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Bell and Larson win Lucas Oil round of Short Track ChallengeThe second round of this week's virtual Short Track Challenge took place at Lucas Oil Raceway. William Byron locked himself into the ten-driver field for the championship race at Martinsville Speedway with a sweep of both races Monday at Rockingham. On Tuesday, six new drivers now got their chance to join him and Kyle Busch in the title-decider. Read Also: Byron sweeps Rockingham round of Short Track Challenge Race 1 Lucas Oil Raceway hosted the second round with twin 40-lap races and just like Rockingham, a field invert was to take place after the first event. Kyle Larson led from pole in Race 1 and went mostly unchallenged. Behind him, Justin Allgaier and Christopher Bell spun on the opening lap after coming together on the backstretch. Denny Hamlin later went for a half-spin in pursuit of Harrison Burton for third-place. Larson would ultimately take the win ahead of Chase Briscoe and Burton, locking himself into t..

NFL planning to run a full 32-team mock draft in advance of remote 2020 NFL Draft, per reportPractice makes perfect! With a little more than two weeks until the 2020 NFL Draft, the league is still adapting on the fly to ensure this year's selection process is completely remote because of restrictions stemming from the coronavirus pandemic. As noted by the Seattle Times' Bob Condotta, NFL Network is reporting that process includes plans for a full 32-team mock draft in advance of the actual event. The simulation would serve as a "dry run," per Condotta, with the intent to show all teams "how to do the draft remotely." The NFL originally intended for all 32 teams to have representatives at team facilities during the April 23-25 showcase, but commissioner Roger Goodell informed the league this week that the draft would be held in a "fully virtual" format, with all team personnel working remotely from their homes rather than at facilities -- many of which are still all but lock..

College basketball awards: Obi Toppin, Luka Garza, Saddiq Bey, Myles Powell, Payton Pritchard earn honorsThe accolades continue pouring in for Dayton's Obi Toppin Obi Toppin's raid of this season's college basketball awards continued Tuesday when the Dayton forward won the John R. Wooden Award, which goes to the nation's best player. He was also among elite company as the Basketball Hall of Fame handed out its top honors to players at each position. Oregon's Payton Pritchard won the The Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year after leading the Ducks to a 24-7 record and Pac-12 title while averaging 20.5 points and 5.5 assists. Seton Hall's Myles Powell won the Jerry West Shooting Guard of the Year for after averaging 21 points as the Pirates won a share of the Big East title. Villanova's Saddiq Bey won the Julius Erving Small Forward of the Year for emerging as a star for the Wildcats during his sophomore season. Iowa's Luka Garza won the Kareem Abd..

Coronavirus: Colorado Avalanche confirm third player tests positive for COVID-19 A third player for the Colorado Avalanche has tested positive for coronavirus, the team announced on Tuesday. The anonymous player is currently in self-isolation, according to a statement released through the NHL's public relations Twitter account. Statement from the @NHL regarding @Avalanche player. pic.twitter.com/gQO2WOXzEK — NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) April 7, 2020 The last player on the team to test positive for COVID-19 was announced on March 28. At the time the announcement was made, the team said that the unnamed player was doing just fine. He was reportedly in self-isolation since his symptoms first manifested. Since then, however, he has appeared to have recovered from what originally was ailing him and is back to normal health, according to the team. "The Avalanche have notified anyone who has had known close contact with the athlete," the team said in a statement. "The health and ..

Angels' Shohei Ohtani will 'soon' start throwing from mound with Tommy John rehab nearly completeOhtani is progressing from playing long toss to being back on the bump Before the Major League Baseball season was halted by the spread of the novel coronavirus, one of the calendar's most anticipated events was Shohei Ohtani's return to the mound. Ohtani, the Los Angeles Angels' brilliant two-way star, hasn't pitched in a regular season game since 2018 after tearing his ulnar collateral ligament and undergoing Tommy John surgery. While Ohtani won't be starting a regular season game anytime soon -- same as everyone else in baseball, as it turns out -- he will be checking off an important achievement. Ohtani, who is already throwing long toss, will "soon" transition from flat ground to the bump, according to what Angels pitching coach Mickey Callaway told Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register. Had the season started as planned, Ohtani would ha..

Ronaldinho granted house arrest after spending one month in jail in Paraguay After spending a month in a Paraguayan jail, former Brazilian superstar Ronaldinho has been released and ordered to remain on house arrest in the country's capital, Asuncion. The ex-Barcelona man was arrested in early March for attempting to enter Paraguay with an altered passport. Ronaldinho's lawyer got a judge to complete his request to review his client's case on the fourth attempt to do so. There was also a $1.6 million bail payment that needed to get made. The 40-year-old World Cup winner and his brother, Roberto Assis--who also serves as his business manager--entered Paraguay on March 4 with fake passports. It's worth noting that Brazilian residents do not even need passports to enter that country. The two were sent to jail after a judge ruled they both posed a flight risk. Since the probe into the ex-Paris Saint-Germain player's act began, it has been expanded into an investi..

Five logistical hurdles MLB would need to clear before using Arizona plan to end coronavirus shutdownMLB's plan is more complicated than it might appear This week, it was reported that Major League Baseball and the Players Association have discussed starting the 2020 season entirely in Arizona as the league tries to reopen after its coronavirus shutdown. In that scenario, all essential personnel would be "sequestered at local hotels," where they would essentially live in isolation. Some of the other proposed measures prioritize social distancing -- such as using robot umpires and having players sit apart in the stands, rather than together in a dugout, per ESPN's Jeff Passan. It's clear that MLB is trying its best to have a 2020 season. It's even more clear, however, that the all-Arizona proposal is a work-in-progress. To prove as much, we wanted to shine the light on five major logistical issues that the league needs to figure out if this is to become a reality. ..

NFL Power Rankings: Chiefs remain in top spot, Buccaneers make big jump after signing Tom BradyThe Chiefs and Ravens earned the top two spots in Pete Prisco's pre-draft power rankings With free agency over and the NFL Draft around the corner, it's time for another batch of Power Rankings, the first rankings that will take into account the movement of free agency. Oddly enough, the team at the top of the rankings did little in free agency. The Kansas City Chiefs, the defending Super Bowl Champions, didn't add one player of note from another team. They did suffer some losses, such as corner-safety Kendall Fuller, but they remain the league's best team. The reason is Patrick Mahomes. He is the NFL's best quarterback and he will have back 10 of the 11 offensive starters from the Super Bowl victory over the San Francisco 49ers, with the only loss being left guard Stefan Wisniewski, who was a fill-in anyway. The Chiefs do need help at corner on defense, but they ca..