GRANITE CITY, Ill. – Friday’s Brandt River Town Showdown has been canceled by officials from Track Enterprises, Tri-City Speedway and USAC due to a worsening forecast throughout the afternoon and evening hours.

The event was scheduled to feature the USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget Series and the USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car Series.

The USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget Series resumes action next Wednesday and Thursday, Sept. 4-5 with the Driven2SaveLives BC39 powered by NOS Energy Drink at The Dirt Track at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

The USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Cars resume action Friday, Sept. 13, with the Jim Hurtubise Classic at the Terre Haute (Ind.) Action Track and Saturday, Sept. 14, with the Haubstadt Hustler at Tri-State Speedway in Haubstadt, Ind.

DARLINGTON, S.C. – Dale Earnhardt Jr. faced the media on Friday afternoon at Darlington Raceway not wanting to have any discussion on the plane crash he and his family lived through two weeks earlier.

His sole focus was on getting back in the driver’s seat and turning laps at race pace once again.

Earnhardt is driving in NASCAR this weekend for just the second time since hanging up his helmet from full-time driving in November of 2017 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Notably, he’s piloting his own No. 8 Chevrolet in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, carrying a throwback scheme that his father – Dale Earnhardt – drove in 1975, when the senior Earnhardt made his Cup Series debut.

It all adds up to an overarching feeling of gratefulness for Earnhardt, a two-time Xfinity Series champion who now serves as an analyst and commentator for NBC Sports.

“It’s just a real blessing for me to be able to run at least one race a year and be able to relive my past,” said Earnhardt Jr. “That’s kind of why I picked this race at Darlington, is because of the throwback weekend. It’s such a great celebration of the history of the sport, and I wanted to … I wanted to be more a part of that. I got to experience it from the broadcast booth last year and I thought, ‘man, I’m getting to run a race each year. Why don’t I just go to Darlington and do something fun with a throwback car?

“That’s what we did here, and it’s cool to be able to draw some awareness to not only dad’s story, but Ed Negre and Norman Negre, the guys that owned that race car that dad drove in 1975.”

The last time Earnhardt drove in the Xfinity Series, he led 96 laps and finished fourth at Richmond (Va.) Raceway last September. It was a performance that could have won him a race that evening.

This weekend at Darlington, Earnhardt admitted it may not be as simple to contend as he made it look at Richmond.

“I know I’ve run a bunch of Cup races here, but these cars are so different than the Cup cars,” Earnhardt noted. “When Joey Logano ran at Chicago, he said many times during the week that he just wasn’t ever really comfortable until about halfway through the race. It finally started to click because of the difference in how the Cup cars and Xfinity cars drive, but this year, it’s very extreme between the two.

“So I think that it’s going to be probably halfway through the race before I have any kind of real understanding of what I need to be doing or where I need to be running … and that’s going to make for an interesting process in practice all day long,” he added. “I picked a real hard track to go to. I don’t know what the hell I was thinking, picking this place, but it’s throwback weekend. It’s hard not to want to be a part of that.

“But yeah, this was probably the worst track in terms of difficulty and challenge and heat and being uncomfortable that I could have chosen.”

That difficulty level has, Earnhardt admitted, left a sense of nervousness on his psyche going into the weekend.

“Of course I’m nervous,” he said. “I never was not nervous about driving race cars. I’ve raced all my life, but every race, I was just equally as nervous as the last one. Leading into qualifying or practice or … whatever it is, you can’t help but get nervous. It’s a very wild experience being inside these things.”

In spite of that, however, Earnhardt recognizes the importance that Throwback Weekend has had on the sport over its five-year tenure.

“It’s been really fun to watch it grow and people take it more seriously,” Earnhardt said of Darlington’s throwback project. “This was my hope when they started talking about the throwback weekend, was that it would sort of take root and become something of a tradition that we would do every year … and that seems to be what’s going on with it. The best thing about it is that the teams are embracing it. You’ve seen that over the years with the Wood Brothers and Aric Almirola … Kyle Larson, and all these different individuals really going full on into it.

“Looking at Alex Bowman’s social media this week and all the pushes for content that people were creating and delivering on this particular weekend, it has just been a lot of fun and a great experience.”

And though he was, as expected, still asked about the plane crash in Elizabethton, Tenn., two weeks earlier, Earnhardt quickly deflected any lengthy conversation about that subject.

“I don’t want to talk about that,” he said. “It was a very scary experience and we’re just happy to have a weekend like this to look forward to. I’m just trying to get back to doing my job as a broadcaster and working with NBC and all the things that, you know, we’re excited about and happy about in our lives.

“I’m ready to focus on all those things and get back to business here at the track.”

PORTLAND, Ore. – Rookie Colton Herta has taken to the Portland Int’l Raceway like a veteran.

