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NASCAR is investigating a spate of car fires that left one championship contender fuming after his Ford erupted into an inferno during the opening playoff race.

Kevin Harvick lashed out at NASCAR and the new Next Gen car after his inexplicably caught fire at Darlington Raceway. The Next Gen debuted this season and is a spec vehicle with single-source parts that is intended to both level the playing field and cut costs.

The Next Gen has achieved some of its goals but has also raised safety concerns unrelated to the fires involving the force of impact drivers are taking in crashes. Kurt Busch has been out with a concussion since late July.

Now comes a fire issue that can’t be ignored any longer after Harvick’s car burned Sunday night on national television. Although the Chevrolet of Alex Bowman caught fire at Darlington in May, the fire issues have predominantly plagued Fords. Chris Buescher and Joey Logano both had car fires at the Indianapolis road course, and Chase Briscoe‘s car caught on fire at Richmond.

“I’m sure it’s just crappy parts on the race car like we’ve seen so many times. They haven’t fixed anything. It’s kind of like the safety stuff. We just let it keep going and keep going,” said Harvick, who finished 33rd because of the fire.

“The car started burning and as it burned the flames started coming through the dash. I ran a couple laps and then as the flame got bigger it started burning stuff up. The fire was coming through the dash. What a disaster for no reason. We didn’t touch the wall. We didn’t touch a car and here we are in the pits with a burned-up car and we can’t finish the race during the playoffs because of crappy-ass parts.”

Harvick added that he stopped where he did on the track — bringing out a caution that some have said took NASCAR too long to call — “because the flames were coming through the dash and I couldn’t make myself sit in there and burn up.”

The fire dropped Harvick, winner of two races this season, to last in the 16-driver playoff field headed into Sunday’s Cup Series race at Kansas Speedway. Four drivers will be eliminated from contention after next week’s race at Bristol Motor Speedway.

NASCAR, which already has been looking into the rigidness of the Next Gen based on driver feedback, has acknowledged “it’s unacceptable for the cars to catch on fire,” and senior vice president of competition Scott Miller said series officials are investigating.

In the meantime, NASCAR ordered teams to replace a part of the polymer panel used in the passenger side door area with stainless steel. The design is intended to keep debris from the drivers. NASCAR is also permitting changes to the coating material used on the cars, and mandated a lateral seal across the engine panel.

Miller rebuked Harvick’s notion that NASCAR has not addressed Next Gen issues.

“To say that NASCAR doesn’t care is about as far from the truth as you could get. I think he actually does know we do care,” Miller said on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

“We’ve been working on different solutions for different things along the way that seem to maybe be the trigger. Obviously, we still have work to do,” Miller added.

Miller also said that NASCAR is taking a close look at Ford’s exhaust clearances “because they seem to be having more trouble with this than the others.

“There’s a lot of work going on, a lot of collaboration within the industry to get to the bottom of it. We have to get to the bottom of it quick, obviously,” he said.

One theory is that rubber buildup on the track is getting trapped inside the cars and then igniting, which is why NASCAR has mandated the splitter seal to “reduce the migration of tire debris to the splitter area.”

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Nats’ Strasburg, in retirement impasse, put on IL

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Nats' Strasburg, in retirement impasse, put on IL

CINCINNATI — Pitcher Stephen Strasburg was put on the 60-day injured list by the Washington Nationals ahead of Thursday’s opener at Cincinnati.

The 2019 World Series MVP has not pitched since June 2022 because of injuries that have derailed his career. He still has three seasons left on a seven-year, $245 million contract.

Strasburg, 35, decided in late August to retire, but the Nationals announced in September that there would be no retirement news conference. Owner Mark Lerner said in a statement at the time that the team looked forward to seeing Strasburg at spring training.

The right-hander did not report to the Nationals’ facility in West Palm Beach, Florida. The only practical impact of him being on the roster is it takes up a protected spot for the Rule 5 draft in December.

Strasburg gets $35 million annually, with $11,428,571 per year deferred at 1% interest. The deferred money is payable in equal installments of $26,666,667 on July 1 in 2027, 2028 and 2029, with an interest payment of $3,999,974 on Dec. 31, 2029.

Restructuring the money Strasburg is owed could be part of a retirement agreement.

Washington also selected the contracts of right-handers Matt Barnes and Derek Law along with outfielders Eddie Rosario and Jesse Winker from Triple-A Rochester. Barnes, Rosario and Winker get $2 million salaries while in the major leagues, and Law gets $1.5 million.

