TALLADEGA, Ala. — In a battle of Ford drivers in which the blue oval was determined to find its way to victory lane, Ryan Blaney held off Kevin Harvick at the Talladega Superspeedway finish line as Blaney advanced into the round of eight of NASCAR’s playoffs.
Harvick, who is retiring at the end of the year, remained winless on the season and was disqualified after the race when his car failed inspection.
Blaney used a crossover move from the outside lane to the inside to nudge ahead of Harvick with two laps remaining. Blaney in his Ford for Team Penske and Harvick in a Ford for Stewart-Haas Racing finished essentially in a drag race with both drivers refusing to lift as a crash broke out behind them.
“I’ve won it by more than I have the last couple years. That one might have been by 4 feet, the others were by 2 but you just don’t know,” said Blaney, a three-time winner at Talladega. “You just kind of drag race a line and hope you get help.”
Blaney joined William Byron as the two drivers locked into the round of eight. The field of 12 will be pared next Sunday to eight following the race on The Roval at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Blaney boss Roger Penske praised the strategy of the Ford camp to work together to ensure a Ford victory as the Chevrolets from Hendrick Motorsports were making a quick challenge.
“For Harvick, who it was his last race here, working like he did with Ryan, it was amazing to see that,” said Penske. “The Hendrick freight train was coming and we all stayed together, that was the call that Ford had earlier in the day when we talked. It was just perfect execution.”
Ford has won 10 playoff races at Talladega, most at any track, and Team Penske has won 10 of the last 18 races at the 2.66-mile Alabama oval.
Blaney, winner of the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte in May, now has multiple wins in a season for the second time in his career. But he’s got a lopsided stat this season in that he has only five top-five finishes, but two wins.
“It was a pretty wild restart, let alone the last couple of laps, losing momentum and getting it back, just getting clear to the bottom to get to the front row and drag race it out with Kevin,” said Blaney. “To win here three times at Talladega is super cool.”
Harvick finished second as his winless streak stretched to 43 races dating back to last season. NASCAR said nearly two hours after the race that his Ford had been disqualified because the fasteners on his windshield were not secure.
The Harvick disqualification dropped him to last in the field. Byron in a Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports moved up to second and Denny Hamlin, who rallied from a lap down, moved up to third in a Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing.
Hamlin led three laps during the second stage but was flagged for speeding on pit road — a troubling habit of the three-time Daytona 500 winner considered the best driver to never win a Cup championship — and the penalty contributed to him falling a lap off the pace. It was Hamlin’s fourth speeding penalty of the season and it took him most of the race to earn his position back on the lead lap and then drove through the field to secure his finish.
“Not how we drew it up, but a dub is a dub and that was a dub in our book — it’s as close as it gets to it,” Hamlin said. “A top-five is a long way from where we were with about 15 laps to go.”
Corey LaJoie, who is not in the playoffs, moved up to fourth in a Chevrolet for Spire Motorsports. Blaney teammate Austin Cindric moved to fifth and was followed by Justin Haley of Kaulig Racing in a Chevrolet, defending race winner Chase Elliott for Hendrick, and the Fords of Ryan Preece and Riley Herbst. Daniel Suarez moved up to 10th. None of the drivers who finished fourth through 10th are in the playoffs.
The race had 70 lead changes among 24 drivers and was fairly clean. Ross Chastain was in an early crash that caused last year’s championship runner-up to finish last. Brad Keselowski was in a later crash with 28 laps to go that ended the race for him, caused damage to Talladega’s outer wall and stopped all action under a red flag.
PLAYOFF PICTURE
Even though he crashed and finished 32nd, Keselowski remained two points above the cutline headed to Charlotte’s elimination race.
The four drivers in jeopardy of elimination are Tyler Reddick of 23XI Racing, Chastain of Trackhouse Racing, Bubba Wallace of 23XI and Kyle Busch of Richard Childress Racing. Busch must win to advance.
Wallace had a lengthy post-race chat with 23XI co-owner Michael Jordan on pit road following his 23rd-place finish. Jordan appeared to be encouraging him, at one point placing his hand on the back of Wallace’s neck and then shoulder, then pulling him in for a hug.
CHASTAIN CRASHES OUT
Chastain, who finished second to Joey Logano last year in the championship race, finished one spot ahead of Harvick after a collision with fellow title contenders Busch and Christopher Bell on the final lap of the first stage.
