Associated Press
CHARLOTTE ó NASCAR fined Joe Gibbs Racing’s three crew chiefs $50,000 each Tuesday for bringing unapproved oil pans to Michigan last week.
Mike Ford, Dave Rogers and Greg Zipadelli also were placed on probation through the end of the year, as was JGR competition director Jimmy Makar and car chiefs Chris Gillin (No. 11), Wesley Sherrill (No. 18) and Jason Shapiro (No. 20).
NASCAR discovered the unapproved oil pans in the cars of Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano during a pre-practice inspection Friday at Michigan International Speedway. NASCAR never said if the oil pans were illegal, but confiscated them because they had not been submitted for approval before arriving at the track.
Team president J.D. Gibbs said the organization mistakenly believed the oil pans would be approved at the track.
“It was our responsibility, and we messed it up,” Gibbs said Sunday at Michigan. “It wasn’t an illegal part you’re trying to sneak through. It’s a new part, and we should have done it differently.”
Hamlin won Sunday’s race, while Busch finished third.
Gibbs said the team planned to submit the oil pan for approval.
CHARLOTTE ó The general manager of Red Bull Racing said Tuesday he’s optimistic he can find investors to keep the team going after the energy drink maker leaves NASCAR at the end of the season.
NFL
ROSEMONT, Ill. ó The next time NFL owners meet over labor, there is hope it will be to ratify a new collective bargaining agreement with the players.
Don’t get carried away thinking a deal is imminent. Optimism is in the air, for sure. That doesn’t mean the end of the lockout is at hand.
Owners were briefed Tuesday on discussions for a new CBA that would net the players just under 50 percent of total revenues. Next up: more talks with the players in the Boston area.
Several people with knowledge of the negotiations told The Associated Press that Commissioner Roger Goodell and his labor committee will meet with players association chief DeMaurice Smith on today and Thursday.
DALLAS ó Super Bowl ticket-holders displaced during the seating fiasco at Cowboys Stadium in February said Tuesday in a court filing they should be compensated for lost income on top of the other expenses they incurred.
Ticket holders who lost their seats or had obstructed views “at a very minimum” should be paid for lost income suffered as a result of traveling to suburban Arlington, according to a document filed in response to a motion by the Dallas Cowboys and the NFL seeking to dismiss the class action lawsuit.
The lawsuit was filed after 1,250 temporary seats were declared unsafe just hours before the game between the Green Bay Packers and the Pittsburgh Steelers. It says 475 ticket holders were forced to watch from standing-room locations while others were relocated, causing them to miss part of the game won by Green Bay.
HEíS A GLOBETROTTER
JACKSONVILLE, Ill. ó An Illinois college student who won the national slam-dunking championship will play for the Harlem Globetrotters.
The State Journal-Register reports that Jacob Tucker was one of six players the exhibition team drafted on Tuesday. Tucker will be evaluated over the summer to see if the team will invite him to its fall training camp.
Tucker says it’s an honor and knows “all the good things they do besides just playing basketball.”
The 5-foot-10 Tucker won the dunking half of the College Slam Dunk and 3-Point Championships at the Final Four in March. He was invited after a YouTube video of his dunking skills became an Internet hit.
COLLEGE WORLD SERIES
OMAHA, Neb. ó Colby Holmes, John Taylor and Matt Price combined on a five-hitter and defending national champion South Carolina tied the record for consecutive NCAA tournament wins with a 7-1 victory over Virginia at the College World Series on Tuesday night.
Adrian Morales and Brady Thomas had three hits apiece for the Gamecocks, who won their 13th straight national tournament game to match the record held by Southern California (1972-74) and LSU (1997-98).
Florida 3, Vanderbilt 1
Night or day, it didn’t matter to Florida’s Steven Rodriguez.
The pitcher did not give up a hit in 41/3 innings of relief over two days, and Florida finished off a 3-1 victory over Vanderbilt on Tuesday in the completion of a College World Series game suspended because of inclement weather.
California 7, Texas A&M 3
Freshman utilityman Derek Campbell drove in two runs out of the No. 9 spot, closer Matt Flemer pitched three scoreless innings in his longest outing of the year and California kept up their improbable postseason run with a 7-3 victory over Texas A&M.