KANSAS CITY, Kan. — William Byron scraped the wall in practice at Kansas Speedway, then proceed to set the fastest time in qualifying, and will be joined on the front row by Hendrick Motorsports teammate Kyle Larson for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race.
Byron turned a lap of 179.206 mph on Saturday to earn his second pole of the season and the 10th of his career — all of them coming at different tracks. The trick now is to turn that first-row starting spot into a victory at Kansas, where he got his first win in the Truck Series but has never finished better than sixth in NASCAR’s top series.
“Feels great. Feels really good to get a pole,” Byron said. “I think you’re going to see a good race. I think this car races well on the mile-and-a-halfs and hopefully we’ll be able to move around and find some clean air.”
As for the damage on his No. 24 Chevrolet?
“I think it’s fine,” Byron said. “I kind of dragged the wall being a dummy the second lap of practice. It seems like the car is fine. We can kind of polish up the quarter panel just to make it look nice for Sunday.”
Larson was among the fastest in qualifying as Chevrolet power dominated the day. His lap of 179.170 was good enough for the second starting spot, while Ross Chastain qualified third in the Chevy-powered No. 1 car for Trackhouse Racing.
“Cool to be on the front row there with William,” Larson said. “Wish I could have went a little bit better. I have to look at the data to see where I gave up a little bit of time to him. Still feel like we have to work on our car quite a bit in race trim.”
The forecast is for temperatures in the 90s on Sunday, which could make the race even more unpredictable.
“I think it lends itself to moving up (to the wall),” Larson said. “Maybe with it being so hot it slows the pace down, where the other lanes develop. It didn’t seem like that in practice but we didn’t run that long, either.”
After winning Monday’s rain-delayed race at Dover, Martin Truex Jr. led the Toyota contingent — who swept Kansas last year with 23XI Racing — with a fourth-place qualifying run. Truex also made the list this week of NASCAR’s 75 greatest drivers.
“Honestly, this sport is so difficult to manage emotionally,” Truex said. “You’re always just trying to look at the positives and look at everything that’s good. And you know, you go through your questions about not winning for 50-some races and it’s like, all of a sudden you win a race and you’re on the list of the 75, you know, best drivers in history.
“It’s just very humbling,” Truex said, “and you know, just honored to be on that list. Honored to be back in victory lane.”
Tyler Reddick rounded out the top five in the No. 45 car for 23XI — the same car that won the race twice last year, Kurt Busch driving it in the spring and Bubba Wallace in the fall. No car has won at a track three straight times with different drivers.
“Had to race against 23XI last year and it was really cool to see all the speed they had, knowing I would be going there at some point,” said Reddick, whose car needed three trips through inspection to pass and had his car chief ejected.
Brennan Poole‘s car also failed inspection twice and the team was penalized a crew member.
CHICAGO — Kyle Tucker had the fans on their feet, roaring and pumping their fists as he rounded the bases after hitting the go-ahead two-run homer in the eighth inning. His screaming line drive cleared the right-field wall with plenty of room to spare.
The Chicago Cubs went from giving up 10 runs in the eighth to scoring six in the bottom half and beating the Arizona Diamondbacks 13-11 on Friday in one of the wildest games on record.
The two teams combined for 21 runs in the seventh and eighth innings, with the Cubs scoring 11 runs and the D-backs plating 10. It was the first nine-inning game in MLB history in which both teams scored 10 or more runs from the seventh inning on, and the third game overall, according to ESPN Research.
“That’s kind of baseball,” Tucker said. “There’s a lot of ups and downs in this game, especially with how many games we play.”
There haven’t been many games like this, though.
The Cubs are just the seventh team in at least the past 125 seasons to allow 10 or more runs in an inning and win. They are also the fifth team to give up 10 or more runs and score six or more in the same inning.