Chastain entered Talladega, the middle race of the round of 12, ranked sixth in the Cup standings and 12 points above the cutline. His last-place finish dropped him below the cutline and forced him into a high-pressure situation next week on The Roval at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Chastain has struggled in his four previous starts on Charlotte’s hybrid road course/oval track. His best finish is 22nd.
“Left and right,” he said when asked how he expects next week to go. “I’m living my dream, so whatever our team brings next week, we’ll put our best foot forward. As long as I’m getting to drive these rocket ships that Trackhouse brings me, I’m living my dream and we’ll keep fighting.”
UP NEXT
NASCAR races next Sunday on The Roval at Charlotte Motor Speedway, where Bell won last year to avoid playoff elimination.
SECAUCUS, N.J. — The New York Islanders won the NHL draft lottery on Monday night, moving up 10 spots to make the league’s first live televised drawing a memorable one.
“It was dramatic,” NHL commissioner Gary Bettman told ESPN after the drawing. “It worked the way it was supposed to in terms of the process. But the result was unpredictable.”
The Islanders had a 3.5% chance of securing the first pick entering the draft, the 10th-best odds out of the 16 teams in the lottery. It’s the fifth time in franchise history that the Islanders will select first, and the first time since they picked center John Tavares in 2009. Other first overall picks for New York were forward Billy Harris (1972), defenseman Denis Potvin (1973) and goalie Rick DiPietro (2000).
“The hockey gods smiled on us. I can’t tell you how thrilled I am for Islander fans, for our ownership, for the entire Islander organization,” Islanders director of pro scouting Ken Morrow said.
The Islanders’ jump from 10th to first is the biggest involving a team winning the No. 1 selection. It comes after the last-place team won the lottery to retain the first pick in four of the past five years.
Boston College forward James Hagens, a Long Island native, is one of the top prospects available in the 2025 NHL draft, scheduled for L.A. Live’s Peacock Theater in Los Angeles on June 27-28.
Two drawings were held, the first to determine the No. 1 pick followed by the No. 2 selection. Only the bottom 11 teams in the standings were eligible to land the first pick due to a rule restricting teams to moving up no more than 10 spots in the draft order. Each drawing selected a four-number combination that had been assigned to a team before the draft, with balls drawn at 30-second increments. There were 1,001 possible combinations.
The San Jose Sharks entered the day with the best odds, 18.5%, to win the lottery and a 25.5% chance of landing the No. 1 choice for the second straight season, having selected center Macklin Celebrini first in 2024. Celebrini joined Montreal defenseman Lane Hutson and Calgary Flames goalie Dustin Wolf as finalists for the Calder Trophy for NHL rookie of the year, as announced on Monday.
The Sharks settled for the second pick in 2025 after the Utah Hockey Club won the second lottery draw, moving up from 14th to No. 4 overall. The Chicago Blackhawks had the second-best chances to win the lottery and will pick third. The Nashville Predators had no lottery luck — despite having the third-best odds, they drop to the fifth pick.
The drama was amplified in this season’s lottery as the NHL televised the drawing live from the NHL Network studios for the first time in the event’s 30-year history. Previously, the drawing was held in a sequestered room at the facility, with deputy commissioner Bill Daly revealing each draft position by flipping over a stack of cards on television.
“It’s basically the same thing that I do when we’d pretape it and Bill would reveal it. For me, it’s the same. It’s a little different for Bill. He doesn’t have to flip the cards over now,” Bettman said.
The NHL decided to make the drawing live because it drew more fan bases into the excitement of the first overall pick than the previous format. Before the Islanders won the lottery, seven teams still had a shot at the first overall selection: The Blackhawks, Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins and the Islanders each had two balls that would win them the lottery, while the Sharks, Seattle Kraken and Buffalo Sabres each had one.
“It gave those teams and those fan bases hope going into that final. To me, that was what this was all about: To keep hope alive all the way until the end,” Steve Mayer, the NHL’s chief content officer, said.
There was plenty of drama before the final ball was drawn, too. The NHL partnered with SportsMEDIA Technology (SMT) to create real-time odds adjustments after every ball was selected. When No. 7 was selected as the first ball in the first drawing, the Sharks’ odds spiked to 20.6%, while the Calgary Flames were eliminated. When No. 11 was taken second, the Sharks went up to 24.3% while four other teams were eliminated. When No. 12 was selected third, that’s when things took a turn: The Sharks’ chances dropped to 9.1%, the Predators and New York Rangers were eliminated and suddenly both the Penguins (9th) and the Islanders (10th) had an 18.2% chance at the first overall pick.
