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CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Ty Gibbs was promoted to NASCAR’s top series Tuesday in an expected announcement that was void of any celebration as Joe Gibbs Racing continues to mourn the loss of Ty Gibbs’ father.

Coy Gibbs died in his sleep hours after his 20-year-old son won the Xfinity Series championship Nov. 5 at Phoenix Raceway. He was 49, the same age as older brother J.D. when he passed away in 2019.

Joe Gibbs, a NASCAR and NFL hall of famer, has lost both his sons a month before their 50th birthdays. Coy Gibbs was vice chairman of his father’s NASCAR team at the time of his death.

The Gibbs family has made no public statements since confirming Coy Gibbs’ passing shortly before the NASCAR season finale. Ty Gibbs did not race in the Nov. 6 finale and has made just one public appearance since, courtside at a Charlotte Hornets game last week with his younger brother, a cousin and another driver.

The Tuesday announcement that Ty Gibbs will replace Kyle Busch in JGR’s Cup lineup came in a four-paragraph news release that said Gibbs will move up with Chris Gayle, his crew chief during this year’s Xfinity championship season.

Ty Gibbs will drive the No. 54 Toyota Camry next year, and JGR said it plans to reserve the number 18 for future use. Joe Gibbs chose 18 when he launched his NASCAR team in 1992, and Busch spent the past 15 years with the number.

Ty Gibbs has used the number 54 the past two seasons in the Xfinity Series, where he won 11 of 51 races and won the 2022 championship in the season finale at Phoenix. His first national series title ended a bumpy season for Ty Gibbs, who scrapped with other drivers, was fined by NASCAR and then cost fellow JGR driver Brandon Jones a spot in the championship finale by spinning him out of the lead on the final lap at Martinsville Speedway.

If Gibbs had simply stayed in second behind Jones, both JGR drivers would have made the championship race and Toyota would have had two entries. Joe Gibbs promised that consequences would be coming for his grandson but said the team had to get through championship week first.

Ty Gibbs then won the title, but he learned of his father’s passing at a Phoenix-area hotel the next morning.

Before the incident at Martinsville, Toyota Racing Development president David Wilson had defended Gibbs’ growth while noting that he’s younger than most of his peers. He’ll join a JGR lineup that includes 42-year-old Martin Truex Jr. and Denny Hamlin, who turns 42 later this week, as well as Christopher Bell, who turns 28 next month. Bell raced for the Cup title at Phoenix, finishing third in the title race.

“What we have to remember is, particularly if you contemplate him continuing to drive at the Cup level, he’s still got a lot to learn. He just turned 20. He’s going to make mistakes,” Wilson said in October. “Early in the season, he was not just getting into scraps, but once he got out of the car, he was handling that aggressively. He’s done a much better job handling the emotion once he gets out of the car.

“But he’s still seeing things that are new to him, and it’s going to be a very dynamic time for him.”

Ty Gibbs spent the week leading into the finale apologizing for the Jones incident, which he admitted was selfish and lacked big-picture awareness for the entire JGR organization. He also copped to being overaggressive and maybe even dirty at times on the track.

He was booed at Martinsville after spinning Jones and again at Phoenix after winning the title.

“Definitely have made some mistakes in the past and last weekend, but the best thing for me is to move on. And that’s what I did [at Phoenix] in my race, and we won,” Ty Gibbs said after the race. “Just moving on and learning from my mistakes. I can’t go back and change the past; and if I could, I would. But we can’t do that, and the best thing for me is to learn from it.”

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Former White Sox pitcher, world champ Jenks dies

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Former White Sox pitcher, world champ Jenks dies

Bobby Jenks, a two-time All-Star pitcher for the Chicago White Sox who was on the roster when the franchise won the 2005 World Series, died Friday in Sintra, Portugal, the team announced.

Jenks, 44, who had been diagnosed with adenocarcinoma, a form of stomach cancer, this year, spent six seasons with the White Sox from 2005 to 2010 and also played for the Boston Red Sox in 2011. The reliever finished his major league career with a 16-20 record, 3.53 ERA and 173 saves.

