LAS VEGAS – Cole Custer will lead the NASCAR Xfinity Series to the green flag on Saturday afternoon at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Custer earned the pole for the Rhino Pro Truck Outfitters 300 with a 29.773-second lap at 181.372 mph in his No. 00 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Mustang.

Christopher Bell qualified second for Joe Gibbs Racing, followed by Justin Allgaier, Tyler Reddick and Austin Cindric.

Brandon Jones, Chase Briscoe, Elliott Sadler, Landon Cassill and Justin Haley completed the top-10.

Noah Gragson and Alex Labbe each spun late in the qualifying session, forcing them to start Saturday’s race from the rear of the field.

Rhino Pro Truck Outfitters 300 Starting Lineup

1. Cole Custer
2. Christopher Bell
3. Justin Allgaier
4. Tyler Reddick
5. Austin Cindric
6. Brandon Jones
7. Chase Briscoe
8. Elliott Sadler
9. Landon Cassill
10. Justin Haley
11. Michael Annett
12. Jeremy Clements
13. John Hunter Nemechek
14. J.J. Yeley
15. Riley Herbst
16. Gray Gaulding
17. Brandon Brown
18. Tommy Joe Martins
19. Ryan Sieg
20. Ray Black Jr.
21. B.J. McLeod
22. Ryan Truex
23. Stephen Leicht
24. Matt Mills
25. Kyle Weatherman
26. Garrett Smithley
27. Joe Nemechek
28. Tyler Matthews
29. Josh Williams
30. David Starr
31. C.J. McLaughlin
32. Joey Gase
33. Chad Finchum
34. Vinnie Miller
35. Stan Mullis
36. Noah Gragson
37. Alex Labbe
38. J.A. Junior Avila

Minnesota Wild defenseman Jared Spurgeon, coming off a career season, has signed a seven-year, $53.025 million contract extension, the team announced Saturday.

The deal averages $7.575 million per season and runs through the 2026-27 season.

Wild general manager Bill Guerin announced the new deal with the 29-year-old Spurgeon, who set career highs in goals (14) and assists (29) last season while playing in all 82 games.

Spurgeon also led the Wild with 145 blocked shots and was second behind Ryan Suter in time on ice with an average of 24:09 per game.

Pen to paper ✍️

? Go inside the room as #MNWild defenseman Jared Spurgeon inks a seven-year contract extension. pic.twitter.com/8QjJIIairc

— Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) September 14, 2019

"We love Jared. He's a homegrown guy. He's been here for his whole career and we want him to be here his whole career," Guerin said. "It was very important for us to get this done.

"This was the priority [this offseason]. ... We didn't want him going anywhere."

Spurgeon's 14 goals last season tied for third in franchise history among defensemen. He has blossomed into one of the team's indispensable players, ranking in the top 20 among NHL defensemen over the last four years in goals, power play goals, blocked shots and time on ice.

A sixth-round pick of the New York Islanders in 2008, Spurgeon was signed by the Wild as a free agent before the 2010-11 season and has played all nine of his NHL seasons with the team.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

GLENEAGLES, Scotland – Suzann Pettersen had high praise for long-hitting Solheim Cup rookie Anne Van Dam during their fourball victory on Friday.

“I think [she] is the best golfer I've ever seen on the women's side,” Pettersen said. “… She just was absolutely a rock star.”

A day later, the high-profile European duo teamed up for a fourball encore at Gleneagles, and though they were ultimately taken down on the final hole by American rookies Annie Park and Brittany Altomare, Pettersen turned back the clock with a vintage performance.

The 38-year-old Pettersen entered the week as a controversial captain’s pick, having played just three stroke-play events since taking nearly two years off for the birth of her first child. There were talks outside the team about who would replace her as Europe’s fearless leader.

But Pettersen maintained that her game was in “great shape,” and she proved it Saturday afternoon, making five birdies and having her score count for all but four holes in brutal conditions.

“She's still got it,” Park said. “She's got so much swag, and she's a trooper.”

