Sports
NASCAR CEO: Kyle Busch was an ‘American badass’ behind the wheel
Kyle Busch poses with his No. 18 M&M’s Toyota after winning the Explore the Pocono Mountains 350 Cup Series race at Pocono Raceway in Long Pond on Sunday, June 27, 2021. Kyle Busch experienced shortness of breath and was coughing up blood the day before his death, according to a 911 call obtained Friday by USA Today.
Busch, a two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion considered one of the best drivers of all time, died on Thursday. He was 41.
The Busch family, Richard Childress Racing and NASCAR confirmed his death hours after announcing that Busch had been hospitalized this week and would miss Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
No cause of death has been revealed, and NASCAR CEO Steve O’Donnell said Friday it was too soon to have that discussion.
“We’re 24 hours from getting a phone call,” O’Donnell said during a press conference at Charlotte Motor Speedway. “Out of respect for the family, and they asked for privacy, I’m not going to address any of that.”
Emergency responders were called to a General Motors facility on Wednesday in Concord, N.C.
In the 911 call, a man tells a dispatcher that Busch was on the bathroom floor in distress. The unidentified caller asked that emergency responders turn off their sirens on arrival.
“I’ve got an individual that’s (experiencing) shortness of breath, very hot and thinks he’s going to pass out and he’s producing a little bit of blood, coughing up some blood,” the caller told the dispatcher.
Busch was transported to a hospital in Charlotte and died the following day, stunning the entire industry and the millions of NASCAR fans.
“I feel the same exact way that they probably do,” O’Donnell said of the fans. “Shock. Sad. Wondering what you can do to help out. The best thing I can personally do is talk about his legacy.”
The outspoken Busch had disputes with other drivers and other tense experiences at the track. Also, he had occasional tense run-ins with O’Donnell, who said he knew the champion driver for 25 years dating back to when Busch was a teenager who burst on to the scene in 2001.
“Kyle Busch to me is an American badass behind the wheel, who you want to be,” O’Donnell said. “When you look back at those things, that’s part of being a race car driver. We’re not always going to agree, we certainly had our battles. But I’d give a lot of money to have a few more battles going forward.”
O’Donnell said there will be race-day tributes Sunday for Busch but there was no thought of postponing the race due to the tragedy.
“Kyle Busch would probably be pretty pissed off if we didn’t race, so we’re going to honor his memory and ensure people know what he was all about,” O’Donnell said.
Busch is survived by his wife Samantha, 11-year-old son Brexton and 4-year-old daughter Lennix. He was also the younger brother of NASCAR Hall of Famer Kurt Busch, 47.
Busch accrued 234 wins across NASCAR’s top three series: 63 in the Cup Series, 102 in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series and 69 in the Craftsman Truck Series. He won the trucks race at Dover on Friday, six days before his death.
The Las Vegas native was the NASCAR Cup Series champion in 2015 and 2019. He never won the Daytona 500 but claimed the pole for the first time this year before finishing 15th.
Among Busch’s big wins were the 2008 Southern 500, the 2015 and 2016 Brickyard 400 and 2019 Coca-Cola 600.
O’Donnell indicated there will likely be a discussion about adding Busch to the 2027 NASCAR Hall of Fame class. Drivers Kevin Harvick, Jeff Burton and Larry Phillips were chosen to that class on Tuesday.
“To me, Kyle Busch defines what it means to be a racer in NASCAR,” O’Donnell said. “The sport was truly lucky to have him.”
–Field Level Media
Sports
Fire take down Tempo in first battle of expansion franchises
May 23, 2026; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Portland Fire forward Bridget Carleton (6) dribbles against Toronto Tempo guard Brittney Sykes (20) during the first half at Coca-Cola Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Sousa-Imagn Images The Portland Fire used an 11-point run in the fourth quarter to pull away for a 99-80 victory over the host Toronto Tempo on Saturday in the first meeting between the WNBA’s new expansion teams.
Emily Engstler posted 16 points, seven rebounds and four blocks to pace a balanced effort for the Fire (3-3), who continued their pattern of following a loss with a win. Bridget Carleton, who went 4-for-8 on 3-point attempts, and Carla Leite added 15 points apiece.
Kiki Rice and Marina Mabrey scored 19 points each for the Tempo (3-4), who shot just 24% (6 of 25) from 3-point range. Top scorer Brittney Sykes was held well below her 22.3 points per game as she finished with 10 points on 3-for-9 shooting. Sykes also committed seven turnovers.
The teams were tied after the first and second quarters, but Portland opened a five-point lead after three and seized control early in the fourth quarter.
Toronto pulled within 66-63 on a Rice layup 21 seconds into the fourth. Portland responded with the decisive 11-0 run in just 81 seconds. Leite converted an old-fashioned 3-point play and Engstler followed in kind. After a Luisa Geiselsoder layup, Nyadiew Puoch drilled a 3-point shot to push the edge to 77-63 with 8:07 to play. Toronto never pulled within 12 points again.
Leite returned to a starting role in her second game back from an ankle injury and added a game-high nine assists. Megan Gustafson added 14 points and made 6 of 8 shots off the bench. Fellow reserve Sarah Ashlee Barker provided points on 5-for-6 shooting.
Portland shot 10-for-15 (66.7%) in the fourth quarter and made 10 of 11 free throws en route to 33 points in the frame.
