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DARLINGTON, S.C. — Erik Jones gave the No. 43 car a landmark 200th victory — along with maybe a few regrets to his old employers at Joe Gibbs Racing.

Jones moved in front when JGR star Kyle Busch blew an engine, then outraced another former Gibbs colleague in Denny Hamlin over the final 31 laps to win the Southern 500 on Sunday night. It’s the first time a non-playoff driver won the opener of the 10-race postseason.

Jones won this event in 2019 for the Gibbs organization, where he raced Cup cars from 2017 to 2020. He came out on top once more, this time for Petty GMS Motorsports owned in part by Richard Petty.

“I never lost any belief in myself through any of it,” Jones said. “I knew I could still do it and I knew we needed to grow the program to do it. And we have.”

The celebration continued for the Petty organization, which had not won since Aric Almirola‘s Daytona 500 victory in 2014.

“I know my dad,” Kyle Petty said. “What time is it, 11 [p.m.]? He just opened a bottle of red wine.”

The King went to Twitter shortly after Jones took the checkered flag to congratulate Erik Jones and his team.

Jones just wanted the Hall of Famer to keep his promise.

“He said I’d get a hat if I win,” Jones said, laughing.

Hamlin, seeded sixth in the playoffs, closed in on Jones’ back bumper on the final lap, but couldn’t make the winning pass.

“Erik just did a really great job,” Hamlin said. “Great day for Erik, a great day for our team.”

The third of Jones’ old JGR teammates, Martin Truex Jr. held a substantial lead over Busch when his No. 19 had power steering problems and went off to the garage.

Jones remained in control and in one piece while many of the favored playoff participants couldn’t do the same.

Along with the blow up of Busch, the 11th playoff seed, No. 9 seed Kevin Harvick saw his car catch fire in a scary scene. Harvick scrambled away from his stopped car to safety.

Top-seeded Chase Elliott was gone during the first stage, sliding into the wall, hitting Chase Briscoe as he tore up his suspension and was out of the race. Kyle Larson, the defending series champion seeded fourth, was three laps down in the opening stage after engine problems. Larson finished 12th.

Hamlin was second followed by three more playoff chasers in Tyler Reddick, Joey Logano and Christopher Bell. Michael McDowell was sixth, then Brad Keselowski, William Byron and Bubba Wallace Busch led 155 of 367 laps, the most of anyone. He ended in 30th.

“t’s unfortunate circumstances,” Busch said. “We just had a great car and didn’t come out with anything to show for it. That’s what I hate about it.”

Logano moved into the points lead with Byron second, Hamlin third and Christopher Bell, Jones’ replacement at JGR, in fourth. The four drivers below the 12-team cutoff line for the second round were Austin Cindric in 13th, followed by Austin Dillon, Chase Briscoe and Harvick in 16h.

CHASING PROBLEMS

Chase Elliott was out of the Southern 500 before it got to halfway. Elliott slid in turn one, then collected playoff participant Chase Briscoe. Elliott’s suspension was damaged. His crew could not fix it in the pits and took it to the garage. Elliott finished 36th, last in the field.

His plans going forward: “Run better than we did today.”

FIRE DRILL

The scariest incident came in the final stage when Harvick caught fire on lap 276 as he came down the front stretch. Harvick quickly pulled the car on the grass and jumped out of the car, running to safety.

Moments later during the caution brought out by Harvick, J.J. Yeley’s car headed into the pits on fire. That blaze, too, was extinguished.

Harvick said it’s another safety problem with the Next Gen car NASCAR must fix.

“What a disaster, man,” Harvick said. “No reason … here we are in the pits with a burned up car and we can’t finish the race during the playoff because of unreliable parts.”

QB1

Coastal Carolina quarterback Grayson McCall was also at the track “Too Tough To Tame,” as NASCAR’s first college athlete to receive a name, image and likeness deal with Darlington Raceway. McCall did some promotional work for the track and even had his face on the side of Ryan Vargas’ No. 6 car in the Xfinity Series race here.

