Each of the last four winners of NASCAR’s playoffs has won at Homestead-Miami Speedway while three of the last four have started inside the top five. Only Jimmie Johnson in 2016 started outside it (14th). None have started on the pole. Martin Truex Jr., the 2017 champion, will start third. “We were a little too free on that final run,” he told reporters. “I tried to gain a little bit more but I just couldn’t quite finish getting the throttle down and I think I lost a little bit there....

The No. 78 team expected NASCAR to announce a P2 penalty Wednesday for the car failing a Laser Inspection Station (LIS) test, but the governing body decided against point deductions for Truex and Jimmie Johnson’s team, which also failed an inspection to the No. 48 car. MORE: Chicagoland Winners & Losers Instead, NASCAR will eliminate the P2 and P3 penalties it introduced a week ago, citing fair play. “This was the most fair decision we could get to,” Steve O’Donnell, NASCAR’s chief racing development officer, said, via NASCAR Media on Wednesday....

The 24-year-old was named in a 26-man squad released on Tuesday to face Egypt in the final World Cup qualifying game on November 12 at the Cape Coast Sports Stadium, as Ghana hope to build a formidable team for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations. The former Ghana U17 captain has been in a scintillating form in the Swedish Allsvenskan, netting eight goals in 24 appearances this season, with his side sitting fifth on the log with 49 points....

Robinson is expected to play Saturday against the Warriors. MORE: Buss promises changes for Lakers | LeBron after loss: ‘I suck’ | Z-Bo pays respect to WWII vet The nine-year veteran started the season with the Nuggets, but only averaged 5.8 points per game while shooting just over 34% from the field. He was then traded to the Celtics in January, but negotiated a buyout so he could sign with a playoff contender....

Health officials shared the update during a virtual press conference on Wednesday, after Colorado Governor Jared Polis confirmed the mutated infection was found in one of the state’s residents. Dr. Rachel Herlihy, the leading epidemiologist at Colorado’s Department of Public Health and Environment, said the national guardsman was deployed to a nursing home near Denver on December 23. The facility was confronting an outbreak of COVID-19 cases at the time....

Politico first reported on Thursday that guardsmen previously seen resting within the Capitol building had been asked to leave the complex. Photos showed some resting on the floor of a parking garage. Thousands of National Guardsmen had been deployed to Washington, D.C. to help provide extra security for the inauguration of President Joe Biden, following the violence of January 6. Several lawmakers questioned their rest situation after the parking garage photos emerged, branding it unacceptable....

National Hot Chocolate Day 2020 Dylan’s Candy BarWendy’sGodivaBiggby CoffeeMrs. Fields Dylan’s Candy Bar Dylan’s Candy Bar is offering a buy one get one free deal on all hot chocolate, all day on Friday at the following locations: New York: New York Flagship, Union Square, NYC Turnstyle At Columbus Circle, The Shops at Hudson YardsChicago: 663 N. Michigan Avenue, Chicago, Illinois 60611Miami: 801 Lincoln Rd, Miami Beach, FL 33139Los Angeles: 6333 West Third Street, Los Angeles, CA 90036...

In the U.S., the pizza industry is worth nearly $46 billion as of September 2018, with the top pizza chains dominating the industry with nearly a 60 percent slice of the market, or $26 billion. Independent and small chains are becoming increasingly popular too - and are worth nearly $19 billion as of last year. Coming just two days after National Cheeseburger Day, National Pepperoni Pizza Day is celebrated on September 20....

Who invented Pumpkin Pie? Did you know that the word “pumpkin” originated from the Greek word for “large melon?” According to What’s Cooking America, the word—pepon—was changed by the French into “pompon” and the English pronounced it as “pumpion” or “pompion.” There are many theories about how pumpkin pie was invented or how it started to become a tradition. What’s Cooking America writes that the Native Americans of New England would take pumpkins to the new English settlers as gifts, which eventually led to pumpkin becoming a traditional ingredient in Thanksgiving....

This latest period of turmoil began late Friday night, when the NRA—through its outside counsel Brewer, Attorneys & Counselors—filed an amended complaint in the group’s ongoing lawsuit against Ackerman in federal court in Dallas. The new filing sought $40 million in damages for what the NRA portrayed as a campaign to conceal the alleged failure of its flagship streaming channel, NRATV. The NRA accused Ackerman of repeatedly misleading it about NRATV’s allegedly dismal metrics....