All of Pettersen’s birdies came during a six-hole stretch beginning at the par-4 seventh, when her 15-footer was conceded after the Americans each missed par attempts. At the par-4 eighth, with a 30-plus mph wind howling into her face, she hit a piercing, low approach to 3 feet to set up another birdie. She followed with an up-and-down birdie at the par-5 ninth and added two more approach daggers to about 5 feet, at both the par-4 11^th and par-4 12^th holes.

“That was a great stretch,” Europe captain Catriona Matthew said. “… In those conditions, just phenomenal, it really was. Unless you were out there in it you didn't really realize quite how tough it was.”

Added Pettersen: “If you had told me I was going to go play golf in these conditions, I would have told [you] no. But if I could say I enjoyed it, yeah, I loved it. That's what this is all about. You kind of forget about the conditions and you just play what you get.”

Pettersen, who now has a 17-12-6 career record in this event after a 1-1 showing the first two days in Scotland, will get another rookie, Marina Alex, in Sunday’s third to last singles match. With the U.S. and Europe tied at eight points each, there’s a chance the Cup could come down to the wily Norwegian, who in a matter of days has gone from question mark back to ultimate intimidator.

“She's certainly had no questions to answer to me,” Matthew said. “I had 100-percent confidence in her right from the start. … And I have complete confidence in her going out in singles.”

GLENEAGLES, Scotland – Danielle Kang will lead off Sunday singles for the Americans at the Solheim Cup.

She’ll go up against Europe’s Carlota Ciganda.

Kang got the week started with some fireworks in front of a microphone, and she’ll get the chance to end it with some on the course. She had some over-the-top fun saying the Solheim Cup was about “taking souls” and making opponents cry, and she said she was told she might get booed in Scotland. It set off a backlash on social media and among British media, a mild storm that left Kang telling everyone to stop twisting her words and just chill out.

U.S. captain Juli Inkster obviously likes the tone Kang will set trying to get the Americans rolling early. European captain Catriona Matthew with the highest ranked European in the world (No 12) in Ciganda.

Inkster front loaded her lineup with Kang followed by Nelly Korda and Lexi Thompson. Korda and Thompson are the two highest ranked Americans in the world, Korda No. 10 and Thompson No. 3. Korda will face Caroline Hedwall, Thompson will go up against Georgia Hall.

Inkster is sending out Morgan Pressel as her anchor, a meaningful choice given how close these matches are (8-8) with the possibility the outcome could boil down to the last match. Pressel is the winningest American Solheim Cup player on Inkster’s roster with an 11-7-3 record. Matthew is sending out Anna Nordqvist as her anchor. Nordqvist is a two-time major champion and one of Europe’s most successful Solheim Cup players.

Here are the pairings for Sunday singles at the Solheim Cup (all times ET):

6:40 a.m.: Danielle Kang (USA) vs. Carlota Ciganda (EUR)

6:52 a.m.: Nelly Korda (USA) vs. Caroline Hedwall (EUR)

7:04 a.m.: Lexi Thompson (USA) vs. Georgia Hall (EUR)

7:16 a.m.: Annie Park (USA) vs. Celine Boutier (EUR)

7:28 a.m.: Angel Yin (USA) vs. Azahara Munoz (EUR)

7:40 a.m.: Megan Khang (USA) vs. Charley Hull (EUR)

7:52 a.m.: Lizette Salas (USA) vs. Anne Van Dam (EUR)

8:04 a.m.: Jessica Korda (USA) vs. Caroline Masson (EUR)

8:16 a.m.: Brittany Altomare (USA) vs. Jodi Ewart Shadoff (EUR)

8:28 a.m.: Marina Alex (USA) vs. Suzann Pettersen (EUR)

8:40 a.m.: Ally McDonald (USA) vs. Bronte Law (EUR)

8:52 a.m.: Morgan Pressel (USA) vs. Anna Nordqvist (EUR)

GLENEAGLES, Scotland – When Cristie Kerr didn’t make this year’s U.S. Solheim Cup team, captain Juli Inkster asked her star player, Lexi Thompson, who she’d prefer to partner with. Thompson, who had compiled a 11-1-2 record when paired with Kerr in international team events, responded, “I don’t really care.”

The Kordas? “That’s fine.”

Rookie Brittany Altomare? “That’s fine, too.”

