AUTO RACING
The NASCAR Cup Series playoff race at Texas was pushed back yet another day without drivers completing any more laps Monday.
Eight hours after the race was scheduled to resume on a misty day with temperatures in the low 40s Fahrenheit, NASCAR postponed it and decided to try again Tuesday.
Similar weather conditions were in the forecast for Tuesday and into Wednesday.
Only 52 of the 334 laps were completed Sunday before mist and drizzle forced the race to stop. There was a delay of more than four hours before the race was postponed a day.
Except the only laps completed Monday on the 1 1/2-mile track were by the Air Titan and jet dryer trucks. The race cars remained parked in the garage, never rolling to pit road.
Two drivers retiring from full-time NASCAR competition after this season, Clint Bowyer and seven-time Cup champion Jimmie Johnson, were running 1-2 when the race was halted Sunday.
The cars kept running for eight laps after the weather caution first came out, with jet dryers circling the track at the same time. The cars sat uncovered on pit road for about half an hour before the tarps came out and the drivers and crews headed for cover.
Erik Jones was running third, ahead of Joey Logano, the only driver locked into a spot in the final four after winning a week earlier at Kansas.
Martin Truex Jr. was in fifth place, having already recovered from being forced to start at the back of the field because of an illegal spoiler. He was just ahead of fellow playoff contender Chase Elliott.
Kevin Harvick, who has won the last three fall races in Texas and is a nine-time winner this season, brushed the wall while leading on Lap 29. With damage to his car’s right side, he was 36th and one lap down when the race stopped.
• Hendrick Motorsports plucked crew chief Rudy Fugle away from Kyle Busch Motorsports to lead William Byron next season in the Cup Series.
Fugle has worked at KBM since 2013 and led the Truck Series program to two driver championships and five owner titles. His trucks have won 28 races.
Fugle will bypass the second-tier Xfinity Series and jump straight to the big leagues with Hendrick Motorsports. The 36-year-old will replace Chad Knaus, the seven-time champion crew chief who is moving into an executive competition role.
FOOTBALL
COLLEGES: W.C. Gorden, a Hall of Fame coach who led Jackson State to a 28-game Southwestern Athletic Conference winning streak while building a league power in the late 1980s, has died. He was 90.
The school announced Gorden died Friday night after being informed by his family.
• No. 10 Florida resumed meetings and practices for the first time in two weeks, getting back to work after a COVID-19 outbreak caused the Southeastern Conference to postpone two of the team’s games.
The Gators (2-1) are scheduled to host Missouri (2-2) on Saturday, ending a 21-day layoff and beginning the first of seven consecutive games for Coach Dan Mullen and his team.
Mullen was one of more than 30 players and coaches who tested positive for the coronavirus following a trip to Texas A&M earlier this month. Everyone else on the plane – about 75 people in all – was quarantined because of potential exposure and contact tracing protocols.
• Missouri wide receiver Maurice Massey has been dismissed from the team after being arrested, school officials said.
Massey, 20, was arrested Sunday on suspicion of third-degree domestic assault, fourth-degree assault and first-degree property damage, according to the Boone County Sheriff Department. He was released after bonding out of jail.
Massey had not played for the Tigers this year after he opted out of the season because of the coronavirus outbreak.
SOCCER
PREMIER LEAGUE: Karlan Grant scored his first goal for new club West Bromwich Albion to secure a 1-1 draw at Brighton, England.
Brighton took the lead five minutes before halftime when an attempted clearance from Branislav Ivanovic rebounded off Jake Livermore and into the back of the net.
• Son Heung-min combined with Harry Kane to give Tottenham a 1-0 victory over host Burnley.
U.S. HALL OF FAME: Andres Cantor, famous for his screams of “Goooooaaal!” during soccer broadcasts, has won the Colin Jose Media Award given annually by the U.S. National Soccer Hall of Fame.
Cantor will receive the award at next year’s induction ceremony that will include former U.S. captain Carlos Bocanegra, who was elected this year, and anyone elected in 2021.
BASEBALL
MAJORS: The Texas Rangers plan to utilize Doug Mathis and Brendan Sagara as co-pitching coaches in 2021, with Mathis directing from the dugout and Sagara working out of the bullpen.
The pair replaces Julio Rangel, whose contract wasn’t renewed after two seasons on the job. Rangers pitchers combined for a 5.07 ERA over the past two years, ranking 26th in the majors despite the success of veterans Lance Lynn and Mike Minor.
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