Pete Hamilton, who was born in Newton and raised in Needham, and in 1970 became the first — and only — NASCAR driver from Massachusetts to win the Daytona 500, died Wednesday at his home in Atlanta. He was 74. Hamilton, whose career sprouted from his days racing at Norwood Arena, drove the winged Pontiac Superbird to victory at Daytona as Richard Petty’s teammate. With Maurice “Chief’’ Petty serving as his crew chief, Hamilton won three of his four career NASCAR victories in 1970 driving for the iconic Petty Enterprises race team. “Chief led that car that started in the Daytona 500. Pete and Chief won the race and it was a big deal,’’ Richard Petty said in a statement. “Pete won both Talladega races that year. It was great to have Pete as part of the team. He was a great teammate. We send our prayers to his family.’’
Michael Vega
Baseball
Green, ex-Phillies manager, dies at 82
Dallas Green, the tough-talking manager who guided the Philadelphia Phillies to their first World Series championship in 1980 and spent 62 years in baseball as a player, manager, and executive, died at Hahnemann University Hospital in Philadelphia. He was 82. Obituary, B8 . . . Minnesota Twins righthander Trevor May, 27, underwent Tommy John surgery and will sit out the 2017 season. May was placed on the 60-day disabled list, making room for the Twins to add 36-year-old lefthander Craig Breslow to the 40-man roster . . . The St. Louis Cardinals selected righthander Carlos Martinez to start on Opening Night April 2 against the World Series champion Chicago Cubs . . . The New York Mets are moving their exhibition game against Army to Citi Field. The Mets were scheduled to play the Black Knights at West Point on March 31, but the snowstorm that slammed the Northeast last week impacted the playing field at the academy and forced the venue change.
Basketball
76ers’ Embiid to have knee surgery
Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid, who missed his first two NBA seasons with a foot injury, will undergo surgery for a torn meniscus in his left knee. The 7-footer played in 31 games this season, averaging 20.2 points and 7.8 rebounds but has not played since Jan. 27 when he scored 32 points in a loss to the Houston Rockets . . . The NBA suspended Robin Lopez of the Chicago Bulls and Serge Ibaka of the Toronto Raptors one game without pay for their fight in Tuesday night’s Bull-Raptors game. Raptors assistant coach Jamaal Magloire was fined $15,000 for pushing Bulls forward Nikola Mirotic during the altercation.
Colleges
Kentucky extends Calipari, Stoops
Kentucky signed men’s basketball coach John Calipari and football coach Mark Stoops to two-year contract extensions. Calipari’s new deal runs through 2024 and will pay him $7.75 million next season, and $8 million each year after. Stoops’s contract is 2022. He will earn $3.5 million this year with annual increases of $250,000 . . . Four Atlantic Coast Conference basketball teams suffered early departures when Wake Forest’s John Collins, a 6-10 sophomore forward, Florida State’s Dwayne Bacon, a 6-7 sophomore guard, Duke’s Jayson Tatum, a 6-8 freshman forward, and Syracuse’s Tyler Lydon, a 6-9 sophomore, announced separately they were leaving school early to enter the NBA Draft . . . Nevada men’s basketball coach Eric Musselman, who this season guided the Wolf Pack to a Mountain West Conference title and their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2007, withdrew his name for consideration for the vacancy at California . . . Former Penn State athletic director Tim Curley, who pleaded guilty last week to child endangerment, testified in the criminal trial of former university president Graham Spanier that he thought the school’s response to a 2001 complaint about Jerry Sandusky showering with a boy was inadequate. ‘‘At the end of the day, I wish I would have done more,’’ Curley said during his 90-minute testimony . . . Tre’Von Armstead, 22, an ex-Baylor football player, was arrested near his hometown in Port Arthur, Texas, after a grand jury indicted him on three second-degree felony sexual assault counts arising from a 2013 incident while he was with the Bears. He was jailed in Beaumont with bonds totaling $150,000.
Miscellany
Rangers G Lundqvist set to return New York Rangers star goalie Henrik Lundqvist will return to the ice and play at Los Angeles Saturday and Anaheim on Sunday after being sidelined since March 7 with a hip injury . . . The St. Louis Blues announced forward Paul Stastny is week to week with a lower-body injury after he was injured midway through the first period of a 4-2 victory against the Colorado Avalanche Tuesday night . . . Nevada athletic officials significantly reduced the $150,000 fine imposed on UFC star Conor McGregor following a profanity-laced, bottle-throwing fracas with rival Nate Diaz during a prefight news conference in August in Las Vegas. McGregor settled the disciplinary action with a $25,000 fine, 25 hours of community service and the state’s legal costs, clearing the way for McGregor to seek a boxing license to explore a possible fight against Floyd Mayweather Jr.
