Update on the latest sports
APNASCAR-DAYTONA 500
Wallace’s Daytona 500 car twice fails inspection
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Bubba Wallace’s car failed inspection twice for the Daytona 500 and will have to start at the back of the field.
The car chief for 23XI Racing was ejected as punishment. The No. 23 Toyota passed inspection on the third time.
Wallace drives a new entry owned by NBA great Michael Jordan and three-time Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin. He had been slated to start “The Great American Race” in the third row. Instead, Wallace will be one of 10 drivers who have to drop to the back of the pack during pace laps.
Nine others already lost their starting spots because of modifications made after NASCAR’s twin 150-mile qualifying races Thursday. Former Cup Series champion Brad Keselowski and front-row qualifier William Byron switched to backup cars because of wrecks. Same for Chase Briscoe, Kaz Grala, Anthony Alfredo, Cole Custer and Ross Chastain.
Martin Truex Jr.’s team had to change a radiator and oil cooler. Erik Jones’s team changed an engine.
Alex Bowman is scheduled to lead the 40-car field to the green flag at 3:05 p.m. EST.
TENNIS-AUSTRALIAN OPEN
Nadal, Barty among those in action on Day 8
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Rafael Nadal will play Italian veteran Fabio Fognini (FAH’-bee-oh fohn-YEE’-nee) for a place in the Australian Open quarterfinals on Day 8 at Melbourne Park. Nadal has been bothered by back stiffness but has come through three rounds without dropping a set and is starting to feel OK. He’s aiming for a men’s record 21st major title.
ATP Cup winners Daniil Medvedev (DAN’-ihl MEHD’-veh-dehv) and Andrey Rublev could set up an all-Russian quarterfinal if they advance through the fourth round. Fourth-seeded Medvedev will take a 17-match winning streak into his match against Mackenzie McDonald. Rublev is playing Casper Ruud in the subsequent match on Margaret Court Arena.
Top-ranked Ash Barty will continue her quest for a drought-breaking win for Australian women at the national championship when she takes on American Shelby Rogers in a night match. The last Australian woman to win the title was Chris O’Neil in 1978.
Two other American women are involved in the fourth-round matchups: No. 22 Jennifer Brady is playing No. 28 Donna Vekic and Jessica Pegula is against fifth-seeded Elina Svitolina. No. 18 Elise Mertens takes on Karolina Muchova in the other match.
On Sunday, eight-time Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic (NOH’-vak JOH’-kuh-vich) beat Milos Raonic (MEE’-lohsh ROW’-nihch) in four sets to advance to the quarterfinals and register his 300th win in a Grand Slam match. The top-ranked Djokovic is just the second player to reach the 300-win milestone after Roger Federer.
Whether Djokovic would be able to play Raonic had been in doubt after he hurt a stomach muscle when he fell during his third-round victory over Taylor Fritz. But the defending champion went onto Rod Laver Arena without showing any signs of trouble. He was wearing tape above his right hip.
The 7-6 (4), 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 win extended Djokovic’s unbeaten streak to 12 straight against Raonic, the 2016 Wimbledon finalist.
Djokovic says he’s going to prepare as best as he can for his next match against Alexander Zverev.
Also Sunday, Serena Williams returned to the quarterfinals by getting past No. 7 seed Aryna Sabalenka in three sets. The 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 victory put Williams one step closer to her record-tying 24th Grand Slam title overall and eighth championship at Melbourne Park. Her most recent major trophy came at the Australian Open in 2017.
BOBSLED WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
Double gold: Humphries finishes off historic bobsled sweep
ALTENBERG, Germany (AP) — Kaillie Humphries wasn’t sure if she would get a chance to race this season. She ended up on top of the world — twice.
Humphries ended her international racing season Sunday by rallying to win the inaugural women’s monobob world championship in Altenberg, Germany, adding that gold medal to the one she and Lolo Jones combined to claim on the same track last weekend.
And now, there is no question about who the gold-medal favorite is going into the Olympic season, with two medal events awaiting women’s bobsledders at next winter’s Beijing Games for the first time.
This is her fifth world championship and her third in as many tries since getting her release from the Canadian program and beginning to slide for the United States in 2019. Humphries is a two-time Olympic gold medalist who is married to an American and now calls San Diego home. If she is going to race for the U.S. in next winter’s Beijing Games, she needs to obtain citizenship in the coming months.
