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DARLINGTON, S.C. — Ryan Preece had a message to deliver, no matter how bad his eyes looked after his frightening crash at Daytona last week.

“It’s OK to not race,” the Stewart-Haas Racing driver said at Darlington on Saturday. “But it’s OK to race, and I think that’s what needs to be said.”

Preece took questions publicly for the first time since his horrifying accident last Saturday, where he went airborne and flipped over at least 10 times before coming to rest.

Preece got out of the car on his own power. He spent the night at the hospital and before midnight was suggesting to anyone who would listen that he felt good and was ready to go home.

Cleared to drive in the Southern 500 at Darlington on Sunday night, Preece is not sore from the crash. His eyes are just bloodshot and bruised.

“If I had headaches or blurry vision or anything like that that I felt I was endangering myself or anybody else here, I wouldn’t be racing,” Preece said behind his No. 41 hauler. “I have a family that I have to worry about as well. This is my job, this is what I want to do, and I feel completely fine.”

That’s remarkable given what Preece, 32, endured a week ago.

He was in a line near Daytona’s outside wall when he was bumped by Erik Jones and turned down into teammate Chase Briscoe. Preece soon lifted off the ground and began to flip over the grassy area on the backstretch.

Preece thought he might have checked up a bit before his wild ride.

“I’ve seen other interviews from drivers in the past that as you get sideways and as you go in the air, it’s gets real quiet,” he said. “After experiencing that, that’s 100 percent true. Beyond that, everything’s happening so fast, you’re just flipping through the air. Until that ride stops, all you’re thinking about is just trying to contain yourself.

“You tense up and you hope you’re going to be OK,” he continued. “Which obviously I am.”

NASCAR has said the car’s safety improvements helped keep Preece from more serious harm. The organization will continue to investigate the causes, including the possibility of paving over some grass areas to keep cars grounded.

Playoff points leader William Byron said Preece’s accident was something drivers hadn’t seen much in recent years. Byron, like all drivers, was glad Preece came away in good condition and good spirits, indicators that safety issues in the second year of the Next Gen car are improving.

“We’ve made progress, but some elements of that crash that definitely could’ve been better,” Byron said.

Preece thanked safety personnel at Daytona and Halifax Health Medical Center for their quick response and the care he received.

The experience hasn’t changed Preece’s opinion of what it takes to succeed.

“This is what we’re supposed to be. We’re supposed to be tough,” Preece said. “And it’s OK to be tough. It’s OK to do those things. I feel good.”

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Agent: Skaggs named Reds’ Miley as drug supplier

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Agent: Skaggs named Reds' Miley as drug supplier

LOS ANGELES — Cincinnati Reds left-hander Wade Miley is accused in court documents of providing drugs to the late Tyler Skaggs, the Los Angeles Angels pitcher who died of an accidental overdose in 2019.

Skaggs’ former agent, Ryan Hamill, said in a deposition that Skaggs told him he was using pain pills containing oxycodone that were provided by Miley.

The deposition is part of a wrongful death lawsuit filed by Skaggs’ family against the Angels in California. A former publicist for the Angels, Eric Kay, was convicted in Texas of providing the fentanyl-laced pills that an autopsy found contributed to Skaggs’ death. Kay was sentenced to 22 years in federal prison.

Skaggs died in the team hotel in a Dallas suburb. His body was found hours before what was supposed to be the start of a series between the Angels and Texas Rangers.

Miley, 38, is not facing criminal charges, and it’s not the first time his name has come up in relation to Skaggs’ death. During the sentencing phase of Kay’s case, prosecutors used a recording of a conversation between Kay and his mother in which Kay said Miley was one of Skaggs’ drug suppliers.

The Reds had no comment Thursday, and Miley wasn’t immediately available for comment.

Matt Harvey, now a retired major league pitcher, testified during Kay’s trial that he provided drugs to Skaggs. Harvey was later suspended for 60 days for violating MLB’s drug policy. He didn’t pitch in the major leagues again. Harvey and three other players also testified they received pills from Skaggs and described the recreational drug use they witnessed while with the Angels.

Harvey and Skaggs were teammates with the Angels in 2019. Skaggs and Miley were teammates with the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2012 and 2013.

Hamill said the conversation in which Skaggs implicated Miley took place in 2013. Hamill had expressed concern to Skaggs’ parents about what he said was erratic behavior from the pitcher in a phone conversation. Hamill said he and Skaggs’ parents confronted Skaggs at home, leading to Skaggs’ admission that he was using drugs and the accusation that Miley was supplying them.

Miley signed a one-year contract with the Reds on June 4 and has made two starts this season. He had Tommy John surgery on his left elbow in May 2024 and signed a minor league deal with Cincinnati in February.

Miley had an opt-out clause if he didn’t reach the big leagues by June 1. The 14-year veteran executed that clause but remained with Cincinnati while he pursued potential deals with other clubs before re-signing with the Reds.

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Angels call up ’24 No. 8 pick Moore, source says

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Angels call up '24 No. 8 pick Moore, source says

The Los Angeles Angels are calling up infielder Christian Moore, the No. 8 pick in last year’s draft, and he could make his big league debut Friday night in Baltimore, a source confirmed to ESPN’s Alden Gonzalez amid multiple reports.

Moore, 22, was promoted to Triple-A in mid-May and did well enough to join the Angels, whose offense is 13th in runs scored in the American League. He batted .279 with 5 home runs and 32 RBIs and a .796 OPS combined at Double-A Rocket City and Triple-A Salt Lake this season.

Moore’s rapid ascent through the Angels’ farm system follows a trend under general manager Perry Minasian, who previously promoted shortstop Zach Neto (48 minor league games) and first baseman Nolan Schanuel (21 games) early in their pro careers.

Moore is ranked the fourth-best prospect in the Angels’ system, according to ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel.

A Brooklyn native, Moore hit a Tennessee-record 34 home runs in 72 games last year in helping power the Vols to their first men’s College World Series title.

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Brewers rookie allows no hits, then forced to exit

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Brewers rookie allows no hits, then forced to exit

MILWAUKEE — Brewers pitcher Jacob Misiorowski left his highly anticipated major league debut when he slipped on the front part of the mound after holding the St. Louis Cardinals hitless through five innings of a 6-0 win Thursday night.

Misiorowski had just thrown a third straight ball to Victor Scott to open the sixth when his foot landed awkwardly. After Brewers medical staff went out to check on him, Misiorowski exited the game and Nick Mears came out of the bullpen.

The Brewers later said Misiorowski left because of cramping in his right calf and quadriceps.

The flamethrowing right-hander struck out five and walked three through the first five innings, earning the win. Scott ended up taking a fourth ball from Mears, and that walk also was charged to Misiorowski.

Mears retired the next three batters, but Willson Contreras grounded a clean single up the middle against Aaron Ashby leading off the seventh for St. Louis’ first hit.

Misiorowski spent much of the night showcasing the elite velocity that made him one of the game’s top pitching prospects.

He reached 100 mph with each of the first three pitches he threw to Lars Nootbaar to start the game. Two pitches later, Nootbaar fouled off a 102.2 mph offering. Fourteen of the 81 pitches Misiorowski threw reached at least 100 mph, the most for a rookie pitcher in a game this season.

He became the 10th player since 1891 with at least five innings pitched and no hits allowed in his major league debut. Only Pittsburgh’s Bumpus Jones has thrown a no-hitter in his MLB debut, doing so in 1892.

Information from ESPN Research and The Associated Press was used in this report.

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