Patrick’s final NASCAR race ends in crash

DAYTONA BEACH, United States: Danica Patrick crashed out of the Daytona 500 on Sunday, putting a damper on the final event of her NASCAR racing career.

The 35-year-old American ended up finishing 35th in Sunday’s 200-lap race at the Daytona International Speedway. Patrick, who broke ground in the sport by becoming the only woman to win a pole position in a NASCAR Cup race, announced in November that she was retiring from racing in 2018. She was involved in a collision on lap 102 with Chase Elliott, Kevin Harvick, Kasey Kahne and Brad Keselowski.

“It just wasn’t meant to be today,” Patrick told Fox televsion afterwards. “But I am proud — we raced the whole race...it was competitive. That’s all you can do,” added Patrick, who was watched by her NFL star boyfriend Aaron Rodgers of the Green Bay Packers. Patrick plans to race in her final IndyCar race at the Indianapolis Speedway on May 27. Sunday’s smash ends her record-breaking NASCAR career that spanned five seasons and crowned her as the most successful female driver in the sport. Patrick earned seven top-10 finishes and one pole coming in 2013 when she finished eighth in the race. Austin Dillon in a Chevrolet went on to win Sunday’s NASCAR showpiece, which fell on the 17th anniversary of Dale Earnhardt’s death. —AFP

Turk Plast down Canadian Seniors

By Our correspondent

LAHORE: Turk Plast defeated Canadian Seniors by four wickets here at the LCCA ground on Monday. Canadian Seniors, batting first, gathered 158 in 25 overs. Abu Bakar batted well to contribute 68. Rizwan Qayyum scored 24, Talat Iqbal 14 and Hamayoun Wahab 14 not out. For Turk Plast, Nadeem Baig captured four wickets for 12 runs. Mohammad Rehan got three for 23. In reply, Turk Plast reached the target losing six wickets in 22 overs. Bilal Hashmi played a leading role in getting the score as he made 52. Hammad Maqbool 23, Raja Kashif 45 and Adnan Anjum 17 were the other notable scorers. Kashif Mehar took two wickets for 20. Later Abu Bakar was declared the man of the match. Former Pakistan captain Intikhab Alam gave trophies to both the captains.