Record speed of 345 mph

ADEL, Ga. (AP) — Shawn Langdon broke the NHRA speed record Friday, reaching 345.00 mph in a Top Fuel qualifying run at South Georgia Motorsports Park.

Langdon topped the previous record of 343.51 mph set by Brittany Force last year in Indianapolis. He covered the 1,000-foot track in 3.724 seconds, not far behind Force’s record run of 3.623 during that same run in 2025.

Langdon’s record-breaking pass came during the NHRA debut at South Georgia Motorsports Park, one of the newest stops on the drag-racing series’ 20-event schedule.

The 2013 Top Fuel champion turned heads with several 340 mph runs during preseason testing and entered the weekend second in points, trailing only Doug Kalitta after four events.

“It was special for the guys,” Langdon said. “I was happy for them, especially (crew chief) Brian (Husen). We were able to do that testing, and some people had different ideas on what they thought — if it was legit or not. We kind of talked about it and Brian was like, ‘Well, we’ll just do it in the season to prove it was legit.'”

Three-time NASCAR champion Tony Stewart, racing his third full season in NHRA’s top division, was second in qualifying with a 3.758-second run at 334.40 mph.

The NHRA added two new tracks to its 2026 schedule, marking the drag-racing series’ first expansion in more than a dozen years. After racing at South Georgia Motorsports Park near Valdosta, Georgia, the series will run in Mechanicsville, Maryland, for the first time later this month.

Pirates’ Davis homers twice

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Henry Davis hit his first two home runs of the season, Mitch Keller pitched seven innings of three-hit ball, and the Pittsburgh Pirates defeated the Cincinnati Reds 9-1 on Friday night to end a five-game losing streak.

Davis homered in consecutive innings. He hit a solo shot to center field in the fourth that pushed the Pirates’ lead to 4-0 and connected on a two-run drive to left field that capped a four-run fifth and made it 8-0.

It was the second career two-homer game for Davis, who also scored three runs after entering the game with a .154 batting average.

Keller (3-1) allowed one run, struck out six and walked one. His 104 pitches were the most thrown by a Pirates pitcher this season.

Bryan Reynolds and Marcell Ozuna also homered for Pittsburgh as the Pirates sent the NL Central-leading Reds to their fifth loss in 16 games. Reynolds hit a 443-foot solo shot to the shrubbery in center field in the first inning to open the scoring, and Ozuna had a two-run blast in the fifth.

Brady Singer (2-2) allowed four runs and seven hits in 3 1/3 innings while walking two and striking out one.

The Pirates’ Nick Gonzales went 3 for 3 with a walk. Reynolds, who also tripled, and Ryan O’Hearn had two hits each.

The Reds broke up Keller’s shutout bid in the sixth inning when TJ Friedl doubled and scored on Elly De La Cruz’s groundout. Friedl had two of his team’s three hits.

Justin Lawrence and Evan Sisk finished with one perfect inning each.

The start of the game was delayed by 1 hour, 31 minutes due to rain.

Reds RHP Rhett Lowder (3-1, 3.18 ERA) faces Pirates RHP Carmen Mlodzinski (1-2, 4.13) on Saturday.

World Cup will cost you

MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Tickets for most of the World Cup group games remain on general sale with just over a month to go until the tournament kicks off on June 11.

But prices are exorbitantly high, topping out at $4,105 for the United States’ opening game against Paraguay in Los Angeles, and many costing around $2,000.

Tickets are still available on FIFA’s official website through its “last-minute sales” section after batches had been released through various phases since September.

The cheapest tickets currently are $380 for seven different games, including World Cup debutant Curacao vs. Ivory Coast in Philadelphia.

Prices vary dependent on the category of ticket, with Front Category 1 the most expensive and Category 4 the cheapest. Yet a Category 3 ticket for USA vs. Paraguay is listed at $1,120 compared to a Category 2 ticket for Austria vs Jordan, which is $380.

Prices are also subject to change as FIFA adopts dynamic pricing for the first time at the World Cup.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino said in January the demand for tickets for this year’s tournament in the U.S., Canada and Mexico was the equivalent of “1,000 years of World Cups at once”, and all 104 matches would be sold out.

While only a handful of tickets remain for some games, fans willing and able to pay can still watch even the biggest nations such as defending champion Argentina, Brazil, Spain, France and England.

Tickets for Lionel Messi’s Argentina range from $2,475-$2,925. For Brazil it is $2,280-$2,310.

FIFA has been accused by fans of a “monumental betrayal” on ticket costs, but soccer’s governing body has repeatedly defended its pricing strategy.

Fans have been further angered by the addition of more expensive categories as the tournament approaches. Many of the tickets still on general sale are for the more expensive categories.

Tickets are also available via resale platforms including FIFA’s own marketplace and last month four seats for the World Cup final were listed at just under $2.3 million each. FIFA does not resell tickets or set prices on the platform, but can cash in for a second time by taking a 30% cut from any sale.

