After setting the fastest time early in practice, things went very wrong for Denny Hamlin. The car fired off into Turn 3 as a high rate of speed, spinning sideways and backing into the outside wall.

“Stuck throttle! F****** stuck throttle!” exclaimed Hamlin the radio. There was significant damage to the rear clip of the car. Hamlin drove the wounded No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota back to the garage. As he climbed from the car, he slammed his helmet down on the roof in frustration.

Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota Camry

Photo by: Bozi Tatarevic

After narrowly missing out on the win at Homestead, Hamlin enters Martinsville 18 points below the cut-line. It would have been difficult, but he could have pointed his way in with the benefit of stages, but that path is likely gone now. Unless something surprising happens to the Hendrick Motorsports drivers in front of him, a win may be necessary on Sunday.

He will not take part in qualifying and will start from the rear of the field. And Martinsville is a track where passing is difficult and those in the back are lapped rather quickly, so this really puts him behind for Sunday. The team has the choice to either make repairs to the primary or go to a backup for the race. At the moment, they are trying to fix the primary and will run it through inspection to check the measurements.

Hamlin was the first driver to miss out on the final four in both 2022 and 2023. He is the winningest driver in NASCAR Cup Series history without a championship as well. It’s a glass ceiling he simply cannot seem to brea and a myriad of issues have plagued him throughout the playoffs this year.

Joey Logano  and Tyler Reddick are the two drivers locked into the title-decider at Phoenix with Christopher Bell +29 points and William Byron +7 points on the cut-line.

Every tackle, turnover and successful dual was being celebrated long, loud and together by England’s players as they zeroed in on a first home win over New Zealand in 12 years.

The biggest cheer though was reserved for referee Angus Gardner, whose voice was broadcast NFL-style over the stadium speakers – a new innovation for this autumn – as he reviewed and ruled out a score by Beauden Barrett for Caleb Clarke’s knock-on.

However, England ultimately could not keep the visitors at bay.

The replacement front row – Fin Baxter, Theo Dan and Dan Cole – could not maintain their grip on the scrum and the penalty count ticked up against the home side.

Finally Tele’a, forced back into the fray after an injury to Beauden Barrett, pirouetted through Ford’s tackle and held off Harry Randall to dot down.

There was still time for more drama, but not another twist in the scoreline, as Ford planted a long, but straight penalty shot against the post and then clipped a last-gasp drop-goal wide.

In England’s last outing at Twickenham back in March, Smith had landed a final-play drop-goal from a similar spot to defeat Grand Slam-chasing Ireland.

This time, they could not muster the same accuracy and were left with a vastly different feeling as they tasted narrow and bitter defeat once again.

England: Furbank; Feyi-Waboso, Slade, Lawrence, Freeman; M Smith, Spencer; Genge, George (capt), Stuart; Itoje, Martin; Cunningham-South, T Curry, Earl.

Replacements: Dan, Baxter, Cole, Isiekwe, B Curry, Dombrandt, Randall, Ford.

New Zealand: Jordan; Tele’a, Ioane, J Barrett, Clarke; B Barrett, Ratima; Williams, Taylor, Lomax, S Barrett (capt), Vaa’i, Sititi, Cane, Savea.

Replacements: Aumua, Tu’ungafasi, Tosi, Tuipulotu, Finau, Roigard, Lienart-Brown, McKenzie.

Mike Malott and Trevin Giles meet Saturday in the main card opener of UFC Fight Night 246 at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Check out this quick breakdown of the matchup from MMA Junkie analyst Dan Tom. 

Last event: 1-4
UFC main cards, 2024: 90-85-3

Mike Malott vs. Trevin Giles UFC Fight Night 246 preview

Malott (10-2-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC) returns for his second fight of 2024, looking to erase the sting of a frustrating loss to Neil Magny in January. The result was the Dana White’s Contender Series veteran’s first loss in the UFC. Malott won his first three fights in the promotion. … Giles (16-6 MMA, 7-6 UFC) has never lost three in a row, and enters his second fight of the year on a two-fight skid. Prior to being finished by Gabriel Bonfim and Carlos Prates, Giles picked up a pair of decisions over Louis Cosce and Preston Parsons.

