
AUTO RACING: Kyle Larson earns 30th Cup Series win and F1's McLaren Team continue to dominate
Associated Press
All Times Eastern NASCAR CUP SERIES
Cook Out 400
Site: Martinsville, Virginia.
Schedule: Saturday, practice, 2:05 p.m., qualifying, 3:10 p.m.; Sunday, race, 3 p.m. (FS1).
Track: Martinsville Speedway.
Race distance: 400 laps, 210.4 miles.
Last year: William Byron took the lead with 73 laps to go and held onto it during a two-lap overtime finish to enhance Hendrick Motorsports' celebration of its 40-year anniversary.
Last race: Kyle Larson secured his 30th career win at Homestead after a late-race pass of teammate Alex Bowman.
Next race: April 6, Darlington, S.C.
Online: http://www.nascar.com NASCAR XFINITY SERIES
Marine Corps 250
Site: Martinsville, Virginia.
Schedule: Friday, practice 4:30 p.m., qualifying, 5:35 p.m.; Saturday, race, 5 p.m. (CW).
Track: Martinsville Speedway.
Race distance: 250 laps, 131.5 miles.
Last year: Aric Amirola secured his first win of the year taking the lead from Sam Mayer after an overtime restart.
Last race: Justin Allgaier earned his second consecutive series win in a dramatic three-way duel with Sam Mayer and Austin Hill in overtime.
Next race: April 5, Darlington, S.C.
Online: http://www.nascar.com NASCAR CRAFTSMAN TRUCK SERIES
Boys and Girls Club of the Blue Ridge 200
Site: Martinsville, Virginia.
Schedule: Friday, practice, 2:05 p.m., qualifying, 3:10 p.m., race, 7:30 p.m. (FS1).
Track: Martinsville Speedway.
Race distance: 200 laps, 105.2 miles.
Last year: Christian Eckes won in dominating fashion, leading 133 of the 200 laps and bringing in his second win of the season.
Last race: Overcoming a potentially race-ending spinout, Kyle Larson crept his way to the front in the final 10 laps to secure the victory.
Next race: April 11, Bristol, Tennessee.
Online: http://www.nascar.com FORMULA ONE
Last race: Oscar Piastri earned his third career win ahead of teammate Lando Norris in Shanghai, securing McLaren a landmark 50 one-two placings.
Next race: April 6, Suzuku, Japan.
Online: http://www.formula1.com INDYCAR
Last race: Alex Palou stays perfect going 2-for-2 for the season after passing pole sitter Pato O'Ward with 10 laps to go.
Next race: April 13, Long Beach, California.
Online: http://www.indycar.com NHRA DRAG RACING
Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals
Site: Pomona, California.
Schedule: Friday, qualifying, 1:30 p.m., 2:15 p.m., 4 p.m.; Saturday, qualifying, 12:30 p.m., 2:05 p.m., 3 p.m., 3:30 p.m.; Sunday, race, 11 a.m.
Track: In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip.
Race distance: 1/4 mile.
Next race: April 13, Las Vegas.
Online: http://www.nhra.com WORLD OF OUTLAWS
World of Outlaws Sooner State Showdown
Site: Lawton, Oklahoma.
Track: Lawton Speedway.
World of Outlaws Wichita Sprint Car Showdown
Site: Wichita, Kansas.
Track: 81 Speedway.
Next events: April 4-5, Chillicothe, Ohio, Colcord, Oklahoma.
