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INDIANAPOLIS — Cole Custer will return to NASCAR’s Cup Series next season as the driver for Haas Factory, the team announced Saturday before Brickyard 400 qualifying.

The 26-year-old, who was the 2020 Cup Series Rookie of the Year, will drive the No. 41 Ford. Team officials said they would have a technical alliance with RFK Racing with additional help coming from Ford Performance.

“I’ve grown up with Haas Automation and having their name on my firesuit is something I take a tremendous amount of pride in,” Custer said. “I’m driven to win for Gene and everyone at Haas Automation because they’ve been such a big part of my career.”

Custer is the defending Xfinity Series champion and current points leader after earning his first win of the season last weekend at Pocono. He has 22 career wins across multiple series, getting his first Cup win at Kentucky in his 20th career start.

But Custer lost his Cup ride at Stewart-Haas Racing after the 2022 season and spent the past two seasons racing in the second-tier Xfinity series.

This year, he’s back with SHR, which will shutter after this season. That team is run primarily run by Joe Custer, Cole’s father. The elder Custer will remain president of Haas Factory Team.

“Cole has represented Haas Automation for more than half his life and he’s delivered results every step of the way,” team owner Gene Haas said in a statement. “He just wins, and he’s proven that repeatedly. He brings home trophies and he races people clean. He’s earned a lot of respect from his peers, and he’s a genuine personality whose hard work resonates with our customers.”

Custer got his first win for Haas Automation in 2011 as part of a USAC series designed for young drivers.

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Follow live: Jets, Stars battle in Game 3 as series shifts to Dallas

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Jung hits HR for mom while facing brother Jace

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Jung hits HR for mom while facing brother Jace

DETROIT — Josh Jung delivered a special Mother’s Day gift to his mom, Mary.

The Texas Rangers third baseman hit a two-out, two-run homer in the fifth inning off Beau Brieske at Detroit on Sunday. Jung’s brother, Jace, was in the Tigers’ lineup at the same position.

Before the game, Mary Jung delivered the game ball to the mound and her sons joined her on the field.

“My heart is just exploding,” Mary Jung said in an interview on the Rangers’ telecast. “I mean, I couldn’t ask for a better Mother’s Day gift. We’re all in the same place, to begin with. But then to watch them live their dream, do what they love to do, I couldn’t be more proud.”

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, it was the first home run by a player facing his brother’s team on Mother’s Day since at least 1969.

The Jungs’ parents, Mary and Jeff, have been in attendance throughout the three-game series. The brothers also started Saturday when Texas recorded a 10-3 victory.

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Yankees’ Stroman has setback in rehab of knee

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Yankees' Stroman has setback in rehab of knee

WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. — New York Yankees pitcher Marcus Stroman had a setback as he tries to return from a left knee injury that has sidelined him for the past month.

Manager Aaron Boone said Sunday that Stroman still had “discomfort” in the knee after throwing a live batting practice session in Tampa, Florida, on Friday and will be reevaluated before the team figures out the next step in his rehabilitation process.

“He’s gotten a lot of treatments on it and stuff,” Boone said. “It just can’t kind of get over that final hump to really allow him to get to that next level on the mound. We’ll try and continue to get our arms around it and try and make sure we get that out of there.”

Stroman hasn’t pitched since allowing five runs in two-thirds of an inning against the San Francisco Giants on April 11. He was placed on the 15-day injured list the next day with what Boone hoped at the time would be a short-term absence.

But there is no timeline for the right-hander’s return, and Boone said the injury likely impacted the way Stroman pitched before going on the IL. He was 0-1 with an 11.57 ERA in three starts.

“Certainly that last start, I think he just couldn’t really step on that front side like he needed to,” Boone said. “I talk about how these guys are like race cars, and one little thing off and it can affect just that last level of command or that last level of extra stuff that you need. So we’ll continue to try to get him where we need to.”

Stroman had surgery March 19, 2015, to repair a torn ACL in his left knee. He returned to a major league mound that Sept. 12.

Stroman, 34, is in the second season of a two-year contract guaranteeing $37 million. His deal includes a $16 million conditional player option for 2026 that could be exercised if he pitches in at least 140 innings this year.

Last season, Stroman was 10-9 with a 4.31 ERA in 30 games (29 starts) when he threw 154⅔ innings, his most since 2021 with the Mets. Stroman struggled in the second half and did not pitch in the postseason, when the Yankees made their first World Series appearance since 2009.

In other injury news, DJ LeMahieu played for the second straight day on a rehab assignment at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Sunday and could join the team in Seattle this week to make his season debut. LeMahieu had a cortisone injection last week in his right hip, dealing with an injury stemming from last year.

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