NASCAR-CHICAGO
Harvick to start Chase on pole after qualifying canceled
JOLIET, Ill. (AP) β Rain has washed out qualifying for the opening race in the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship.
Kevin Harvick will start his title defense from the pole Sunday. The reigning Sprint Cup champion was fastest Friday in practice and, when a heavy downpour at Chicagoland Speedway washed out the qualifying session, the field was set by practice speeds.
Joey Logano will start second and Team Penske teammate Brad Keselowski will start third.
Martin Truex Jr. will start fourth as four of the 16 Chase drivers were the fourth fastest in practice.
Denny Hamlin had a tough practice session and will start 30th, last of the Chase drivers.
PANTHERS-INJURIES
Panthers’ Kuechly doubtful, not cleared yet after concussion
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) β Carolina Panthers coach Ron Rivera says middle linebacker Luke Kuechly is listed as doubtful for Sunday’s game against the Houston Texans.
The 2013 NFL Defensive Player of the Year has not practiced since sustaining a concussion in Carolina’s 20-9 win last Sunday at Jacksonville.
Rivera says Kuechly has yet to be cleared by an independent neurologist before returning to the field. Rivera says “whatever the independent (neurologist) says, that’s what we’re going with.”
If Kuechly doesn’t play, A.J. Klein will start in his place.
Defensive tackle Star Lotulelei is listed as questionable after returning to practice this week. He missed four preseason games and the season opener with a stress reaction in his right foot. Fullback Richie Brockel and defensive end Wes Horton are questionable with shoulder injuries.
WEBCOM TOUR FINALS
Brett Stegmaier leads Web.com Tour Finals event
DAVIDSON, N.C. (AP) β Brett Stegmaier played his first 10 holes in 8 under and shot a 9-under 63 on Thursday to take the first-round lead in the Web.com Tour Finals’ Small Business Connection Championship.
Stegmaier eagled the par-5 18th for a 7-under 27 on his first nine and added birdies on Nos. 1 and 18 at River Run. The 32-year-old former Florida player finished 69th on the Web.com Tour’s regular-season money list and earned $31,000 last week with an eighth-place finish in the series opener in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
The four-event series features the top 75 players from the Web.com Tour money list, Nos. 126-200 in the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup standings and non-members of the tour who earned enough money to have placed in the top 200 had they been eligible to receive points. The top 25 players on Web.com regular-season money list earned 2015-16 PGA Tour cards. They are competing against each other for PGA Tour priority, with regular-season earnings counting in their totals. The other players are fighting for another 25 cards based on earnings in the series.
Zack Fisher was second after a 65. He was 48th on the Web.com Tour money list.
NC STATE-MOXLEY
NC State’s Moxley back to work after offseason health issue
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) β North Carolina State men’s basketball assistant coach Rob Moxley is back to full duties after a life-threatening offseason health scare.
The 46-year-old Moxley was hospitalized for several days in May and was on medical leave for a time, though the school didn’t specify the nature of his medical issue. In his first public comments Thursday, Moxley said he had complications from diabetes that ultimately led to him going into cardiac arrest in the ambulance on the way to the hospital. He also had “a few strokes.”
He says it was “a very scary moment for me and my family for sure.”
Head coach Mark Gottfried had to reshuffle responsibilities on his coaching staff to make up for Moxley’s absence, though Moxley returned to the recruiting trail late in the summer.