Mabrey shot 7-for-15, including 3-for-8 from 3-point range, and dished eight assists while claiming five rebounds. Rice connected on 8-for-11 shooting from the field and also pulled down five boards.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Cloud9 escapes with win over FlyQuest in LCS Spring playoff opener
YMCA member Austin Manengu works the keyboard as he plays a game of Fortnite during the unveiling of the new gaming lab at the Maplewood Family YMCA in Rochester Thursday, June 20, 2024. YMCA of Greater Rochester in partnership with Metro Sports & Entertainment Group will open two gaming labs for youth and teens this year. After an unbeaten regular season, Cloud9 opened the playoffs of the LCS Spring event in Los Angeles with a narrow win over FlyQuest in the first upper-bracket semifinal on Saturday.
Cloud9 jumped out to a 2-0 lead before losing the next two games. It all came down to the fifth and final game, which Cloud9 won to advance to the upper-bracket final while FlyQuest fell into the lower-bracket quarterfinals, where it will next face Sentinels on May 30.
Eight teams competed in the best-of-three matches in the round-robin regular season with the top six advancing to the playoffs of the League of Legends event. The playoffs will be contested in best-of-five matches in a double-elimination format. The top two teams will qualify for the Mid-Season Invitational.
Cloud9 leapt ahead with a 25-minute win on red followed by a 32-minute victory on blue. FlyQuest leveled the match at 2 behind a 30-minute red triumph and a 31-minute win on blue. The deciding game was the longest of the match, with Cloud9 prevailing on red in 35 minutes.
Robert “Blaber” Huang was the MVP of the match for Cloud9, finishing with a combined kill-death-assist ratio of 10-15-35. Su-hyeong “Quad” Song of South Korea led FlyQuest with a 12-5-30 K-D-A ratio.
No. 2 seed LYON faces No. 3 seed Team Liquid in the other upper-bracket semifinal on Sunday. Both teams finished the regular season with a 5-2 record.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Suddenly surging Jays look to finish off sweep of Pirates
Apr 27, 2026; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher Dylan Cease (84) delivers a pitch against the Boston Red Sox in the first inning at Rogers Centre. Mandatory Credit: Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images The host Toronto Blue Jays will send out Dylan Cease Sunday afternoon as they go for a three-game sweep of the struggling Pittsburgh Pirates.
The Blue Jays have won a season-best four straight, including the first two of a three-game series with the Pirates after a 5-2 victory on Saturday. Toronto left-hander Patrick Corbin allowed one run in six innings and struck out a season-best seven.
The Pirates have lost six of eight and their ace, Paul Skenes, allowed four runs and a career-high nine hits in taking the loss on Saturday. Skenes has allowed nine runs (five against the Philadelphia Phillies on May 17) over his past two starts and his ERA has jumped from 1.98 to 3.00.
“I wasn’t super unhappy with some of the execution on some of the pitches, but could have executed a number of them better,” Skenes said. “I’ll have to re-watch it again, but yeah, I think, probably similar to last week, probably not as bad as the line would suggest.”
Cease (3-2, 2.98 ERA) is coming off a May 19 road loss to the New York Yankees, who tagged him for five runs in five innings. He struck out nine but walked four.
“You walk guys, you fall behind, you’re probably not going to win,” Cease said. “When I’m in the zone, I like where I’m at. Didn’t do a good job of it today.”
Cease is 1-1 with a 3.54 ERA in five career starts against the Pirates. In two starts against them last season, he was 0-1 with a 5.19 ERA.
The Pirates are scheduled to start right-hander Mitch Keller (4-2, 3.86), who is 1-1 with a 5.79 ERA in two career starts against the Blue Jays.
Toronto designated hitter George Springer appears to have overcome his early-season struggles. He led off the bottom of the first with his fifth homer of the season and his third of the week on Saturday. He has 65 career leadoff homers. He also had a double on Saturday.
Springer is on a six-game hit streak, batting .320 (8-for-25) with two doubles, three homers and five RBIs.
“He’s trending in the right direction,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said. “He’s taking some good swings this past week. It’s good to get him rolling a little bit.”
The Blue Jays have won seven of their past 10.
“I think our last 15, 16 games have been great,” Springer said. “Guys are starting to settle in and play to their strengths.”
Ernie Clement is one of those surging players. He was 1-for-4 with an RBI single on Saturday. In his past 14 games, he is hitting .362/.400/.574 with four doubles, two homers and seven RBIs.
Pirates outfielder Bryan Reynolds was 2-for-3 with a walk Saturday, becoming the 34th player to reach the 1,000-game plateau as a Pirate.
Former Blue Jay Spencer Horwitz was 1-for-3 and was hit by a pitch Saturday. The Pirates first baseman has played 18 games in May, and is batting .310 (18-for-58) with five doubles, one triple, one homer and 12 RBIs.
Pirates manager Don Kelly was ejected during the sixth inning of the loss. The Pirates felt that Jesus Sanchez had struck out on a checked swing before eventually hitting an RBI double in the three-run inning.
“We’re in a big moment right there,” Kelly said. “I thought Sanchez had check swung and went, for sure, at that ball. I just felt like it was a big moment. Obviously, I didn’t agree with the call.”
–Field Level Media
Fire take down Tempo in first battle of expansion franchises
Cloud9 escapes with win over FlyQuest in LCS Spring playoff opener
