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KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Christopher Bell put four trying weeks of crashes and misfortune behind him Saturday, posting the fastest time in qualifying at Kansas Speedway to earn the pole for the third time in his last five NASCAR Cup Series visits to the track.

Bell turned a lap of 183.107 mph in his No. 20 for Joe Gibbs Racing, putting it on the front row alongside Ross Chastain for Sunday’s race. Noah Gragson and Kyle Larson will start a row behind them, while Kyle Busch qualified fifth.

“I’m not looking for a race win. I’m literally looking to see a checkered flag,” Bell said with a smile. “My car has great capability. If I can see the checkered flag, we have the possibility of having a great day.”

That checkered flag hasn’t been flying much for Bell lately.

He started the season with a third-place finish in the Daytona 500 and won at Phoenix a few weeks later, and he still had some momentum going at Circuit of the Americas and Richmond. But things began to go awry beginning at Martinsville, when he had some tire issues and finished 35th, and things haven’t gotten a whole lot better since.

He spun out at Texas and finished 17th. He got caught up in a crash at Talladega and was 38th. Last week at Dover, he followed a qualifying spin that left him starting 33rd by crashing in the race, leaving him to finish 34th.

“We’ve all just been in the dumps,” he said. “We have debriefs every Monday and after Martinsville it was like, ‘It’s fine. We’ll get them next week.’ After Texas, we’re like, ‘This sucks. It’s been two in a row. But we’re alright.’ It was bottom-of-the-barrel after Dover. But the good news and the positive out of it is that every time we go to the track, we know our cars are going to be fast, and we have the capability in our team.”

Ty Gibbs will start sixth on Sunday at Kansas. Austin Cindric will be in seventh, Michael McDowell eighth, Chase Elliott ninth and Chase Briscoe — who scrubbed the wall during his final qualifying run — will round out the top 10.

Defending race winner Denny Hamlin failed to advance to the final round and will start 14th. Neither of the cars he co-owns along with Michael Jordan, the No. 45 of Tyler Reddick and the No. 23 of Bubba Wallace, reached the final round, either; Reddick will start right behind in 14th and Wallace will start back in 23rd place.

Corey Heim, driving the No. 43 for another week as Erik Jones continues his recovery from a crash at Talladega, qualified 20th. He’ll start alongside Jimmie Johnson, who is back in the No. 84 for a second consecutive week.

William Byron will start near the back after hitting the wall hard during the first round of qualifying.

“We’ll have a lot of work to do, which I hate,” he said, “but our car is really good. We’re just going to have to pass a lot of cars.”

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Canucks, Boeser agree on new seven-year deal

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Canucks, Boeser agree on new seven-year deal

The Vancouver Canucks have come to terms with forward Brock Boeser on a new seven-year contract, carrying a $7.25 million AAV.

Canucks GM Patrik Allvin announced the deal on Tuesday during the first hour of NHL free agency. Boeser, 28, was an unrestricted free agent on a previously expiring contract.

Drafted by Vancouver 23rd overall in the 2015 NHL draft, Boeser has collected 204 goals and 434 points in 554 games with the Canucks to date. A top-six scoring threat, Boeser has elite playmaking skills and the potential to produce big numbers offensively. He had his best year offensively in 2023-24, producing 40 goals and 73 points in 81 games.

Boeser didn’t hit those marks again last season — settling for 25 goals and 50 points in 75 games — but was still second amongst teammates in output. He also plays a prominent role on Vancouver’s power play and when he can generate opportunities at 5-on-5, he is a true difference-maker up front for the Canucks.

The extension is a happy ending for Vancouver and Boeser. When the regular season ended, Boeser admitted “it’s tough to say” whether he’d be back with the Canucks. Boeser reportedly turned down a previous five-year extension offer with the club and Allvin subsequently looked into deals for him at the March trade deadline, with no takers. Boeser looked — and sounded — poised to explore his options on the open market.

Ultimately, Boeser decided to stay put by committing the best years of his career to the Canucks.

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Jake Allen agrees to 5-year deal with the Devils

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Jake Allen agrees to 5-year deal with the Devils

Jake Allen, one of the top goaltenders available entering free agency, is not heading to the market after agreeing to a five-year deal with the New Jersey Devils, sources told ESPN on Tuesday.

Allen’s average annual value on the deal is $1.8 million, sources told ESPN. That AAV allows the Devils to run back the same goaltending tandem for next season.

Jacob Markstrom has one year remaining on his contract for $4.125 million. Nico Daws is also under contract for next season, before becoming a restricted free agent next summer.

Several teams were interested in the 34-year-old veteran, whom sources said could have made more money on the open market. However, the deal with the Devils gives Allen long-term security. Allen has played for the Blues, Canadiens and Devils over his 12-year-career. He has started in 436 career games.

Last season, Allen started 29 games for the Devils, going 13-16-1 with a .906 save percentage, 2.66 GAA and four shutouts.

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Capitals sign Fehervary to 7-year, $42M extension

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Capitals sign Fehervary to 7-year, M extension

Washington Capitals defenseman Martin Fehervary signed a seven-year extension through the 2032-33 season that is worth $6 million annually, the team announced Tuesday.

Fehervary, who had one year of team control remaining, will enter the final season of a three-year bridge deal that will see him make $2.675 million before his new contract begins at the start of the 2026-27 season.

He finished the season with five goals and a career-high 25 points while logging 19 minutes. Fehervary also played a crucial role in the Capitals’ penalty kill by finishing with 245 short-handed minutes for a penalty kill that was fifth in the NHL with an 82% success rate.

Securing the 25-year-old Fehervary to a long-term deal means the Capitals now have seven players who have more than three years remaining on their current contracts.

It also means the Capitals front office has one less decision to make ahead of what is expected to be an active offseason in 2026 that will see the club have what PuckPedia projects to be $39.25 million in cap space.

That’s also the same offseason in which captain and NHL all-time leading goal scorer Alex Ovechkin‘s contract will come off their books along with that of defenseman John Carlson.

But until then, the Capitals have their entire top-six defensive unit under contract as they seek to improve upon a 2024-25 season that saw them finish atop the Metropolitan Division with 111 points before they lost in the Eastern Conference semifinal to the Carolina Hurricanes in five games.

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