Auto Racing
Chase for the Championship now is winner-take-all
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Say goodbye to the NASCAR era when a driver, fresh off a satisfying, top-10 finish, climbs from the car and raves about what a good points day it was.
Winning is all that matters under the latest and most radical change to the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship.
NASCAR’s overhauled championship format announced Thursday is a 16-driver, winner-take-all elimination system designed to reward “the most worthy, battle-tested” driver at the end of the season.
The field, expanded from 12 to 16 drivers, will be whittled down to a final four through eliminations after every three races of the 10-race Chase. The remaining four drivers will go into the season finale with an equal chance to win the championship: The first of the four to cross the finish line will be crowned Sprint Cup champion.
F1 rule changes drawn up to widen the competition gap
JEREZ, Spain – Formula One decided to overhaul its rulebook after the 2013 season turned into Sebastian Vettel parading his Red Bull to his fourth consecutive title by winning the last nine races.
However, team bosses and chief engineers told The Associated Press the move to more expensive turbo engines, along with a plethora of other changes, will only reinforce the dominance of the front-runners better equipped to absorb the increased costs and still spend on other areas of their vehicles.
Besides switching to a 1.6-litre V6 turbo engine from last year’s 2.4-litre V8 engine, the rule changes focus on boosting cars’ energy recovery systems, and alter their body, fuel limit and weight.
F1 also decided to award double points to the season’s last race to keep the title race alive and fans and TV audiences interested.
Doctors slowly are bringing Schumacher out of a coma
Michael Schumacher’s doctors began the process of bringing the former Formula One champion out of the coma he has been in since a skiing accident a month ago, his manager said Thursday.
The 45-year-old Schumacher suffered serious head injuries when he fell and hit the right side of his helmet on a rock in the French resort of Meribel on Dec. 29. The seven-time F1 champion has been in an induced coma in Grenoble University Hospital since then, although his condition stabilized after surgery after initially being described as critical.
NBA
Blazers and Rockets each get two All-Star reserves
NEW YORK – The Portland Trail Blazers and Houston Rockets each had two players picked as reserves for the NBA All-Star game, while the Indiana Pacers had to settle for just Roy Hibbert, despite the league’s best record.
LaMarcus Aldridge and Damian Lillard made it from the Trail Blazers, and James Harden and Dwight Howard made it from the Rockets.
Old reliables Dirk Nowitzki, Tony Parker and Chris Paul rounded out the West reserves for the Feb. 16 game in New Orleans.
The rest of the East reserves are: Miami’s Chris Bosh, Toronto’s DeMar DeRozan, Brooklyn’s Joe Johnson, Atlanta’s Paul Millsap, Chicago’s Joakim Noah and Washington’s John Wall.
Tennis
Young will replace Isner on the U.S. Davis Cup roster
SAN DIEGO – Donald Young replaced an injured John Isner for the United States and will face Wimbledon champion Andy Murray on Friday in the first match of the first-round Davis Cup match on the clay court at the San Diego Padres’ stadium.
The announcement was made Thursday at the Davis Cup draw at San Diego’s Balboa Park.
In the second singles match Friday, Sam Querrey will play Britain’s James Ward. The doubles is Bob and Mike Bryan of the U.S. against Murray and Colin Fleming on Saturday. The reverse singles is Querrey against Murray and Young against Ward on Sunday.
Associated Press
