Auto Racing
NASCAR expands Chase format to other series’
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – NASCAR will expand its Chase format to include its feeder series.
NASCAR Chairman and CEO Brian France announced Tuesday that the Xfinity Series and the Camping World Truck Series will begin using a Chase format in 2016, mostly mirroring the playoff-style setup used to determine the Sprint Cup champion the last two years.
The lower-tier series will feature a seven-race Chase to decide its champion. The Cup series uses a 10-race format.
All three series will crown a champ at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Cycling
Livestrong CEO resigns after less than 1 year
AUSTIN, Texas – The chief executive of the Livestrong cancer foundation resigned after less than one year on the job to focus on her family.
Chandini Portteus was brought in to help bolster the foundation as it struggles to recover from declines in revenues and donations after founder Lance Armstrong’s performance-enhancing drug use scandal.
According to publicly released financial records, Livestrong had a 29 percent drop in revenue in 2014, the second consecutive year of sharp declines, before Portteus arrived.
Fantasy Sports
Another big state declares daily games illegal
AUSTIN, Texas – Texas is the latest state to consider daily fantasy sports sites such as DraftKings and FanDuel an illegal form of gambling.
Attorney General Ken Paxton wrote Tuesday in a nonbinding legal opinion that the popular online games run afoul of existing Texas law. The ruling is another blow to daily fantasy sports operators, though it doesn’t force the multi-billion dollar industry to leave Texas.
Horse Racing
Triple Crown winner voted the world’s top horse
LONDON – Triple Crown-winning Horse of the Year American Pharoah was chosen the World’s Best Racehorse by the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities.
The award presented Tuesday is the latest for the champion colt who swept the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes before capping his career with a victory in the Breeders’ Cup Classic.
Golden Horn finished second. The England-based colt won the Epsom Derby, the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe and finished second to Found in the Breeders’ Cup Turf.
MLB
One Hall of Fame will welcome Reds’ Rose
CINCINNATI – The Cincinnati Reds will induct Pete Rose into the team’s hall of fame.
The Reds’ announcement Tuesday comes barely a month after MLB commissioner Rob Manfred rejected Rose’s application for reinstatement. Manfred concluded that baseball’s career hits leader continued to gamble even while seeking to end the lifetime ban imposed in 1989 for betting on games.
Reds’ chief executive Bob Castellini said in a statement that inducting the 74-year-old Cincinnati native into the Reds’ hall will be “a defining moment” in franchise history.
Skiing
French skier leads a World Cup downhill training
KITZBUEHEL, Austria – Adrien Theaux led the first training for a men’s World Cup downhill on the Streif.
Theaux timed 1 minute, 57.68 seconds on the 3.3-kilometer course, leading 2014 winner Hannes Reichelt of Austria by 0.21. Overall World Cup leader Aksel Lund Svindal of Norway and Maxence Muzaton of France both trailed by 0.29 in third.
Associated Press
