Sports

A¦er three years competing on the 14-turn, 2.439-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course, the Cup Series returns to the iconic 2.5mile oval on Sunday. There are not many people as excited as Denny Hamlin for the “back to the future” Brickyard 400 presented by PPG.

Rank/Driver Points 1 C. Elliott Chevrolet 703 2 K.

Rank/Driver Points 1 Cole Custer #00 716 2 Justin Allgaier #7 665 3 Chandler Smith #81 657 4 Austin Hill #21 640 5 AJ Allmendinger #16 564 6 Jesse Love #2 563 7 Riley Herbst #98 560 8 Sheldon Creed #18 543 9 Parker Kligerman #48 524 10 Sam Mayer #1 501 Rank/Driver Points 11 Sammy Smith #8 488 12 Ryan Sieg #39 466 13 Shane v. Gisbergen #97 463 14 Brandon Jones #9 412 15 Anthony Alfredo #5 393 16 Brennan Poole #44 337 17 Parker Retzlaff #31 315 18 Josh Williams #11 308 19 Jeb Burton #22 268 20 Jeremy Clements #51 267 NEXT RACE: PENZOIL 250, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, 3:30 p.m.

Rank/Driver Points Rank/Driver Points 1 Christian Eckes #19 618 2 Corey Heim #11 586 3 Nicholas Sanchez #2 505 4 Ty Majeski #98 490 5 Rajah Caruth #71 430 6 Tyler Ankrum #18 414 7 Grant Enfinger #9 411 8 Taylor Gray #17 404 9 Ben Rhodes #99 383 10 Daniel Dye #43 366 11 Tanner Gray #15 365 12 Stewart Friesen #52 362 13 Matt Crafton #88 319 14 Chase Purdy #77 314 15 Jake Garcia #13 293 16 Dean Thompson #5 277 17 Layne Riggs #38 271 18 Bayley Currey #41 250 19 Ty Dillon #25 249 20 Bret Holmes #32 247 NEXT RACE: TSPORT 200, Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park, 8:30 p.m. ET Friday, FS1 .

The Artesia juniors little league all-stars won the state tournament, and will now play in the regional tournament. Team manager Donovan Garcia lost his voice in the excitement as Artesia defeated Silver City’s Copper Little League in the championship 18-2.

A rainbow shone over Jaycee Park as a drizzle let up just before the start of the game. That may have symbolized good things to come for Artesia Little League as they battled for a spot in the state tournament.

Former Carlsbad High School head football coach Oliver Soukup has a new job with New Mexico Military Institute’s college football team. He was hired June 18 replacing former Bronco football coach Kurt Taufa’asau who resigned in May to become the new head coach at New Mexico Highlands University in Las Vegas, according to a press from New Mexico Military Institute (NMMI).

Football season is under way! For the first time, this year the New Mexico Activities Association is allowing a limited number of full-contact practices in helmets and pads over the offseason. Roughly 160 prospective Bulldogs, according to athletic director Brian Taylor, are working through the hot summer heat to help the Bulldogs defend their back-to-back state titles. Check out Artesia football on Thursday night at the Bulldog Bowl as they take on Deming in a 7-on-7 scrimmage at 6:30 p.m.

LAS VEGAS — New Mexico sports fans will see at least two names they recognize when they turn on the Olympic Games later this month. Former University of New Mexico track and cross country star Weiti Kelati will be representing the United States in the 10,000-meter run, while former Los Alamos High School star Chase Ealey Jackson will represent the United States in the shot put.

By ARI LEVIN For the Daily Press Over 100 players were whittled down to 12. About 115 players were in the Artesia minors little league.

RUIDOSO NEWS REPORT Ruidoso Downs Race Track plans to resume horse racing with a four-day weekend starting Independence Day. After floodwaters breached the track’s turn last Saturday, the last two races were canceled.

By AVERY TAYLOR Daily Press Writer Arrangements for the new recreation center in Artesia are underway as the design phase of the project continues. There will be a groundbreaking on October 17, according to Construction Manager agency Scott Taylor.