In a hectic Wise Power 400 in Fontana that featured the waving of 12 caution flags, Kyle Larson, who won 10 races last season en route to a NASCAR Cup Series championship, took advantage of some crashes to find himself amidst the leaders late in the third stage. A late caution on a spin-out from his teammate, Chase Elliott, who had been hit by Larson with under 20 laps to go, led to a close finish over the final four laps....

The second came Sunday night in the South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Hamlin punched his ticket to the Round of 8 with the victory. After regular-season champion Kyle Larson won the first stage, Hamlin took control in the second stage and led for most of it. The only point where Hamlin fell behind in the third stage was on a green-flag pit stop when Tyler Reddick, Brad Keselowski and Austin Dillon stayed out....

Larson hung around the top 10 all day, then jumped to a surprise overtime victory in the Pure Michigan 400 at Michigan International Speedway. Larson nailed a restart with two laps remaining. He jumped from fourth to first and spoiled what looked like a sure win for last week’s Monster Energy Series race winner, Martin Truex Jr. NASCAR CUP SERIES: Schedule | Standings “I was running a few options through my head if I got a good jump, and that was one of them,” Larson told NBC Sports after the race....

Not only did he lay down the fastest lap at 176.377 mph, he also put together the fastest 10-consecutive lap average as the 80-minute session was winding down. MORE: 10 to watch at Pocono | Weather forecast isn’t promising His Toyota, which uses Joe Gibbs Racing equipment, is going to be hard to catch once the race starts just because of being fast both on short and long runs. It’s almost impossible to pass at Pocono, so we could possibly see him run away and hide for the 160 laps almost like he did at Charlotte in May when he started from the pole and led a NASCAR-record 392 of the 400 laps for his only win of the season....

Jamie McMurray, Jeff Gordon, Ryan Newman and Paul Menard control their Chase destiny regardless of who wins, while 15 drivers either need to win or get help in the form of poor finishes from winless drivers ahead of them. MORE: Jeff Gordon’s final season in NASCAR, in photos | NASCAR ignores pleas for new rules package in Chase Click here for the full Chase scenarios. For those 11 drivers who have clinched a Chase spot, there’s still plenty on the line — in the form of three Chase bonus points for a victory....

Though he managed to drive back up through the field, the race seemed to be locked up for his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate and last year’s race winner, Kyle Busch, who wound up leading 202 of the race’s 400 laps. With 24 laps remaining, however, Truex passed Busch and then pulled away. By the end of the race, he was celebrating a 2.630-second victory over Busch and another first-place finish at Richmond Raceway....

The No. 18 car is searching for more success at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif., after dominating last year’s race. Busch led 134 laps in 2019, capturing the fourth Auto Club checkered flag of his career. MORE: NASCAR schedule for all Cup Series races He will have plenty of competition on Sunday, though, as the last five races at the track have been won by five different drivers. A strong performance at qualifying on Saturday could make all the difference....

On-track qualifying is a rarity this season as NASCAR tries to limit the amount of time teams spend at the track amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Only eight races total are scheduled to have practice and qualifying in 2021; Road America was race No. 6, joining Daytona (for the Daytona 500), Bristol’s dirt track, Circuit of the Americas, Charlotte (for the Coca-Cola 600) and Nashville. The remaining sessions will be for a new track on the schedule (Indianapolis’ road course) and the season-ending Championship 4 race at Phoenix....

Kyle Busch held off his brother Kurt in the final 10 laps to continue his hot start to the season with victory in the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway. The win is Busch’s third of the year as he becomes the first driver in 27 years to finish in the top 10 of eight straight races. In a day filled with 11 cautions Kyle Busch’s day could not have gotten off to a worse start....

Burkey, 43, played receiver at Wingate (N.C.) University before coaching at Tennessee Tech and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Then, in 2005, he joined Nick Saban’s staff with the Miami Dolphins. Three years later, he left football and joined Hendrick to lead scouting and recruiting of pit-crew members. Now Burkey fills his teams with former athletes that he digs up in cross-country scouting trips. He pruned the 2012 NFL All-Pro team for us to build his team of gridiron greats to go over the wall....

