Auto Racing
NASCAR champion Stewart will retire after 2016 season
KANNAPOLIS, N.C. – Tony Stewart said he will retire following the 2016 season.
The three-time NASCAR champion announced his decision Wednesday at the team shop in North Carolina, saying “next year will be my last year in the Sprint Cup Series.” He said it was “100 percent” his choice.
His planned departure is not a surprise. Stewart will be 45 next season, hasn’t won a race in over two years and has been privately working on finding a successor for the No. 14 Chevrolet all year.
The last three years have been trying for Stewart. He struck and killed a sprint car driver during a 2014 event in New York. He also missed the final third of the 2013 season with a broken leg suffered in a sprint car crash. A federal judge ruled that a lawsuit against Stewart over the death of a driver he ran over during a race will remain in central New York.
The judge rejected a request from Stewart’s lawyers to have the case transferred from Utica to Rochester.
The family of Kevin Ward Jr. is suing Stewart over the August 2014 crash at Canandaigua Motorsports Park that killed the 20-year-old dirt track racer.
MLB
Cardinals clinch a 3rd consecutive division title
PITTSBURGH – The St. Louis Cardinals are back in a familiar spot: on top of the NL Central looking down at everyone else.
Jason Heyward’s third-inning grand slam powered the Cardinals over the Pittsburgh Pirates 11-1 in the second game of a doubleheader on Wednesday night, giving St. Louis its third consecutive division title and 11th since 1994.
This one may be among the most impressive. The Cardinals and assured themselves of the best record in the majors this season despite losing several stars to injury for long stretches.
The win came one day after the Los Angeles Dodgers clinched the NL West, and the New York Mets already have wrapped up the NL East. The Chicago Cubs and Pittsburgh Pirates will face off in the wild-card game.
NBA
Nuggets sign an aging veteran for one season
DENVER – The Denver Nuggets signed veteran forward Mike Miller to a one-year deal Wednesday.
Miller played last season for the Cleveland Cavaliers, where he saw action in 52 games and averaged 13.5 minutes. The 15-year veteran has also played for Memphis, Miami, Washington, Minnesota and Orlando.
Drafted fifth overall by the Magic in 2000, he has averaged 11.3 points a game over his career. He is a good 3-point shooter, hitting 41 percent from behind the arc.
In addition to Miller, Denver signed Matt Janning, Oleksiy Pecherov and Devin Sweetney to bring its training camp roster to 19 players. The Nuggets are practicing at the United States Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs this week.
They will play their first preseason game Friday in Los Angeles against the Clippers.
No timetable for Rose return after surgery
CHICAGO – Chicago Bulls star Derrick Rose had surgery to repair his left eye socket Wednesday, a day after being elbowed in the face.
head coach Fred Hoiberg said the operation to repair a left orbital fracture “went as expected.” He would not put a timetable on Rose’s return or rule him out for the opener Oct. 27 against Cleveland.
Hoiberg said the 2011 NBA MVP was elbowed in the face by one of the team’s big men after making a “great baseline drive” and passing to the corner.
Associated Press
