FORT WORTH, Texas – Despite announcing a new technical alliance with Stewart-Haas Racing on Friday at Texas Motor Speedway, Go Fas Racing owner Archie St. Hilaire had a strong message for reporters.

Stewart-Haas’ most-promising young star won’t be driving for his race team, at least not in 2020.

St. Hilaire emphatically said Friday afternoon that NASCAR Xfinity Series playoff contender Cole Custer, currently driving SHR’s No. 00 Ford Mustang in that division, “is not coming to our team” when asked about his plans for the upcoming year.

Motorsports Tribune first reported on St. Hilaire’s comments following an afternoon press briefing at the Go Fas Racing team hauler.

“Cole Custer’s not coming here,” St. Hilaire repeated. “Alright? It’s all over social media, so I wanted to get that one right out of the way. We really want Corey to come back. We’re negotiating with Corey. Of course, we had negotiations going to know where we were going (as a team), and we make an investment in that, so now we’re just trying to dot the I’s and cross the T’s to work the deal out with him (LaJoie) and finish that up.

“I think in a couple weeks we’ll know where we’re going, but we want Corey back.”

LaJoie, 28, has been solid in his first year driving for Go Fas Racing. He’s earned two top-10 finishes – at Daytona Int’l Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway, respectively – and has the team 29th in owner points, tied for the team’s highest placing in the Cup Series.

“We worked well together this year,” noted St. Hilaire. “Our crew chief works well with him. For a small team I think we’ve had a decent year. And I think going forward if we just jump into … obviously at Daytona, anything can happen, but when we start going to Vegas, California and Phoenix with the same group, we’ve got a great group of people. I don’t think we want to change any person in this organization through the winter, and I’ve never said that before.

“Everybody that works here right now, we’re happy with, and we want to continue with the same driver and crew chief right through.”

Despite St. Hilaire’s confidence that he’ll get LaJoie back in the seat for 2020, he didn’t quite offer a sure thing, noting that all his agreements are traditionally one-year deals.

“I think that’s where it’s going to end up, but I don’t want to sit here and say he’s our driver yet, because nobody is signed,” he said. “We have one year deals. We have a one year deal with Stewart-Haas. In my businesses, I do one year at a time and I go by an old adage that probably is different in this business than most people, but if I have a good relationship with somebody for a year, we’ll go forward. If it’s not, then why go through the pain of not working, right? So we do one year at a time.”

“The Stewart-Haas deal is one year, but we’re really looking to establish something with them, so that when the new car comes out, hopefully we’ll stay along with it,” he noted. “But it’s a one year deal at this point. If it all works good, the cars are going better and the technology we’re learning from, I think you’ll see it continue. We’ve got one engineer; they probably have 200 over there, so it should do nothing but help us. But you never know.

“If we don’t trip over ourselves, and we get better, we’ll continue because it’s a lot of money too. So we’ve got to make sure we get return on investment. So that’s the plan.”

Abdur Razzak has climbed to a new height among Bangladeshi cricketers by becoming the first bowler to reach 600 first-class wickets. Razzak, the veteran left-arm spinner, completed the milestone during Khulna Division's NCL matchat the Shere Bangla National Stadium.

Razzak began the match on 594 wickets, and swept past the milestone while bagging figures of 7 for 69 in Rangpur's first innings. Six of Razzak's wickets came in an unbroken spell of 18.1 overs, during the course of which Rangpur collapsed from 139 for 3 to 224 all out. The 600th wicket was that of Robiul Haque, the No. 9 batsman out bowled.

Razzak, who had reached the landmark of 500 first-class wickets in January 2018, said the new milestone delighted him, and reckoned it would take a while before another Bangladeshi bowler reaches it.

"I am happy with my achievement," Razzak said. "Six hundred wickets is not a matter of joke. It is a big number in our context. There have been bigger milestones reached in other countries but nobody has done it here, and [the next bowler] will probably take time to reach this number.

"I have never imagined reaching this stage of 500 or 600 wickets. It is a big thing in a Bangladeshi context. We don't have a lot of people with 200 or 300 wickets. I am sure someone will go past me but I am glad that I am the first one."

The milestone is also a tribute to Razzak's fitness, particularly after the BCB called for higher fitness levels shortly before the 2019-20 season began in October. It had put the spotlight on Razzak and other senior players, but he managed to pull through.

The seven-wicket haul has put Razzak on top of the NCL's wicket charts for the season.

"I am fortunate these records are coming from me," Razzak said. "Someone would have achieved them. You need skills to reach this level and I don't know if I am that skillful. I try hard. I think not giving up is my skill. I am still passionate about playing when I am out in the middle. I can't think of anything else."

