Connect with us

Published

on

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — NASCAR backtracked on its plan to close the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum grandstands for the first day of on-track activity for the upcoming Clash on the very same day the shutdown was announced, said Ben Kennedy, the architect of NASCAR’s race in the storied venue.

NASCAR last Tuesday revealed the Coliseum would not be open to the public on Feb. 3, the first time this year its Cup cars will be on track. Only problem? NASCAR overhauled the schedule for this third running of the Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum and that day is a full day of track activity.

Fans were furious — many said they assumed one ticket covered both days — and in an interview with The Associated Press on Monday, Kennedy said NASCAR immediately looked for a solution. NASCAR’s senior vice president of racing development and strategy said he was on the phone with the Coliseum staff by Wednesday morning and on Thursday evening he’d posted a “We heard you” video on social media announcing the grandstands will be open after all, and free to the public.

“We quickly huddled and made a pretty quick decision to open the gates for free on Saturday,” Kennedy said.

The first two runnings of the Clash were open to ticket holders on both days of the event, but most of the on-track activity was held Sunday leading into the main event that evening. The overhauled schedule moved four heat races to Saturday. The heat races are used to set the field for the main event and one of the elements that makes the Clash different from the 36 points-paying races on the schedule.

There is one “last chance qualifier” heat Sunday, but the fight to make the field was mostly going to happen Saturday in an empty Coliseum.

“It’s been a good learning opportunity for us to understand how important those heat races are to our fans,” Kennedy said. “I think as soon as we got that feedback, it was first thing Wednesday morning, we got with the Coliseum and asked, ‘How do we find a way to somehow open these gates on Saturday?'”

NASCAR lost sight of how compelling fans find the unusual heat race element in its tight focus on producing a fulfilling main event in the important Southern California market. Because Auto Club Speedway (formerly California Speedway) is currently off the schedule and its future is unclear, the Clash is NASCAR’s only appearance in the second-largest media market in the United States right now.

The exhibition Clash was held from its 1979 inception through 2021 at Daytona International Speedway as the opener ahead of the Daytona 500. Kennedy moved the Clash to the Coliseum in 2022 in a made-for-TV event that transforms the famed venue into a temporary short track.

For this third running, the NASCAR Mexico Series will also run — like NASCAR that lower level series will practice and qualify on Saturday, and then its race will be ahead of the Clash on Sunday.

“From day one of this event we’ve really leaned toward trying to promote the Sunday ticket as much as possible. L.A. is a big, main-event type of city, and if you look at other sports leagues out there, there aren’t a ton that open the gates for practice or qualifying days,” Kennedy said. “Our focus has always been on Sunday. And that was the consensus as we approached this year with the addition of the NASCAR Mexico series.

“We had the ‘last chance’ race, which he felt drew a lot of attention and storylines, keeping that on Sunday. And then, of course, a lot of the new fans, they’re really coming there for the main event.”

Now that Saturday has been rectified for fan attendance, Kennedy is interested to see the turnout.

“I’ve already had a bunch of random friends in L.A. that have reached out to me and said, ‘Hey, I’m thinking about coming on Saturday and since I’m going on Saturday, I may as well just get a ticket to Sunday,'” Kennedy said. “It’s neat to see that the crowd is pretty positive about it.”

Continue Reading

Sports

Astros GM: Alvarez setback not as bad as feared

Published

on

By

Astros GM: Alvarez setback not as bad as feared

DENVER — Houston Astros slugger Yordan Alvarez‘s setback to his recovery from a fractured right hand is not as serious as first feared, general manager Dana Brown said Thursday.

Alvarez, who suffered the injury on May 2, was shut down after experiencing pain in his right hand. He had taken some swings at the team’s spring training complex in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Monday and when he arrived there Tuesday, the area was sore.

He was examined by a specialist, who determined inflammation was the issue and not a setback with the fracture.

“It had nothing to do with the fracture, or the fracture not being healed,” Brown said before Houston’s game at Colorado. “The fracture at this point is a nonfactor, which we’re very glad about. And so during the process of him being examined by the specialist, we saw the inflammation, and Yordan did receive two shots in that area.”

Alvarez first experienced issues with his hand in late April but stayed in the lineup. He was initially diagnosed with a muscle strain but a small fracture was discovered at the end of May.

Brown said there has not been an update on the timetable for Alvarez’s return but said with the latest update it “could be in the near future.”

“Yordan is going to be in a position where he’s going to let rest and let the shot take effect, and then as long as he’s starting to feel better, we’ll put a bat in his hand before we start hitting, but we’ll just let him feel the bat feels like,” Brown said. “And then we’ll get into some swings in the near future, but I felt like it was encouraging news. Now, with this injection into the area that was inflamed, we feel a lot better.”

