Sports
Sheldon Creed earns NOAPS breakthrough in Atlanta
Nov 1, 2025; Avondale, Arizona, USA; NASCAR Xfinity Series driver Sheldon Creed (00) during the Xfinity Series Championship race at Phoenix Raceway. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images Incredible. That’s how Sheldon Creed described his first career victory in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series.
That’s likely how anyone who watched the Bennett Transportation and Logistics 250 would describe the final dramatic run to the checkered flag Saturday night at EchoPark Speedway in Hampton, Ga.
While racing hard for the win on the final lap, the Chevrolets of five-time Atlanta race winner Austin Hill and NASCAR Cup Series full-timer Ross Chastain collided while running first and second, which cleared the way for Creed, the 28-year-old Californian, to emerge from his third-place position just behind.
Taking advantage of the opportunity, Creed raced his No. 00 Haas Factory Team Chevrolet cleanly through the incident and came out of the last turn in front to earn his first career trophy in the series after setting a series record with 15 runner-up finishes.
“Incredible,” a smiling Creed said after accepting his first series checkered flag from the flagman after the race. “It worked out. Finally a winner.
“Obviously had a lot of good runs, but never finished it up, never won,” he said after hoisting his trophy in Victory Lane — his voice a little softer after screaming with emotion on the cooldown lap and later after celebrating with his team.
“To finally do that, after it looked like another second place for a while coming off of (Turn) Two, it just all worked out for us tonight.”
It was a fitting ending to an action-packed race that featured 11 leaders and a record 24 lead changes on the 1.5-mile Atlanta high banks with Creed ultimately besting Viking Motorsports’ Parker Retzlaff by .309 of a second.
AM Racing’s Nick Sanchez, a former Atlanta winner, finished third to collect his third top-five finish in as many starts at the track. Hendrick Motorsports’ Corey Day was fourth with Hill’s Richard Childress Racing teammate Jesse Love rounding out the top five.
Chastain was able to recover from the contact with Hill to finish sixth in the No. 32 Jordan Anderson Racing Chevrolet. After watching a replay post-race, Chastain explained there was no intent to spin Hill. He was just going for the win.
“No excuse, I turned him OK, for sure,” Chastain said. “And I hate that I did that to another Chevy, but I’m glad Sheldon was there to pick it up. …I don’t want to spin these guys. I’m not trying to crash coming to the checkered. But to get the run down the back, I did not execute it very well, that’s for sure.”
Hill, a two-time defending winner of this race, finished 12th after a dramatic day of racing at his home track.
“We did everything right to get into the lead,” said Hill, who started an uncharacteristic 20th in the 38-car field but ended up taking the point for the first time on the 105th lap and ultimately led the most laps on the day (34 of the 163).
“Coming off of Turn Two, I let it drag back a little bit to not get too far out but kind of got a little further out than I would have liked. I knew I was going to have to throw a block (on Chastain) and was trying to get squared up, but it looked like he just drove into my left rear on purpose.
“I don’t know. We’re going for the win so not going to say ‘shoulda done this’ or ‘shoulda done that.'”
Creed’s Haas Factory Team teammate, Sam Mayer, finished seventh followed by JR Motorsports’ rookie Rajah Caruth, who led a career-best 22 laps. Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Taylor Gray and Brandon Jones rounded out the top 10.
After so many runner-up finishes and Victory Lane near-misses, even Creed’s competitors made a point to congratulate him on finally scoring that elusive first win. He is an accomplished driver, having claimed the 2020 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship with a five-win season. And, as his 15 runner-up showings would indicate, Creed has consistently been a frontrunner in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series.
“It just wears on you to not to win,” Creed said, conceding he was feeling both a huge sense of relief and a huge surge of happiness for his work. “I don’t think one win is going to change things a whole lot, but I think a few might. I might get back on the radar for Cup, and obviously I’d love that. … to get one out of the way is great, but I want to win more.”
“It’s been four years since I stood in Victory Lane and you miss that feeling. That’s why you keep working on it.”
Even with his 12th place, Hill — who won the Daytona season-opener — holds the championship lead by 22 points over Caruth.
–NASCAR Wire Service
Sports
Manchester City look to extend win streak, take on Everton
[Subscription Customers Only] Jun 30, 2025; Orlando, Florida, USA; Manchester City forward Erling Haaland (9) celebrates scoring their second goal with midfielder Rodri (16) during a round of 16 match of the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup at Camping World Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Lee Smith-Reuters via Imagn Images Manchester City will try to keep pace with Premier League front-runner Arsenal on Monday night when they pay a visit to an Everton side still on the fringes of the European picture.
City (21-5-7, 70 points) will begin the day six points back of Arsenal with two matches in hand after the Gunners dispatched Fulham 3-0 on Saturday. The Cityzens won’t be even on games played until May 13, when they make up a postponed match against Crystal Palace that was delayed because of City’s triumphant League Cup run.
As a result, there continues to be the appearance of a chase, although the teams would finish level on points if they win out.
Manager Pep Guardiola insists it shouldn’t matter.
“It’s normal, so it’s the calendar,” Guardiola said on Friday. “Sometimes you play first. Sometimes behind. It is what it is. So, nothing changes in these stages, and you know exactly what you have to do.”
City have won six in a row in all competitions, the last three by a single goal: A 2-1 home league win over the Gunners on April 19, a 1-0 league victory at Burnley three days later, and a 2-1 FA Cup semifinal triumph over Southampton on April 25.