Razzak's first-class performances over the previous five years earned him a Test recall last year, after four years out of the side, but despite his performance against Sri Lanka in Dhaka - he took five wickets, including a first-innings four-for - he wasn't retained in the side for their next series. Still, he says, the fire continues to burn within.

"I can't really say where I see myself, or where I can reach," Razzak said. "I also don't know when I will finish. As long as my fitness and desire is there, I will keep playing."

Ireland 135 (Balbrinie 46, Stirling 25, Smit 3-19, Williams 3-34) beat Namibia 108 (Erasmus 51, Singh 3-25, Adair 2-9)

Spinners Gareth Delany and Simi Singh helped reduce Namibia to 20 for 3 in the Powerplay as Ireland defended 136 on a day when neither team batted 20 overs. Delany and Singh's early wickets made a dent to Namibia's scoring rate and subsequently put pressure on their batsmen, only three of whom got into double digits.

Namibia captain Gerhard Erasmus made 51 off 34 and was the only batsman who struck at more than run-a-ball. Erasmus was the aggressor in all three partnerships that he was part of, but the partnerships themselves weren't substantial. By the time he was the sixth man out in the 15th over, Namibia needed 44 off 32 balls. Seamers Mark Adair and Boyd Rankin made that difficult work and Singh returned to add two wickets to his tally and finish as Man of the Match.

Earlier, Ireland's top order had set a reasonable base before Zhivago Groenewald took two quick wickets to rattle them either side of the 11th over. From 71 for 2, Ireland fell to 85 for 4. Set batsman Andy Balbirnie and captain Gary Wilson then tried to stage a recovery, but their stand of 21 off 21 ended with Balbirnie falling to Craig Williams. It was the start of a collapse.

In his next over, Williams bowled Wilson, and in the over after that, JJ Smit accounted for both Shaun Getkate and Simi Singh; 106 for 4 had turned to 120 for 8 with two overs left, and it took an Adair cameo - the No. 8 made 17 off 7 with two sixes - to put Ireland in sight of a score close to 150. But Williams and Smit combined again and split the last two wickets over three balls to end the innings on 135 with five balls to spare.

LeBron James outduels 'great young talent' Luka Doncic in OT thriller

LeBron James and Luka Doncic became the oldest and youngest players in NBA history, respectively, to record a 30-10-15 game with competing triple-doubles Friday night as the Lakers prevailed over the Mavs in overtime.

England were "beaten up" in their 32-12 World Cup final defeat by South Africa, says former England fly-half Paul Grayson.

The Springboks dominated the showpiece event in Yokohama as Makazole Mapimpi and Cheslin Kolbe scored the tries.

"From an England point of view, everything that could go wrong has gone wrong," said Grayson.

"Bus late to the ground, [Kyle] Sinckler forced off after two minutes, every cute play has gone wrong."

Siya Kolisi became the first black Springbok captain to lift the William Webb Ellis Trophy and Grayson said the flanker's side were "tactically brilliant".

"We said there was potentially a South Africa storm coming, and could England deal with the physicality of the Springboks at fever pitch? The answer is no," Grayson, who was part of England's World Cup-winning squad in 2003, said on BBC Radio 5 live.

"With the support of the country and what was at stake, South Africa had the emotional energy that England simply could not cope with.

"England gave them too many gifts, and South Africa played quick when they needed to. They have been brutally physical in the scrum and their defence has never been tested.

"They were not able to generate the quick ball they did against New Zealand."

Those comments were echoed by former England scrum-half Matt Dawson, who said his countrymen had been "done and dusted in the classroom".

"This is one of, if not the, greatest victory in a World Cup final," said Dawson, England's 2003 World Cup winning scrum-half.

"England gave it everything, but even if you'd said to me that was how South Africa were going to play, I would not honestly have thought they could survive that for 80 minutes, playing in that manner.

"They've just stuffed England with everything going against them. England were taken apart in many, many areas today.

"They looked, for the first time in long time, rattled from very early on when they tried to break the line. They made too many errors and they have been bereft of ideas."

Social media reaction - 'No complaints'

STOCKTON, Calif. — Cody Spencer scored his first win of the season capturing the 25-lap Joe Hunt Magneto Series wingless sprint car feature at the Stockton Dirt Track on Friday night.

Spencer drove his blue and white No. 2 Trocadero Club sponsored sprinter to an exciting finish on the San Joaquin County Fairgrounds dirt oval. His second ever Series win, the last being in 2017.