Gilliland’s top speed during a hectic, cat-and-mouse qualifying session was 199.322 mph. The top 24 drivers Friday in the first knockout stage were supposed to advance to the next round, but rain prompted NASCAR to cancel the final two sessions. Reed Sorenson qualified second, followed by Landon Cassill, Bobby Labonte and Jimmie Johnson. It was the first time NASCAR’s new qualifying rules were used at Daytona, and it produced some hairy moments as groups of cars slowed to a crawl around the 2 1/2-mile superspeedway....

“In pro sports, I think the hardest thing is to stay up (on top) because once you have a great year everybody else is pointing or looking at you,” Gibbs said Tuesday during the Charlotte Motor Speedway Media Tour. MORE: Bold predictions for 2016 | Wife puts foot down: Less plate racing for Kyle “The other thing,” Gibbs said, “is you have a tendency to sit back and feel pretty good about yourself, and we know, in pro sports, that’s a disaster....

With a lack of other sporting options and a desire from NASCAR fans to keep up with their favorite personalities, the first contest was a ratings success. It attracted 903,000 viewers and was the highest-rated esports TV program ever, according to a press release from Fox. Denny Hamlin, who is one of the most experienced users of the simulator, won in a tight finish. Because of how the first go-around went, drivers seem pumped up for Sunday’s race at the virtual Texas Motor Speedway....

The Can-Am Duel at Daytona races, which determine the order of the Daytona 500 qualifying field, face a threat of rain Thursday. Practice has already been canceled Thursday. Here’s a look at the Daytona weather forecast for Thursday’s races. Duel at Daytona weather updates The two-race event is scheduled to start at 7 p.m. ET, but AccuWeather reports a 34 percent chance at start time. Thunderstorms are expected around 5 p....

The area around Martinsville Speedway in Martinsville, Va., has been experiencing rain, sleet and snow before the start of the race, bringing into question whether the race will start on time. MORE: NASCAR at Martinsville live race updates The current start time for the race is 7:58 p.m. ET. Will it be delayed? The Sporting News is tracking weather updates ahead of the Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 400. NASCAR at Martinsville weather updates (All times Eastern)...

Types of Nasopharyngeal Cancer There are three types of nasopharyngeal cancer: non-keratinizing undifferentiated carcinoma, non-keratinizing differentiated carcinoma, and keratinizing squamous cell carcinoma. Non-keratinizing undifferentiated carcinoma is the most commonly diagnosed of the three types. The treatment is the same for all three types of nasopharyngeal cancer, with keratinizing squamous cell carcinoma being the most difficult type to treat. Nasopharyngeal Cancer Symptoms The severity of symptoms experienced with nasopharyngeal cancer will vary between individuals and usually correlates with the size and number of tumors present as well as if the cancer has spread to other locations in the body....

Nasri’s bizarre NSFW tweets The fallout from the bizarre Twitter rant from the Sevilla midfielder - on loan from Manchester City - continues, in which he is claimed to have been hacked by someone obsessed with sexual activity allegations. Nasri visited Drip Doctors, an intravenous vitamin therapy and lifestyle medical spa based in Los Angeles, which alerted WADA to the potential use of prohibited IV treatments. “A violation of Article 2....

But he already might be the best analyst. Burleson, formerly a co-host of NFL Network’s “Good Morning Football,” is the final new cast member in the latest shake-up for the show. CBS Sports also moved Phill Simms from its top NFL play-by-play team after it hired retired quarterback Tony Romo to be the new color commentator alongside Jim Nantz. MORE: Will Romo fumble on CBS? Tony Gonzalez, who spent three seasons on the “The NFL Today” after he replaced Dan Marino and Shannon Sharpe, isn’t returning for 2017....