Sport

LAS VEGAS — Dale Earnhardt Jr. collected his 13th consecutive NMPA Sprint Most Popular Driver award Friday during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series’ annual Awards Ceremony held at the Wynn Las Vegas. Earnhardt is the only driver to have won the award since 16-time winner Bill Elliott was named the recipient at the conclusion of the 2002 season. Earnhardt was awarded the trophy and the National Motorsports Press Association will donate $10,000 in Earnhardt’s…

LAS VEGAS – It always began in Daytona, before the start of a new season, eventually unfolding in the Plaza Hotel in Daytona Beach, Florida.   But in 1981, NASCAR officials packed up and moved the premier series’ annual awards ceremony to the bright lights and the big city, New York City in fact, and specifically the historic Waldorf-Astoria Hotel and the Starlight Roof.   Friday night, for the seventh…

CONCACAF, the governing body for soccer in North America, Central America and the Caribbean, announced Friday that it has provisionally banned seven high-ranking officials from all soccer-related activities after they were named in a U.S. Justice Department indictment. The seven, all from Central America, are among 41 men who have been charged since May in a federal probe in corruption in soccer. Those banned Friday are: Alfredo Hawit of Honduras, a…

LAS VEGAS — Kyle Busch didn’t make the trip to Las Vegas the last time NASCAR was in town for a Sprint Cup Series race.   He returned this week as a champion.   Friday night, Busch will be honored as the series’ 31st winner of the title, a hometown hero feted and fawned over, and rightfully so.   Inside the Wynn Las Vegas, Busch, along with wife Samantha, car owner Joe…

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David Beckham’s two-year odyssey to bring a major league soccer franchise to Miami may finally be coming to a fruitful end. On Friday, the team confirmed it has secured a contract to purchase an entire privately owned block in Overtown just west of Interstate 95 and a few blocks north of the Miami River. The team has also secured a letter of intent from Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez to negotiate…

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RELATED: Chip Wile accepts award | Clay Campbell receives award LAS VEGAS — A packed and enthusiastic crowd filled the Encore ballroom at the Wynn Las Vegas for Thursday’s annual NMPA Myers Brothers luncheon. Darlington Raceway earned the big namesake award, and NASCAR’s full slate of Chase drivers and other dignitaries enjoyed Day 4 of the sport’s championship celebration week. NASCAR Chairman Brian France opened the event by recognizing the now-retired Jeff Gordon…

Soccer bosses from across South and Central America were among 16 people charged by U.S. prosecutors on Thursday with multimillion-dollar bribery schemes for marketing and broadcast rights to tournaments and matches, a widening of a corruption probe into the sport. Court documents showed that the heads of the CONMEBOL and CONCACAF associations running soccer in the Western Hemisphere were charged along with current and former chiefs of the Brazil Football…

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WASHINGTON/ZURICH Soccer bosses from across South and Central America were among 16 people charged on Thursday with multimillion-dollar bribery schemes for marketing and broadcast rights, in a dismantling of a Latin American soccer network by U.S. prosecutors. Court documents showed that the heads of the CONMEBOL and CONCACAF associations that run soccer in the Western Hemisphere and others with top jobs in the world governing body FIFA were charged along…

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Inside Groove: Racing with an attitude NASCAR drivers convened in Las Vegas on Fremont Street to play a rousing round of ‘Jeopardy’ on Wednesday as part of Champion’s Week. Here’s what we learned.   1.) KYLE BUSCH RECEIVES MANY AWARDS AND PROCLAMATIONS FROM HIS HOMETOWN OF LAS VEGAS FROM REPRESENTATIVES OF SENATORS AND MAYORS WHO COULD NOT BE THERE.   Lest we forget that Kyle and his brother Kurt and…

By VeloNews.com Published 7 hours ago Mapei sponsored one of cycling’s top teams in the late 1990s but has been absent from the WorldTour for 14 years. Photo: Tim De Waele | TDWsport.com (File). After 14 years away, Mapei Sport, an Italian research center based in Milan, is returning to the top echelon of pro cycling, partnering with Trek Factory Racing. “I’m very happy with this partnership,” said…

It’s just as well the Portland Timbers have North American soccer’s most fervent and unwavering support behind them, because there’s certainly no shortage of haters. Sure, their magnificent tifos are a bona fide work-of-art – and their attendance figures are mightily impressive, too – but that hasn’t bought them much favour in MLS circles. The Columbus Crew will be getting plenty of neutral support in Sunday’s MLS Cup final. “Timbers…

ZURICH/NEW YORK Swiss police arrested the two top soccer bosses in the Americas on Thursday on suspicion of taking millions of dollars in bribes linked to television rights, widening a graft probe into world soccer’s governing body. Switzerland’s Federal Office of Justice (FOJ) named the men as Alfredo Hawit of Honduras, acting president of the CONCACAF region and a FIFA vice president, and Juan Angel Napout of Paraguay, head of…

USA Hockey will announce its selection to host the 2018 world junior championships on Friday and it’s apparent they haven’t chosen St. Louis. The group announced on Thursday morning that it would make an unspecified “major announcement” on Friday – at Ralph Wilson Stadium in the Buffalo suburb of Orchard Park. USA Hockey had already indicated that a decision on the site for the juniors would be announced this week….

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The NASCAR community is converging on Las Vegas for Friday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Awards. However, before the party gets started in Sin City, Jimmy Fallon has a few awards of his own to hand out. Enjoy “The Tonight Show” NASCAR superlatives. 

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