Online: http://worldofoutlaws.com
_____
AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/apf-AutoRacing
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Fox Sports
21 minutes ago
- Fox Sports
Olympic champ Imane Khelif skips Eindhoven event after World Boxing introduces mandatory sex testing
Associated Press EINDHOVEN, Netherlands (AP) — Olympic champion Imane Khelif is skipping the Eindhoven Box Cup in the Netherlands less than a week after World Boxing announced mandatory sex testing for all athletes. The Algerian boxer, who won gold at the Paris Games last summer amid scrutiny over her eligibility, did not register in time for the event before applications closed on Thursday. 'The decision of Imane's exclusion is not ours. We regret it,' tournament media director Dirk Renders told The Associated Press. Khelif had intended to return to international competition at the tournament in Hotel Eindhoven before World Boxing announced its new sex testing policy last Friday. Eindhoven mayor Jeroen Dijsselbloem criticized World Boxing's decision. 'As far as we are concerned, all athletes are welcome in Eindhoven. Excluding athletes based on controversial 'gender tests' certainly does not fit in with that,' Dijsselbloem wrote in a letter addressed to the Dutch Boxing Federation and International Boxing Federation. 'We are expressing our disapproval of this decision today and are calling on the organization to admit Imane Khelif after all.' Khelif won a gold medal at the Paris Olympics last summer amid international scrutiny on her and Taiwan's Lin Yu-ting, another gold medal winner. The previous governing body for Olympic boxing, the Russian-dominated International Boxing Association, had disqualified both fighters from its 2023 world championships after claiming they failed unspecified eligibility tests. But the IBA was banished for decades of misdeeds and controversy. The IOC ran the past two Olympic boxing tournaments in its place and it applied the sex eligibility rules used in previous Olympics. Khelif and Lin were eligible to compete under those standards. World Boxing has since been provisionally approved as the boxing organizer at the 2028 Los Angeles Games and has faced pressure from boxers and their federations to create sex eligibility standards. Its president, Boris van der Vorst, apologized after Khelif was singled out in the governing body's announcement last week. Khelif planned to defend her gold medal at the LA Games, but some boxers and their federations have already spoken out against her inclusion. ___ AP boxing: recommended in this topic


Fox Sports
an hour ago
- Fox Sports
Coco Gauff defeats Loïs Boisson 6-1, 6-2 to reach her second French Open final
Associated Press PARIS (AP) — As popular as Coco Gauff is, she knew full well that nearly all of the Court Philippe-Chatrier fans would be against her during the French Open semifinals Thursday. That's because Gauff, an American, was taking on a French opponent — and one who came from nowhere, 361st-ranked Lois Boisson. So the No. 2-seeded Gauff turned to a trick that 24-time major champion Novak Djokovic has talked about using: When the partisan crowd was loudly singing Boisson's first name, Gauff pretended they were chanting 'Coco!' Not that it mattered much, truly, because Gauff was by far the superior player throughout a 6-1, 6-2 victory that earned her a second trip to the final at Roland-Garros. Three years ago, Gauff missed out on a chance to leave with the trophy when Iga Swiatek beat her. This time, Swiatek won't be around for the championship match on Saturday, because her 26-match unbeaten run at the clay-court Grand Slam tournament ended earlier Thursday with a 7-6 (1), 4-6, 6-0 loss to No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka. Sabalenka vs. Gauff will be the first No. 1 vs. No. 2 final in Paris since 2013, when Serena Williams defeated Maria Sharapova, and just the second in the last 30 years. ___ AP tennis: in this topic


Fox Sports
an hour ago
- Fox Sports
Olympic star, 3-time pro champion Vasiliy Lomachenko announces retirement from boxing
Associated Press Vasiliy Lomachenko has announced his retirement from boxing after a decorated career that included two Olympic gold medals and professional world titles in three weight classes. Lomachenko announced his decision with a video on social media Thursday. 'I am grateful for every victory and every defeat, both in the ring and in life,' Lomachenko said. 'I'm thankful that as my career comes to an end, I've gained clarity about the direction a person must take in order to achieve true victory." The Ukrainian star burst onto the international boxing scene at the Beijing Olympics in 2008, when the 20-year-old prospect steamrolled the competition. He showed off athleticism, footwork and ring intelligence far beyond his years, clearly marking himself as a once-in-a-generation talent. But he eschewed the professional sport and returned to win gold at the London Games four years later alongside Oleksandr Usyk, his close friend and the future undisputed professional world heavyweight champion. After going 396-1 as an amateur, Lomachenko finally embarked on a pro career largely spent in the U.S. Lomachenko won the WBO featherweight title in his third professional fight in June 2014, beating Gary Russell Jr. after ordering his promoters to get him a near-immediate title shot after turning pro. He won the junior lightweight belt in 2016 by stopping Roman Martinez, and he added the WBA lightweight world title in 2018, stopping Jorge Linares. Lomachenko finished his pro career 18-3 with 12 stoppage victories, incurring late-career decision losses to Teofimo Lopez and Devin Haney. 'It's been an honor for all of us at Top Rank to promote the pro boxing career of Vasiliy Lomachenko," said Bob Arum, Lomachenko's U.S. promoter. "He was a generational champion, and we will all miss his participation in the sport.' Lomachenko paused his career for several months after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and he has fought only three times since 2021. He stopped George Kambosos Jr. in the 11th round of his final bout in May 2024. ___ AP boxing: