Sports
Late charge gives Christopher Bell victory in Trucks race at Bristol
Sep 13, 2025; Bristol, Tennessee, USA; NASCAR Cup Series driver Christopher Bell (20) wins the Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-Imagn Images BRISTOL, Tenn. — Full-time NASCAR Cup Series driver Christopher Bell was thrilled to have an opportunity to drive the No. 62 Halmar Friesen Toyota on Friday in the Tennessee Army National Guard 250 at Bristol Motor Speedway.
After crossing the finish line first in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series event, he had reason to be positively elated.
Corey Heim, on the other hand, had 350,000 reasons to be disappointed, after his dream of completing the Triple Truck Challenge — and earning a $350,000 bonus — ended prematurely against the Turn 1 wall.
Bell grabbed the lead from Christian Eckes on Lap 188 of 250 and held it the rest of the way, with Chandler Smith moving into second after a subsequent restart on Lap 224 and chasing Bell to the checkered flag.
Finishing 0.330 seconds ahead of Smith’s No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford, Bell scored his first Truck Series victory since 2017, his first at the 0.533-mile short track and the eighth of his career.
Bell was enlisted to substitute for injured Stewart Friesen in last year’s Truck Series race at Watkins Glen. On Friday night, he raced as Friesen’s teammate and finished three positions better than he had at the Upstate New York road course.
“Oh, man, that was just so awesome to win a truck race,” Bell said. “It’s been since 2017 that I’ve won one of these things. It’s a lot of fun racing with this group. I got the unfortunate call last year to drive for Stewart when he was hurt, went up to Watkins Glen and almost got it.
“They’ve been working really hard to get to Victory Lane. Just so special for me to be able to race with these guys. These wins, they mean a lot to this team, this organization.”
The most recent Cup Series winner at Thunder Valley, Bell will race Sunday in the Food City 500 (3 p.m. ET on FS1, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Heim’s bid for an extra $350,000 ($500,000 total) for a third straight Triple Truck Challenge victory ended abruptly on Lap 180, moments after he had muscled past Eckes to lead his only lap of the race.
Contact from Eckes’ front bumper to the right rear of Heim’s No. 1 TRICON Garage Toyota sent Heim spinning into the outside wall. Pole winner Kaden Honeycutt T-boned into Heim’s Tundra, with the No. 34 Ford of two-time Bristol winner Layne Riggs nosing into Honeycutt’s truck in a chain-reaction collision.
TRICON teammates Heim and Honeycutt exited the race under the resulting red flag. With the single lap led to his credit, Heim has now led the last 30 straight Truck Series races he has entered, but that was no consolation for losing the bonus he would have collected for winning the race.
“I don’t think he did it on purpose or anything,” Heim said graciously of the contact from Eckes’ Chevrolet. “I think the lead was super important to win the race, just having track position and control. Then they had a mix-up on who was starting the race as far as the control truck.
“I had an issue with my transmission sticking into gears, and I had to pack a little bit of air. I don’t think I touched him to get him out of the way. He was already free. I just packed some air and got him free. I think he was trying to get behind me and ship me, which would have been fine because I did it to him. Just misjudged it.
“I’ve been racing him for a long time, and I don’t think he would do that on purpose, so we are all good.”
After losing ground on the final restart, Eckes finished fifth behind Bell, Smith, Giovanni Ruggiero and Cup driver Ross Chastain. Jake Garcia, Dawson Sutton, Kyle Busch, Carson Hocevar and rookie Brenden Queen completed the top 10.
The race featured nine cautions for 76 laps. Eckes led a race-high 132 laps to Bell’s 63 and won the first stage. Ben Rhodes stayed out under caution on Lap 122 and claimed the Stage 2 win.
NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Race — Tennessee Army National Guard 250
Bristol Motor Speedway
Bristol, Tennessee
Friday, April 10, 2026
1. (15) Christopher Bell(i), Toyota, 250.
2. (16) Chandler Smith, Ford, 250.
3. (10) Giovanni Ruggiero, Toyota, 250.
4. (11) Ross Chastain(i), Chevrolet, 250.
5. (2) Christian Eckes, Chevrolet, 250.
6. (5) Jake Garcia, Ford, 250.
7. (34) Dawson Sutton, Chevrolet, 250.
8. (8) Kyle Busch(i), Chevrolet, 250.
9. (7) Carson Hocevar(i), Chevrolet, 250.
10. (28) Brenden Queen #, RAM, 250.
11. (9) Ben Rhodes, Ford, 250.
12. (23) Daniel Hemric, Chevrolet, 250.
13. (20) Tyler Ankrum, Chevrolet, 250.
14. (4) Chase Briscoe(i), Toyota, 250.
15. (14) Justin Haley, RAM, 250.
16. (13) Stewart Friesen, Toyota, 250.
17. (27) Andres Perez De Lara, Chevrolet, 250.
18. (36) Daniel Suarez(i), Chevrolet, 250.
19. (26) Mini Tyrrell #, RAM, 250.
20. (22) Tanner Gray, Toyota, 250.
21. (29) Carson Ferguson, RAM, 250.
22. (3) Layne Riggs, Ford, 249.
23. (6) Ty Majeski, Ford, 248.
24. (33) Spencer Boyd, Chevrolet, 247.
25. (25) Kris Wright, Chevrolet, 247.
26. (21) Ricky Stenhouse Jr(i), Chevrolet, 247.
27. (18) Grant Enfinger, Chevrolet, 243.
28. (17) Cole Butcher #, Ford, 241.
29. (19) Corey LaJoie, RAM, Accident, 214.
30. (12) Corey Heim, Toyota, Accident, 179.
31. (1) Kaden Honeycutt, Toyota, Accident, 179.
32. (30) Luke Baldwin, Ford, Accident, 178.
33. (35) Timmy Hill, Toyota, Accident, 120.
34. (24) Tyler Reif, Chevrolet, Accident, 117.
35. (31) Frankie Muniz, Ford, Accident, 115.
36. (32) Clayton Green, Ford, Too Slow, 103.
Average Speed of Race Winner: 66.644 mph.
Time of Race: 1 Hrs, 59 Mins, 58 Secs. Margin of Victory: 0.330 Seconds.
Caution Flags: 9 for 76 laps.
Lead Changes: 7 among 6 drivers.
Lap Leaders: K. Honeycutt 1-2;C. Eckes 3-122;B. Rhodes 123-135;K. Busch(i) 136-174;C. Eckes 175-178;C. Heim 179;C. Eckes 180-187;C. Bell(i) 188-250.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): Christian Eckes 3 times for 132 laps; Christopher Bell(i) 1 time for 63 laps; Kyle Busch(i) 1 time for 39 laps; Ben Rhodes 1 time for 13 laps; Kaden Honeycutt 1 time for 2 laps; Corey Heim 1 time for 1 lap.
Stage #1 Top Ten: 91,34,11,99,98,77,17,5,45,7
Stage #2 Top Ten: 99,7,16,1,62,91,10,11,98,34
–By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service. Special to Field Level Media.
Sports
Rockets open series vs. Lakers without star Kevin Durant (knee)
Apr 10, 2026; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Rockets forward Kevin Durant (7) warms up before the game against the Minnesota Timberwolves at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-Imagn Images Houston Rockets star Kevin Durant was ruled out for the playoff series opener against the host Los Angeles Lakers because of a right knee injury, coach Ime Udoka said before the game on Saturday.
“He bumped a knee in practice on Wednesday,” Udoka said. “Hopefully, it’s a one-game thing, but he tried it out just (a) short (time) ago and didn’t feel good enough.”
At age 37 and in his 19th season, Durant averaged a team-high 26.0 points as well as 5.5 rebounds and 4.8 assists. Perhaps most impressive of all was his 78 regular-season games played, his most since 2018-19.
The teams play Game 2 of the Western Conference first-round, best-of-seven series in Los Angeles on Tuesday. The Rockets started forward Jabari Smith Jr., center Alperen Sengun and guards Josh Okogie, Amen Thompson and Reed Sheppard in Game 1. When Durant last started a game on April 10 against Minnesota, Sheppard came in off the bench.
Udoka said that no structural damage was revealed in medical imaging on Durant’s knee after he was hurt.
“It’s very tender, tough to bend certain ways,” Udoka said of Durant’s knee. “He hit it in a very awkward spot, I guess, more than anything. If he had a regular bumped knee, I think he could kind of play through that. But right above the knee, the patellar tendon area, up there, it’s just very tender and sore.
“Pain tolerance is one thing, but actually limited movement is more the cause (of Durant being out).”
Durant is a 16-time All-Star, the 2013-14 NBA Most Valuable Player, the 2007-08 Rookie of the Year and a six-time first-team All-NBA selection with two league championships (Golden State in 2017 and 2018) to his credit.
