. Jets

DALLAS — Stars coach Pete DeBoer expects injured star defenseman Miro Heiskanen to play in their series against the Winnipeg Jets.

“I’m still sticking by what I projected: that we would see him in the second round,” DeBoer said Monday during an optional Dallas practice.

The Stars lead their series with the Jets 2-1, with Game 4 scheduled for Tuesday night.

Heiskanen remains day-to-day, with him not having played since Jan. 28, when his left knee was injured in a collision with Vegas Golden Knights forward Mark Stone. Heiskanen had knee surgery and has been working his way back to the lineup since Winnipeg’s opening-round series against the Colorado Avalanche. Heiskanen had 25 points (5 goals, 20 assists) in 50 games this season, averaging 25:10 in ice time.

Monday was a scheduled off day for Heiskanen. DeBoer said he’ll be “back at it tomorrow.” The coach said that any decision on Heiskanen’s status will be made together by the coach, the player and the team’s medical staff.

Last round, DeBoer said everything was “on the table” to ease Heiskanen back into the lineup, including playing seven defensemen. The coach said he’s not looking for the 25-year-old defenseman to log his usual minutes right away, having ranked fifth in the NHL in average ice time during the regular season.

“I don’t think there are specific restrictions, but we’re not going to put ‘im out on the ice for 30 minutes in his first game back in three months,” DeBoer said. “We’ll have to be smart about that.”

Dallas forward Jason Robertson has seen firsthand what it’s like to go from watching the playoffs to competing in them. He returned to the Stars’ lineup after being injured in an April 16 game, making his postseason debut in Game 1 at Winnipeg.

“You’re coming back from injury, so whatever you had is obviously going to bother you. So that’s the No. 1 thing. And then getting up to game speed in the playoffs is a different animal,” he said. “There’s no hiding out there. Every moment’s heightened, every missed assignment, any forecheck. Anytime you get beat up the ice, everything just gets heightened. So you just try to be super simple out there until you get your legs back and get in game shape. That could take a little bit.”

The Stars have weathered the loss of Heiskanen thanks to the depth of their defense corps. Thomas Harley has filled in on the power play, collecting four points in the postseason. Veteran Cody Ceci has handled an increase of over two minutes per game in ice time. Players such as Lian Bichsel and Alexander Petrovic have played effectively, DeBoer said.

“I think it’s been exceptional what our group’s done,” the coach said.

Winnipeg coach Scott Arniel acknowledged that Dallas, already leading in the series, will get an instant emotional boost when Heiskanen returns.

“An elite, elite player obviously,” he said. “We can’t worry about somebody that’s not here. If all of a sudden we show up and he’s out there in warmups, then yeah, we certainly have to recognize it.”

With the possibility there that Heiskanen could return as early as Game 4, Arniel would be fine if the Stars continued to take a cautious approach with their star defenseman.

“Hopefully, he takes a little bit more time to make sure he’s getting back on it,” the Jets coach said with a grin.

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