DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Lawmakers in the Iowa House have furthered a plan to extend a tax break for the Iowa Speedway at Newton. The House Ways and Means Committee unanimously approved the measure Thursday. It is now eligible for floor debate.

The racetrack in Newton receives a state sales tax rebate that will expire on Jan. 1, 2016. The tax break has been contingent upon 25 percent of Iowa Speedway’s ownership remaining in the state.

The proposal would remove that requirement since the Speedway, which opened in 2006, was bought by NASCAR last year. It would extend the tax break by 10 years and would maintain a rebate limit of $12.5 million. Republican Rep. Thomas Sands, who chairs the committee, says the state has a lot to gain by continuing with this plan.

w/ Jim Field

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JUPITER, Fla. (AP) — St. Louis’ Carlos Martinez and Minnesota’s Kyle Gibson each enhanced their chances of earning a spot in their team’s rotation with solid outings, and the Cardinals beat the Twins 3-1 on Wednesday. Martinez cruised into the fifth, holding the Twins to one hit, but Jason Bartlett had an RBI single to right-center in the sixth that ended the right-hander’s scoreless string at 14 innings.

For Bartlett, the hit was his first of the spring in 27 at-bats. Making his fourth appearance — second start — Gibson limited the Cardinals to Matt Adams’ second homer of spring training in 4 1-3 innings. Gibson allowed four hits.

Peter Bourjos doubled and scored the go-ahead run on a wild pitch by Samuel Deduno in the eighth inning.

DAYTON, Ohio (AP) — Jarnell Stokes dominated inside as Tennessee finally caught up in the closing minutes of regulation, and then opened overtime with a three-point play that got the Volunteers headed to a 78-65 victory over Iowa on Wednesday night in the NCAA’s First Four. The Volunteers’ late comeback sent them Raleigh, N.C., where they’ll play sixth-seeded Massachusetts on Friday in the Midwest Regional.

Tennessee (22-12) didn’t lead until Antonio Barton’s 3-pointer put the Vols up 59-57 with 3:05 left regulation. There were five lead changes before the Vols’ Jordan McRae missed a jumper missed at the buzzer, leaving it tied at 64. Stokes’ three-point play was the key moment in his 18-point, 13-rebound performance. Iowa (21-13) managed only one free throw in overtime, ending a hectic and stressful day for coach Fran McCaffery.

McCaffery started the day in Iowa with his teenage son Patrick, who had surgery to remove a thyroid tumor.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A plan to extend a tax break provided last year to the Iowa Speedway at Newton has moved forward in the Iowa House. The proposal received preliminary approval Wednesday from a House Ways and Means subcommittee. It will now be subject to committee-level review.

The racetrack in Newton receives a state sales tax rebate under current law, but the rebate is limited to sales occurring before January 1, 2016. The proposal seeks to extend the rebate by 10 years to sales occurring before January 1, 2026.

Racetrack officials say the tax break extension is needed not only to grow auto racing in Newton, but also to shine a spotlight on what central Iowa has to offer. The Iowa Speedway, which opened in 2006, was bought by NASCAR last year.

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The Indianapolis Star has named Logansport’s Whitney Jennings the 2014 Indiana Miss Basketball. The newspaper announced Wednesday the 5-foot-5 point guard received 177 of the 332 votes cast for the award. Maura Muensterman of Evansville Mater Dei finished second with 97 votes. No one else had more than 10 votes.

Jennings led the state in scoring this season at 32 points per game. The Iowa recruit also averaged eight rebounds, 7.4 assists and five steals per game as Logansport (24-3) reached the Class 4A semistate before losing to Penn. She’s also the 2013-14 Gatorade Indiana girls basketball player of the year.

Jennings has averaged at least 23.6 points per game each of her four high school seasons to finish fifth on the all-time state scoring list with 2,641 points.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Iowa coach Fran McCaffery says his son’s surgery to remove a thyroid tumor went as planned and he was flying back from Iowa City to Dayton to coach the Hawkeyes in the NCAA tournament on Wednesday night. McCaffery says his son Patrick, who turns 14 on Thursday, was in “good spirits” after the operation. Doctors will continue with tests in the coming days to determine further treatment.

McCaffery flew with the Hawkeyes to Dayton on Monday to prepare for their First Four matchup with fellow No. 11 seed Tennessee. He returned to the University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics to be with his family for Wednesday’s procedure. McCaffery says the outpouring of support and encouragement from the public has been “overwhelming.”

w/ Jim Field

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – Chiefs general manager John Dorsey says the controversial signing of wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders by AFC West-rival Denver has been “put to bed” and that he’s focused on what he can do during the rest of free agency and in the draft.

Sanders had visited the Chiefs last week when reports began to surface he had agreed to a contract. His agent, Steve Weinberg, said that was never the case, and reports citing unnamed sources that claimed he was “shopping” the Chiefs’ offer to other teams were inaccurate. Sanders ultimately signed an $18 million, three-year deal with Denver, and the Chiefs’ lengthy and frustrating pursuit of a wide receiver to help out quarterback Alex Smith rolls on.

Dorsey said Tuesday in his first availability since the start of free agency that “that deal was put to bed, we have to move forward and we have to build for this organization.”