“This was the idea from the beginning. If we’re going to do this, we have to know after the first ball what the percentages are and who’s out. We need to know after the second ball and the third. We need to know going into the last ball what every team needs,” Mayer said.
“I said, ‘Can somebody way smarter than me figure this out?’ And that’s what they end up doing.”
At last year’s draft lottery, the NHL did a very rough run-through of what a live lottery draw might look like. Mayer sent that video to Bettman and Daly before the live broadcast as a way to present the run of show, with MLB Network employees having stood in for the commissioner and deputy commissioner.
Were there any concerns? “Steve said a hundred percent guaranteed, no problem. And his track record on putting on events, outdoor games, All-Star Games and the draft is impeccable. So we rely on his assurance,” Bettman said.
The NHL was pleased with the event after its completion, both in creating a more dramatic viewing experience and in the technology working. Bettman said there would be a debriefing among the league’s staffers but anticipated the format would return next season. That’s when the drama will really get amplified, when 17-year-old phenom Gavin McKenna of Medicine Hat in the Western Hockey League is expected to be the first pick.
“All the lotteries are important, and they all get the same treatment, in terms of how seriously we treat them,” Bettman said. “We can be a little lighthearted talking about how this [live drawing] came about, but in the final analysis, we had to get comfortable that this was a process with unquestionable integrity.”
Kristen Shilton is a national NHL reporter for ESPN.
TORONTO — Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Anthony Stolarz exited midway through the second period of Game 1 of his team’s second-round Eastern Conference series matchup against the Florida Panthers on Monday after taking an elbow to the head from forward Sam Bennett.
There was no penalty called on the play. Stolarz was replaced by backup Joseph Woll. He had made eight saves on nine shots before leaving while Toronto raced out to a 4-1 lead over its Atlantic Division rival.
On the game broadcast, during the third period, ESPN’s Emily Kaplan reported that a source said Stolarz had vomited on the bench before exiting for the locker room. The team made the official announcement that he wouldn’t return during the second intermission.
Stolarz started all six playoff games for Toronto against the Ottawa Senators in their first-round series victory, recording a 4-2 record with a .902 save percentage and a 2.21 goals-against average.
The 31-year-old veteran, who was the Panthers’ backup last season for Sergei Bobrovsky on their run to a Stanley Cup victory, was the Maple Leafs’ backbone in net throughout the regular season. He sat out some time after a midseason knee surgery but was an impressive 21-8-3 with .926 save percentage and a 2.14 GAA.
Woll took over starting duties when Stolarz was out during the regular season. He posted a 27-14-1 record with a.909 save percentage and a 2.73 GAA.
Eli Lederman covers college football and recruiting for ESPN.com. He joined ESPN in 2024 after covering the University of Oklahoma for Sellout Crowd and the Tulsa World.
Curtis, who decommitted from Georgia this past October, is the No. 1 overall quarterback in the 2026 class. The 6-foot-4, 225-pound passer from Nashville took trips to both Georgia and Oregon earlier this spring. Sources told ESPN that Curtis held in-home visits with offensive coordinators Mike Bobo (Georgia) and Will Stein (Oregon) last week and had conversations with both programs on Sunday afternoon prior to making his decision.
Curtis’ return to the Bulldogs’ 2026 class marks a crucial recruiting victory for coach Kirby Smart and the Bulldogs’ staff. Curtis now lands as the highest-ranked of four ESPN 300 pledges in the program’s incoming class, a collection of talent that will surely grow this summer as Georgia contends for a 10th consecutive top-three signing class. If he signs later this year, Curtis will arrive as the program’s third highest-ranked quarterback pledge in the ESPN recruiting era, trailing only Justin Fields (No. 1 overall in 2018) and Matt Stafford (No. 5 in 2006).
With his pledge, Curtis cements his place as the potential quarterback of the future in Athens behind expected starter Gunner Stockton, redshirt freshman Ryan Puglisi and 2025 signees Ryan Montgomery and Hezekiah Millender. Oregon, meanwhile, returns to the quarterback market in search of a 2026 passer after missing out on a coveted target in Curtis.
Here’s what you need to know about the most consequential commitment in 2026 cycle this spring as the busy recruiting season of late-May and June enters the horizon:
What makes Curtis so good?
Curtis has supreme arm talent, ideal measurables and a competitive temperament. He has ideal measurables and good speed given his size and is a better athlete than he gets credit for. What we like best is his natural arm power, velocity, and ability to change arm angles. He’s a flexible thrower who can make off-platform throws look easy because he can find alternative ways to get the ball out without losing power or strength. He’s a crafty runner who can extend plays and get out of trouble.