He first dueled with Nick Robfogel and took the lead from him on lap 17.  The caution would come out two laps later when a car went off track in the first turn.

Points leader Jake Morgan had moved into the second spot, but Morgan and Robfogel would get together in the third turn while on the heels of Spencer. The contact sent Robfogel airborne momentarily while Morgan would suffer a flat right-front tire.

The Finish:

Cody Spencer, D.J. Johnson, Terry Schank Jr., Jarrett Soares, Boy Moniz, Nick Robfogel, Jake Morgan, Angelique Bell, Dan Gonderman, Scott Chapeta, Tony Bernard, Kevin Box, Braidon Moniz, Cameron Martin, Josh Young, Kaimi Moniz-Costa, Tim Sherman Jr.,

CONCORD, N.C. — More than 400 race cars across nine divisions took to The Dirt Track at Charlotte on Friday for the opening round of DIRTcar Racing’s Fourth Annual DRIVEN Racing Oil World Short Track Championship.

The day’s events included Qualifying and Heat Race action, setting the stage for Saturday’s feature events. Saturday’s schedule has been flexed to an earlier start time, with pit gates opening at 9 a.m., spectator gates opening at 1 p.m. and racing slated to begin at 2 p.m.

Competitors have converged on The Dirt Track at Charlotte from 18 different states plus Canada plus Australia.

There was plenty of excitement to go around in each division on Friday:

The FOX Racing SHOX Pro Late Model division was the second-most populated class at the event with 56 entries across three groups of timed Hot Lap sessions. Last year’s winner, “Downtown” Michael Brown, set fast time overall as part of Group A, while Justin Hudspeth topped Group B and Logan Roberson led Group C.

The field was divided into six Heat races, only the winners going to Saturday’s redraw. Brown led every lap of heat one and will certainly be a favorite to defend his title on Saturday, regardless of where he starts. Timmie Harrelson, of Reidsville, NC, took the checkers in heat two while Timbo Mangum beat Hudspeth by over 2.6 seconds for the win in heat three

Layton Sullivan, of Gaffney, SC, grabbed the win in heat four, “Thugg Nasty” Logan Roberson took the win in Heat 5 and Dillon Brown got it done in heat six

Forty-seven of the best DIRTcar UMP Modified drivers in the country took to The Dirt Track at Charlotte for their qualifying events, most of which were claimed by the big names on the roster.

2019 Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals Champion Nick Hoffman, of Mooresville, N.C., set fast time in Group A’s timed Hot Laps, while the “Highside Tickler” Kyle Strickler topped Group B.

Hoffman dominated heat one while Strickler did the same in heat three; expect both to be strong contenders for the win on Saturday. Taylor Cook got the win over David Stremme in heat two, both transferred to Saturday’s redraw. Heat four was claimed by Will Krup, who took Michael Tarlton with him to the redraw.

There were 29 DIRTcar Sportsman Modifieds that traveled from the Northeast and packed hot laps, timed hot laps and heat races into Friday’s schedule.

In the first heat, Robert Bublak left his competition in the dust to pick up the checkered flag. Bublak is aiming to improve on last year’s ninth-place finish in the finale. Notable speedster Nicole Hoag took second. Both drivers are in the redraw. Hoag and her husband Alex are competing in the division this weekend together.

Garrison Krentz mopped up heat race two for the victory. Young gun Tyler Corcoran finished second. Grentz and Corcoran join Bublak and Hoag in the Top 8 redraw.

Last year’s DRIVEN Racing Oil World Short Track Champion Jackson Gil picked up where he left off with a win in the third heat. Gil outdueled Jeff Taylor, who started on the pole. They move on to the Top 8 redraw as well.

DIRTcar Sportsman Modified Series Champion and multi-Track Champion Kevin Root seemed to struggle in the heat race and finished in sixth, well out of the redraw.

NAPA Super DIRT Week XLVIII Chevy Performance 75 Champion Kyle Inman launched to the front of Heat Race 4 and stayed there for the win. Corey Cormier crossed the line in second to jump into the Top 8 redraw. Jessica Power finished on the podium at The Dirt Track at Charlotte in 2018 but she was only able to muster a sixth in Heat Race action. She’ll have to come from the back of the pack to match or beat her 2018 effort.

Brandon Umberger showed muscle Friday night in his 12u car by setting the fastest time in Hot Laps, setting the fastest overall time in Qualifying and dominating his heat race. Also showing speed by dominating their Heat races were Buck Stevens, in the No. 23 car, Kenny Peeples, in the No. 22p car and Jeff Parsons in the No. 44 car.