“We have lost an iconic member of the White Sox family today,” White Sox chairman Jerry Reinsdorf said in a statement. “None of us will ever forget that ninth inning of Game 4 in Houston, all that Bobby did for the 2005 World Series champions and for the entire Sox organization during his time in Chicago. He and his family knew cancer would be his toughest battle, and he will be missed as a husband, father, friend and teammate. He will forever hold a special place in all our hearts.”

After Jenks moved to Portugal last year, he was diagnosed with a deep vein thrombosis in his right calf. That eventually spread into blood clots in his lungs, prompting further testing. He was later diagnosed with adenocarcinoma and began undergoing radiation.

In February, as Jenks was being treated for the illness, the White Sox posted “We stand with you, Bobby” on Instagram, adding in the post that the club was “thinking of Bobby as he is being treated.”

In 2005, as the White Sox ended an 88-year drought en route to the World Series title, Jenks appeared in six postseason games. Chicago went 11-1 in the playoffs, and he earned saves in series-clinching wins in Game 3 of the ALDS at Boston, and Game 4 of the World Series against the Houston Astros.

In 2006, Jenks saved 41 games, and the following year, he posted 40 saves. He also retired 41 consecutive batters in 2007, matching a record for a reliever.

“You play for the love of the game, the joy of it,” Jenks said in his last interview with SoxTV last year. “It’s what I love to do. I [was] playing to be a world champion, and that’s what I wanted to do from the time I picked up a baseball.”

A native of Mission Hills, California, Jenks appeared in 19 games for the Red Sox and was originally drafted by the then-Anaheim Angels in the fifth round of the 2000 draft.

Jenks is survived by his wife, Eleni Tzitzivacos, their two children, Zeno and Kate, and his four children from a prior marriage, Cuma, Nolan, Rylan and Jackson.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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In search of infield options, Yanks add Candelario

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In search of infield options, Yanks add Candelario

NEW YORK — The New York Yankees, digging for options to bolster their infield, have signed third baseman Jeimer Candelario to a minor league contract and assigned him to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, the affiliate announced Saturday.

Candelario, 31, was released by the Cincinnati Reds on June 23, halfway through a three-year, $45 million contract he signed before the start of last season. The decision was made after Candelario posted a .707 OPS in 2024 and batted .113 with a .410 OPS in 22 games for the Reds before going on the injured list in April with a back injury.

The performance was poor enough for Cincinnati to cut him in a move that Reds president of baseball operations Nick Krall described as a sunk cost.

For the Yankees, signing Candelario is a low-cost flier on a player who recorded an .807 OPS just two seasons ago as they seek to find a third baseman to move Jazz Chisholm Jr. to second base, his natural position.

Candelario is the second veteran infielder the Yankees have signed to a minor league contract in the past three days; they agreed to terms with Nicky Lopez on Thursday.

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Dodgers’ Snell pitches to hitters, ‘looked good’

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Dodgers' Snell pitches to hitters, 'looked good'

LOS ANGELES — Pitchers Blake Snell and Blake Treinen are progressing toward a return for the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Snell and Treinen each faced hitters Saturday, and Snell pitched two innings. Each could begin a rehab assignment after the All-Star break.

The 32-year-old Snell has pitched in two games for the Dodgers following his five-year, $182 million free agent deal after spending last season with the San Francisco Giants and three before that with the San Diego Padres. He is a two-time Cy Young Award winner.

“(Snell) looked good. He looked really good,” manager Dave Roberts said. “I don’t know what the velo was but the ball was coming out really well. He used his entire pitch mix. I thought the delivery was clean, sharp, so really positive day.”

The Dodgers’ starting rotation has been injury-prone this season but is starting to get a boost from Shohei Ohtani, the two-way superstar who is working as an opener in his return from elbow surgery.

Treinen is looking to get back to his role in the back end of the bullpen. He threw one inning Saturday.

“Blake Treinen I thought was really good as well,” Roberts said. “Both those guys should be ready at some point in time shortly after the All-Star break.”

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