Sports

Bell bests Custer to win Xfinity race at Darlington

Published

6 months ago

September 2, 2024

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Associated Press

Aug 31, 2024, 06:19 PM ET

DARLINGTON, S.C. — Christopher Bell thought his chance to win at Darlington Raceway was over — twice.

He got passed by Sheldon Creed with eight laps remaining, then after regaining the lead a final time coming out the pits with four laps left, was bumped from behind in overtime by Cole Custer.

“I thought I was going head on into the inside wall,” Bell said with smile.

Instead, Bell held on to win the Xfinity Series event and give himself a chance to sweep the weekend at Darlington in the Southern 500 on Sunday night.

“It’s never over until it’s over,” he said. “I’ve learned that plenty of times.”

Bell, the NASCAR Cup Series regular who drives for Joe Gibbs Racing, had the most dominant car the entire race, leading 103 of the first 137 laps.

But Creed swept past him low in turn two with eight laps remaining and began to pull away from Bell until the sixth caution came out on lap 142.

All the leaders came in to freshen up tires on the rubber-chewing track and Bell beat everyone back to the track headed to overtime.

Custer, the defending series champion, went low on the restart and looked as if he had position before Bell inched back in front. Custer bumped him from behind and the two, maintaining their grip, slid down the track and stayed 1-2 in line.

“I really need to see a replay of it. That was wild,” Bell said. “Darlington is such a tough racetrack.”

Bell, who started from the pole, claimed his 19th career Xfinity win and his second this season after taking NASCAR’s Triple-A event at New Hampshire in June.

Custer finished second and Creed took third. Chase Elliott, the 2020 Cup Series champion also pulling double duty, was fourth, followed by Sammy Smith, Jesse Love, Shane Van Gisbergen, Chandler Smith and Austin Hill.

Justin Allgaier, who won the Xfinity race at Darlington on Mother’s Day weekend in May, finished 10th.

“I think I almost cleared him into one, but that’s just hard racing,” Custer said. “It was fun racing Christopher there.”

Bell has won three times on the Cup Series and looks to add to that total at the Southern 500 on Sunday night. He ended up leading 109 of the 150 laps and will try and sweep the weekend in the Cup Series’ regular-season finale.

It was another heartbreaking finish for Creed, who once again looked as if he would break through for his first career Xfinity win.

“Once again, I feel terrible for Sheldon,” Bell said. “To essentially win the race, passing me low down there and then losing it on pit road, is a big bummer.”

While climbing out of his car, Creed shook his head at his latest close call. The 2020 Truck Series champion has 23 top-five Xfinity finishes the past three seasons – without a victory.

“Man, I don’t know if I can be any better than that,” Creed said. “I put in one of my best performances.”

Sports

Rich Rod bans Mountaineers from TikTok dancing

Published

17 mins ago

March 12, 2025

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Rich Rod bans Mountaineers from TikTok dancing

Associated Press

Mar 11, 2025, 04:15 PM ET

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez, like all football coaches, wants his players to show up on time, work hard and play their best.

Oh, and another thing: Don’t dance on TikTok.

“They’re going to be on it, so I’m not banning them from it,” he said Monday. “I’m just banning them from dancing on it. It’s like, look, we try to have a hard edge or whatever, and you’re in there in your tights dancing on TikTok, ain’t quite the image of our program that I want.”

Making TikTok dance videos is a popular activity among high school- and college-age users of the social media platform. Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter, Boise State star Ashton Jeanty and Nebraska’s Dylan Raiola are among college football players who have posted dance videos.

Rodriguez is beginning his second stint as Mountaineers coach. He said he has talked to his players about the tendency in society to emphasize the individual rather than the team and that banning TikTok dancing is something he can do to put the focus where he thinks it belongs.

“I’m allowed to do that. I can have rules,” he said. “Twenty years from now, if they want to be sitting in their pajamas in the basement eating Cheetos and watching TikTok or whatever the hell, they can go at it, smoking cannabis, whatever. Knock yourself out.”

As for now, he said: “I hope our focus can be on winning football games. How about let’s win the football game and not worry about winning the TikTok?”

Sports

Battle, DB star at USC and former Jet, dies at 78

Published

17 mins ago

March 12, 2025

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Battle, DB star at USC and former Jet, dies at 78

Associated Press

Mar 11, 2025, 09:54 PM ET

LOS ANGELES — Mike Battle, an All-American defensive back and a member of USC‘s 1967 national championship team who later played two seasons for the New York Jets, has died. He was 78.

He died of natural causes on March 6 in Nellysford, Virginia, the school said Tuesday.

In 1967, Battle led a USC defense that allowed only 87 points all season. The Trojans were 26-6-1 and won three conference titles during his three-year career. Battle played in the 1967, 1968 and 1969 Rose Bowl games, all won by the Trojans.

Battle was USC’s annual punt return leader in each of his three seasons and still owns the school record for most punts returned in a season. He was the NCAA statistical champion in 1967, when he had 49 returns for 608 yards, a 12.4-yard average. He also holds the school mark for most punts returned, with 99 during his three years.

He was chosen in the 12th round of the 1969 NFL draft by the Jets and played for two seasons in 1969 and 1970.

Battle appeared in the 1970 film “C.C. and Company,” a biker film starring Jets teammate Joe Namath and actor Ann-Margret.

He is survived by his wife Laura and children Christian Michael, Hunter, Frank, Michael, Kathleen, Murphy and Annie.