Sports

Truex, on brink again, claims pole at Martinsville

Published

2 years ago

October 31, 2023

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ESPN News Services

Oct 28, 2023, 03:08 PM ET

For the third time in this year’s playoffs, NASCAR regular-season champion Martin Truex Jr. is facing elimination and wondering how his title chances have exploded spectacularly.

Truex heads into Sunday’s race at Martinsville Speedway tied with Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin at 17 points below the cutoff line. There are six drivers vying for two spots in next week’s championship-deciding finale, and Truex needs a rapid turnaround to have any shot at racing for a second title.

He got a boost Saturday with a pole-winning run in qualifying. Truex’s lap at 94.153 mph was good enough for his third pole of the season and second straight.

Wow, did he need it.

Truex has just one top-10 finish through the first seven races of the playoffs — forcing him to stave off elimination at the end of the rounds of 16 and 12 — and although he started from the pole last week at Homestead-Miami Speedway, an engine failure put him in the same spot Sunday at the Virginia short track.

“It’s been really tough, and nothing has really gone right,” Truex said Saturday. “I thought we were sitting in a really good position last week. Things were going pretty well, and then we pit and the bottom falls out. We will reset. We are ready to go again. This is a new week and a new opportunity, and we’ve been in this position before. Let’s just go see what we can do.”

Truex has won three of the past eight races at the 0.526-mile short track but none since the introduction of NASCAR’s Next Gen race car in 2022.

Christopher Bell, his teammate at Joe Gibbs Racing, and 2021 champion Kyle Larson of Hendrick Motorsports claimed the first two spots in the final four. William Byron of Hendrick has a solid shot at adding another Chevrolet to the championship field based on his sizeable points margin. So barring a Byron disaster, there is really only one spot up for grab.

Among Truex’s challengers are teammate Hamlin, who leads all active drivers at Martinsville with five career wins, and Ryan Blaney of Team Penske. Blaney is above the cutline and trying to ensure a Ford is represented in the finale.

Also below the cutline is Tyler Reddick, who drives for Hamlin and Michael Jordan at 23XI Racing, and Chris Buescher of RFK Racing. Buescher must win at Martinsville to make the championship race.

Hamlin, meanwhile, is trying to balance his own desire to make the championship race with his hopes that Reddick can earn a spot for the team that Hamlin co-owns.

“The way I see it is I’ve got two shots to get into the final four,” Hamlin said. “I certainly would rather do it on the driver’s side, because there are going to be far less opportunities to do that than what it would be on the owner’s side.”

Truex will lead non-playoff drivers Ty Gibbs (94.115 mph) and Chase Briscoe (94.106 mph) to the green. Hamlin (94.055 mph) qualified fourth and was followed by Larson, non-playoff driver Bubba Wallace and Bell.

The remainder of the playoff field was completed by Blaney in 11th, Byron in 16th, Buescher in 18th and Reddick in 19th.

“Not happy about qualifying, just the way we’ve been right on the edge of the bubble here the last few times,” Byron said. “But I think our race car in race trim is honestly pretty good, so we’ve just got to focus on that now. We can’t change qualifying … but we’ll fight from there.”

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

Sports

Journalism rallies to win Preakness; Gosger 2nd

Published

1 hour ago

May 18, 2025

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Journalism rallies to win Preakness; Gosger 2nd

Associated Press

May 17, 2025, 07:35 PM ET

BALTIMORE — Journalism won the 150th running of the Preakness Stakes on Saturday, coming from behind down the stretch to make good on the lofty expectations of being the odds-on favorite in the middle leg of the Triple Crown two weeks after finishing second to Sovereignty in the Kentucky Derby.

Finishing first in a field of nine horses that did not include Sovereignty but featured some of the best competition in the country, Journalism gave trainer Michael McCarthy his second Preakness victory. It is Umberto Rispoli’s first in a Triple Crown race, and he is the first jockey from Italy to win one of them.

Gosger was second by a half-length after getting passed by Journalism just before the wire. Sandman was third and Goal Oriented fourth. Journalism went 1 3/16 miles in 1:55.37.

Journalism thrived on a warm day that dried out the track after torrential rain fell at Pimlico Race Course for much of the past week. Those conditions suited him better than the slop at Churchill Downs in the Derby.

Sovereignty did not take part after his owners and trainer Bill Mott decided to skip the Preakness, citing the two-week turnaround, and aimed for the Belmont on June 7. That made this a fifth time in seven years that the Preakness, for various reasons, was contested without a Triple Crown bid at stake.

But Journalism staked his claim for 3-year-old horse of the year by winning the $2 million American classic race run at the old Pimlico Race Course for the last time before it’s torn down and rebuilt. The Preakness is set to be held at nearby Laurel Park, between Baltimore and Washington, D.C., next year before a planned return to the new Pimlico in 2027.

Journalism is the first horse to win the Preakness after running in the Kentucky Derby since Mark Casse-trained War of Will in 2019. Only two others from the 19 in the Derby participated in the Preakness: Casse’s Sandman and fellow Hall of Famer D. Wayne Lukas’ American Promise.

Lukas, the 89-year-old who has saddled the most horses in Preakness history, referred to McCarthy once this week as “the new guy.” This was just McCarthy’s second, and he’s 2 for 2 after Rombauer sprung the upset as an 11-1 long shot in 2021.

Sports

Yankees RHP Cousins has setback with pec issue

Published

8 hours ago

May 17, 2025

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Yankees RHP Cousins has setback with pec issue

Associated Press

May 17, 2025, 12:18 PM ET

NEW YORK — Yankees reliever Jake Cousins felt pectoral discomfort after throwing a pair of batting practice sessions, another setback in his bid to return to the mound for the first time since last fall.

Cousins won’t throw again for four or five days, manager Aaron Boone said Saturday.

Boone said ahead of spring training’s opening workout that Cousins had a strained right forearm and was uncertain for the March 27 opener.

A 30-year-old right-hander, Cousins threw batting practice to injured slugger Giancarlo Stanton on May 6. Boone said Cousins pitched an additional session before the pec issue caused a shutdown.

“We don’t think it’s anything serious, but enough to hold him back a few days,” Boone said.

Boone said Cousins had tests and that they didn’t show any shoulder issues.

Cousins had a 2.37 ERA in 37 relief appearances last year, striking out 53 and walking 20 in 38 innings.

Boone said a date has not been set for Stanton to start a minor league injury rehabilitation assignment. The five-time All-Star has been sidelined since spring training with pain in the tendons of both elbows.

Sports

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

Published

8 hours ago

May 17, 2025

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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.