TOLEDO, Ohio – With two miles to go in the Allen Crowe 100 at the Illinois State Fairgrounds, it looked like Corey Heim was sitting pretty.

He was in second place, right alongside leader Michael Self as the field was readying for a two-lap dash to the checkered flag. When the green waved, Self took off and Heim stayed right with him through turns one and two and down the backstretch of the one-mile dirt oval.

But turns three and four is where it all went awry for the seventeen-year-old Marietta, Ga., native.

Self pushed him up the track. Just like a paved track where loose rubber accumulates throughout the race, the upper groove of a dirt track is covered in loose dirt from the course of the race. Heim went sliding through 100 miles worth of loose dirt, and as he fought for traction and control he dropped from second to seventh.

The fact he was second with a couple of laps to go belied Heim’s dirt track experience level. The race at Springfield was the first time in Heim’s racing career he had ever been on dirt.

His ninth top-10 finish in 10 career ARCA Menards Series starts was a consolation prize of sorts, but Heim was still disappointed with the result.

“He did what I would have done,” Heim said. “He was down on the inside and he pushed me up the track and used me up. I got up into the loose dirt and gave up a lot of spots. It’s disappointing to go from second to seventh but that’s part of racing for the win.”

Heim won’t have to wait long to reload and try for his first career series victory. When the ARCA Menards Series goes green in the Southern Illinois 100, he’ll also have another chance at scoring a win on dirt as the series makes is second appearance on dirt with a traditional Labor Day weekend stop at the DuQuoin State Fairgrounds. With a stock car history that dates back to the 1950s and ARCA’s history at the one-mile oval dating back to 1983, Heim would like to add his name to a list of winners that includes Jerry Unser, Don White, A.J. Foyt, Rusty Wallace, and Tony Stewart.

It’s a lofty goal for a young man who only has a couple seasons of stock car racing experience under his belt.

“We’re going to DuQuoin to win,” added Heim. “I’m putting pressure on myself to win and finish what we started at Springfield. Paul (Andrews, crew chief) and the entire Chad Bryant Racing team have worked hard to bring me fast, competitive cars no matter what type of track we’re competing at.

“I learned a lot at Springfield and even though DuQuoin will be run at night, I’m hopeful that what I learned a couple weeks can be applied to Saturday night and it will bring Chad Bryant Racing another checkered flag this season.”

For the vast majority of its existence, the Southern Illinois 100 has been run under the often-intense southern Illinois sun. The heat and humidity, mixed with the often dusty track surface as a result, made the DuQuoin race one of the most challenging on drivers and demanding on equipment throughout the entire season.

For the second time in the race’s history it will be run under the lights on the Magic Mile, and for the first time in the event’s history, it will be run on a Saturday night. As the opening race of a two-day race weekend – Sunday’s traditional USAC Silver Crown Series race remains unchanged – track conditions should be vastly different than year’s past. It will be cooler, and the track’s surface will not have any rubber worked into it when the ARCA Menards Series takes to the track.

Those differences will create enough of an unknown that it should level the playing field even more for Heim as he continues to gain dirt track experience.

“I’m really not sure what to expect with the track conditions especially practicing and qualifying during the day and racing at night,” added Heim. “I expect the handling of our race car will change, so I’ll be leaning on Paul (Andrews) to make the right adjustments and I know he’ll expect me to do everything I can to keep ourselves in contention.

“I only have three ARCA Menards Series races left this season and I’d like to win all three of them if I can, but it’s going to take perfect execution and making sure we don’t stumble when the opportunity is there for the taking.”

MOORESVILLE, N.C.  – When Matt Tifft was growing up, his dad owned a dirt late model driven by Michigan Motorsports Hall of Famer David Hilliker.

On weekends and school breaks, the Tifft family would travel to Michigan to see Hilliker’s No. 21 race.

According to Tifft, “You could say David Hilliker was my childhood dirt track hero.”

