Sports News Roundup: MLB owners vote to proceed with 2020 season; Blaney and Wallace both claim victory and more

The track, which hosts NASCAR, NHRA and other motorsports events, said in a statement Monday, "A Sonoma Raceway staff member discovered a piece of twine tied in what appeared to be a noose hanging from a tree on raceway property.

Following is a summary of current sports news briefs.

MLB owners vote to proceed with 2020 season

Major League Baseball said on Monday owners have voted unanimously to proceed with the 2020 season amid the COVID-19 outbreak after the players' union earlier shot down a proposal to play a shortened 60-game campaign. The vote to reject the proposal by the MLB Players Association sub-committee allows MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred to intervene and set a schedule of his choosing under terms of a March agreement between the two sides.

Motor racing: Blaney and Wallace both claim victory at Talladega

Ryan Blaney claimed a wild last lap victory at the rain-delayed Geico 500 at Talladega Superspeedway on Monday, in a race run under a cloud of racism and tight-security after a noose was discovered in the garage of Bubba Wallace. With cars wrecking behind him and others banging and slamming down the home stretch Blaney held his nerve to take his fourth career victory in a photo-finish ahead of Ricky Stenhouse Jr., while Aric Almirola spun across the finish line in third.

Britain's Traynor suspended for two years for doping violation

British long-distance runner Luke Traynor has been handed a two-year suspension from all sport for a doping violation, the UK Anti-Doping agency (UKAD) said on Tuesday. The 26-year-old had tested positive for a metabolite of cocaine, a substance banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), during an in-competition urine test last May, UKAD said in a statement.

COVID backlash is worst scenario, says Djokovic's brother

The debacle of the Adria Tour organised by world number one Novak Djokovic was the worst imaginable outcome as several participants tested positive for COVID-19 during and after the event, his brother Djordje said on Tuesday. Djokovic, who took the coronavirus test on Monday after returning to Belgrade from the Croatia leg of the event, is expected to announce the result later on Tuesday.

Apparent noose found at Sonoma Raceway

Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway asked the local sheriff's department to conduct an investigation after an apparent noose was found on a tree Saturday on the track's property. The track, which hosts NASCAR, NHRA and other motorsports events, said in a statement Monday, "A Sonoma Raceway staff member discovered a piece of twine tied in what appeared to be a noose hanging from a tree on raceway property. Our staff, on-site business tenants and local law enforcement have been contacted and asked to share any information they may have. The incident is under investigation by the Sonoma County Sheriff's Department.

Report: Ryder Cup will be postponed until 2021

The Ryder Cup matches scheduled to be held Sept. 25-27 in Wisconsin will be postponed until next year due to the coronavirus pandemic, The Guardian of London reported Monday. According to the newspaper, the official announcement regarding the event at Whistling Straits in Kohler, Wis., is expected to come next week.

NASCAR steps up security around Wallace after noose found in garage

NASCAR has stepped up security around Bubba Wallace for the rain-delayed Geico 500 at Talladega Superspeedway on Monday after a noose was found in the driver's garage. The only Black driver in NASCAR's top series and a vocal supporter of Black Lives Matter, Wallace was the target of a racial attack on Sunday when a noose, a symbol connected to lynching and America's slave history, was left in his team stall.

Murray says priority is to play at U.S. Open and French Open

Former world number one Andy Murray says he is looking forward to competing at the U.S. Open and French Open later this year but only if it is safe enough amid the COVID-19 pandemic that shut down the sport in March. The U.S. Open will be staged without fans as scheduled from Aug. 31-Sept. 13 in New York while the postponed French Open will be held from Sept. 27-Oct. 11.

Djokovic tests positive for COVID-19, says 'extremely sorry' to others

Novak Djokovic, the men's world number one tennis player, tested positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday and then apologized to all individuals who contracted the virus after playing in an exhibition tournament he organized in Serbia and Croatia. Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria, Croatia's Borna Coric, and Viktor Troicki have previously tested positive after playing in Djokovic's Adria Tour exhibition tournament in the Balkan region.

Lions owner Firestone Ford steps down, daughter takes over

The Detroit Lions announced on Tuesday that Martha Firestone Ford has stepped down from her role as principal owner and chairman of the National Football League team and will hand the reins over to her daughter Sheila Ford Hamp. Firestone Ford took over the long-struggling team after her husband William Clay Ford Sr., who purchased the Lions in 1963, died in 2014.

(With inputs from agencies.)