But on Saturday afternoon, Thompson proved most flexible by agreeing to play with someone outside of her pod in a fourball match opposite Caroline Masson and Jodi Ewart Shadoff.

“I’d love to play with Marina,” said Thompson, who then teamed up with rookie Marina Alex to earn her second half-point of the week.

“I said, ‘Put me with anybody,’” Thompson said. “Everybody here has an amazing game and great attitude and will bring their best. … Whoever I was paired with, we'll go out there try our best and feed off each other.”

Thompson hasn’t had her best stuff this week. Already the 132^nd-ranked putter on the LPGA, Thompson has struggled on the greens aside from a 15-foot birdie make on Gleneagles’ par-5 18^th hole that halved her fourball match on Friday. A day later, in fierce winds that negated some of her length and ballstriking ability, Thompson carded just two birdies.

“You were going to see some poor shots just because of the wind,” Thompson said. “It was just difficult out there.”

But Thompson grinded and fought, and Alex picked her up with birdies on Nos. 14 and 16 to help get them to the last hole, where Thompson had an 8-footer for birdie to get her first full point of the week.

Her putt never touched the hole, but Masson bailed her out with a 6-foot miss.

Thompson won’t have anyone to save her in Sunday’s singles session. Not Kerr. Not any of her three partners this week. Just herself.

With the Solheim Cup tied at eight points apiece entering the final day, Thompson will go out third and face Georgia Hall, who has arguably been Europe’s best player, especially from a ballstriking perspective.

The U.S. could use a victory from the top-ranked player in the field. Inkster is confident they will get it.

“She's the third best player in the world, and she'll be there,” Inkster said. “She'll show up.”

Luis Suarez scored twice in his return for Barcelona as they made short work of Valencia in a 5-2 win at the Camp Nou with an injured Lionel Messi looking on from the sidelines.

The hosts raced out to a 2-0 lead with teenager Ansu Fati scoring the first goal and setting up the second for new arrival Frenkie de Jong inside of 10 minutes.

Kevin Gameiro finished off a nice team move to pull one back for Valencia before half-time, with the referee consulting VAR to award the goal after the linesman's flag had initially gone up for offside.

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Gerard Pique restored Barca's two-goal lead shortly after the restart, pouncing on a rebound from a well-hit Antoine Griezmann shot and tapping it home.

Substitute Suarez, back from a spell on the sidelines with an injury, produced a moment of brilliance shortly after coming on, faking a pass to his right and then curling a shot past Jasper Cillessen at the near post to make it 4-1.

The Uruguay international then added a second at the near post, picking up a loose ball in the penalty area and once again curling it just out of the reach of Cillessen.

Valencia scored a meaningless late goal through Maxi Gomez to reach the final scoreline as Barca eased to three important points on a day that table-toppers Atletico Madrid lost.

Next up for Barcelona is their Champions League group stage opener against Borussia Dortmund on Sept. 17, a match which Messi is also expected to miss.

NORWICH, England -- What happened at Carrow Road on Saturday is one of the reasons we are all in love with football, even if fans of Manchester City might feel a little differently.

By contrast, disbelieving Norwich supporters must pinch themselves to believe what they saw, as their team's 3-2 win marked the biggest sensation of the Premier League season. The newly promoted side were supposed to be complete no-hopers, with British bookmakers quoting them at 20-1 in a two-horse race. Their injury-ravaged team, with the worst defensive record in the division, could surely not compete with the champions' lethal attack, who were unbeaten in the league since losing at Newcastle in late January.

The Canaries spent just £1.4 million ($1.75m) in the summer window -- the lowest of any team in the top flight -- and faced a Man City squad that, according to a recent study, cost almost £1 billion to put together.

But the mission impossible became reality in one of the most dramatic games I have covered in recent years.

How did it happen? Were Norwich that good or Manchester City that bad? The answer was possibly a bit of both, although most of the explanation lies in the remarkable performance of the home side, who pulled off a tactical trick most of us thought was not in their repertoire.

Usually, Norwich are a bold, front-foot team that moves the ball quickly to set up chances for their ace scorer Teemu Pukki. Defence had often looked an optional extra, but perhaps fearing a morale-sapping mauling, manager Daniel Farke asked his depleted team to defend deep and close down all the avenues in which Man City operate.