Alvarez, who averaged 34 home runs over the previous four seasons, has just three in 29 games this year and is batting .210. He was the 2021 ALCS MVP for the Astros and finished third in the AL MVP voting for 2022.

Continue Reading

Sports

Sources: Guardians’ Ortiz faces gambling inquiry

Published

on

By

Sources: Guardians' Ortiz faces gambling inquiry

Cleveland Guardians right-hander Luis Ortiz is under investigation by Major League Baseball after a betting-integrity firm flagged a pair of pitches that had received unusual gambling activity, sources told ESPN on Thursday.

Sources said betting-integrity firm IC360 sent an alert in June to sportsbook operators regarding Ortiz, whom MLB has placed on “non-disciplinary paid leave” through July 17.

The alert, according to sources who reviewed it, referenced action on Ortiz’s first pitches in select innings to be a ball or a hit batsman in two games: June 15 against the Seattle Mariners and June 27 against the St. Louis Cardinals. In both the bottom of the second inning against the Mariners and the top of the third inning against the Cardinals, Ortiz threw a first-pitch slider that was well outside the strike zone.

The alert on Ortiz’s first pitches flagged bets in Ohio, New York and New Jersey. Betting on the result of first pitches is offered by some sportsbooks, with such wagers commonly referred to as microbets.

Ortiz’s paid leave, which ends at the conclusion of the All-Star break, was negotiated between the league and the MLB Players Association. If the investigation remains open, the leave could be extended.

Ortiz had been scheduled to start Thursday night’s game against the Chicago Cubs.

“The Guardians have been notified that Luis Ortiz has been placed on leave per an agreement with the Players Association due to an ongoing league investigation,” the team said in a statement. “The Guardians are not permitted to comment further at this time and will respect the league’s confidential investigative process.”

The investigation into Ortiz’s potential violation of the league’s gambling policy comes a little more than a year after MLB levied a lifetime ban against San Diego Padres infielder Tucupita Marcano for placing nearly 400 bets on baseball. Four other players received one-year suspensions for gambling on baseball while in the minor leagues. In February, MLB fired umpire Pat Hoberg — widely recognized as the best ball-strike arbiter in the game — for “sharing” a legal sports betting account with a friend who bet on baseball and later deleting messages key to the investigation.

A 26-year-old starting pitcher, Ortiz was acquired by Cleveland from the Pittsburgh Pirates over the winter as part of the three-team trade in which the Guardians sent second baseman Andres Gimenez to the Toronto Blue Jays. With a 4-9 record and 4.36 ERA, Ortiz has been a staple in a Guardians rotation whose 4.13 ERA ranks 18th in MLB.

Ortiz’s leave comes amid a slide for the Guardians, who have lost six consecutive games to drop to 40-44. While Cleveland remains in second place in the American League Central, it trails first-place Detroit by 12½ games.

Ortiz signed with the Pirates in 2018 at 19 years old, far later than the typical prospect, and didn’t reach full-season ball until 2021. He quickly shot through the Pittsburgh organization and debuted in 2022, eventually throwing 238⅓ innings and posting a 3.93 ERA in his three seasons with the Pirates.

Continue Reading

Sports

Nats slugger Wood commits to Home Run Derby

Published

on

By

Nats slugger Wood commits to Home Run Derby

Washington Nationals slugger James Wood will bring his massive power to the big stage, becoming the third player to commit to the July 14 Home Run Derby in Atlanta.

Wood, 22, has delivered 22 home runs in 86 games during his first full major league season. He was acquired by the Nationals in 2022 as part of the package of top prospects Washington received in the trade that sent Juan Soto to the San Diego Padres.

Wood announced the commitment on Instagram, with a video montage of himself, along with video clips of former Atlanta Braves star Hank Aaron hitting his record 714th home run in 1974. The video included the words, “Derby bound.”

Wood has 12 homers that have been hit harder than 110 mph. It’s the second most in the league behind Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani‘s 13. Wood also has four dingers that have been launched longer than 445 feet.

The Seattle MarinersCal Raleigh and the Braves’ Ronald Acuna Jr. also have committed to the event, with five more participants still to be named.

Raleigh, who would become the first catcher to win the event, has a major-league-best 33 home runs. Acuna has nine home runs in 36 games after returning from a torn left ACL that also limited him to 49 games last season.

Defending champion Teoscar Hernandez of the Los Angeles Dodgers already has said he will not defend his Home Run Derby crown.

Field Level Media and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Continue Reading

Trending