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Spire Motorsports’ Michael McDowell captured pole position for the seventh time in his career during Saturday’s qualifying session for the Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

It’s the first pole for Spire, which has shown stark improvement with an infusion of cash brought by new majority owner Dan Towriss, who also controls Andretti Global in IndyCar and the Cadillac F1 team set to debut in 2026.

McDowell’s previous six poles all came during the 2024 season, his 17th in the Cup Series.

Christopher Bell qualified in 13th position but will start from the back of the field as he searches for a fourth consecutive win. NASCAR penalized the Joe Gibbs Racing driver Sunday for making changes to his Toyota.

He could become the first driver since Jimmie Johnson in 2007 to win four consecutive Cup Series races — an accomplishment that only eight drivers have achieved in the modern era of NASCAR that began in 1972.

Lackluster qualifying hasn’t been a deterrent for Bell thus far, as he started 19th before winning at Circuit of the Americas and 32nd before winning at Atlanta.

Joey Logano will start Sunday’s race alongside McDowell on the front of the grid, qualifying in the top two at Las Vegas for the third time in five races. Austin Cindric will start third, while Las Vegas native Kyle Busch starts in fourth.

Bell has received a congratulatory text message from Johnson after each win in this three-race streak, and he is hoping the seven-time NASCAR champion hits that send button again Sunday.

“It is still the coolest thing in the world to me that I have Jimmie Johnson in my phone,” Bell said. “He has talked to me, he has sent me a text message after every win so far. I’m still shocked every time I see his name pop up. I respect the heck out of him. It’s an honor to know that he thinks of me after the race to send a text message. That is so cool.”

Bell’s three straight wins is the Cup Series’ longest winning streak since Kyle Larson won three in a row twice in 2021, and Bell is the first to do it in NASCAR’s Next Gen car, which was introduced in 2022.

The three wins this year tie his season-high set in 2022 and matched in 2024, and setting a new mark isn’t out of the question at Las Vegas, where he has five career top-10 finishes in 10 starts and three poles. Bell, in his No. 20 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing, was the runner-up in Vegas’ last two fall races.

He is not considering a fourth consecutive victory a lock, even as he has dominated the first month of the season.

“One thing is for sure: Nothing that has happened the last three weeks means anything for this week,” Bell said. “Everything is still ahead of me and nothing is set, and we have to go out there and perform. This has been a strong track for us in the past, but I’m just trying very hard to not get ahead of myself and understand it is a new week. It’s a different race, and everyone is going to be bringing their best stuff to try to beat me.”

Perhaps the greatest threat to end Bell’s hot streak is Larson, who has won at the “Diamond in the Desert” three times since joining Hendrick Motorsports. Larson’s first win with Hendrick came at Las Vegas in March 2021, and he has claimed two of the previous three races held at the track, winning the South Point 400 in October 2023 and the Pennzoil 400 in March 2024.

“I think since joining Hendrick Motorsports in 2021, it’s probably been our best racetrack,” Larson said. “Getting a few wins, I think two other second-place finishes in that time has also been really good. The track is great, but getting to come to the city and have fun on the Strip and all the stuff that it has to offer, it probably makes it one of my three favorite races to get to.”

Logano is the most recent winner at Las Vegas, as his victory at the South Point 400 in October propelled him to his third NASCAR title.

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

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‘So that’s why they’re called the 0’s’: Twins troll Orioles after shutout win

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'So that's why they're called the 0's': Twins troll Orioles after shutout win

The Minnesota Twins are on a roll. They extended their winning streak to 11 games Thursday with a 4-0 win over the Baltimore Orioles that completed a series sweep. Their confidence carried over to social media, too, as they trolled the Orioles.

Minnesota used a three-run third inning to propel itself to victory, with home runs from DaShawn Keirsey Jr. and Byron Buxton.

The Twins hold the longest win streak in MLB; its their their longest run of victories since winning 12 straight from April 22 to May 4 last season, according to ESPN Research. The franchise record is 15 set in 1991.

