Bell wins NASCAR All-Star race

Christopher Bell loves North Wilkesboro Speedway, and Joey Logano hates the “Promoter’s Caution.” Those were the main takeaways from the top two finishers in Sunday night’s action-packed NASCAR All-Star Race at the 0.625-mile oval in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina. Bell beat Logano by 0.829 seconds to earn his first All-Star Race victory. Bell, who won three consecutive Cup Series races earlier this season, delivered the third All-Star Race win for Joe Gibbs Racing. In a new All-Star Race wrinkle, Marcus Smith, the president and CEO of Speedway Motorsports that owns North Wilkesboro Speedway, chose to throw a “Promoter’s Caution” that bunched the field for a late restart. At the time, Logano was leading by about a half-second over Bell. Logano, who was trying to win his second consecutive All-Star Race, elected to stay on track rather than pit during the caution, and the decision proved costly. Bell pitted for two fresh tires, restarted in sixth and needed only five laps to catch Logano. After a battle for first, Bell took the lead for good on Lap 241 of 250.

Eagles coach Sirianni gets extension

Nick Sirianni already won a Super Bowl this year. The Eagles rewarded Sirianni on Monday with a multiyear contract extension to pair with that championship ring. Sirianni has navigated the Eagles through some personal slings — everything from his supposed frosty relationship with quarterback Jalen Hurts to his dubious sideline interactions with fans — to lead the franchise to four playoff appearances in four seasons and two trips to the Super Bowl. Sirianni led the Eagles to the title in last season’s Super Bowl when they routed the Chiefs 40-22. Terms of the contract announced Monday weren’t revealed. Sirianni had one year left on his existing five-year contract. He’s 48-20 in the regular season with the Eagles. Sirianni also led the Eagles to the Super Bowl in the 2022 season where they lost to the Chiefs. The Eagles rebounded from a 2-2 start to finish the 2024 season on a 16-1 run, counting three playoff wins. Sirianni, who turns 44 next month, is the first coach in NFL history to earn four playoff appearances, two conference titles and a Super Bowl within his first four seasons as head coach.

Messi vents amid Inter Miami skid

Lionel Messi isn’t happy right now. After Inter Miami was routed 3-0 by Orlando on Sunday night and fell to 1-5-1 in its last seven matches across all competitions, the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner and 2022 World Cup champ — who rarely gives interviews after matches — told Apple TV that it’s imperative for the team to stick together. “It’s a difficult time, but we’re going to come through this,” Messi said in Spanish. “Now we’ll really see if we’re a team. These are difficult times. When everything is going well it’s very easy, but when difficult times come — like now — we have to be more united than ever, be a real team, and get through it.” Inter Miami fell to 6-3-4 in Major League Soccer this season, sixth in the Eastern Conference. Messi’s team set an MLS record for best regular-season mark a year ago, going 22-4-8 — finishing with the most points and top winning percentage in league history. The four regular-season losses tied a league mark for the fewest in a season. But this season looks nothing like the way last season went. —Associated Press