Mike Malott vs. Trevin Giles UFC Fight Night 246 expert pick, prediction

Despite having guaranteed, high-level action fights like Victor Henry vs. Charles Jourdain on the prelims, the UFC matchmakers decided to kick off the main card with a welterweight matchup between Malott and Giles.

In the matchmakers’ defense, whenever they disrespectfully go against Joe Silva’s tried and true method of booking lighter-weight men’s divisions to set proper entertainment tones, they at least pick welterweight or middleweight fights that have a high potential for finishes.

From a stylistic perspective, there are potential finishing points across the board in this fight between Malott and Giles.

Giles is the more experienced of the two, but he is also the type of fighter who can surprise you with how good he looks until spontaneously combusting at the hands of an opponent.

Whereas Malott, who can find finishes out of nowhere, is also not beyond going from cruise control to internal combustion in the blink of an eye.

Still, even though you can argue either party is untrustworthy, I can’t help but pick Malott to rise to the occasion in this spot.

The pick is Malott to score a club-and-sub in Round 2.

Mike Malott vs. Trevin Giles UFC Fight Night 246 odds

The oddsmakers and the public favor the Canadian fighter, listing Malott -310 and Giles +240 via FanDuel.

Mike Malott vs. Trevin Giles UFC Fight Night 246 start time, how to watch

As the main card opening bout, Malott and Giles are expected to walk to the cage at approximately 8:05 p.m. ET (5:05 p.m. PT). The fight will stream on ESPN+.

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Marc-Andre Barriault and Dustin Stoltzfus meet Saturday on the main card of UFC Fight Night 246 at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Check out this quick breakdown of the matchup from MMA Junkie analyst Dan Tom. 

Last event: 1-4
UFC main cards, 2024: 90-85-3

Marc-Andre Barriault vs. Dustin Stoltzfus UFC Fight Night 246 preview

Barriault (16-8 MMA, 5-7 UFC) will look to get back on the winning track after dropping his last two outings. Prior to a split decision loss against Chris Curtis and a first-round finish by Joe Pyfer, Barriault won back-to-back fights against Julian Marquez and Eryk Anders. … Stoltzfus (15-6 MMA, 2-5 UFC) will also look to return to the win column in Edmonton. The Pennsylvania native struggled to gain momentum since joining the UFC in 2020, only recording two wins in seven appearances.

Marc-Andre Barriault vs. Dustin Stoltzfus UFC Fight Night 246 expert pick, prediction

God forbid we have a main card without a middleweight fight on it, as Barriault vs. Stoltzfus appears to be the bout to scratch the UFC matchmaker’s itch this week.

Barriault, to his credit, is a fairly dependable action fighter whose durability and output tend to bring out the dog in his opposition. Stoltzfus, on the other hand, is a hit-or-miss overachiever who continues to make efforts to improve each time out.

I believe Stoltzfus will have an edge if this hits the floor, but I’m not sure his wrestling is reliable enough to get in there.

Add in the fact that Stoltzfus is making a fast turnaround on what was a vicious knockout loss last June, and I can’t help but side with Barriault in this spot.

This fight probably goes to a decision more often than not, but I’ll take Barriault to force a stoppage via strikes by Round 3.

Marc-Andre Barriault vs. Dustin Stoltzfus UFC Fight Night 246 odds

The oddsmakers and public favor the Canadian fighter, listing Barriault -198 and Stoltzfus +166 via FanDuel.

Marc-Andre Barriault vs. Dustin Stoltzfus UFC Fight Night 246 start time, how to watch

Barriault and Stoltzfus are expected to walk to the cage at approximately 8:35 p.m. ET (5:35 p.m. PT). The fight will stream on ESPN+.