If there is a concern, it would be the level of competition he faces at Nashville Christian, a 2A private school. He has yet to be truly challenged against elite competition throughout his high school career to this point. He is always the best player on the field. That being said, he has a winning mentality, likes to compete, and has abilities that can’t be coached. — Tom Luginbill
Who does he compare to?
When looking at current college players, Curtis, while much bigger, compares most to LSU Tigers QB Garrett Nussmeier. Their skillsets are eerily similar. They are both gunslingers, have live arms and things don’t have to be perfect for them to still make a play. Both players play the game with supreme confidence and make players around them better.
In Athens, Curtis can play like Stetson Bennett did in his last two seasons in college. Like Bennett, Curtis can use his legs, acumen, resourcefulness, and accuracy to lead this team. Unlike Bennett, Curtis is bigger and has a stronger arm. — Luginbill
What does the team’s QB roster look like now?
Curtis joins a QB room with highly rated prospects with limited experience on the field. Gunner Stockton was the fifth-rated dual-threat QB in the 2022 class and filled in admirably late last year for an injured Carson Beck.
In all likelihood, Stockton will be the starter in Athens over the next two seasons. However, Ryan Puglisi is uber-talented and will also push for the starting job in 2025 and UGA signed two QBs in the 2025 class. The reality is that this decision, if Curtis signs in December, will likely lead to at least one or more players entering the transfer portal. — Luginbill
What’s next for Oregon and Georgia’s recruiting classes?
Round 2 between the Bulldogs and Ducks comes May 13 when five-star offensive tackle Jackson Cantwell announces his commitment. No. 3 in the 2026 ESPN 300, Cantwell will visit both programs in the closing stages of his recruitment, and he certainly won’t be the last elite prospect the two powerhouses battle over, either.
Curtis’ commitment gives Smart and Co. a cornerstone pledge in the 2026 cycle. With the No. 1 overall passer in hand, Georgia will work to build around him. Top running back prospect Derrek Cooper (No. 7 in the 2026 ESPN) and four-star rusher Savion Hiter (No. 27) are a pair of priority targets at another position of need, as is in-state rusher Jae Lamar (No. 129). Five-star end Kaiden Prothro (No. 19 overall) could be the next piece in Georgia’s stellar tight end pipeline, and five-star offensive tackle Immanuel Iheanacho (No. 12) will be on campus for an official visit later this month.
Oregon whiffed on Curtis, but with multiple years of eligibility for third-year passers Dante Moore and Austin Novosad — paired with the arrival of four-star freshman Akili Smith Jr. — the Ducks don’t have to sign a quarterback in the 2026 class.
Oregon has been in contact with five-star Houston quarterback pledge Keisean Henderson (No. 16 overall) this spring. But the Ducks’ top non-Curtis quarterback target is four-star passer Ryder Lyons (No. 50), who intends to take a mission trip following his senior year and would not join Oregon until 2027. Given the program’s lack of an immediate need at the position, Lyons — the nation’s No. 5 quarterback prospect — could be an especially good fit in 2026.
Other top targets for the Ducks this cycle include: Iheanacho, Atkinson, Arrington, defensive end Richard Wesley (No. 18), safety Jett Washington (No. 22) and tight end Mark Bowman (No. 24). — Eli Lederman
How does this affect the QB dominoes?
As noted, Oregon doesn’t have to sign a QB in this cycle, but with Curtis off the board, the Ducks should still be a major player across the seven months between now and the early signing period.
That could hold significant ramifications for Houston if the Ducks up their efforts to flip Henderson. It could also impact USC and BYU if Oregon turns its full attention to Lyons this summer. The Ducks could look toward other quarterbacks across the country, too.
Alongside Oregon, Alabama, Auburn, Florida State, LSU, North Carolina, Ohio State, Ole Miss and South Carolina stand among the top programs still active in the quarterback market this spring.
However, as of May 5, only four of the 18 quarterbacks ranked inside the 2026 ESPN 300 remain uncommitted. With Curtis now committed, expect the recruitments of those remaining quarterbacks to pick up steam in the coming months.
Lyons is set for June officials with BYU, USC and Oregon. Ole Miss remains the front-runner for Duckworth, who also holds heavy interest from Auburn, Florida State and South Carolina. Bowe Bentley (No. 264) will get to Georgia, LSU and Oklahoma later this spring, while former Purdue pledge Oscar Rios (No. 193) will take official trips to Virginia Tech, Utah, Arizona and Colorado after an April visit to Oklahoma State. — Lederman