Erling Haaland scored once in both league fixtures to bring his EPL-leading total to 24. In the FA Cup semifinal, Jeremy Doku and Nico Gonzalez scored inside the final 10 minutes to complete a late rally.
Everton (13-13-8, 47 points) finished Saturday in 11th place, but only four points out of seventh, which currently would earn a berth in the UEFA Europa Conference League. Should City win the FA Cup, it could be the top eight English league finishers who earn a spot in Europe.
And if Everton could return to continental competition for the first time since 2017-18, it would conclude a much-improved first season at their new Hill Dickson Stadium, after bringing the curtain down on historic Goodison Park last May.
“We still believe there could be something out there for us. And we’ll keep pushing,” manager David Moyes said. “Building Everton back up is a process which I think is going to take quite a bit of time, but I think the first year or so here, we’ve certainly put decent foundations down. And hopefully we can continue to build on it.”
The Toffees are looking to avoid a third consecutive league defeat for the first time this season after a 2-1 home loss to derby rivals Liverpool on April 19 and a 2-1 away defeat at West Ham last weekend.
Beto, one of two Everton players with eight goals, departed the former contest late with a head injury and missed the latter fixture working through the league’s concussion protocol. He should be available Monday night, Moyes said.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Yankees tee off on Orioles to win third straight in 4-game series
May 3, 2026; Bronx, New York, USA; New York Yankees right fielder Aaron Judge (99) hits a two run home run in the third inning against the Baltimore Orioles at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images Jasson Dominguez scored the tiebreaking run in the sixth inning before hitting a two-run homer and an RBI double during a seven-run eighth as the New York Yankees pulled away for an 11-3 victory over the visiting Baltimore Orioles on Sunday afternoon.
The Yankees won for the 13th time in 15 games and beat the Orioles for the 11th time in the past 12 meetings.
Aaron Judge hit a two-run homer off Baltimore rookie Trey Gibson. Ben Rice hit his 12th home run of the season in the first and doubled ahead of Judge’s 13th homer in the third.
Rice exited after the Yankees batted in the third because of a bruised left hand. The Yankees announced X-rays were negative and the first baseman is day-to-day. Rice appeared to get injured fielding a low pickoff throw from Max Fried and was replaced by Paul Goldschmidt.
Dominguez started the tiebreaking rally with a double to left field against Grant Wolfram (1-1) and advanced to third on a groundout by Austin Wells. Ryan McMahon, facing a drawn-in infield, followed with a single that first baseman Coby Mayo couldn’t handle after diving to stop it.
Dominguez started New York’s big inning with a two-run drive into the right field seats off Andrew Kittredge for a 6-3 lead. After an RBI sacrifice fly by Trent Grisham, Goldschmidt ripped a two-run single after the Yankees executed a double steal.
Following a sacrifice fly by Jazz Chisholm Jr., Dominguez added a double to left field for an 11-3 lead.
The Orioles tied it twice before losing their fourth straight and for the 12th time in 18 games.
Blaze Alexander had an RBI single in the third before getting thrown out trying to stretch the hit into a double. After Judge’s 413-foot drive bounced into Baltimore’s bullpen in left field, Leody Taveras hit an RBI infield single and Tyler O’Neill scored on a double play grounder by Jeremiah Jackson in the fourth.
Fried allowed three runs on six hits in 5 1/3 innings. The left-hander struck out six and walked three.
Fernando Cruz (3-0) got the final two outs of the sixth and the first out of the seventh. Brent Headrick ended the eighth by getting a double play grounder against Mayo.
Gibson allowed three runs on four hits in 4 2/3 innings during his major league debut.
The four-game series concludes Monday.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Cam Smith drives in 2 in 10th, Astros edge Red Sox
May 3, 2026; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Houston Astros right fielder Cam Smith (11) hits a two run RBI against the Boston Red Sox during the tenth inning at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Eric Canha-Imagn Images Cam Smith had three hits, including a two-run single in the top of the 10th inning, to help the visiting Houston Astros earn a 3-1 victory over the Boston Red Sox on Sunday.
Smith’s two-out single came against Zack Kelly (0-2) and drove in Braden Shewmake and Jose Altuve.
Boston had the bases loaded with one out in the bottom of the 10th, but Bryan Abreu got Ceddanne Rafaela to ground into a double play to end the game.
Jarren Duran hit a solo home run for the Red Sox, who stranded 13 runners and were 0-for-11 with runners in scoring position. Duran’s home run was his third of the season and his second of the series. He hit a three-run homer in Boston’s 3-1 victory Friday night.
Abreu (1-2) pitched two scoreless innings to get the win. He gave up one hit, walked one and struck out one.
Willson Contreras collected three of Boston’s nine hits in the loss.
Christian Walker and Christian Vazquez each had two-hit games for the Astros, who won two games in the three-game set.
Boston starting pitcher Ranger Suarez was pulled after four scoreless innings because of hamstring tightness. He gave up three hits, walked one and struck out three. Suarez threw 70 pitches.
Duran’s home run off Houston reliever AJ Blubaugh opened the scoring in the fifth. Houston tied the game in the sixth, when Walker reached on an infield single, took third on Altuve’s double and scored on a sacrifice fly by Brice Matthews.
The Red Sox had a chance to win the game in the bottom of the ninth. An error on Abreu allowed Contreras to reach second with two outs in the inning, but Roman Anthony grounded out to first to end the inning.
Houston had the bases loaded with no outs in the 10th, but Altuve grounded into a 6-2-5 double play. Following a walk to Matthews, Smith delivered his two-run single.
–Field Level Media
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