Kingdom Hearts 3 Sora, Donald and King Mickey return to the world of polygonal keyblade duels after over a decade in spinoff limbo. Its gorgeous graphics, combo-based gameplay and Disney-fuelled nostalgia help make the game stand out amongst the crowd of similar button mashers. There are plenty of gamers who didn’t connect with the KH franchise due to its convoluted story, but that hasn’t kept us away. It just caused us to study every version and timeline of Xehanort....

Yankees pitcher Adam Warren’s pitch to Harper appeared to be low, but home plate umpire Marvin Hudson called it a strike. Harper, who had 10 home runs in the previous 12 games , stepped out of the batter’s box shaking his head. Hudson told him to step back into the box, and Harper obliged. Your browser does not support iframes. MORE: Epic arguments | A-Rod loves everything about Harper | Grading every team’s draft over past 10 years...

As they have for most of the season, the Nationals were on the wrong end of those defining moments in a 6-0 loss to the Brewers on Tuesday. Now 14-21 and competing in the tough NL East, they’re in danger of falling out of playoff contention early in the campaign. Washington’s personnel moves, media sniping and in-game meltdowns reflect its mounting frustration, which reached a new level in the defeat at Milwaukee....

“Any deliberate attack against Allies’ critical infrastructure would be met with a united and determined response,” NATO ambassadors said in a statement. They said that the damage to the pipelines between Russia and Germany “is of deep concern.” The alliance also said that “all currently available information indicates that this is the result of deliberate, reckless, and irresponsible acts of sabotage. These leaks are causing risks to shipping and substantial environmental damage....

The incident was first revealed by the state-run Tass Russian News Agency, which reported that a Russian Sukhoi Su-27 had chased off a NATO F-18 as it attempted to near a plane over the Baltic Sea carrying Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu back to Moscow from Kaliningrad. Footage released shortly after by the Russian Defense Ministry showed veering extreme left to force what appeared to be a Spanish F/A-18 Hornet away from an unidentified aircraft in the foreground, but NATO said the following day that Moscow was at fault....

Speaking to Newsweek this month while campaigning in northwestern Hungary, Marki-Zay said a win for the opposition would send a message to autocratic leaders in Russia and China that Budapest will not serve as their door into the heart of Europe. “We are of course standing with our European and North Atlantic allies, the European Union and NATO,” Marki-Zay told Newsweek days before Russian troops streamed into Ukraine’s occupied eastern Donbas region....

Washington Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper had a scary incident in Monday's game against the Mets in the second inning after getting kicked in the head by New York second baseman Eric Young Jr. Having drawn a leadoff walk, Harper went in hard at second base to break up a double play on Ian Desmond's grounder to third base. In that regard, Harper was successful, as Desmond beat Young's relay throw, but Harper stayed down for nearly a minute and went back to the dugout slowly with a trainer....

U.S. Navy Captain Brett E. Crozier, who was removed from command of the U.S.S. Theodore Roosevelt this past week, tested positive for coronavirus, according to two Naval Academy classmates who are close with Crozier and his family. The Times report comes just one day after Trump said it was “terrible” that a letter Crozier wrote to military leadership desperately seeking coronavirus help was leaked to the news media. The president said he had no influence on the Navy’s decision to remove Crozier, whose four-page letter detailed a worsening coronavirus outbreak among sailors aboard the U....

The spread of COVID-19, also known as coronavirus, will delay the promotion of at least 160,000 sailors, according to a Navy Times report and an unclassified document sent Thursday throughout the Navy. “To protect the health and safety of our force and to support geographical diversity of our selection board members, all promotion, advancement, milestone and other selection boards scheduled to convene on or after 24 March 2020 at Navy Personnel Command (NPC) are postponed until further notice,” Vice Adm....

In the second quarter of the Midshipme’s game against Fordham, Smith went down with an injury to his leg. So what was Navy to do? They went into the stands to grab freshman quarterback Malcolm Perry, dressed in his whites, to replace Smith in the second half. MORE: Scoreboard | Top 25 updates | Top performers Navy leads Fordham 35-10 at the half. Smith completed his lone pass for 45 yards and ran 10 times for 97 yards and two touchdowns before leaving the game on crutches....