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Aric Almirola grabbed the lead by going three-wide on the outside in a two-lap dash to the finish and won the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Martinsville Speedway on Saturday night.

Almirola, driving for Joe Gibbs Racing, outran Sam Mayer and teammate Chandler Smith before a crash made the race official. Carson Kvapil was fourth in his Xfinity debut and Justin Allgaier was fifth in a race that featured 15 lead changes, eight different leaders and 11 cautions.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you, Coach, for calling me to give me this opportunity to come and have some fun. It still scratches the itch of racing, but I get to spend a lot of time with my family,” Almirola said after climbing from his car. “I get so much pressure to win. I mean, I think everybody expected me to just get in and go win, but the reality is, it’s really hard to jump in these cars and race against the guys that do it week in and week out.”

Almirola led six times for 148 laps in his fifth career victory in the series. He also won $100,000 as the top finisher among four drivers eligible for the Dash for Cash.

Mayer had the lead for the overtime restart with Almirola to his outside, and when Sheldon Creed tried to dive underneath Mayer, Almirola went to the outside and passed both.

“On that restart, I knew it was going to be tough, but I was really thankful to be able to hold on,” Almirola said.

Mayer, who led twice for 11 laps, was not as thankful.

“Got one I feel like stolen from me there,” he said. “A tough deal, but we’re going to move on to — I don’t even know where we are next week. Probably a good track for me, so I ain’t worried about it. We’re going to go there and try to haul the mail there.”

Smith started from the back after crashing in practice on Friday.

“Really proud of everybody in Joe Gibbs Racing. They took this car right here that I decided to wad up in the fence last night, took it back home to the race shop and worked til 2 o’clock morning, showed back up at five,” he said.

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Missouri’s Norfleet (shoulder) ruled out vs. A&M

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Missouri's Norfleet (shoulder) ruled out vs. A&M

No. 22 Missouri will be without star tight end Brett Norfleet (shoulder) when the Tigers host undefeated No. 3 Texas A&M on Saturday in Columbia.

Norfleet, a junior from O’Fallon, Missouri, has started in each of the Tigers’ eight games this fall and enters Week 11 leading all SEC tight ends with five touchdown receptions. His 26 catches on the season rank third-most among Missouri pass catchers, trailing only wide receivers Kevin Coleman Jr. and Marquis Johnson.

Tigers coach Eli Drinkwitz told reporters that Norflett sustained a separated shoulder in Missouri’s 17-10 loss at Vanderbilt on Oct. 25. Drinkwitz later described Norfleet as “day-to-day” during the Tigers’ bye in Week 10, and the veteran tight end was listed as questionable in Missouri’s student-athlete availability report Thursday night.

Norfleet’s absence comes with Drinkwitz and the two-loss Tigers essentially facing a playoff elimination game against the Aggies on Saturday. Missouri will also be without starting quarterback Beau Pribula in Week 11 after the Penn State transfer dislocated his ankle at Vanderbilt. Freshman Matt Zollers, ESPN’s No. 6 pocket passer in the 2025 class, is set to make his first career start Saturday, facing Texas A&M coach Mike Elko and an Aggies defense that ranks 18th nationally in defensive pressures (137), per ESPN Research.

“For our team, it’s really about us focusing on helping Matt execute at the highest level possible,” Drinkwitz said this week. “We’re excited about Matt’s opportunity and what he’s earned. He has done a really good job in practice of leadership, stepping up, embracing the moment, embracing the opportunity.”

Missouri (6-2) kicks off against Texas A&M at 3:30 p.m. ET on ABC.

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Sources: Kansas State RB Edwards leaves team

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Sources: Kansas State RB Edwards leaves team

Kansas State running back Dylan Edwards has left the Wildcats and is expected to enter the transfer portal, sources confirmed to ESPN’s Pete Thamel.

Edwards has been hampered by injuries this season and has played in just four games. He has only 34 carries for 205 yards.

In 2024, Edwards finished with 546 rushing yards while averaging 7.4 yards per carry with seven total touchdowns.

He began his career in 2023 at Colorado before transferring to K-State.

The Wildcats (4-5, 3-3 Big 12) are off this weekend.

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UK’s Calzada sorry for video flaunting NIL money

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UK's Calzada sorry for video flaunting NIL money

Kentucky quarterback Zach Calzada apologized Friday for sending a video to someone on social media in which he boasted about the amount of NIL money he has received from the Wildcats this season.

The video, which was posted to X by a different person, showed Calzada counting a large stack of $100 bills.

Calzada, who turns 25 on Saturday, said he sent the video to someone who had apparently criticized his play this season.

In the video, Calzada tells the fan, “Hey, what you need to do, Garrett, is your ass needs to stop hatin’ and go get you some money. But since you ain’t got nothing, you go ahead and you can count mine.”

“Let’s count,” Calzada said, as he fanned the $100 bills.

“Don’t lose count, Garrett,” Calzada continued. “Straight hundreds.”

A Kentucky spokesman told the Lexington Herald-Leader on Friday, “Zach has taken responsibility for his actions. He has done the right thing and apologized. Now, it’s time to move forward.”

Calzada, who is playing his seventh season of college football, started the first two games for the Wildcats in 2025. He was ineffective, completing 47.2% of his attempts for 234 yards with no touchdowns and one interception.

Calzada injured his throwing shoulder in the fourth quarter of a 30-23 loss to Ole Miss on Sept. 6.

Freshman Cutter Boley took over and has started the past six games, throwing for 1,376 yards with 10 touchdowns and 7 interceptions.

Calzada, from Buford, Georgia, started his career at Texas A&M in 2019. His best season came in 2021, when he replaced injured Haynes King and went 6-4 as the starter. He completed 21 of 31 passes for 285 yards with 3 touchdowns and 1 interception in the Aggies’ 41-38 upset of then-No. 1 Alabama on Oct. 9, 2021.

Calzada transferred to Auburn in 2022 but never played in a game after undergoing surgery on his non-throwing shoulder.

He spent the past two seasons at FCS program Incarnate Word, where he was named the Southland Conference Newcomer of the Year in 2024 and Player of the Year last season, when he threw for 3,744 yards with 35 touchdowns and 9 interceptions.

The Wildcats (3-5, 1-5 SEC) host Florida (3-5, 2-3 SEC) on Saturday (7:30 p.m. ET, SEC Network).

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