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Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s retirement tour is making an emotional stop at NASCAR’s most famous track. Earnhardt won his first pole Friday since Sept. 29, 2013, and will lead the field to the green flag in what could be his final Cup Series race at Daytona International Speedway. Earnhardt reached 190.973 mph during his fast lap, putting his No. 88 Chevrolet in the top spot for the Saturday night race. The…

Friday night, NASCAR driver Matt Tifft will be flying around the Daytona International Speedway track in his patriotic No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota during the Coca-Cola Firecracker 250, looking for his first XFINITY Series race win. But this time last year, the now-21-year-old was in a very different position. While being treated for a disc condition in his back, a slow-growing brain tumor — also known as a low-grade…

Who takes the checkered flag as the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series heads to Daytona? Here are our picks for Sunday’s race. Winner: Dale Earnhardt Jr. It is Dale Jr. weekend at Daytona after all! The No. 88 team will be doing everything it can this week to get a playoff-clinching race at arguably its best track. Final practice proved just that with Dale Jr. posting the fastest speed. He…

Friday night, NASCAR driver Matt Tifft will be flying around the Daytona International Speedway track in his patriotic No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota during the Coca-Cola Firecracker 250, looking for his first XFINITY Series race win. But this time last year, the now-21-year-old was in a very different position. While being treated for a disc condition in his back, a slow-growing brain tumor — also known as a low-grade…

NASCAR driver Mike Wallace has resumed his legal fight over the 2016 mauling he took during a post-concert brawl at PNC Pavilion, with the veteran racer and his family accusing the venue’s owners and management of irresponsibly failing to head off the fight. In a lawsuit moved to federal court on Friday, Wallace, his wife, daughter and son-in-law accuse the corporate owners/operators of allowing an unruly group with a history…

Kobe Bryant is an AC Milan fan, but also loves Barcelona. Soon after then-6-year-old Kobe Bryant moved to Italy with his family, he went down to a local park in search of a basketball game. The court was easy enough to find but what the local kids were doing on it looked a lot different. Underneath each basket was a set of goalposts, allowing the kids to play pickup games…

“These are not real names,” the comedian George Carlin once wailed. “Want to hear a real name? Eddie. Eddie is a real name. Whatever happened to Eddie?” Photo The Phillies’ Tyler Green, pitching in 1997, was the first player who went by Tyler to reach the major leagues, for Philadelphia in 1993. Credit Erik S. Lesser/Associated Press Well, Eddie Butler pitches for the Chicago Cubs, and Eddie Rosario plays outfield…

Lale Esquivel, the controversial owner and coach of the Texas Bombers, is as hard-charging in his pursuit of youth baseball players as he is unapologetic about his method for building powerhouse teams. When he found three players with exceptional skills, Esquivel wanted them, regardless of the fact that they lived on opposite coasts, some 1,400 miles from the Bombers’ home base in Haltom City. Those coveted recruits, two of whom…

Friday night, NASCAR driver Matt Tifft will be flying around the Daytona International Speedway track in his patriotic No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota during the Coca-Cola Firecracker 250, looking for his first XFINITY Series race win. But this time last year, the now-21-year-old was in a very different position. While being treated for a disc condition in his back, a slow-growing brain tumor — also known as a low-grade…

“These are not real names,” the comedian George Carlin once wailed. “Want to hear a real name? Eddie. Eddie is a real name. Whatever happened to Eddie?” Photo The Phillies’ Tyler Green, pitching in 1997, was the first player who went by Tyler to reach the major leagues, for Philadelphia in 1993. Credit Erik S. Lesser/Associated Press Well, Eddie Butler pitches for the Chicago Cubs, and Eddie Rosario plays outfield…

IBIUNA, Brazil (AP) A prospect with a 94 mph fastball gets a lot of attention, no matter where he is pitching – even when that prospect is a diminutive 16-year-old from a country with little baseball tradition. Eric Pardinho’s blazing fastball has brought scouts to this city 50 miles west of Sao Paulo in soccer mad Brazil. The 5-foot, 8-inch tall right-hander could get a lot more attention July 2,…

The St. Louis Cardinals held a press conference on Friday afternoon to make some small changes to their front office. They have promoted general manager John Mozeliak to president of baseball operations. With that, they also promote assistant general manager Mike Girsch to general manager.  Both have contracts that now run through 2020.  So the internal promotion of two from within the organization isn’t huge news, but it’s noteworthy. It’s…

This year marks the 70th anniversary of Jackie Robinson’s breaking baseball’s color barrier, and the 45th anniversary of his last public appearance. He had accepted an invitation to throw out the ceremonial first pitch at the 1972 World Series but had no interest in serving as a prop for the sport to pat itself on the back. He stood dignified on the field in Cincinnati, in coat and tie, his…

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Mark Kingston has been named the head baseball coach at the University of South Carolina, Athletics Director Ray Tanner announced Friday. He becomes the 30th head coach in the history of Gamecock Baseball. Kingston comes to Carolina following a three-year stint as the head coach at USF. He compiled a 100-78-1 record while in Tampa, helping the Bulls to a pair of NCAA Regional appearances. Kingston owns…

For those who still believe baseball is as American as mom and apple pie, just realize that the red, white and blue sport has some significant gray streaks. Major League Baseball’s television audience is among the oldest in professional sports, according to data recently released by Street & Smith’s Sports Business Journal and Magna Global. The average age of a baseball…

Growing up in Lompoc, California, a mostly rural town north of Santa Barbara, Kelly Candaele was vaguely aware that his mother, Helen Callaghan, and his aunt Marge had played professional baseball back in the day. His mom still had her old glove, and would sometimes participate in local powder puff games. “You don’t hear that from other mothers,” he says. But it wasn’t until he got to college, and began…

Lou Williams was traded for the second time in about four months Wednesday, this time to the Los Angeles Clippers, but that’s not stopping him from having some fun on social media. Williams has been quite active on Twitter recently, and one tweet in particular got some people riled up. Seemingly out of nowhere, he decided to talk about how it was “crazy” to him that “all these nerds” cover…

Sky Sports will remain the ECB’s primary live broadcast partner, at least until 2024 © Getty Images English cricket will return to the BBC for the first time in more than two decades, with Sky Sports holding off the challenge of BT Sports to extend its coverage of the sport for at least another seven years, after the ECB announced the results of its broadcasting…

The best of the Internet, plus musings by SI.com writer, Jimmy Traina. 1. Before we get into the usual array of nonsense and fun stuff, you need to know that SI.com has launched a new section dedicated to all things food and drink. For example, here are nine fruit-flaovered beers you need to try this summer. Bookmark our new site, SI Eats and follow @SI_Eats on Twitter. 2. According to the…

Chuck Burton/Associated Press Fresh off Kevin Harvick’s first win of the season, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series speeds into a holiday weekend featuring one of the year’s best events, the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway. Any trip to Daytona is special—and especially so if the event surrounds a holiday. But this year has found a way to be even more important than usual. NASCAR’s playoff picture is…