Perhaps that is because Portland is the site of his first test in an Indy car last year.

Herta was the fastest driver in Friday’s combined practice sessions for Sunday’s Grand Prix of Portland. He lapped the 12-turn, 1.964-mile road course in 57.4293 for a fast lap at 123.115 mph in the No. 88 Honda.

Alexander Rossi, who trails Josef Newgarden by 46 points in the NTT IndyCar Series standings, was second quick at 57.5538 (122.849 mph) in the No. 27 NAPA Honda.

“We didn’t get a lap in on Reds, so I think our theoretical is being third quick,” Rossi said afterwards. “Overall, I’m super happy with the NAPA car. We’ll have to figure some things out overnight but overall I think the general pace is there and we just need to fine tune it.”

Scott Dixon, 70 points back, was third at 57.5538 (122.342 mph) in the No. 9 PNC Bank Honda, followed by Newgarden at 57.8504 (122.219 mph) in the No. 2 Chevrolet.

Marco Andretti rounded out the top five with a fast lap at 57.9006 (122.113 mph) in the No. 98 Honda.

Earlier in the day, several of the championship contenders talked about their battle with two races to go in the NTT IndyCar Series championship.

Newgarden has a 38-point lead over Team Penske teammate and 2016 NTT IndyCar Series champion Simon Pagenaud.

“I don’t think it’s a secure position, but it is the favorable one,” Newgarden said. “If we lose it, it probably would sting a bit more. If you are 38, 48 points back, I think it stings less. It sucks either way. But if you lose it with a bigger advantage, then yeah, I think it just stings a bit more.”

Pagenaud believes he has to look straight ahead and focus on his own car, rather than count the points or do the scenarios in his head.

“The only control over my destiny is to do the best I can,” Pagenaud said. “It doesn’t really matter what Josef or Alex, or Scott do. It really is about my own performance.

“I’m really focused on that, focused on being in the moment as much as possible. We’ll see what we can do. The car felt much, much better today. Step by step we’ll get the little details and get quicker and quicker as a team.

“I’m pretty excited about this weekend. It’s really awesome to be at in point of the season, last two races, four guys in the championship, it’s really exciting.”

Seeking a "continued, sustained period of labor peace," NHL commissioner Gary Bettman announced on Friday that the league will not exercise its option to reopen the collective bargaining agreement that's due to expire after the 2020-21 season.

The NHL had until Sept. 1 to decide whether to reopen the CBA, potentially ending its current term in September 2020. The NHL Players' Association has until Sept. 15 to exercise its own option to reopen negotiations. There have been concerns that if either side opted out, it could lead to the third work stoppage in the league since 2004. The NHLPA released a statement on Friday saying they will continue to discuss the matter with the players as the Sept. 15 deadline approaches.

"Based on the current state of the game and the business of the game, the NHL believes it is essential to continue building upon the momentum we have created with our Players and, therefore, will not exercise its option to reopen the CBA," Bettman said in a statement. "Rather, we are prepared to have the current CBA remain in effect for its full term -- three more seasons through the conclusion of the 2021-22 season."

The NHL's owners have been pleased with the current CBA, which was ratified in January 2013. Revenue has grown steadily for the league, and with it the salary cap. Revised rules on contracts and the "cost certainty" of the cap system have produced a strong decade of growth for the league.

The NHL's players have benefited from that CBA to a point. The escrow system, in which a percentage of a player's salary is withheld every season to cover potential shortfalls on the part of the owners -- with a portion refunded at the end of the season -- is much reviled by the players.

"We're paying so much on our checks every two weeks, it's like astronomical," New Jersey Devils left wing Taylor Hall told ESPN last season.

Another point of contention for the players: international play, and in particular Olympic participation. The Beijing Winter Games are set for 2022. The NHL infamously skipped the 2018 Olympics in South Korea, refusing to allow its players to represent their countries after failing to cut a deal with the International Olympic Committee.

Are these issues, and others, enough to compel the players to reopen the CBA now?

"Of course the players are not looking for a fight," NHLPA executive director Donald Fehr told ESPN in January, "The players' view is what it always has been. And what I expressed in the last go-around ad nauseam, is that from the players' standpoint a work stoppage is the last resort you come to. You only do it when that's a better option than the agreements that are on the table. That hasn't been the management practice in a number of sports in the last 35 or 40 years. But hopefully this time will be different. We'll see."

The NHL has had a work stoppage during every period of collective bargaining under Bettman.

"In any CBA, the parties can always identify issues they are unhappy with and would like to see changed. This is certainly true from the League's standpoint," Bettman said in Friday's statement. "However, our analysis makes clear that the benefits of continuing to operate under the terms of the current CBA -- while working with the Players' Association to address our respective concerns -- far outweigh the disruptive consequences of terminating it following the upcoming season.