McCall was the NCAA record-setter in passing efficiency at 207.6 last season. He threw three TD passes and ran for a fourth as the Chants opened the season with a 38-28 victory over Army on Saturday night.

UP NEXT

Round one of the playoffs continues at Kansas next Sunday. Kurt Busch, currently recovering from a concussion in a crash at Pocono, won the race there in May. He gave up his playoff spot because he has not been medically cleared to return to the track.

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O’s 1 out from being no-hit, score 4 to stun L.A.

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O's 1 out from being no-hit, score 4 to stun L.A.

BALTIMORE — Jackson Holliday homered with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning to deny Yoshinobu Yamamoto a no-hitter, and the Baltimore Orioles weren’t satisfied with that, rallying for four runs in the inning to defeat the Los Angeles Dodgers 4-3 in a delirious comeback Saturday night.

Emmanuel Rivera won it with a two-run single off Tanner Scott, who also allowed a walk-off homer to Orioles rookie Samuel Basallo the previous night. But the Orioles did the bulk of their damage against Blake Treinen (1-3), who relieved Yamamoto after Holliday’s homer. He gave up a double to Jeremiah Jackson, hit Gunnar Henderson and walked Ryan Mountcastle and Colton Cowser to make it 3-2.

Scott came on with the bases loaded, and Rivera lined a single to center.

According to Elias, the Dodgers are just the second team in the Expansion Era (since 1961) to lose a game in nine innings after carrying a no-hitter through 8⅔ innings. On July 9, 2011, the Dodgers broke up the Padres’ combined no-hitter to win 1-0.

Los Angeles had a win probability of 99.6% with two outs before Holliday’s ninth-inning homer, according to ESPN Analytics.

Yamamoto came within one out of the major leagues’ first no-hitter of 2025. He allowed only two baserunners, both on third-inning walks, before Holliday’s drive. The 27-year-old right-hander tied a career high with 10 strikeouts. He threw 112 pitches, also a career high since coming to the U.S.

Yamamoto was removed after that and received a standing ovation by fans of both teams.

Camden Yards has hosted only one no-hitter since opening in 1992, and it was by another Japanese star. Hideo Nomo threw one on April 4, 2001, for the Boston Red Sox against the Orioles.

Shohei Ohtani hit an RBI grounder in the third. Mookie Betts added a run-scoring single in the fifth and an RBI triple in the seventh.

The Dodgers have not thrown a no-hitter since May 4, 2018, when Walker Buehler, Tony Cingrani, Yimi Garcia and Adam Liberatore pitched a combined effort against the San Diego Padres in Mexico. The last solo no-hitter by the team was Clayton Kershaw’s on June 18, 2014, against Colorado.

The last time the Orioles were no-hit was by Japanese right-hander Hisashi Iwakuma of the Seattle Mariners on Aug. 12, 2015.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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UF ‘not good enough,’ says Napier after USF upset

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UF 'not good enough,' says Napier after USF upset

Holding a one-point lead in the final three minutes of Saturday’s game against South Florida, Florida shot itself in the foot with two costly penalties on defense.

Bulls kicker Nico Gramatica made the No. 13 Gators pay with his right leg.

18 1/2-point underdog South Florida pulled off its second upset in as many weeks when Gramatica, the son of former NFL kicker Martin Gramatica, booted a 20-yard field goal as time expired for an 18-16 victory in the Swamp.

South Florida routed No. 25 Boise State 34-7 at home in its Aug. 28 opener, its first victory over a ranked opponent since 2016. The Bulls had dropped 18 straight against ranked teams.

Saturday’s victory over the Gators was even more impressive. It was USF’s first road win against a ranked opponent since its 23-20 victory at No. 16 Notre Dame on Sept. 3, 2011.

According to ESPN Research, the Bulls are only the fourth team in the AP poll era (since 1936) to win their first two games against ranked opponents while being unranked, joining 1976 North Carolina, 2008 East Carolina and 2012 Oregon State.