Minnesota poked fun at Baltimore’s namesake with a post after the game, referring to the Orioles also being known as the “O’s” — and swapping a zero in for the O.

The Twins have won each of their six matchups against the Orioles this season. All of them have come during Minnesota’s current win streak.

Minnesota (24-20) is fourth in the American League Central behind the Kansas City Royals, Cleveland Guardians and Detroit Tigers.

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Red Sox rookie Campbell working out at 1st base

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Red Sox rookie Campbell working out at 1st base

Star Boston Red Sox rookie Kristian Campbell has started working out at first base in the wake of Triston Casas‘ season-ending knee injury.

Campbell worked out at first before Friday night’s series opener against the Atlanta Braves at Fenway Park, and Red Sox manager Alex Cora addressed the situation when he spoke to reporters before the game.

“Looking for options,” Cora told reporters. “Obviously, we’re getting Romy [Gonzalez] probably at the end of the week, early next week, but just introduce him to first base and see how he looks. That’s where we’re at.”

Casas ruptured the tendon in his left knee while running to first base during a game against the Minnesota Twins earlier this month. His replacement at first, Gonzalez, was placed on the 10-day injured list because of a left quad contusion last week.

One potential replacement, star slugger Rafael Devers, said after Casas went down that he would not be open to moving to first after he went from third base to designated hitter during spring training to make room for Alex Bregman.

Campbell, one of baseball’s top prospects, broke camp with the big league team and has been its primary second baseman through the start of the season. He has also played in the outfield and at shortstop and third base in his career, but never first.

Asked what he would need to see for Campbell to be a realistic option at first for his team, Cora added: “The process started, right? It can take 10 days, 15 days, a month, two months. But we started the process and introduced him to first.”

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McCullers on mound after threatening messages

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McCullers on mound after threatening messages

ARLINGTON, Texas — Houston Astros pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. gave up two unearned runs over four innings against the Texas Rangers on Friday, six nights after the right-hander failed to get out of the first inning in a game that he said was followed by online threats.

McCullers, who is making a comeback after sitting out two full seasons because of injuries, gave up seven runs while getting only one out in Houston’s 13-9 loss last Saturday, then said afterward that he had received online death threats directed at his children. The Astros said Houston police and Major League Baseball security were alerted to the threats.

The 31-year-old right-hander on Friday made only his third start for the Astros since the 2022 World Series. He earned a no-decision.

McCullers needed 83 pitches to get through his four innings and he threw 53 strikes. He struck out two, walked one and gave up four singles.

The only runs against McCullers came when Jonah Heim had a two-run single with two outs in the second inning. That was three batters after shortstop Jeremy Peña was charged with an error when he failed to catch a throw from McCullers, who was trying to get the lead runner at second base after fielding a comebacker.

Jake Burger, whose homer was the only run in the Rangers’ 1-0 win in the series opener Thursday night, then had an infield popout before Heim’s hit into the right-field corner.

Astros manager Joe Espada said before Friday’s game that McCullers mentally was “in a good spot. Physically, he’s fine. He just needs to go out there and just have some confidence and pitch, be aggressive in the zone and we have his back.”

McCullers had surgery in June 2023 to repair his right flexor tendon and remove a bone spur, and was rehabbing last June when he had a setback during a bullpen session that shut him down for the rest of the season. He made four starts in the minor leagues this year before rejoining the Astros rotation on May 4.

“We all have confidence he can do it. He just needs to go out there and do his thing,” Espada said. “It’s going to happen.”

McCullers is 49-33 and 3.53 ERA in 133 games (130 starts) for the Astros since his big league debut with them in 2015.

An All-Star in 2017, McCullers went 10-6 with a 3.86 ERA in 25 games in 2018 before Tommy John surgery. He was 13-5 with a 3.16 ERA in 28 starts in 2021, then signed an $85 million, five-year contract that goes through 2026.

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