Harvick captures seventh pole of season
Auto racing: Kevin Harvick turned a lap at 162.933 mph to win the pole Friday at Dover International Speedway in Dover, Delaware, leading the field for the third Chase race, Sunday’s AAA 400.
Led by Harvick, Chase for the Sprint Cup championship drivers took the top four spots and six of 10. Kyle Busch starts second, followed by Denny Hamlin and Brad Keselowski.
Jeff Gordon is sixth and Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jimmie Johnson is eighth. The rest of the Chase field has Kasey Kahne 12th, Matt Kenseth 14th, Joey Logano 16th, Carl Edwards 18th, Ryan Newman 20th, Aric Almirola 21st, Kurt Busch 22nd, Dale Earnhardt Jr. 25th, Greg Biffle 27th, and AJ Allmendinger 28th.
Four drivers will be eliminated after every third race, and a win guarantees a driver an automatic berth into the next round. The first cutoff race is Dover.
• Stewart undecided: Tony Stewart found no greater joy than escaping his everyday life and climbing behind the wheel of a sprint car. But in the wake of the death of Kevin Ward Jr., Stewart is unsure if he will ever race a sprint car again. Ward was killed when Stewart’s car struck him as Ward walked on an upstate New York dirt track.
Stewart spoke to the AP in his first interview since a grand jury decided against charging the NASCAR star in Ward’s death.
“I would say it’s going to be a long time before you ever see me in a sprint car again, if ever,” Stewart said.
Locker’s status up in air
NFL: Titans quarterback Jake Locker is listed as questionable for Tennessee’s game Sunday with the Indianapolis Colts.
Locker was limited in Friday’s open portion of practice, as he threw a few passes to test out his injured right wrist.
“It was encouraging that we got to see Jake go a little bit, but that’s what we anticipated,” Titans coach Ken Whisenhunt said. “Hopefully, it will progress more, and we’ll see what we can do tomorrow and that will determine a lot.”
Charlie Whitehurst would get the call if Locker can’t play Sunday.
• Chiefs lose McKnight: The Kansas City Chiefs could fill out quite a roster using players on injured reserve.
Joe McKnight is the latest to make the list, rupturing an Achilles tendon in practice. He’s already the third Chiefs player to sustain a season-ending injury to an Achilles tendon, joining Pro Bowl linebacker Derrick Johnson and defensive tackle Mike DeVito.
Rondo sidelined 6 to 8 weeks
NBA: Boston Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo is expected to miss six to eight weeks after undergoing surgery for a broken finger.
Rondo broke a finger on his left hand in a fall at his home, the club announced. It gave no further details.
• Hornets ban Taylor: The Charlotte Hornets have announced Jeffery Taylor will not be participating in any team-related activities while the NBA investigates the third-year forward’s arrest on domestic assault charges.
East Lansing (Michigan) Police said in a press release Thursday the 25-year-old Taylor has been charged with one count of domestic assault, one count of assault and one count of malicious destruction of property. According to the release, police officers responded to an incident at the East Lansing Marriott around 1 a.m. Thursday.
McCallister grabs early lead
Golf: Blaine McCallister birdied his last two holes at Poppy Hills for a 5-under-par 66 and the first-round lead in the Champions Tour’s First Tee Open in Pebble Beach, California.
John Cook, Skip Kendall, John Inman, Lee Janzen and Tom Byrum were 4 under. Former Pullman resident Kirk Triplett shot a 69.
Abreu announces he’ll retire
Baseball: Bobby Abreu plans to retire after the season.
A reserve outfielder and pinch hitter with the Mets, the 40-year-old Abreu made the announcement at Citi Field in New York.
A two-time All-Star, Abreu has a .291 career batting average with 288 home runs and 1,363 RBIs. He has 2,469 hits and 400 stolen bases.
He was hitting .246 this season with a homer and 14 RBIs in 130 at-bats.
USOC on board for 2024 bid
Olympics: The U.S. Olympic Committee received near-unanimous support from the country’s sports federations in a poll asking whether they would support a bid for the 2024 Olympics – another sign that a U.S. city will make a run at hosting the next available Summer Games.
The USOC is in the final stages of deciding whether to put a city up for consideration. Boston, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Washington are the candidates.