The Nationals also placed right-handers Cade Cavalli and Mason Thompson (Tommy John surgery) and left-hander Jose Ferrer (left lat strain) on the 60-day injured list and outfielder Stone Garrett (recovery from left ankle reconstruction surgery) on the 10-day injured list, a move retroactive to Monday.

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Manfred eyes ‘short’ time for Ohtani investigation

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Manfred eyes 'short' time for Ohtani investigation

MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said Thursday the league is committed to its investigation of the scandal surrounding Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani and hopes it will take a “short” time to resolve.

Last week Ohtani’s interpreter Ippei Mizuhara was fired after questions surrounding at least $4.5 million in wire transfers sent from the superstar’s bank account to a bookmaking operation.

Ohtani claims his close friend Mizuhara repeatedly took money from his accounts to fund his illegal sports gambling habit. Ohtani also says he was completely unaware of the “massive theft,” as his lawyers termed it, until Mizuhara confessed to him and the Dodgers last week in South Korea, where the team opened its regular season against the Padres.

“Given the way the story unfolded, it’s important in assuring our fans about the integrity of the game that we verify the things that Mr. Ohtani said, it’s really that simple,” Manfred said on Major League Baseball Network’s “High Heat with Chris Russo” on Thursday.

Mizuhara incurred the gambling debts to a Southern California bookmaking operation that is under federal investigation, multiple sources told ESPN. How he came to lose his job started with reporters asking questions about the wire transfers.

“It’s really difficult for the federal authorities to cooperate with us fully when they have their own ongoing investigation so I think this is one where we’ll have to proceed on our own,” Manfred said. “We never have the kind of authority that law enforcement people have but we manage to get these investigations done and find the facts and I’m sure we will on this one.

“I hope [it’s] short, but I just don’t know.”

Ohtani’s camp initially said Ohtani transferred the funds to cover Mizuhara’s debt and presented Mizuhara for an interview with ESPN, during which he laid out the process in detail. The following day, a statement from Berk Brettler LLP, the law firm representing Ohtani in the matter, instead said the two-way star “has been the victim of massive theft.” Mizuhara then told ESPN that Ohtani had no knowledge of his debt and that Ohtani had not transferred the money.

Ohtani’s representatives declined again Tuesday to answer ESPN’s questions about which authorities they have contacted to report their allegation of theft against Ohtani’s former interpreter.

ESPN has been asking repeatedly for the information since Ohtani’s lawyers first issued a statement last week alleging that “Shohei has been the victim of a massive theft, and we are turning the matter over to the authorities.”

When asked Tuesday to provide proof that Ohtani or his representatives have reported the theft to an investigating agency, a spokesperson for Ohtani declined to comment.

ESPN received no confirmation from any of the likely local, state or federal agencies that could investigate allegations of theft that they received a report from Ohtani’s camp.

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Yanks put Cole on 60-day IL due to injured elbow

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Yanks put Cole on 60-day IL due to injured elbow

Any dreams of a speedy return to the mound for reigning American League Cy Young Award winner Gerrit Cole were dashed Thursday when the New York Yankees moved the right-hander to the 60-day injured list due to elbow inflammation.

On March 16, Cole said he wouldn’t throw for three to four weeks in an effort to heal his ailing throwing elbow, telling reporters that nerve irritation and edema were the source of his problem, with rest and recovery the prescription.

The Yankees finalized their Opening Day roster Thursday morning, also moving right-handers Tommy Kahnle (right shoulder inflammation) and McKinley Moore (right knee bursitis) to the 15-day IL and infielders DJ LeMahieu (right foot contusion) and Oswald Peraza (right shoulder strain) to the 10-day IL. All four moves were retroactive to Monday.

New York added newly acquired infielder Jon Berti to the active roster, recalled right-hander Luis Gil from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and signed right-hander Nick Burdi to a major league contract and selected him to the roster.

Cole, 33, pitched just twice this spring, once in a Grapefruit League game on March 1 and then in a simulated game six days later. He subsequently was shut down and underwent medical tests.

Cole has been one of the most durable pitchers in the majors, making at least 30 starts in every season since 2017 except for the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign.

Cole is coming off a season in which he went 15-4 while leading the AL in ERA (2.63) and innings pitched (209). He struck out 222 and walked 48.

The Yankees open the 2024 season at the Houston Astros. Nestor Cortes will start for the Yankees against Framber Valdez in a matchup of left-handers.

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