Jul 26, 2022 3 min read

In auto racing

NASCAR levied another round of massive penalties on Tuesday, this time against Michael McDowell and Front Row Motorsports, for illegal modifications discovered after McDowell’s sixth-place finish at Pocono Raceway.

NASCAR fined crew chief Blake Harris $100,000 and suspended him for four races. McDowell was docked 100 driver points and Front Row docked 100 owner points.

If the No. 34 team wins one of the five remaining regular-season races to qualify for the playoffs, McDowell will be docked 10 playoff points.

The L2-level penalty was issued for an illegal modification of a single source supplied part – which is strictly prohibited on NASCAR’s new Next Gen car.

In the NHL

A jury on Tuesday found former Vancouver Canucks forward Jake Virtanen not guilty of sexual assault after a week of salacious testimony.

Virtanen, 25, wept openly when the verdict was read in the Supreme Court of British Columbia. He clutched his head in his hands and was comforted by his lawyers while several friends and family seated in the front row of the courtroom whispered “yes!”

Virtanen was charged in January with sexual assault in connection with an incident in a downtown Vancouver hotel room in September 2017.

He told the court last week that the woman who accused him of assault was an “enthusiastic participant” in the encounter.

In basketball

The drug trial of American basketball star Brittney Griner in a Russian court focused Tuesday on testimony that cannabis, while illegal in Russia, is regarded in other countries as having legitimate medicinal use.

Griner has acknowledged that she was carrying vape canisters containing cannabis oil when she was arrested in February at a Moscow airport, but she contends that she had no criminal intent and that the canisters ended up in her luggage inadvertently because of hasty packing.

“We are not arguing that Brittney took it here as a medicine. We are still saying that she involuntarily brought it here because she was in a rush,” defense attorney Alexander Boykov said after the session in which a Russian neuropsychologist testified about worldwide use of medicinal cannabis.

“The Russian public has to know, and the Russian court in the first place has to know, that it was not used for recreational purposes in the United States. It was prescribed by a doctor,” he said.

Griner, a two-time Olympic gold medalist who plays for the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury, faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted.

In the NFL

The Seattle Seahawks released running back Chris Carson with a failed physical designation on Tuesday, potentially signaling an end to his career because of a neck injury.

Carson’s future was in doubt the entire offseason after he was injured in Week 4 last year and eventually underwent neck surgery. Seattle coach Pete Carroll cautioned that Carson may not be able to return and Tuesday’s move finalized the situation.

• Chase Young is starting Washington Commanders training camp on the physically unable to perform list and is the furthest from returning among the team’s injured players.

Young, tight end Logan Thomas and centers Chase Roullier and Tyler Larsen won’t practice when camp opens Wednesday. There’s also no guarantee Young will be ready to play in the season opener Sept. 12 against Jacksonville, roughly 10 months since tearing the ACL in his right knee.