He has career averages of 27.1 points, 6.9 rebounds, 4.4 assists, 1.0 steals, 1.1 blocks and 36.7 minutes in 1,201 regular-season games (1,198 starts).
–Field Level Media
Sports
Nashville SC maintains early East lead with road shutout of Atlanta
Apr 18, 2026; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Nashville SC forward Cristian Espinoza (7) kick the ball towards the goal against Atlanta United defender Enea Mihaj (4) during the first half at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jordan Godfree-Imagn Images Cristian Espinoza and Abdul Shakur Mohammed each scored second-half goals – both assisted by Hany Mukhtar – for Nashville SC, who defeated host Atlanta United 2-0 on Saturday night.
Despite missing leading scorer Sam Surridge (seven goals) to a hamstring injury for the second straight match, Nashville (6-1-1, 19 points) extended its win streak to three matches across all competitions while maintaining its lead atop the Eastern Conference standings. It also improved to 3-1-1 on the road in MLS play.
Atlanta (1-6-1, 4 points) saw its winless streak in MLS play reach four matches (0-3-1).
Nashville pulled ahead in the 61st minute after Atlanta’s Emmanuel Latte Lath lost possession in the attacking half.
After the ball reached Mukhtar on the resulting counterattack, his pass near the scoring area found the foot of Espinoza, whose shot sailed past Lucas Hoyos and just inside the left post to make it 1-0. It was Espinoza’s third goal of the season.
Nashville grabbed an insurance goal in the first minute of second-half stoppage time when Mohammed made it 2-0, his first goal in MLS.
Atlanta and Nashville played an even first half, though Nashville had a couple of opportunities to pull ahead late in the period.
In the 39th minute, Hoyos turned aside a header from Daniel Lovitz. Then, in the 41st minute, Mukhtar found himself one-on-one with Hoyos, but was denied by the goalkeeper for the go-ahead goal.
Ultimately, Nashville SC pulled away in the second half while keeping its fourth clean sheet in MLS play. Brian Schwake was credited with three saves in the win. Hoyos finished with six saves.
Atlanta United fell to 1-3-1 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium with the loss. They also entered Saturday’s match without Miguel Almiron, who was dealing with a knee injury sustained during the team’s win over Chattanooga FC in Wednesday’s U.S. Open Cup Round of 32.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Sean Johnson sharp as D.C. United draw with Union
Apr 18, 2026; Chester, Pennsylvania, USA; DC United forward Tai Baribo (9) and Philadelphia Union defender Olwethu Makhanya (29) jump for a header in the first half at Subaru Park. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Ross-Imagn Images Sean Johnson made four saves to keep his third clean sheet and D.C. United held on for a 0-0 draw at the Philadelphia Union on Saturday night.
Rookie defender Nikola Markovic blocked three shots and was a consistent disruptor of Union attacks in his first start for D.C. (2-4-2, 8 points), which snapped a two-match league losing run but is now winless in its last four in MLS and last five overall.
The Black-and-Red, the last-place finishers in MLS in 2025, remain above a Philadelphia (1-6-1, 4 points) side that won the 2025 Supporters’ Shield in the 2026 Eastern Conference standings.
Andre Blake kept his first clean sheet without having to make a single save for the Union, who outshot D.C. 17-6 overall.
Philadelphia also led D.C. 13-1 in corner kicks, and failed to score for a second consecutive match against D.C. following a 1-0 away loss to open the season.
Former Philadelphia Union striker Tai Baribo started for D.C. in his first return to his former club after he was questionable with a thigh injury coming into the match.
But he had scant opportunities as the home side dominated the task of creating chances, particularly before halftime.
Jesus Bueno’s long-range effort from outside the box struck the near left post in the 12th minute.
In the 40th, Bueno connected well on a tricky volley inside the box, but Markovic sprawled to block it before it could test Johnson.
Then in the 42nd, Johnson reacted excellently to deny Bruno Damiani’s low, first-time effort off Milan Iloski’s feed from the right.
The hosts still enjoyed most of the ball after the break but were less threatening with it.
Iloski’s 76th-minute effort from long range nearly found the net, but only because Johnson mis-timed his dive and played it into a more difficult save.
Jovan Lukic and Damiani each missed the target in the 82nd minute. But otherwise, Johnson was comfortable during the dying stages.
–Field Level Media
Rockets open series vs. Lakers without star Kevin Durant (knee)
Nashville SC maintains early East lead with road shutout of Atlanta
