Brad Keselowski extended Jimmie Johnson's losing streak to 102 races, holding off the seven-time NASCAR champion in overtime Sunday at the Coca-Cola 600.
Keselowski started in the back of the field, worked his way to the front at Charlotte Motor Speedway and gambled in not pitting when caution stopped Chase Elliott from winning with two laps remaining. Elliott pitted and Keselowski led a train of eight cars that stayed on the track. He lined up in front of Alex Bowman on the inside line with Johnson on the bottom ahead of Keselowski teammate Ryan Blaney. Keselowski got the push to get into clean air and denied Johnson a victory.
GOLF
Tiger Woods and Peyton Manning were the winners at Medalist Golf Club in Florida, as were the benefactors of "The Match: Champions for Charity." Woods and Manning took the lead on the third hole and never trailed, once building a 3-up lead in fourballs on the front nine. Manning making two birdies before the turn, although one was a net par. Woods lagged a long birdie putt on 18 that was close enough that Manning didn't have to putt. That secured a 1-up victory over Phil Mickelson and Tom Brady.
Brady took plenty of teasing from TV analysts Charles Barkley and Justin Thomas. Brooks Koepka offered $100,000 to the cause if Brady could just make a par. Brady quieted his critics on the par-5 seventh as his fourth shot landed beyond the pin and spun back into the cup. The goal was to raise $10 million or more for COVID-19 relief funds, and online donations sent money climbing toward about twice that much.
CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo says teams in his state can return to their facilities for training after a pause of more than two months. The New York City area had been the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic in the U.S., but deaths and new infections in the state have been trending downward. Cuomo made the announcement Sunday.
"I believe that sports that can come back without having people in the stadium, without having people in the arena — do it," said Cuomo. "Do it. Work out the economics if you can, we want you up. We want people to be able to watch sports."
Major League Baseball, the NBA and the NHL are discussing the resumption of their seasons with their players' unions.
In other virus-related sports news:
WNBA teams are making hard decisions this weekend as far as their rosters go. The teams have to get under the salary cap by Tuesday so that they can start paying players on June 1. It’s left many teams with tough decisions on who they will cut and little time to figure it out. Teams typically would be able to evaluate players by their on-the-court actions. Now it’s more based on how quickly they pick things up on Zoom conference calls or how well they understand plays online.
The president of the Spanish soccer league says its schedule could restart as early as June 11 with the Seville derby between Sevilla and Real Betis. The announcement comes a day after Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said that the league would be allowed to resume from June 8 provided the country continued to keep the coronavirus outbreak in check.
A Bournemouth soccer club player is one of two positive tests for COVID-19 to emerge from the Premier League's second round of testing. The club says "medical confidentiality means the player's name will not be disclosed." The team says the player will self-isolate for seven days before being tested again at a later date. The league tested 996 players and club staff on Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday.
English soccer's Hull has announced it is the League Championship club with two personnel who have tested positive for COVID-19. A total of 1,014 players and staff from all 24 clubs in England's second tier were tested for the coronavirus over the last 72 hours. The results reflect an almost identical ratio of positive results to that found in the Premier League's second wave of testing. It had been announced that the two individuals were from the same club, without naming Hull.
The coach of one of Florida's top high school football programs has been suspended, and an investigation has been launched into whether the team that has won state championships in each of the past three seasons broke policies by practicing during the pandemic. Miami Northwestern High coach Max Edwards has been suspended, pending the result of the investigation, according to a school district official who spoke to The Miami Herald. The district says football practice at this time would be an "unauthorized athletic activity" and parents of players who may have taken part were being interviewed by school officials as part of the investigation.
Youth sports organizations across the United States have come together to form the PLAY Sports Coalition to push for federal help with the coronavirus crisis. The leaders of the coalition are trumpeting the importance of youth sports and sounding the alarm about the future of their organizations. The fate of providers in low-income communities is of particular concern. Nearly 60% of local sports leaders expect to lose at least 50% of their revenue over the next year, according to an Aspen Institute for Sports poll.
Formula One driver George Russell has won the virtual Monaco Grand Prix on the day the iconic race would have been held if not for the pandemic. Russell finished 39 seconds ahead of former F1 driver Esteban Gutiérrez of Mexico. Formula One's first 10 races have been either postponed or canceled.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Hall of Fame basketball coach Eddie Sutton has died of natural causes at 84. That word from Sutton's family. Sutton led Kentucky, Arkansas and Oklahoma State to the Final Four and was the first coach to take four schools to the NCAA tournament. He was 806-328 in 37 seasons as a Division I head coach, not counting vacated victories or forfeited games. Sutton won two SEC titles with Kentucky but had to resign in 1989 after the NCAA announced 18 allegations against the program. Elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on April 3, Sutton fell short as a finalist six times before finally being selected. He had said he believed that the scandal that ended his stint at Kentucky was likely the culprit for his lengthy wait. He was Associated Press Coach of the Year in 1978 at Arkansas and in 1986 at Kentucky.
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