The Bulls play at No. 5 Miami next week. They’ll try to become only the fifth team to start a season 3-0 with three wins over ranked opponents; 1987 Miami, 1985 Michigan, 1960 Iowa and 1954 Oklahoma were the others.

“We’ve got to be able to go handle success,” USF coach Alex Golesh said. “We’ve just got to continue to push forward. This ain’t the same old South Florida, my brother.”

It was Florida’s first defeat at home against a school from Florida, other than Florida State or Miami, since a 16-14 loss to Stetson in 1938.

“It’s not good enough,” Florida coach Billy Napier said. “We’ve got work to do. You guys know it. I know it. Anybody that watched it knows it. We got to take ownership of it, and we got to go back to work. That’s it.”

The loss will surely put more pressure on Napier, whose teams are 20-20 in his four seasons. Florida started 1-1 for the fourth straight season and its schedule is going to get even more treacherous with four straight games against ranked foes: at No. 3 LSU, at No. 5 Miami, home against No. 7 Texas and at No. 19 Texas A&M.

The Gators would owe Napier a $20.4 million buyout if he’s fired, including 50% in the first 30 days of his termination.

“We created it. We deserve it,” Napier said of the criticism. “If you play football like that, you’re going to be criticized. It comes with the territory, right? Only thing you can do is go get it fixed, and that’s what we’ll start working on tomorrow.”

South Florida gave Gramatica a chance to put them ahead with less than three minutes to go, but his 58-yard field goal attempt was short with 2:52 left.

Florida got the ball back at its 40-yard line and went three and out, taking only 27 seconds off the clock. Gators quarterback DJ Lagway misfired on two passes, including one to Vernell Brown III on third-and-8. Tommy Doman’s 47-yard punt pinned the Bulls at their 11-yard line with 2:25 remaining.

That’s when things fell apart for Florida. On second down, Gators cornerback Dijon Johnson was penalized for pass interference, giving USF a first down.

On the next play, Florida stuffed Alvon Isaac for no gain. But Gators defensive lineman Brendan Bett was penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct and ejected from the game for spitting in the face mask of USF offensive lineman Cole Skinner after the play. The 15-yard penalty gave the Bulls a first down at their 39-yard line.

On the next play, Byrum Brown threw a short pass to Alvon Isaac, who broke three tackles for a 29-yard gain. Brown threw a 12-yarder to Joshua Porter to get to the Florida 20.

Betts’ ejection came two days after Philadelphia Eagles star defensive tackle Jalen Carter was booted from the game for spitting on Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott in the Eagles’ 24-20 victory on Thursday night.

“I haven’t had that conversation with him yet,” Napier said of Bett. “We’ll take a good look at it, but it’s unacceptable. I think we’ve got a lot of players in that room as well that have the same belief that it’s unacceptable.

“When a guy does something like that, he’s compromising the team. He’s putting himself before the team. Everything the game is about, you’re compromising, so there will be lessons to be learned there. Yeah, it’s that simple.”

Florida was penalized 11 times for 103 yards, and a handful were costly. In the first half, the Gators committed two penalties that wiped out touchdowns on the same possession. A holding penalty negated Ja’Kobi Jackson’s 20-yard scoring run, and then a pass-interference penalty brought back Lagways’ 14-yard touchdown pass to Tony Livingston.

Florida had to settle for Trey Smack’s 36-yard field goal and a 6-3 lead.

“Not good enough, and it’s my responsibility,” Napier said. “I think when you evaluate the game, the red zone missed opportunities caught up with us, and we let them hang around. Certainly the penalties contributed to the game. It extended their drives, and it slowed down our drives.”

Lagway, who led the Gators to a four-game winning streak to end the 2024 season, didn’t look comfortable against USF’s defense, and Florida’s offensive line struggled to protect him. He completed 23 of 33 passes for 222 yards with one touchdown and one interception.

The Bulls took a 13-9 lead into the fourth quarter after Byrum Brown threw a 66-yard touchdown to Keshawn Singleton with 2:03 left in the third. Florida had a bad snap that resulted in a safety, giving USF a 15-9 lead with 13 seconds to go in the quarter.