This called for heroic contributions from three players making their first league starts of the season because of the injury crisis: Sam Byram, unwanted by West Ham; Ibrahim Amadou, on loan from Sevilla; and veteran midfield man Alex Tettey, who was with the club during its last Premier League adventure, some four years ago.

Norwich's concentration and covering were so exemplary that Pep Guardiola's team looked flat, possibly even complacent. Once Kenny McLean, another man who probably would not have been playing but for the absentees, put Norwich ahead in a rare foray forward after 18 minutes, the underdogs from Norfolk started to believe.

The front four of Pukki, Emiliano Buendia, Marco Stiepermann and Todd Cantwell, ensured that breaks were made with craft and menace, and when Pukki set up a second for Cantwell, born 20 miles from Norwich in Dereham, the atmosphere became even more frenzied.

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When Sergio Aguero pulled one back just before half-time, it seemed as if normality would return. It did not. A shocking error by Nicolas Otamendi led to Pukki scoring again, five minutes after the break. The score was 3-1 and a sense of the surreal pervaded the East Anglian night.

Man City threw on Kevin De Bruyne, Gabriel Jesus and Riyad Mahrez, but Norwich -- inspired by 21-year-old defender Ben Godfrey -- repelled everything until a long-range effort from Rodri pulled Man City within one again and set up a nerve-shredding finale.

Norwich fans boomed out their quaint "On the ball, City" anthem and the final whistle was greeted with a roar that was ear-splitting. Outside, supporters taunted their away rivals with playful chants of: "Champions of England, you're having a laugh."

Nobody should write off Guardiola's team on the back of one bad night, but the game raises questions about how good Man City's defence is without the commanding Aymeric Laporte, who is out until February with a knee injury. In his absence, Otamendi and John Stones were far from convincing.

Few slip-ups will be allowed by a Liverpool team that continues to rack up the wins and already enjoys a five-point lead at the top of the table.

As for Norwich, this was a highly improbable win that defied all logic, but which was well deserved and earned with a lorry load of sweat. It is nights and results like this that make the Premier League such a compelling spectacle.

As I write, while sitting on a train back to London, the fans in yellow and green cannot stop smiling and talking about what they just saw. Man City have many great days to come, but this one belonged to Norwich.

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Pittsburgh coach Pat Narduzzi joked before the 100th meeting between the Panthers and 13th-ranked Penn State that the next time the rivals face off, he'll either be retired or "in a coffin."

That's a long time to live with some curious decision-making that helped the Nittany Lions escape with a 17-10 win.

Opting to kick a field goal on fourth-and-goal at the Penn State 1 trailing by a touchdown with less than 4 minutes to go, Alex Kessman's 19-yard attempt clanked off the upright.

The Nittany Lions' defense later turned away Pitt's last-ditch possession to win their third straight in the series since it was renewed in 2016.

Journey Brown ran for 109 yards and a touchdown for Penn State (3-0) and Noah Cain's 13-yard third-quarter sprint to the end zone gave Penn State the lead for good. Sean Clifford completed 14 of 30 passes for 222 yards while spending most of the afternoon under heavy duress.

Pitt's Kenny Pickett threw for a career-high 372 yards, but Penn State held firm when it mattered. The Panthers had first-and-goal at the Penn State 1 midway through the fourth quarter. Two passes and a run went nowhere, and Narduzzi opted to kick, despite trailing by seven.

Kessman's miss allowed the Nittany Lions to bleed the clock a bit. Pitt drove from its 16 to the Penn State 26 in the final seconds, but Pickett's 51st and final pass attempt smacked off a sea of hands in the end zone and fell incomplete to let Penn State improve to 53-43-4 in the series.

A rivalry that dates back to 1893 is going on indefinite hiatus. The uncertain future provided a sense of finality, one Narduzzi didn't run from. He stressed to his players the outcome will give the winner bragging rights for years and possibly forever.