For the Bojangles’ Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway, Tifft’s No. 36 Front Row Motorsports Ford Mustang will run a special paint scheme honoring that part of his family’s history. The paint scheme, which was unveiled Monday, is a replica of Hilliker’s car from that era.

“I’m really excited to recreate this paint scheme for Darlington,” said Tifft. “When I was little, my dad would bring home this car in the offseason and we’d tear it down together. That was where I first learned how to work on a race car.

“My dad has been such a huge influence throughout my career, and I couldn’t have gotten to this point without him,” Tifft continued. “I’m grateful for the opportunity to give him this kind of recognition and can’t wait to see his face when he sees the car in person for the first time.”

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Carolina Hurricanes prospect Stelio Mattheos will miss training camp while he fights testicular cancer.

General manager Don Waddell said Monday that the 20-year-old forward is expected to return to full health and will resume training for the upcoming season once he completes treatment and is cleared by doctors.

Mattheos was diagnosed in June, two days after helping Carolina's AHL affiliate in Charlotte win a championship. He had surgery to remove one testicle and has completed multiple courses of chemotherapy during the past two months.

Carolina drafted Mattheos in the third round in 2017, and he joined Charlotte late in the regular season before playing in 14 playoff games.

LOS ANGELES -- LAFC manager Bob Bradley said winger Carlos Vela suffered a hamstring injury in Sunday night's match against the LA Galaxy and that the club wasn't taking any chances with its captain.

Less than 10 minutes after Vela scored the second-half equalizer that clinched a 3-3 draw at home against their rivals, a furious Vela was brought off the field after showing signs of strain.

Caught off-guard by an unexpected substitution, Vela threw his captain's armband to the ground during the 61st minute. Vela then briefly chatted with Bradley on the sidelines before returning to the bench and punching one of the seats.

"Carlos, [his] hamstring tweaked," said Bradley in the post-game press conference. "We don't know for sure. I don't think it's a real bad one, knock wood, but we weren't taking any chances. Obviously, he is a huge competitor so he's not too happy when he comes off."

"The conversation with Carlos is what you would expect.

"I made the decision because I think it's the best one for us."

Vela remains a heavy favorite in the MVP race and leads the league with 27 goals in 26 games.

The LAFC coach reiterated that there are no details yet on the severity of the injury. An MRI on Monday will further help clarify whether Vela will be ready to return to the field at some point in the near future.

"Every now and then he'll feel a little something that hasn't ended up being anything bad, so hopefully that's the case," Bradley said.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored two first-half goals for the Galaxy and newcomer Cristian Pavon netted his first since joining on loan from Boca Juniors. LAFC rallied on Latif Blessing's brace and then scratched out the draw with Vela's score.

LAFC have yet to beat the Galaxy in five matches since joining MLS as an expansion team last season, with two losses and three draws.

"Obviously,there's just what's hanging over our heads which is beating the Galaxy. When you don't do it, there's a part to it that still stings and it will continue to hang over our heads," Bradley said.

"But what goes with that is the part of continuing to grow as a team and I still think that the package of things it takes to be a great team, most are going in the right direction."

LAFC's next match against Minnesota United on Sept. 1 at Banc of California Stadium.

Vishwa Fernando's 6, Monty Panesar's 7, Clive Eksteen's 4… and now Jack Leach's 1.

The list of the greatest unbeaten single-figure innings in Test history is not a prestigious one, but its members all share cult-hero status. In no other sport are players so prominently exposed for their inability in one facet of the game - Neymar wouldn't make much of a centre-back, but he doesn't ever have to spend 30 minutes trying to rescue a point there - and while those who fail are mocked, success as a tailender can turn an unremarkable player into a legend.

ALSO READ: From Vishwa to Panesar - six great single-figure innings

Leach's 60-minute, 17-ball epic in a remarkable last-wicket stand of 76 with Ben Stokes to haul England across the line at Headingley could so easily have been forgotten. Stokes offered a difficult catch to Marcus Harris at third man, repeatedly cleared fielders on the rope by the finest of margins, and would have been lbw but for the absence of DRS; if any of those had turned out differently, Leach's efforts would have been an irrelevance.

Instead, he found himself exalted.

"I don't know what it is," he said. "It's probably because I look like a village cricketer out there in my glasses, the bald head - maybe people think 'that could be me!' All the others look pretty professional.

"The support's been amazing, the support today for all of us was incredible. The noise was insane, and I'm just enjoying playing for England."

While wiping his glasses before facing each ball made him a subject of amusement, Somerset's former strength and conditioning coach Daz Veness paid tribute to his "outstanding mental strength".

"Bat down, gloves off, helmet off, glasses off, glasses cleaned, everything back on in reverse order," he tweeted. "You'll bowl when I'm ready and my mate has caught his breath. And not before."

Bat down
Gloves off
Helmet off
Glasses off
Glasses cleaned
Everything back on in reverse order

You'll bowl when I'm ready and my mate has caught his breath. And not before.

Outstanding mental strength from The Nut

— Darren Veness (@DazVeness) August 25, 2019

In the manner that county team-mate Marcus Trescothick has done in the final years of his career, Leach - who cannot wear contact lenses because he suffers from astigmatism - managed to dictate the pace of the game throughout his stay at the crease.

"I just have to make sure they are clean every time they were facing up because I would really regret it if it had been smudged," he said, "and then they zoom in on the glasses and say 'he didn't clean his glasses'.

"I just had to stay calm and do the job at hand. I felt good out there, I was really focused on what I needed to do."

Generally left to face a ball or two at the end of an over, Leach left, ducked, weaved and defended his way out of trouble. "I got on with it," he said, "and it [the target] quite quickly seemed to go down. Suddenly it's eight to win, and you're like 'oh my God'.

"It is all a bit of a blur to be honest. I didn't want to get in Stokesy's bubble when he was doing really well, hitting those sixes. I didn't want to say too much but I also wanted him to just focus on the next ball, especially when we got close.

"He said in the changing room that he got nervous when it was down to eight. It seemed so close but the way we were playing it was still quite far away. I just wanted him to focus on every ball, and if it was there he would hit it for six."

There was, of course, the run-out-that-wasn't. If Nathan Lyon had managed to gather the ball as Leach found himself stranded halfway down the pitch, the narrative around his innings would be starkly different.

"That was not a nice moment," Leach said. "There were two balls left so I thought [Stokes] might squeeze a single so that I could face one and he'd have the next over. But it's all good. I don't want to focus on that moment - I want to focus on running down to Stokes when he hit the winning runs."

And so he might. If his team-mates' hardships rarely seem to extend beyond a bad run of form, it is worth reflecting on the multiple setbacks that Leach has overcome on his ascent to the Test side.

He suffers from Crohn's disease, a bowel condition that is often triggered by stress. In 2015, he fractured his skull after fainting on his way to the toilet in the middle of the night. The next summer, his hopes of an international call-up were twice set back; first by comments from his county captain Chris Rogers that he was not "emotionally" ready, then by the news that routine tests at Loughborough had revealed an illegal kink in his bowling action.

Last summer, he found out he had broken his thumb the day before he was set to be announced in the Test squad to play Pakistan. A concussion suffered after being hit by a Morne Morkel bouncer then cost him the chance to prove his form ahead of the India series, and he was again left out.

Perhaps it is no surprise, then, that Leach revealed he thought he would "be watching at home" during this series.

"I wanted to be ready to play and not presume anything," he said. "It's been a tough lead-in because obviously the county cricket has been all T20 stuff, my last long bowl was the Australia A game [for the England Lions in July] which was quite a while ago. That's been a challenge but I've tried to stay ready through training, and my opportunity has come about so I'm trying to make the most of it."

If those comments are damning on the suitability of the county fixture list, they also serve to add to Leach's status as a normal bloke. To stay match-fit between the Ireland Test and his Ashes debut at Lord's, he went home to play for his club side, Taunton Deane. Once part of the Cardiff MCCU production line under Mark O'Leary, he is an example to every club, university, and county cricketer as to what can be achieved with sheer dedication.

It is important, too, to remember that Leach has bowled well in his two opportunities this series. Since Graeme Swann's retirement, England have longed for a spinner who can tie down an end at home; for all Moeen Ali's mercurial talents, he has generally been a wicket-taker rather than a defensive option.

So Leach's economy rate of 2.64 in this series has been just as important as his five wickets. Moving into the final two Tests, at the traditionally more spin-friendly venues in the country, he will be expected to play a role of increasing importance.

"I think I have more to offer with the ball," he said, "and hopefully I'm able to show that over the next couple of games. Obviously the last couple of times I've been doing media stuff at the end of games it's been for my batting, which is mad! I want to be helping the team out with the ball primarily, and I'm looking to bring my best to Old Trafford."

Sussex 176 for 3 (Carey 61, Salter 3-37) beat Glamorgan 174 for 4 (Marsh 52, Ingram 50) by seven wickets

A blistering half-century from Australia's Alex Carey at the top of the innings, with useful support from the middle order, enabled Sussex to easily overcome Glamorgan's challenge and remain at the top of the South Group. Glamorgan, meanwhile, have yet to win a game this season, and have just the final game, at home against Hampshire on Friday, to redeem themselves.

Sussex, needing to score at more than 8.5 an over, were without their captain and opening batsman Luke Wright who had damaged his wrist whilst fielding but Carey proved a capable deputy by destroying the Glamorgan attack in the opening overs.

Marchant De Lange was struck for 33 in his two overs as Carey raced to 50 from 23 balls, and after six overs Sussex were 72 without loss - 27 runs ahead of Glamorgan after the Powerplay. Andrew Salter then dismissed both openers, Phil Salt bowled heaving across the line, then Carey feathering a catch to the wicketkeeper

Salter took his third wicket in the 12th over when Delroy Rawlins swung across the line, but Sussex remained in control, needing 55 from the remaining eight overs. With David Wiese hitting arguably the biggest six seen at the ground - the ball striking the wall of the media centre - and Laurie Evans also punishing some loose bowling, Sussex strode home with 19 balls to spare.

Glamorgan, who opted to bat first, made a steady start with Nick Selman, playing only his third game in the competition this season, and Shaun Marsh scoring 45 from the Powerplay overs with Selman punishing Jason Behrendorff for 17 in his third over.

The opening pair had put on 72, with Selman scoring 40 from 23 balls, which included five fours and two sixes. They were separated in the 10th over, when Selman was caught on the long-off boundary in Will Beer's second over.

Following Selman's dismissal, Marsh began to accelerate, reaching his fifty from 44 balls, with Glamorgan reaching 100 in the 13th over. He added a further two runs before was caught on the square-leg boundary for 52, with four fours and two sixes.

Glamorgan were 164 for 2 with two overs remaining, but Ingram, after a lean season by his standards, scoring only one fifty in the opening game, reached a half-century from 39 balls, before departing to the first ball of the 18th over where Ollie Robinson held on to a well-judged catch on the extra cover boundary. A couple of lusty blows from David Lloyd and Chris Cooke enabled the home team to post a competitive total.

Derbyshire 162 for 3 (Madsen 69, Godleman 57) beat Lancashire 151 for 9 (Livingstone 58, Rampaul 3-19) by 11 runs

Derbyshire secured a Vitality Blast quarter-final berth with an impressive and pulsating 11-run win over North Group leaders Lancashire at Emirates Old Trafford.

The Lightning lost for only the second time in 13 games and will have to wait until later in the week to secure top spot in the group as they failed to chase 163 and 16 off the last over from ex-West Indies quick Ravi Rampaul. Derbyshire won their seventh game in 14 to jump to second place, but they can't secure a home tie in the last eight.

Liam Livingstone's 58 off 36 balls was the feature of Lancashire's 151 for 9 in front of 14,752 crowd - a non-Roses Blast record at Old Trafford.

Wayne Madsen top-scored with a superb 69 off 39 balls, while captain Billy Godleman ably supported him with 57 off 50 as Derbyshire posted 162 for 3. The second-wicket pair shared 112 inside 13 overs to advance from 17 for 1 in the fourth having elected to bat.

Derbyshire's total could have been even higher. Godleman and Madsen were excellent, the latter in particular as he mixed power with invention and hit six fours and three leg-side sixes.

Godleman, meanwhile, moved to the 940-run mark in both forms of limited-overs cricket this season. No one else in county cricket has been as prolific.

Madsen reached 50 off 27 balls before Godleman followed him to the same milestone off 45 balls. With those two together, Derbyshire were ideally placed at 96 for 1 after 12 overs. But they only scored a further 66 runs from the last eight. Three of the last eight overs were, however, bowled by the miserly Australian left-arm seamer James Faulkner.

Glenn Maxwell and fellow offie Steven Croft both claimed cheap wickets. Croft took the new ball and returned 1 for 13, while expensive legspinner Matthew Parkinson also struck.

Derbyshire's defence then got off to the ideal start when Alex Davies pulled new-ball quick Logan van Beek to square for a two-ball duck, the first of three wickets in the Powerplay.

Rampaul had Croft caught at deep midwicket and bowled Josh Bohannon with successive deliveries in the fourth over, leaving the score at 33 for 3. But Livingstone was proving a danger. He hit two leg-side sixes off Fynn Hudson-Prentice on the way to a six-over score of 52 for 3.

With Keaton Jennings also at the crease, the Lightning then reached halfway at 77 for 3, needing 86 more.

When Livingstone reached 50 off 33 balls in the 13th over, Lancashire had moved to 90 for 3. But he fell caught behind off medium-pacer Alex Hughes later in the over with nine more added to the total, ending a partnership of 66 with Jennings.

Two balls later, legspinner Matt Critchley had Jennings caught at short third-man reverse sweeping before, in the 15th over, big-hitting Aussie Maxwell was bowled by ex-Red Rose seamer Luis Reece as the score fell to 108 for 6 - a key scalp.

Dane Vilas and Faulkner took the target down to 29 off the last three overs, but Vilas was run out at the start of the 18th over.

Seamer Hudson-Prentice, with 29 off two needed, then conceded a six to Faulkner before getting him caught at long-on next ball to leave Rampaul defending 16 off the last with debutant Liam Hurt on strike. Rampaul bowled him with the game's last ball.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The Kansas City Chiefs agreed to contract terms with veteran quarterback Matt Moore, according to a source, after learning that backup Chad Henne will need surgery for a broken right ankle.

Moore, who hasn't played in an NFL game since 2017 with the Miami Dolphins, will serve as the top backup to Patrick Mahomes.

The 35-year-old played 10 seasons with the Dolphins and Carolina Panthers, starting 30 games and throwing 45 touchdown passes and 36 interceptions. He sat out last season.

The Chiefs have two developmental quarterbacks on their roster, Chase Litton and Kyle Shurmur, but didn't feel either player was one snap away from being an NFL starter.

Litton joined the Chiefs last season as an undrafted free agent from Marshall and spent the season on the practice squad. Shurmur signed this year as an undrafted free agent from Vanderbilt.

"You see some good, you see some bad,'' offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy said of the preseason play of Litton and Shurmur.

Henne is scheduled for surgery on Tuesday in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

The Chiefs also lost backup defensive end Breeland Speaks for an extended period. He will have surgery for an MCL sprain and meniscus damage in his right knee.