The union's executive board is scheduled to meet in Chicago on Wednesday. The league and union have been meeting through the summer and those discussions are scheduled to continue. There are some ticking clocks ahead of the CBA's expiration: the Olympics and the expiration of the NHL's U.S. television contract, both in 2022.

Alexis Sanchez's failure to succeed at Manchester United was not entirely down to the player, according to Pep Guardiola.

The Manchester City manager tried to bring Sanchez to the Etihad Stadium but was pipped to his signature by their rivals, who signed him in the 2018 winter window.

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The Chilean scored just five goals in 45 games during a disastrous 18 months at Old Trafford and has now been loaned to Inter Milan but Guardiola believes the failed spell is not only down to Sanchez.

"You judge it was a failure for just Alexis, but there are many reasons," Guardiola told a news conference on Friday.

"Quality is there. It is always there. It is not only for one player that doesn't work with one team. They don't play alone, it's not tennis, it's not golf.

"You play with 10 players against one system, against opponents, against many many things are involved in one player performing well in the team.

"When one player I had in my 10 years as a manager it doesn't work, I don't say it's because of him."

Guardiola worked with Sanchez at Barcelona and came close to landing him from Arsenal in the summer of 2017.

The forward eventually joined United in January 2018 in a swap deal with Henrikh Mkhitaryan after City baulked at the cost of the deal.

"I don't know [if it would have been different for Sanchez at City]," said Guardiola. "Maybe he would have been bad too. I don't know. The moment he decided to go to United was perfect.

"I wished him all the best here and personally and that's all. I don't know what happened, I was not there so that's why I cannot give my opinion, but I am not thinking it is just for one reason."

Sanchez will spend the next 10 months in Milan where he will be reunited with Romelu Lukaku, who left United for Inter in a £74 million deal.

The pair will work under Antonio Conte, who was appointed at the San Siro in the summer, and Guardiola believes the Italian is the right man to get Sanchez back to his best.

"We worked together in Barcelona I have a special affection as a player, of course, but especially as a human being," said Guardiola.

"He's an incredible, humble guy and a fighter. He decided to move Italy with one of the greatest teams in Europe with Inter right now, incredible manager with Antonio Conte and I'm pretty sure they are going to do well.

"Because the way I think Inter plays, it suits perfect for him. Play close to Lukaku and in this position I think he is going to have a good period in Milan."

Shortly after being named Massimiliano Allegri's successor at Juventus, Maurizio Sarri boarded a private jet to the Cote d'Azur. The 60-year-old former foreign exchange dealer was off to introduce himself to Cristiano Ronaldo, the five-time Ballon d'Or winner and most expensive signing in the history of Serie A. On the yacht Ronaldo had rented for his post-Nations League holiday, Sarri explained his plans for Juventus and the team's superstar.

He started at the bottom now he's here. From one Cristiano to another. Fifteen years ago, Cristiano Caleri, the captain of fourth division Sangiovannese received a phone call. It was the team's new coach: Maurizio Sarri. Sarri had only recently taken the decision to leave his job at the Banca Toscana and throw himself into full-time management.

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Caleri had already heard the name. Word of Sarri's achievements half an hour down the road in Monte San Savino had spread. "He was already a little bit famous in Tuscany," Caleri recalls fondly. "He'd won a couple of titles [taking non-league Sansovino from Italy's sixth tier to its fourth, lifting the Serie D cup along the way]."

Sangiovannese was Sarri's first gig in professional football. "I still remember the first day," Caleri says. "He called me and said: 'Capitano, I need to talk to you. Come over to my house.' It was the night before our preseason training camp. We went into this room set up for him to analyse games. There were all these VHS tapes." It became clear to Caleri that Sarri had watched a lot of Sangiovannese. He knew the midfielder's game inside and out. "He says this to me. These were his actual words. 'You are my captain. But if you carry on playing like this ... you ain't playing.'"

Caleri bursts out laughing in recollection. "I've always said, in private, he's a comedian," Caleri says. "He's super smart. Seeing him on TV, he can seem a bit dour and hard work, but he's amazing. He doesn't even think he's all that funny. I'm like: 'What do you mean you don't think you're funny. You're a comic.' And you know what Tuscans are like." After all, Roberto Benigni's sense of humour won him an Oscar for "Life is Beautiful."

But back to that night in Sarri's film room. Just imagine if he'd said the same thing to Ronaldo? In the event he did, Caleri is in no doubt that come the end of the conversation, Sarri would have succeeded in capturing the Portuguese's imagination.