The RacerTents.com Pro Stocks unleashed their full-fendered frenzy on the red Carolina clay with Timed Hot laps and Heat Races. Nineteen Pro Stocks pounded the dirt in two Heat Races to set the stage for Saturday’s Championship Feature.

Legend Robert Yetman showed the field how it’s done with a strong victory in heat race one. Jason Meltz drove his stunning blue No. 51 RacerTents.com DIRTcar Pro Stock to second and into the Top 8 redraw. David Pepaulo and Jay Casey also qualified for the redraw.

The excitement continued in heat race two, which was taken by Luke Horning in the No. 2H Pro Stock. Big names filled out the rest of the redraw order including past Series Champion Jocelyn Roy, Series driver Brian Carter and Lebanon Valley regular Rick Duzlak.

The Chevy Performance 602 Late Model division was, essentially, a story of South Carolinian domination in the first night of qualifying events. Thirty-five drivers signed in for competition and took to the track for their timed Hot Lap sessions in two groups. Group A was led by Hopkins, SC’s Austin Mintz with a lap of 16.864, while David Smith topped the charts with a lap of 16.936.

As expected, heats went well for team South Carolina. Billy Rushton claimed victory in the first race and took runner-up Chase McCormick with him to Saturday’s redraw, but not before fast timer Mintz blew a left-rear tire while leading. Blake Dill and Michael Brown were the redraw cars from Heat two, David Smith and Colby Cannon in Heat three and Mike Davidson and Lee Gray (Rossville, GA) in heat four.

Every heat race saw drivers not giving each other an inch, which led to multiple cautions in Crate Sportsman action. However, their fierce battles resulted in strong finishes. Ronnie Mosley, in the No. 9, raced side by side with Russell Williford, in the No. 14, for several laps in the opening 6-lap Heat race. Mosley eventually pulled ahead and took the win.

In the second heat race of the night Calob McLaughlin, in the No. 08, charged from fourth to the win. The third Heat race saw the No. 18c of Damon Crump, who set the fastest time overall in qualifying, pull away from the field and lead every lap. Mitchell Duvall, in the No. 5d, did the same in the final heat race of the night, setting up a competitive feature on Saturday night for the Crate Sportsman.

Forty-nine COMP CAMS Mini-Stocks completed three rounds of Qualifying before time ran out on Friday’s program to complete their heat races, which will kick off the racing at 2 p.m. on Saturday.

Pete Brew Jr., Nicholas Broome and Jamie Mattison were quickest in their respective groups, with Mattison quickest overall at 19.486 seconds around the four-tenths-mile dirt oval.

The largest division of cars in the event belongs to the DIRTVision Hornets, with 70 taking time in qualifying out of 76 on the property. Friday night’s action reached its time limit before the DIRTVision Hornets could complete their feature events. An additional Feature is being added to the schedule, giving them three Features following the Mini Stock Heat Races at 2 p.m. Saturday.

The final two Hornet Features will take place later in the night after Mini Stock Feature.

Drivers John Windham, in the No. 65 car, and Andrew Smith, in the No. 162 car, set themselves up as early favorites. Windham was fastest in hot laps and Smith was fastest overall in qualifying — the only driver to break into the 19-second bracket.

All Star Invitationals: Due to time constraints, the All Star Invitational events were moved to Saturday night following the feature events.

STOCKTON, Calif. — Shane Golobic won the 30-lap open competition 360 sprint car main event at the Stockton Dirt Track on Friday night.

The race served as a preliminary event on the night before the Tribute to Gary Patterson annual happening. Golobic drove his familiar Matt Woods Racing NOS Energy Drink No. 17w.

Justyn Cox got close to Golobic several times but had to settle for the runner up spot.  Michael Faccinto, making another start in the VanDyke Motorsports entry, scored his best Stockton finish taking the third spot.

Mitchell Faccinto, who started on the front row with Golobic, took command on the opening lap going into the first turn.  His blue and white Western Metal Company No. 37 would eventually lead the first eight laps and was the race’s only other leader.

The red flag waved on the opening lap when Colby Copeland got upside down in the second turn. The wreck also took out Trent Canales. Prior to the wreck, both Buddy Kofoid and Kyle Hirst elected to pull off the track, both doing a start and park and putting them as the first retirees.

After the restart Golobic would catch Faccinto in lapped traffic to take the lead on lap 8.  On lap 10 the yellow lights would come on for a two-car spin off the turn-two banking involving Cole Macedo who had to be towed back to the pits, ending his race.

Rico Abreu was running mid pack when he went off the turn 3 banking and slowly re-entered the track only to pull off, resulting in a 18^th-place finish.

