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NASCAR will take its elite Cup Series international for the first points-paying race outside the United States with a June 2025 stop in Mexico City.

The Cup Series will race at storied Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, where NASCAR and track officials have a Tuesday morning news conference to announce the June 15 race, track officials told The Associated Press.

NASCAR’s second-tier Xfinity Series and NASCAR Mexico Series will be part of the weekend.

The Xfinity Series ran in Mexico City from 2005 to 2008, and current Cup Series stars Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr. were winners during the four-year stretch.

But the Cup Series has never gone international in the modern era for anything besides exhibition races. The Cup Series held exhibitions in Japan between 1996 and 1998, plus once in Australia in 1988.

The only two points-paying Cup races previously held internationally were in Canada. The first was at Stamford Park in Niagara Falls, Ontario, in 1952, then at Canadian Exposition Center in Toronto in 1958.

Now NASCAR will take its stars — including Mexican driver Daniel Suarez — to the same circuit beloved by Formula 1 fans. The Mexico City Grand Prix was voted the best event on the F1 calendar until the fan-decided polling ended during the pandemic.

The 17-turn road course is 2.674 miles long and sits at an elevation of 7,342 feet. The track was built in 1959 and named for racing hermanos (brothers) Pedro and Ricardo Rodriguez. The circuit has hosted eight F1 races since a 2015 remodel.

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Rich Rod bans Mountaineers from TikTok dancing

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Rich Rod bans Mountaineers from TikTok dancing

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?”

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

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

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.

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Stars forward Hintz out a week with facial injury

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Stars forward Hintz out a week with facial injury

Dallas Stars forward Roope Hintz will be sidelined for a week with a facial injury but avoided a fracture.

General manager Jim Nill said Tuesday that Hintz has to keep his heart rate down for 5-7 days to avoid pressure or swelling.

Hintz, 28, was struck in the face by a puck midway through the second period in Saturday’s 5-4 loss at Edmonton. He did not return.

Hintz is tied for second on the Stars in goals (25) and is fourth in points (52) through 59 games this season.

He has 362 points (172 goals, 190 assists) in 451 career games in seven NHL seasons. Dallas drafted him in the second round in 2015.

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