CMA Awards 2021: A list of winners

The Nashville Superspeedway's Ally 400 NASCAR Cup Series race will ride the momentum it picked up in its first season into a national TV broadcast in 2022.

Not only will the 5 p.m. race on June 26  be the first of the season carried by NBC, it will be one of only three races outside the playoffs broadcast on the network's primary platform.

After Fox turns the Cup Series over to NBC for the second half of the season, only the Indianapolis Road Course (July 31) and Daytona (Aug. 27) will join the Ally 400 on the primary network. All other non-playoff races will be on USA Network.

It's an indication of how highly regarded the Ally 400, which was on the NBC Sports Network this year, is with NASCAR and NBC.

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"I'm thrilled that the Ally 400 will for the second year in a row mark the start of NBC's NASCAR coverage, especially on network TV," Nashville Superspeedway president Erik Moses said. "This will allow even more fans around the country to experience our races and how we do Nash-car."

The race earned a 1.46 national TV rating this year, meaning 2.6 million viewers tuned in to see Kyle Larson win his fifth race on the way to claiming the NASCAR Cup Series championship. It was the second-highest rated sports event for that weekend behind the NBA Playoffs.

Locally, the Ally 400, which was sold out (38,000), earned a 4.1 rating and was watched by 45,194 Nashville households.

The Nashville Superspeedway's June 25 NASCAR Xfinity Series race in 2022 will be on USA starting at 3:30 p.m. and the June 24 NASCAR Camping World Trucks Series race will be on FS1 starting at 8 p.m.

Brentwood Academy's Jacob Stallings earns Gold Glove 

Former Brentwood Academy baseball starJacob Stallings, the son of former Vanderbilt basketball coach Kevin Stallings who now plays for the Pittsburgh Pirates, was the winner of the Gold Glove Award for the best catcher in the National League.

Jacob Stallings, 31, led the National League with 21 defensive runs saved, which tied Astros shortstop Carolos Correa as the most by any player. In 103 starts Stallings did not allow a passed ball.

“To be honest, it’s kind of been the highest individual achievement that I ever felt like I could probably win," Stallings said. "Growing up, I wondered if I could win the Gold Glove. I didn’t know if I could get to the big leagues. I thought that maybe, if somebody would hit for me or something, (and) just let me play defense I could maybe win the Gold Glove.”

Stallings became the first Pirate to win the award since 2018 when left fielder Corey Dickerson won it. He's also the first catcher since Mike LaValliere in 1987 and only the third in franchise history.

In 2008 Stallings led Brentwood Academy to the Division II-AA state title. He scored the winning run against Baylor in the championship game.

He went on to play for North Carolina. In 2011, with his father still coaching at Vanderbilt, the Tar Heels lost to the Commodores 5-1 in the College World Series.

Pearl-Cohn's Xavier Shepherd has record-setting performance at Kennesaw

Former Pearl-Cohn quarterback Xavier Shepherd, now a sophomore quarterback at Kennesaw State, set a program record by throwing four touchdowns in a 34-30 come-from-behind win over Gardner-Webb.

He threw the game-winning pass (15-yards) with 11 seconds remaining. 

Shepherd was also incredibly accurate, completing 12-of-14 passes for a career-high 209 yards. He also led the Owls with 68 rushing yards,

Shepherd, whose cousin is Tennessee State men's basketball coach Brian "Penny" Collins, has passed for 1,034 yards this season and rushed for 668. His 12 rushing touchdowns leads the conference and is tied for fifth nationally with three other players. 

George Plaster announces celebrities for his bowling event

Longtime local radio host George Plaster put together a list of Nashville's who's who of sports personalities to participate in his inaugural Plaster and Friends Celebrity Bowl Night Nov. 29 at Hermitage Strike & Spare.

I look forward to competing along with Tennessean sports columnist Gentry Estes, Watson Brown, Terry McCormick, Derrick Mason, Scott Sanderson, Jon Burton, Will Perdue, Butch Spyridon, John Ingram, Ian Ayre, Rudy Kalis, Pete Weber, Willy Daunic, Darren McFarland, Jeff Francoeur, Kevin Stallings, Jacob Stallings, John Dwyer, Kelly Holcomb, Mark Griffin, Chris Lee, Michael Cendrick, Anthony Firkser, Phillip Hutcheson, Lee Fowler, Ron Bargatze, Bubba Miller, Jay Barker, Rick Byrd, Brian Ryman, Grayson Crawford, Dave Jarvis, Murphy Fair, Chip Walters, Chris Massaro, Matt Freijie, Connor Harrell, Courtland Finegan, Keith Bullock, Andy Bass, Rob Fesmire, Pat Sperduto, Nat Harden, Ralph Schulz, Kevin Ingram, Norman Jordan, Mark McGee, Mike Rhodes, Neil O’Donnell and David Weathers.