"For me, seeing him at Juve, it makes me so proud," he says. "It's bellissimo. He's an extremely intelligent guy and he knows what he's talking about. If he talks football with Ronaldo, he'll spellbind him. He'll arouse his curiosity. Sarri knows what to say. Talking to him, he wins you over."

How exactly? Well, it's quite simply really. Part of it is language. Sarri has a way with words. Getting his message across has never been a problem. "He's a very good communicator," Caleri explains. "You saw how he went to England and how little time it took him to speak very good English. He gets into your head. He beguiles you. He made it easy for us to understand him. The mister was very good at the whiteboard. Very good at illustrating what he wanted."

At the end of the day, though, the answer is to be found in an appeal to the senses; it's the power of an idea, the attraction of an aesthetic. Caleri pauses. "James," he says, "his football was to die for." Even in the fourth tier, "The football we played was good to watch," he adds. "Maybe not as good as his teams play today. Now it's bello, bello, bello. Back then it was about aggression and intensity too. But the football was still good because that's what he wanted. It's what he worked towards. What he studied."

Sarrismo, as defined in the Italian dictionary, "is based on speed and a propensity for attacking football." This was Caleri's experience in 2003. "I played in midfield. I was a bit like the guy he took with him from Napoli to Chelsea ... Jorginho! Just not quite as good," Caleri says with self-deprecation.

"I'd take the ball off the centre-backs, play a pass, watch it, 'Niiiice' I'd think to myself ... But he said to me: 'No, Cristiano. You're the guy who has to set the tone for this team. You need to play with intensity. Be aggressive. Take the team by the scruff of the neck.' He made me understand that I had to give it my all, I had to be his condottiero. He transformed me. I owe him a lot. He taught me that football is intensity, aggression, desire, determination."

Sarri's association with the pursuit of beauty through football often has meant that the emphasis he puts on mentality and toughness gets overlooked. He is categorised as a purist, not a winner. Yet when Caleri worked under him, Sarri was delivering promotion after promotion -- three in four years to be exact -- taking teams to places they'd never been before. Success mattered to him and Sarri drove it into his players.

Caleri tells a story about training in winter. Sometimes the pitch would be frozen, but sessions were never abandoned. "He threw himself into it. He wanted us to never give up and train regardless of what the conditions were like. There were times when we turned to him and said: 'No, mister, it's dangerous'. But he'd find a way of getting us to train all the same. He'd never give up. He'd say: 'Come on, we can't let anything get in our way. We need to give it our all. He was so determined and managed to pass that determination and desire onto us."

For Sarri, Sangiovannese must stop at nothing to achieve the aim of promotion to Italy's third division. As such Caleri made his coach a wager. Famously superstitious to the extreme, Sarri was in his black tracksuit phase. "You know that colours never existed to him," Caleri says. "He only ever wore black [for good luck]. So I made him this bet. If we won the Serie C2 title and got into C1 with this little team from San Giovanni di Valdarno, a town with a population of 10,000, it would have caused a sensation. Everyone would go crazy. So I said if we win the league, you have to come to our final game of the season in one of my pink shirts. We won the league and he turned up in pink. He's an exceptional guy."

Watching Sarri's rise has brought Caleri tremendous satisfaction. "The beautiful thing is when he got to Serie B with Empoli and then Serie A, all the corner routines and other schemes he used to make us practice, he still did them! The same ones! The thing is it's different watching them on Sky than on local TV. They become even more beautiful. People would see them on Sky and go: 'Madonna, did you see that?' And he'd been doing these things for years just with players who weren't as good, guys who played with me in C. The higher he went, the more he found himself working with guys who could strike the ball better and put it close to or on the penalty spot, the exact place he wanted it. And his schemes started coming off even better."

Now that Caleri's playing days are over, he holds down two jobs. One in insurance, the other in football. He took his coaching badges five years ago, but you won't find him in a dugout like Sarri. He is the current sporting director of Sangiovannese, and when there's a chance to go and see his old coach, Caleri takes it. In fact, he was planning on driving up to Turin to watch Juventus train, only for Sarri to come down with pneumonia.

Continassa, the Italian champions' state of the art training ground, feels a long way from San Giovanni di Valdarno, but behind its walls reside elements of Sangiovannese. It's a source of immense pride to Caleri, and it goes beyond Sarri too. Loris Beoni used to coach Sangiovannese's youth team. Gianni Picchioni hails from San Giovanni di Valdarno. The pair of them now assist Sarri at Juventus. They train Ballon d'Or and World Cup winners on a daily basis. How about that?

"I definitely thought he'd do well," Caleri says of Sarri. "But picturing him coming this far ... all the way to Juve ... that's not easy. I expected him to do well. He was just so good at his job. A really cultured guy. Seeing him at Juve, well, it makes me emotional. I'm so happy for him. So happy. He deserves it."