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Pocono Raceway is classified as an oval, but really it is anything but. A glance at the 2.5-mile track’s layout clearly shows it is a giant triangle featuring three distinct corners. When designed back in the late 1960s, Pocono incorporated parts of three other classic tracks whose histories date back to before World War I. Turn 1 is patterned off the first corner of the now-defunct Trenton (N.J.) Speedway;…

The 2015 Women’s World Cup has the potential to be by far the most interesting ever held. Just like the Men’s World Cup did in 1982, the tournament has expanded to 24 teams from 16, allowing a whole bunch of newcomers into the elite ranks – a step toward a much bigger tournament and a much bigger deal. The usual suspects are still going to dominate, of course. The United…

Los Angeles (CNN)The U.S. women’s soccer team enters the 2015 World Cup as a dancing, music-loving, joking cast of extroverts on the team bus– but revenge-seeking marauders on the field. More on the fun later. But first the hunger games. They are, to a woman, driven by what happened in the 2011 World Cup — regurgitating two late leads in an embittering loss to Japan on penalty kicks. “I’m still…

With the NASCAR XFINITY Series taking a break in the action this weekend, series regular Jeffrey Earnhardt made the trip overseas to try his hand at racing in the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series.  NASCAR’s third international racing series, the Whelen Euro Series races on a mix of oval and road courses throughout Europe. This weekend, the series is taking part in the American Speedfest III at the historic Brands Hatch…

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Asked during last Sunday’s post-race winner’s press conference to comment on the new Sprint Cup Series drivers council, the normally super-polite Jimmie Johnson quickly turned atypically testy. “I missed that memo,” the six-time champion said following his win at Dover International Speedway. “I wasn’t there. … I don’t think I was invited to that meeting. I haven’t won enough races or championships.” Seemingly irritated by word of his exclusion from…

The Latest from the Champions League final: ——— 8:01 p.m. No surprises from either Massimiliano Allegri or Luis Enrique. The Juventus and Barcelona coaches are sticking with the winning formulas that got their teams to the Champions League final. Barcelona is unchanged from the side that lost 3-2 loss at Bayern Munich in the semifinal, second leg, but which still advanced 5-3 on aggregate to the final. 2010 World Cup…

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0 Shares Print Vlade Divac is laughing at the memory, some 15 years later, chuckling at the futility of his begging. He can still feel the sting of rejection even now. It was the dawn of a new millennium and a new day in the NBA, too. The long-dormant Sacramento Kings, with Divac suddenly flanked by two more fancy passers in Chris Webber and Jason Williams, were playing the most…

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This week we pass the halfway point in the run up to the Chase for the Cup as the series will pay a visit to Pocono Raceway for the first of two races at the track this summer. The three-turn oval located in the mountains of Pennsylvania is unlike any other oval track on the circuit. Pocono has been referred to many times over the years as the oval that…

i Robbie Keane scored in Ireland’s controversial World Cup qualifying match with France on Nov. 18, 2009 — but the country was eliminated by the aggregate score of 2-1. Ireland’s soccer association says FIFA paid 5 million euros — $7 million at 2010 exchange rates — over a blatant breaking of the rules by France. Michael Steele/Getty Images hide caption itoggle caption Michael Steele/Getty Images Robbie Keane scored in Ireland’s…

Jeff Vespa—Getty Images for Burberry Harper Beckham (L) and David Beckham attend the Burberry “London in Los Angeles” event in Los Angeles on April 16, 2015. “Mia Hamm eat your heart out” Bend it like Beckham! Harper Seven Beckham is only 3½ years old, but she’s already following in the footsteps of soccer’s biggest star — her father. David Beckham shared a photo of his daughter playing his former sport…

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For the uninitiated, it’s easy to dismiss NASCAR as a bunch of good ol’ boys (and the occasional girl) driving cars plastered with ads around in a circle, wasting fuel and turning left for hours at a time. Take a closer look and you’ll see the sport requires incredible precision for marathon stretches of time. NASCAR isn’t about peak performance. It’s about identifying bottlenecks and weaknesses, eliminating mistakes to shave…

Bend it like Beckham! Harper Seven Beckham is only 3 years old, but she’s already following in the footsteps of soccer’s biggest star – her father. David Beckham shared a photo of his daughter playing his former sport on Instagram Friday. In the photo, the adorable toddler faces a soccer net, poised to kick a ball in with her tiny cleats. “Mia Hamm eat your heart out,”Beckham, 40, wrote. “Harper Seven taking lessons from…

Nike Inc.’s entanglement with the biggest scandal in the soccer world began with a headlong plunge into unfamiliar territory two decades ago. Fresh off the U.S.-hosted World Cup and desperate for a real foothold in the world’s most popular sport, Nike’s top officials aggressively pursued an endorsement with Brazil’s soccer federation. The effort culminated in a $200 million 10-year deal in 1996 that was staggering in size and put…

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ENLARGE On a cool July night in Frankfurt four years ago, Carli Lloyd stood over a penalty kick that would go a long way toward deciding the 2011 World Cup final. She told herself to kick the ball as hard as she possibly could, inside the left post—her go-to penalty kick. Then she remembered she had kicked the ball in that spot in the quarterfinal shootout against Brazil. So at…