Shortly after, Mitchell Faccinto, who was running second at the time, had a front axle break, sending him into the infield, kicking up a cloud of dust and causing another caution.

The remaining 18 laps would run caution free as Golobic mastered the slower traffic, and sometimes allowing Cox to gain ground to his back bumper but no further.

At the checkered flag, it was Golobic by 10 car lengths with 14 of the original 25 starters still on the track.  The Fremont, California driver pocketed $2,500 with his winning effort.

The finish:

Shane Golobic, Justyn Cox, Michael Faccinto, Willie Croft, Jason Solwold, Kyle Offill, Ryan Robinson, Justin Sanders, Jesse Love, Blake Carrick, Tony Gualda, Nathan Rolfe, Andy Gregg, Caden Sarale, Kenny Wanderstadt, Bret Barney, Mitchell Faccinto, Rico Abreu, Cole Macedo, Sean Becker, Dominic Scelzi, Colby Copeland, Trent Canales, Buddy Kofoid, Kyle Hirst    

FT. WORTH, Texas — When the dust settled on a slide job filled SawBlade.com feature Friday night at the Texas Motor Speedway, Australia’s Scott Bogucki capped off his season with the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series presented by the MAVTV Motorsports Network with victory at Tony Stewart presents the VANKOR Texas Sprint Car Nationals.

“This is unbelievable,” Bogucki said. “I’ve got so many great people behind me with SawBlade.com, Scotty McDonald at Dissolvalloy, Lee with Ostrich Racing Engine – this is for them. We’ve been struggling lately, so before I went out Scotty’s like hey, it’s the end of the year, if you get it done let her rip but if you don’t turn her over, I’ll hit you with the four-wheeler. I didn’t quite turn it over, but it was some fun.”

Taking the lead on lap threee from Brandon Hanks, Bogucki kept pace through several restarts with the No. 28 finally getting held up in slower traffic at the race’s midpoint.

With Tony Stewart in hot pursuit, the two drivers began going at it for the lead with Stewart wheeling his Rush Truck Centers No. 14 to the point on lap 20. Trading lines and slide jobs through the next few laps, Bogucki regained the lead on lap 23 as 18th starting, Aaron Reutzel, raced into the mix.

On the battle with Stewart, Bogucki stated.

“I knew he had a run. It’s hard sometimes to tell when you’re leading where to go, but it didn’t look clean enough to have rubbered up down there,” Bogucki said. “I don’t know if he was diamonding the corner or what, all I knew was I had to make myself as wide as I could be, but it was a lot of fun getting to slide Tony like that.”

Using slower cars as picks with Stewart and Reutzel now in pursuit, Bogucki looked to have everything in hand. Rounding the final two turns, however, the cautions lights suddenly blinked on as McKenna Haase began helicoptering her No. 55 through turn two with a pack of cars bearing down on her.

Setting up a green-white-checkered finish, Bogucki was able to keep pace as Stewart and Reutzel began racing each other for the runner-up spot.

Able to take the position, Reutzel was too late to mount a charge as Scott Bogucki raced to his fourth career victory with the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series presented by the MAVTV Motorsports Network.

Reutzel was the night’s hard charger with 16 cars passed after having to race out of a B-Feature. Stewart made up the night’s podium with Blake Hahn coming up to finish fourth. Winning Thursday’s prelim, Iowa’s Terry McCarl capped the weekend with a fifth-place finish.

The finish:

Feature (30 Laps): 1. 28-Scott Bogucki, [5]; 2. 51-Aaron Reutzel, [18]; 3. 14T-Tony Stewart, [3]; 4. 52-Blake Hahn, [7]; 5. 4-Terry McCarl, [2]; 6. 44-Sammy Swindell, [4]; 7. 11-Roger Crockett, [8]; 8. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr, [12]; 9. 17W-Harli White, [6]; 10. 95-Matt Covington, [11]; 11. 74B-Jake Bubak, [19]; 12. 84-Brandon Hanks, [1]; 13. 44M-Chris Martin, [21]; 14. 47X-Dylan Westbrook, [20]; 15. 24D-Danny Sams III, [15]; 16. 55-McKenna Haase, [17]; 17. 79-Kevin Ramey, [22]; 18. 33C-Casey Carter, [25]; 19. 11X-Tyler Courtney, [10]; 20. 14-Jordon Mallett, [9]; 21. 2X-Tucker Doughty, [24]; 22. J2-John Carney II, [14]; 23. 23-Seth Bergman, [13]; 24. 22-Sean McClelland, [16]; 25. 21P-Robbie Price, [23]