The Gators went ahead 16-15 on Lagway’s 4-yard touchdown pass to Eugene Wilson II with 12:29 to go, which came after Vernell Brown’s 40-yard punt return.

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Ducks dominate after Gundy ‘pours gas on fire’

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Ducks dominate after Gundy 'pours gas on fire'

EUGENE, Ore. — A week that began with head coaches Mike Gundy and Dan Lanning trading barbs about each program’s budget ended with Oregon handing Oklahoma State a 69-3 loss — the worst of the Gundy era and the worst the program has seen since 1907.

“It never requires extra motivation for an opportunity to go out and kick ass,” Lanning said postgame regarding the message he sent his team. “But it never hurts when somebody pours gasoline on the fire.”

On Monday while speaking on his radio show, Gundy said Oregon is “paying a lot of money for their team,” citing $40 million as the amount he believed the Ducks spent on their roster last year. Gundy made several other comments about Oregon’s resources — he said “it’ll cost a lot of money to keep” quarterback Dante Moore and that he believes Oregon’s budget should determine the programs it schedules outside of the Big Ten.

“If you want to be a top-10 team in college football, you better be invested in winning. We spend to win,” Lanning said Monday in response. “Some people save to have an excuse for why they don’t. … I can’t speak on their situation; I have no idea what they got in their pockets over there.”

After Saturday’s win, Moore said Gundy’s comments hit “close to home” for him and the rest of the team and that the Ducks used them as motivation heading into the matchup.

“For him to attack Phil [Knight], Coach Lanning and our team was personal,” Moore, who threw for 266 yards and three touchdowns, said. “We were going to keep the foot on the neck and make sure we score these points and try to break the scoreboard.”

Break the scoreboard, they did. The Ducks had a 59-yard touchdown run on their second offensive play of the game and a 65-yard touchdown pass on their third offensive play of the game. Explosive plays were everywhere at Autzen as Oklahoma State’s defense provided little to no resistance. Oregon’s offense did not punt until the fourth quarter and totaled 631 yards to Oklahoma State’s 211 yards.

“It was a lot of fire going into this game,” Moore said.

The way Oregon came out of the gates, stepped on the gas pedal and didn’t relent until it was up 48-3 halfway through the third quarter, when it brought in the offensive backups, seemed very purposeful. The two pick-sixes that pushed the Ducks’ score into the 60s added insult to injury.

“It’s still about us,” Lanning said. “Our ability to ignore the noise is the thing that’s going to make us go.”

Lanning, as he did on Monday, said postgame that he has a lot of respect for Gundy and even noted that the result probably had Gundy saying “I told you so” regarding his comments about the disparity in resources between the two schools.

“When I made that comment, I was complimenting Oregon for what they had done,” Gundy said. “Second thing, which I said later in the week is, we’ve made commitments also, but we have to be better and fundamentally sound and execute.”

Gundy is now 4-10 over his past 14 games as the Cowboys’ head coach, and two of those losses — Saturday’s at Oregon and last year’s 52-0 loss to Colorado — are the worst of his career.

“Sometimes you’re going to play people that have the ability to run away from you,” Gundy said. “We gotta look at that and see where we’re at. We didn’t play good enough, in the systems that we had, to put ourselves in that position.”

As the heat rises around the coach who has helmed the Oklahoma State program since 2005, Gundy’s son, Gavin, took to X to defend his father.

“Mike Gundy IS Oklahoma State football,” Gavin said as part of a long thread of posts. “Period. As QB, he set records in the Barry Sanders era. As coach, he stacked 160+ wins, 19 straight bowls, a Big 12 title, two Fiesta Bowls, multiple Top-10 finishes, & sent dudes to the NFL year after year. He’s the winningest coach in OSU history & the most important name this program has EVER had. Without him, you’d have nothing to brag about, nothing to watch, nothing to cry about”

Soon after, Gavin’s thread was deleted from the site.

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