While Pitt fought gamely -- overcoming a slow start following a 30-minute weather delay to take a 10-7 lead -- the Panthers allowed Penn State to get into a rhythm late in the first half. Jordan Stout's school-record 57-yard field goal tied it at 10 going into the break.

Using the no huddle to help slow the Panther defense, Clifford led Penn State 88 yards in 13 plays, the last Cain's burst up the middle that put Penn State in front to stay.

Barely.

THE TAKEAWAY

Pitt: Five seasons into his tenure, the swaggering, aggressive defensive style Narduzzi cultivated during his long run as an assistant at Michigan State has finally become a part of the culture at Pitt. The secondary may be the best in the Atlantic Coast Conference and the defensive line looks capable even with starters Rashad Weaver and Keyshon Camp both done for the season with knee injuries.

Penn State: Things didn't come quite so easily for the Nittany Lions after a pair of blowouts to open the season. Yet Clifford proved his toughness while taking a pounding and -- just as importantly -- took care of the ball.

UP NEXT

Pitt: Welcomes No. 17 UCF to Heinz Field next Saturday. The Golden Knights drilled the Panthers 45-14 last year in Orlando.

Penn State: Off next week then opens Big Ten play by traveling to Maryland on Friday, Sept. 27. The Nittany Lions have beaten the Terrapins by a combined 104-6

Richard “Slugger” Labbe was a longtime fixture in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series garage area, but more than 30 years on the road every weekend took a toll on the Maine native.

He worked for a number of NASCAR’s elite teams, earning five victories as a crew chief at stock car racing’s top level. Two of those came in two of the sport’s biggest events — the Daytona 500 with Michael Waltrip in 2003 and the Brickyard 400 with Paul Menard in 2011.

He also worked with a multitude of other drivers, including Austin Dillon, Dale Jarrett, Sterling Marlin, David Gilliland, Jeremy Mayfield and Kenny Irwin Jr.

However, after losing his job at Richard Childress Racing midway through the 2017 season, Labbe decided it was time for a change.

“I’d been in NASCAR for 34 years with the last 20 as a crew chief,” Labbe explained. “I just got to the point where the normal grind of being a crew chief and working 80 to 100 hours a week was too much for me. Being 50 years old, I finally had enough of the NASCAR grind every week.

“So I decided to kick back and slow down my work ethics. I really didn’t do anything for three months. I did a little work for NBC as an on-air analyst, I did some stuff for MRN, just kind of trying to stay relevant in the sport.”

After a few months away from racing, an opportunity arose for Labbe to join Toyota Racing Development.

“A good friend of mine, Andy Graves, who runs Toyota Racing Development, called me a couple of times about coming to work for TRD,” Labbe recalled. “Lowe and behold I’m closing in on two years.”

The opportunity was far too good to pass up. Fast-forward two years and Labbe still works for Toyota Racing Development. His official title is Engineering Manager, Vehicle Support.

“Basically, anything TRD offers up to the teams, if it’s NHRA, if it’s NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR Xfinity Series, NASCAR Truck Series, ARCA Series, K&N, any support that TRD offers up kind of funnels through me and I make sure teams get everything they need,” Labbe said. “It could be anything from time on the simulator at the office to simulation data acquisitions, programs, so many things that we offer to our teams. I just make sure the teams are utilizing everything we have to offer to help them win races.”

Labbe says his position at Toyota doesn’t include the same stress he dealt with when he was a NASCAR crew chief.

“The biggest thing with NASCAR is the grind is huge. I will say when you’re a crew chief you have a big old target on your back. It’s called performance,” Labbe said. “If you don’t perform, you get that arrow right in the center of the back.

“Here, in my current position, the stress level is way, way low. When you’re a Cup crew chief, the stress level is way, way high to perform,” he continued. “After doing it for so long, I just had to realize what was more important and, to me, it’s spending more time with my family and spending more time at home. To do that I couldn’t be a crew chief anymore.

“So it was either stay out of the sport or stay at the office and be an R&D manager or just do something completely different. This here, working for TRD, is my completely different.”

Labbe’s travel schedule is much lighter now, allowing him to spend more time with his family.

“The NHRA series is 24 races, I’ll probably attend 18 to 20. I also go to quite a few of the truck races,” he noted.