Cheapest group-stage tickets on general sale

Austria vs. Jordan, New Zealand vs. Egypt, Jordan vs. Algeria, Cape Verde vs. Saudi Arabia, Algeria vs. Austria, Congo DR vs. Uzbekistan and Curacao vs. Ivory Coast are all currently available for $380.

There are also a number of games with prices ranging from $400-$455.

Most expensive group-stage tickets on general sale

The USA’s opener against Paraguay on June 12 is the most expensive for the group games. While a number of tickets remain on general sale, the cheapest are $1,120 for Category 3.

Argentina vs. Austria ($2,925), Ecuador vs. Germany ($2,550), Uruguay vs. Spain ($2,520) and England vs. Croatia ($2,505) are also among the costliest.

Some games are sold out

A total of 17 group-stage games are sold out according to FIFA’s website, including the tournament opener between Mexico and South Africa in Mexico City on June 11.

Seven games staged in Mexico are sold out, including the co-host’s two other matches against South Korea in Guadalajara and Czech Republic in Mexico City.

Turkey vs. USA in Los Angeles, Brazil vs. Morocco in New York/New Jersey and Scotland vs. Brazil in Miami are among other games sold out.

Knockout stages

No tickets for the final are on general sale, but there is still the chance to book seats for semifinals if you have around $10,000 going spare.

A Front Category 1 ticket for the Atlanta semifinal is listed at $9,660. It’s even more for the Dallas semifinal, with an equivalent ticket priced at $11,130.

Young up by five strokes

DORAL, Fla. (AP) — Cameron Young finally made his first bogey of the week at the Cadillac Championship. It barely put a dent into his lead going into the weekend.

Young shot a 5-under 67 on Friday to get to 13 under and take a five-shot lead at the midway point of the $20 million signature event at Trump International Doral.

Young’s lone blemish: a bogey at the par-4 14th, where his chip from an awkward sidehill lie didn’t reach the putting surface. Otherwise, he was flawless — just as he was Thursday when he had a bogey-free 64 to grab the lead.

He got the stroke he dropped at the 14th back two holes later, when he drove the green at the par-4 16th and coolly two-putted for his 14th birdie of the week.

“There’s a lot of golf to be played on a difficult golf course,” Young said. “But so far, I’ve played well.”

Young played with Scottie Scheffler; the world’s No. 1 player had a bogey-free 67 but ended the day exactly where he started it — seven shots off the lead.

Nick Taylor (70), Alex Smalley (71) and Jordan Spieth (71) were tied for second. Gary Woodland (69) was alone in fifth at 7 under and Scheffler was in a logjam of players — Alex Fitzpatrick among them — at 6 under.

“I definitely need to not get further away,” Scheffler said. “No, it depends on how the golf course is playing. All I can do is go out there and be committed to what I need to do and that’s pretty much it.”

Young even had mistakes work out for him. He hated the birdie putt he hit on the par-4 13th, starting to walk toward the hole with the ball about halfway there.

Some guys do that when they know they’ve just made a putt.

Young wasn’t in that mindset. He gave an almost-apologetic wave when the ball wound up dropping into the cup.

“I was absolutely disgusted about halfway there,” Young said. “I think my read netted out to be OK, but I just thought it was going to go a little bit left and then a little bit right and it ended up going six inches left and six inches right. … When you’re putting well, some of those, they tend to wobble into the hole and that one did.”

Spieth rolled in a birdie at the par-4 18th, an absolute rarity through the first two rounds at Doral. The 18th on the Blue Monster course is a serious test, with water lining the left and seriously narrowing the fairway for all but the biggest hitters.

Spieth’s birdie was the sixth on the 18th through the tournament’s first two days.

“It’s just a really hard tee shot for most guys,” Taylor said.

The 18th even gave Young some trouble. Or tried to, anyway.

Young’s second shot at the finishing hole bounced off the base of the bleachers, coming to rest in the middle of a nest of cables on the ground well behind the green. He took a drop, didn’t get a great lie of out that, and still chipped to veritable tap-in range to save his par.

“I may have a two- or three- or four-shot lead starting tomorrow, but it just goes away so fast out here,” Young said. “There’s no sense really playing like you have a four-shot lead. You might as well play like you’re four back.”

He took note of what happened to start the second round, using that as his proof that the leaderboard might be a whole lot tighter before he tees off in Round 3 on Saturday afternoon.

Kurt Kitayama and Sudarshan Yellamaraju — the first group off the tee Friday morning — took full advantage of very calm conditions. They both soared up the leaderboard; Kitayama had the round of the day with an 8-under 64 (which included a bogey on 18) and Yellamaraju was 9 under for the round through 16 before dropping three shots on his final two holes and finishing with a 66.

They’re both at 4 under for the week.

“It definitely helps when you’re both playing,” Kitayama said. “The rhythm, being first off, helps. We didn’t have to wait for anyone, kind of going at our own pace, not worrying about being behind or waiting on a group. And so, when you’re both playing well, it’s nice to feed off each other’s energy.”