The 16 combined runs in the eighth were the most in an inning at Wrigley Field, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
“If you’ve seen that one, you’ve been around for a while,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said with a laugh. “It was crazy. You know, we gave up 10 runs in an inning and we won. So it was a wild game, but we kept going, and, you know, there’s 27 outs in a game and this kind of proves it, and you’re just happy to get out with a win.”
On a warm day with the ball carrying, Carson Kelly homered twice. Ian Happ belted a grand slam and Seiya Suzuki went deep, helping the Cubs open a weekend series on a winning note.
“You’ve seen it early — having some tough losses, coming back winning the next day,” Happ said. “Losing the first game of the series, winning the series. Little things like that. Today’s a great example of professional hitters going out there and continuing to have really good at-bats.”
The way things transpired in the final two innings was something to see.
Kelly hit a two-run homer in the second against Corbin Burnes, and Happ came through with his grand slam against Ryne Nelson as part of a five-run seventh. But just when it looked as if the Cubs were in control with a 7-1 lead, things took a wild turn in the eighth.
The crowd of more than 39,000 let the Cubs hear it, but their team regrouped in the bottom half. Bryce Jarvis hit Nico Hoerner leading off and walked Pete Crow-Armstrong before Kelly drove a three-run homer to center. Tucker, the Cubs’ prized offseason addition, came through after Happ singled with one out. Suzuki followed with his drive against Joe Mantiply to give the Cubs a 13-11 lead.
Arizona, which had won five straight, became just the third team over the past 50 seasons to lose a game in which it had a 10-run inning at any point, according to ESPN Research.
“You just got to stay locked in,” Kelly said. “Obviously, you don’t want to … give up 10 in an inning. Obviously, you don’t want to do that. I think the biggest thing is coming back, regrouping and continuing to fight.”
Major League Baseball suspended New York Yankees infielder Jazz Chisholm Jr. for one game and fined him an undisclosed amount, the result of his actions during Thursday night’s win against the Tampa Bay Rays.
Chisholm was ejected in the seventh inning by plate umpire John Bacon for arguing after a called third strike on a full-count pitch from Mason Montgomery that appeared low.
Minutes later, he posted on his X account, “Not even f—ing close!!!!!” then deleted the post.
“I didn’t think before I had anything that I said was ejectable but after probably,” Chisholm said after the game. “I’m a competitor, so when I go out there and I feel like I’m right and you’re saying something to me that I think doesn’t make sense, I’m going to get fired up and be upset.
“I lost my emotions. I lost my cool. I got to be better than that. … I’m definitely mad at myself for losing my cool.”
Michael Hill, the league’s senior vice president for on-field operations, said Friday’s discipline was for Chisholm’s “conduct, including his violation of Major League Baseball’s Social Media Policy for Major League Players.”
MLB regulations ban the use of electronic devices during games. The social media policy prohibits “displaying or transmitting content that questions the impartiality of or otherwise denigrates a major league umpire.”
Chisholm did appeal the decision, allowing him to play in Friday night’s 1-0 win against the Rays. He started at second base and went 0 for 4 with two strikeouts.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
Manager Dave Roberts said before the Dodgers’ series opener Friday night against the Rangers that Ohtani was with his wife and going on MLB’s paternity list.
“He and Mamiko are expecting at some point. That’s all I know,” Roberts said. “I don’t know when he’s going to come back and I don’t know when they’re going to have the baby, but obviously they’re together in anticipation.”
The 30-year-old Ohtani posted on his Instagram account in late December that he and his 28-year-old wife, a former professional basketball player from his native Japan, were expecting a baby in 2025.
“Can’t wait for the little rookie to join our family soon!” said the Dec. 28 post that included a photo showing the couple’s beloved dog, Decoy, as well as a pink ruffled onesie along with baby shoes and a sonogram that was covered by a baby emoji.
Ohtani can miss up to three games while on paternity leave. The Dodgers have a three-game series in Texas before an off day Monday, then play the Cubs in Chicago on Tuesday.