The most coveted seat in NASCAR will next belong to Alex Bowman in a Hendrick Motorsports lineup shuffle to replace seven-time champion Jimmie Johnson in the iconic No. 48 Chevrolet. Bowman and crew chief Greg Ives, who won five championships with Johnson as his engineer, will move from the No. 88 into Johnson’s ride at the end of the season. The swap announced Tuesday makes the 27-year-old Bowman just the second driver of the team created in 2001 specifically for Johnson. The No. 48 was built around Johnson, who drove the car in all but one of its 737 races the last 20 seasons. Johnson missed the July race at Indianapolis after a positive COVID-19 test and Justin Allgaier replaced him. Johnson drove the No. 48 to a record-tying seven Cup titles, including five straight from 2006 through 2010, and 83 wins. Johnson’s 19th full season is his last in NASCAR and he will move to a partial IndyCar schedule next year. His retirement opened the door for Bowman to replace a NASCAR superstar for the second time in four years. Two years ago, he replaced Dale Earnhardt Jr. “It’s definitely pretty similar, you go from [replacing] the most popular driver of all time to [replacing] arguably the greatest of all time,” Bowman told the Associated Press. “It’s just an honor for me to get to drive another car with a great number." Hendrick Motorsports said it will address its plans for the No. 88 in the next few weeks. Kyle Larson, suspended by NASCAR since April for using a racial slur, is the leading candidate for that opening.
SOCCER
Red Bulls tab Gerhard Struber as next coach
The New York Red Bulls hired Gerhard Struber as their coach, giving the veteran of the Austrian soccer his first US job. Struber becomes the team’s 15th full-time head coach and 18th coach overall in 25 seasons. He will take over a team that’s seventh in the Eastern Conference at 6-7-2. The top 10 teams in the East advance to the MLS Cup playoffs. The Red Bulls fired coach Chris Armas last month and Bradley Carnell has been the interim coach. Struber will assume coaching duties once he receives his US work visa, the club said . . . . Armenia and Azerbaijan will no longer host international soccer matches in the next week for security reasons amid their conflict over the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh. UEFA said Tuesday the national teams' home games in the Nations League will instead be played in neutral Poland and Albania. The decision was made after UEFA “assessed the situation in Armenia and Azerbaijan further to the latest developments in both countries.” A warm-up game on Wednesday for Armenia against Albania in Yerevan was previously canceled. For security reasons since 2007, UEFA has separated national and club teams from Armenia and Azerbaijan in its tournament draws . . . The Belgian soccer league is banning smoking at all matches to try and slow the spread of the coronavirus. The ban will begin on Oct. 16 to make sure spectators keep their face masks on as much as possible, the league said. It noted that smoking was not a good excuse to take masks off. Fans have been allowed back into stadiums since last month amid the pandemic, which has killed more than 10,000 known people in the country.
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Mesut Ozil leads move to save Gunnersaurus
Mesut Ozil, one of soccer’s highest-paid stars, has offered to cover the salary of Arsenal’s Gunnersaurus mascot, a day after the man inside the English Premier League team’s dinosaur costume was let go to save money. The fate of Jerry Quy and his alter ego, Gunnersaurus, had been in limbo since Monday, when reports emerged that the club was letting Quy go as part of a cost-cutting effort that had already led to the elimination of 55 jobs. Quy had been mugging for Arsenal fans as Gunnersaurus since the character was introduced 27 years ago, in addition to serving the team in other functions, according to The Athletic. The dismissal struck many fans as particularly egregious because, the same day, the club spent more than $58 million to sign midfielder Thomas Partey. The estimated net worth of the team’s owner, Stan Kroenke, hovers above $8.3 billion. An Arsenal spokesman declined to say whether the team would accept Ozil’s offer, stating that the team does not comment on personnel matters. “Gunnersaurus is not extinct and will return to action when fans are allowed back at matches,” the spokesman said Tuesday.
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MISCELLANY
USA Swimming to run Open at nine sites
Nine cities will host the US Open in November, allowing over 1,800 swimmers to compete, with results from each location combined by USA Swimming. The national governing body said that instead of the usual 700 to 800 swimmers competing in one location, the event Nov. 12-14 will feature four timed finals sessions and a men’s and women’s flight per session. All federal, state, and local health guidelines will be followed at each site and entry limits will reflect local restrictions. The long-course event’s host cities are: Beaverton, Ore.; Des Moines, Iowa; Greensboro, N.C.; Huntsville, Ala.; Indianapolis; Irvine, Calif.; Richmond, Va.; San Antonio; and Sarasota, Fla. . . . William & Mary athletic director Samantha Huge resigned following a month of public outcry regarding the school’s decision to cut seven sport programs. Alumni from those teams vocally opposed the decision and have campaigned for the programs' reinstatement while criticizing the athletic department’s lack of transparency and financial mismanagement. William & Mary, a public university in Williamsburg, Va., announced plans last month to discontinue men’s and women’s gymnastics, men’s and women’s swimming, men’s indoor and outdoor track and field, and volleyball after the 2020-21 academic year. That decision affected 118 athletes and 13 coaches. Huge had served as William & Mary’s athletic director since May 2017.
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October 07, 2020 at 05:20AM
https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/10/06/sports/alex-bowman-take-wheel-jimmie-johnson/
Alex Bowman to take the wheel from Jimmie Johnson - The Boston Globe
https://news.google.com/search?q=Wheel&hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US:en
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