Tickets are $200 per person or $800 for a foursome to bowl. Each foursome will be paired with two celebrities and the ticket also includes food, a drink ticket and T-shirt. For tickets email Plaster at plastergeorge@gmail.com. 

Proceeds benefit the Last Minute Toy Store and Martha O’Brien Center.

NASCAR Champion's Week events in Nashville announced

NASCAR announced some of the events including Burnouts on Broadway surrounding its Championship Week in Nashville. The awards show returns to Music City Center on Dec. 2 from 5-7 p.m.

The show moved from Las Vegas to Nashville in 2019. The 2020 show was canceled because of COVID-19.

Burnouts on Broadway, a big hit with fans in 2019, will be one of the first events on Dec. 1 from 6:30-8 p.m. Drivers perform burnouts on Lower Broadway under the lights.

On Dec. 2 the NASCAR Playoff drivers and others will be made available to the media early in the day.

The NASCAR Awards Red Carpet at Music City Center will be from 3:30-4:45 p.m. on Dec. 2

A NASCAR Awards celebration will be in the Karl F. Dean Ballroom after the show.

More events may be announced at a later date.

Bragga returns as Tennessee Tech's baseball coach

After being away for three seasons Matt Bragga is back as Tennessee Tech's baseball coach.

Bragga won 446 games, the second-most in program history, from 2004-18 before leaving to become the Rice coach.

He was fired at Rice after going 57-78-1 in three seasons and in the summer accepted a position at Auburn as director of player development.

The opportunity for Bragga to return to Tech came when Steve Smith accepted a position with the Detroit Tigers organization on Oct. 29. Smith led the Golden Eagles to a 22-25 overall record and 15-15 in the Ohio Valley Conference last season 

Bragga got the job at Rice after leading Tech to one of its best seasons ever in 2018, which included a berth in the NCAA Super Regionals and an OVC record 53 wins.

Postponed races at Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway set for Nov. 20

A portion of the All American 400 weekend at Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway was postponed because of bad weather on Oct. 29-31 and will be made up Nov. 20.

All of the quarter-mile races will be run, including the local points standings championships for limited late models, street stocks, pure stocks, front runners, legends cars, and Bandoleros.

Grandstands open at noon and racing will begin at 2 p.m. Tickets are $10.

Speedway hall of fame nominees

Speaking of the Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway, the 2022 nominee process is open for the Hall of Fame.

Fans can nominate individuals through Nov. 30 for the upcoming class.

The Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway Hall of Fame committee will select two from the 1958-79 era and two from the 1980-present era. Active drivers and crew members are not eligible for induction.

The 2022 class will be announced in the summer.

Nominees can be made using messenger on on the Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway Hall of Fame Facebook page.

Baseball great Bill Stinnett will be Christmas parade grand marshal

Nashville Old Timers Baseball Association Hall of Famer Bill Stinnett will serve as grand marshal of the Ashland City Christmas parade on Dec. 4.

Stinnett has served as a municipal court judge in Ashland City since 1993.

He is a Nashville native who played baseball during his time in the Navy (1948-52). He later played on four city championship teams with Nashville Bridge Company.

Stinnett also helped start the Babe Ruth and Dixie Youth programs in Cheatham County. He was inducted into the Nashville Old Timers Hall of Fame in 2007.

Press box as Cumberland's football field being torn down

The press box on the visitor's side of Cumberland's Nokes-Lasater Football Field is coming down.

The press box hasn't been used since Cumberland purchased the facility from Lebanon High School. Cumberland uses a second press box on the home side.

There are no plans to replace the press box.

If you have an item for Midstate Chatter contact Mike Organ at 615-259-8021 or on Twitter @MikeOrganWriter.

Sports on Nashville TV

The five highest-rated sports events locally for the week ending Nov. 7 in Nashville: