ABRAMS, Wis. – As excitement for the upcoming season builds, Midwest Off Road Racing officials have announced a starting list of contingency sponsors for the new year.

BFGoodrich, a preferred tire provider for off-road racing teams, returns to the 2019 track by providing contingency-level sponsorship for the majority of the MORR classes.

Racers meeting the contingency requirements will be eligible for cash rewards upon completion of their respective races.

Long-time MORR supporter and distinguished buggy partner PDank Performance also returns to the contingency sponsor partnership. Racers donning the PDank decals will appreciate a discount on all purchases for the 2019 race season.

Another team favorite, Rugged Radios, is also on the list of 2019 contingency sponsors. Rugged Radios is offering a generous product credit for winners of this contingency award.

“We’re elated at the partnerships that have been formed by these contingency sponsors,” said Dan Vanden Heuvel, the MORR Board President. “Our racers are proud to represent them on and off the track and we are excited to see our racers take advantage of the various rewards offered by these popular partners.”

It’s a sight that’s hopeful, sad and downright troubling all at the same time.

The race car hauler that carried the U.S. Army banner for 19 years, that represents eight NHRA Top Fuel championships and that has been emblazoned with a 10-foot graphic of Tony Schumacher has sat idle in Don Schumacher Racing’s Brownsburg, Ind., shop since last November.

It’s pointed toward the massive garage doors, ready to roll onto Northfield Drive, out to I-74 and beyond, if only it had someplace to go and the funding to send it there.

Since the Army informed DSR last July that it was ending its highly successful recruiting program, the sport’s largest team hasn’t been able to secure a replacement sponsor.

But the 84-time winner remains committed to company strategy to find the right sponsor, and Schumacher continues to insist he’s eager and clearly qualified to return to the cockpit of the 11,000-horsepower dragster.

“As soon as a sponsor comes through, we will be on the road. My dad and I are working hard together to make this happen. Nothing weird is going on. It sucks that I am not racing, but my life didn’t end,” Schumacher wrote on a social-media site in mid-April as he was about to miss his sixth race. “Nothing weird happened with my dad and I or anything else. We just need a sponsor. We are ready. If you don’t believe me, cut us a check and we will prove it.”

The fact no one has cut DSR a check to back Tony Schumacher has sent disturbing waves throughout the drag-racing community.

It begs the question: What does that say for the appeal — for the future — of the NHRA when its record-setting driver in the headlining class can’t find sponsorship?

“This is not a panic thing. It literally just takes time,” Schumacher said. “It’s not a cheap sport. And I hope we’re not just going to randomly take whatever’s thrown at us. I like to pick the right thing. I want somebody I can be a team with.

“The business-to-business (aspect) is the most important part of it. It’s the reason I’m here. I’m not here to show off. What we do is make businesses grow. That’s why these companies are here. We help Matco recruit people. We help NAPA sell stuff and grow their business,” Schumacher explained. “Then we work with them together. So whoever steps in and does this contract will be privy to Shell and Dodge and Mopar and NAPA and Matco. It just takes somebody who says, ‘I never thought of it that way. I thought it was just about racing.’

“We’re on the track, literally, for six minutes a year — it’s the fastest sport in the world. But the build-up is what it’s about, the business part of it. That’s what we’re all about,” Schumacher said of DSR’s mission.

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WEST ALLIS, Wis. — After an absence of five years, stock car racing returns to the famed Milwaukee Mile at Wisconsin State Fair Park on Father’s Day, June 16, with the ARCA Midwest Tour late model series highlighting the afternoon’s action.

The event marks the first time in four years that automobile racing will be held at the historic, one-mile paved oval.

With auto racing returning to the track where racing dates back to 1903, the Midwest Tour super late models will be joined on Sunday by the Vintage Indy Registry, Midwest Truck Tour, Mid-American Stock Car Series and Upper Midwest Vintage Series.

The stars and cars of the ARCA Midwest Tour will battle in a 75-lap feature race. With one series win to his credit already in 2019, Casey Johnson of Edgerton, Wis., leads the current Midwest Tour point standings.

Current NASCAR Cup Series racer Erik Jones won the last ARCA Midwest Tour race at Milwaukee, capturing a 150-lap chase on June 8, 2014.

Tuesday evening races were held in 2012 and 2013, with Travis Sauter winning a 150-lap contest in 2012 and NASCAR star Kyle Busch capturing a darkness-shortened 115-lap race in 2013. Previously, Busch had also won a tour race in 2008.

Back in the day, the Milwaukee oval was a hotbed for stock car racing. The journey started in 1948 when Minnesota’s Paul Bjork, driving a 1948 Kaiser, won a 100-lap race on August 22, taking home just over $1,800 for his winning effort.

Illinois open-wheel racer Emil Andres had fast time that day with a lap of 53.24 seconds around the one-mile dirt oval.

Milwaukee resident Myron Fohr, known for his exploits in open-wheel cars, including competing in the Indianapolis 500, won stock car races there in 1949 and 1950.  Fohr’s 1950, 150-mile, win was the first AAA-sanctioned stock car race at Milwaukee.

Racing out of Racine, Wis., Norm Nelson, who competed in the first stock car contest in 1948 and took fourth place, won a AAA 100-miler in August of 1950.  Nelson, who started out in midgets, won eight career stock car races at Milwaukee.

Illinois’ Don Odell, in a Packard, won the last stock car race (a 200 miler) on the Milwaukee dirt on September 20, 1953. With the track being paved before the 1954 season, Tony Bettenhausen, Frank Mundy (twice) and Marshall Teague won AAA races in 1954.

Bettenhausen garnered three stock car victories at Milwaukee during his career.

USAC stock cars raced at Milwaukee beginning in 1956, drawing large crowds for an annual four-race schedule. Troy Ruttman won the first USAC race on July 15, 1956. Fred Lorenzen won back-to-back USAC races in 1958 on his way to his first of two USAC stock car titles.

Record crowds and record purses were part of the tradition with the track seeing the likes of Nelson, Parnelli Jones (seven wins), A.J. Foyt (six), Butch Hartman (nine), Jack Bowsher (five), Roger McCluskey (five) and Eddie Sachs (two) win USAC stock car contests.

Iowa’s Don White is the all-time winningest stock car driver at Milwaukee, with the USAC driving ace winning a record 14 times, his last coming in 1975.

The American Speed Ass’n visited the Milwaukee Mile for the first time on May 7, 1978, with Michigan’s Bob Senneker winning the first annual Superamerica 150. A year later, short track legend, Wisconsin’s own Dick Trickle captured the Superamerica 150 on May 6.

Mark Martin won the ASA 150 lapper in 1980. Joe Shear, Rusty Wallace, Alan Kulwicki, Butch Miller, Mike Eddy, Scott Hansen and Jim Sauter are among others that claimed ASA victories at Milwaukee.

NASCAR racing made its first appearance at Milwaukee in 1984 with Sam Ard capturing a 200-lap Busch Grand National event on May 13, 1984. Dale Earnhardt Jr. was the winner of a Grand National contest in 1998, with Wisconsin’s Johnny Sauter winning one in 2005.

Carl Edwards won the last two NASCAR Busch/Nationwide Series races in 2008 and 2009.

The NASCAR Truck Series came to Milwaukee for the first time in 1995 with Mike Skinner scoring the victory. Jack Sprague, Ron Hornaday Jr., Greg Biffle, Kurt Busch and Ted Musgrave, with two wins, are among former NASCAR truck series winners at Milwaukee.

Johnny Benson Jr. won three consecutive Milwaukee truck races from 2006 through 2008.

The Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA) has been part of the stock car racing history at Milwaukee, dating back to 1958 when USAC and ARCA co-sanctioned races.

Multi-time ARCA champion Frank Kimmel won the last ARCA race at Milwaukee, a 200 miler, on August 26, 2007.

Indy car racing is a whole other chapter of Milwaukee Mile history, with the last professional auto race at Milwaukee held on July 12, 2015 and Sebastian Bourdais winning a 250-lap Verizon (now NTT) IndyCar Series race ahead of Helio Castroneves and Graham Rahal.

Thanks are necessary to the late Al Krause, who was an official and historian at the Milwaukee Mile for many years, for providing some of the above information.

BOSTON -- Bruins defenseman Matt Grzelcyk has been medically cleared from a concussion and is likely to play in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final on Wednesday, coach Bruce Cassidy said.

"He'll be a game-time decision," Cassidy said. "But looks like he'll go in."

Cassidy said rookie Connor Clifton would probably be bumped from the lineup if Grzelcyk goes in against the St. Louis Blues.

Grzelcyk has been sidelined since Game 2, when he was boarded by Blues forward Oskar Sundqvist, who served a one-game suspension for the play.

The Bruins were hopeful that Grzelcyk could return as soon as Game 5, but team doctors would not medically clear him from concussion protocol.

Grzelcyk, though, has been skating with the team for the past week in a maroon noncontact jersey.

Cassidy said he was not worried about Grzelcyk needing time to find his game because, with such a high-stakes situation, "adrenaline would probably get you through."

"One thing about Matt, if he does go in [after] missing some games, is he's been skating with us," Cassidy said. "It's not like he just jumped on the ice yesterday. He's been participating, albeit noncontact, so it's a little bit of a different animal there.

"But at this time of year, you're not getting a lot of contact in practice anyway. So he's just going to have to understand -- because he did obviously live the first game and a half or whatever it is in St. Louis -- that it is going to be physical. He's been there, he's been watching. He knows he has to get back in a hurry, make the decisions with it and take a hit to make a play. That's what's required. It usually is against this team."

Grzelcyk, 25, played in 66 regular-season games with the Bruins and 19 games this postseason. He has three goals and four assists while averaging 16:22 of ice time in the playoffs.

Manchester United have rejected the chance to talk to Real Madrid about the possibility of signing Gareth Bale, sources have told ESPN FC.

The Wales international is surplus to requirements at the Bernabeu following Zinedine Zidane's return as boss.

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United, along with a host of other top European clubs, have been sounded out as a possible destination but Real Madrid have been informed that manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has other targets in mind.

The Norwegian is open to adding another forward to his squad despite having already signed Dan James from Swansea. Lille's Nicolas Pepe, Lyon's Moussa Dembele and Bournemouth's Ryan Fraser have all been discussed.

United have twice missed out on Bale in the past. He chose Tottenham when he left Southampton in 2007 and then opted for Real Madrid when he left White Hart Lane in 2013. He was also on former manager Jose Mourinho's wanted list in 2017.

He has long been a target for executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward but, at 29, it has been decided he no longer fits into United's transfer strategy during a summer window that has seen the club target young players with potential rather than established stars.

Bale, who has a contract at Real Madrid until 2022, has not ruled out staying at the club but he will find competition for places even more fierce next season after the Spanish giants signed Eden Hazard from Chelsea and Luka Jovic from Eintracht Frankfurt. His wages -- around £600,000-a-week -- will be a stumbling block for all but the wealthiest clubs in Europe if he leaves.

Sources have told ESPN FC Real Madrid are interested in signing United midfielder Paul Pogba and Woodward's refusal to enter into negotiations for Bale is a blow to their hopes of landing the France midfielder.

Pogba is open to a move to La Liga but United are under no pressure to sell with the 26-year-old under contract at Old Trafford until 2022.

Solskjaer is keen to build his new-look team around Pogba but will have to convince the World Cup winner that the club can match his ambition after missing out on a place in next season's Champions League.

United States men's team manager Gregg Berhalter said his goal for his players is to continue learning his style and tactics ahead of the Gold Cup.

"It's about competing. It's about our tactics, It's about the way we play. It's about going through this process and learning together, because tournaments are a learning process for a group. So it's about those three things," Berhalter said in an exclusive interview with ESPN FC.

"Then to me, it's ultimately about putting ourselves in a position to win. We know Mexico is a very good team, probably the favorites of the tournament. We know that's a good team. We know that Panama has an experienced team. We know it's not going to be easy. But it's going to be good for this group to dig and have to compete for something."

The 2019 Gold Cup begins on Saturday as Mexico takes on Cuba and the U.S. kick off their campaign to defend their crown next Tuesday with a game against Guyana in Saint Paul, Minnesota.

After beginning his tenure as U.S. boss with a four-game unbeaten streak, Berhalter has dropped two straight games -- a 1-0 loss to fellow Gold Cup participants Jamaica and a 3-0 defeat to Venezuela.

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Their biggest rivals, Mexico, are going into the tournament having won four straight under former Atlanta United boss Gerardo "Tata" Martino, all wins in friendlies over South American sides.

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The Gold Cup is also the first time the U.S. will be playing competitive matches since being eliminated by Trinidad & Tobago at World Cup qualifying in November 2017.

Berhalter sees this new era as a clean slate for the program after failing to clinch a spot at the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

"I think what you have is a new opportunity. I think that guys understand that, listen, this is a new coach and it's a new opportunity for us to go in the direction that we want to go. I think that I don't see guys looking back in the past," Berhalter said. "One thing I will see is we're comfortable with what happened in the past. We're comfortable with making [seven straight World Cups].That's great history. That's our past also.

"I think when people talk about the past they get hung up with 2018, and that was a moment for us that wasn't great, but it was also a moment for us to learn. I think that's part of us, just as much as all those great triumphs are part of us also ...That's all part of who we are as a nation. It's important to embrace that. But if you're talking specifically about '17 and not qualifying, guys are ready to turn the page on that."

Berhalter took over in December after managing the Columbus Crew from 2013-2018. The former U.S. international defender played both in MLS and abroad with clubs in the Netherlands, England and Germany. He said MLS has significantly grown in the past five years.

"Think of the players [MLS has] sold in the last five years. Think of the young talents we've attracted to this league in the last five years," he said. "Think of the quality of players we have. My last year in the league [playing in 2011] think of the strikers in the league at the time. Now look at the strikers in the league. It's a different level. When you think about all the national team players we have, the younger talents we have, the transfer fees we're paying, but also the transfer fees that we're taking in is great. It was never like that."

United States women's national team forward Alex Morgan has said she is happy ignoring criticism of her team's celebrations during a record-breaking 13-0 victory over Thailand in their World Cup Group F opener on Tuesday, and that it would have been "disrespectful" not to have given their all for the full 90 minutes.

Morgan tied a tournament record with five goals in the lopsided win, while Samantha Mewis and Rose Lavelle each added a pair of goals for the United States, which broke the record for goals and margin of victory in a World Cup game.

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The criticism has been about the team's relentless attack in the second half. After taking a 3-0 lead into halftime, the U.S. scored 10 more times in the final 45 minutes, with the players celebrating goal after goal even after the result was no longer in doubt.

"I think it's disrespectful if we don't show up and give our best and play our game for 90 minutes," Morgan said in an exclusive interview with ESPN on Wednesday morning. "It's disrespectful to the Thai team. And I believe they wanted us to play them straight up.

"And for the celebrations, these are goals we have dreamt of our entire life. I mean, I'm going to celebrate Mal Pugh's goal. I'm going to celebrate Sam Mewis and Rose Lavelle. This is their first World Cup and I'm so proud of them. And I couldn't have dreamt of scoring five goals in a World Cup. So it's incredible for us all and I'm happy just ignoring those comments."

What couldn't be ignored was Thailand's lack of resistance against the dominant Americans, who came into the tournament as favorites to retain their world title.

Thailand manager Nualphan Lamsam apologised to fans after the match.

"We met with one of the strongest opponent in the world, but I did not think we would lose this much," Lamsam said, adding that she, the coaching staff, and the players "would like to apologise to all our fans ... and thanks for all their support."

"We will do our best in the next two games," she said.

U.S. manager Jill Ellis defended her team's aggressive style of play in the second half.

"This is a world championship, so every team here has been fantastic to get to this point. And I think that to be respectful to opponents is to play hard against opponents. It's a tournament where goal differential is important," Ellis said.

"When you get a deluge of goals like that, it's a good feeling. It builds confidence."

Abby Wambach, a veteran of four World Cups and the leading goal scorer in U.S. women's soccer history with 184, also took no issue with the team's performance.

"For all that have issue with many goals: for some players this is there first World Cup goal, and they should be excited," Wambach tweeted. "Imagine it being you out there. This is your dream of playing and then scoring in a World Cup. Celebrate. Would you tell a men's team to not score or celebrate?"

The United States, which leads Group F on goal differential after the lopsided win, will next play Chile on Sunday in Paris.

Information from The Associated Press and Reuters was used in this report.

Yorkshire 58 for 1 trail Surrey 313 (Foakes 62, Stoneman 61, Smith 56, Patterson 5-81) by 255 runs

Barring the sort of collapses that would do credit to a hypersensitive drama queen this match will end in a draw on Thursday. The loss of the whole of the first day already meant that neither of these two fine teams was likely to force a win on a pitch lacking obvious devil but the rain which prevented any cricket being played after lunch on this third afternoon put the tin lid on the matter. Thursday's cricket will be a matter of bonus points, averages and professional pride.

Those latter considerations are not to be disdained. Will Fraine is playing his second Championship match for Yorkshire. In his first, against Essex last week, he made 39 and 0. A few wickets for Morne Morkel tomorrow will not make a whit of difference to his reputation but an unbeaten 70 or so against this Surrey attack tomorrow could make all the difference to Fraine's career. It would also offer Andrew Gale another option as he ponders team selection over the rest of the season. The Yorkshire opener was unbeaten on 17 when the umpires came off for bad light at one o'clock on Wednesday and heavy showers prevented the players returning. "The rain for Fraine ruled out a chance of gain," as Eliza Doolittle might have put it.

And it could be worse. As Guildford's weather organised itself into unrelieved gloom in the early afternoon, one's thoughts turned to the good burghers of Welbeck Colliery CC, whose first ever Championship match was confined to just Sunday's play. The June monsoon did for the rest of it. Six months planning for six hours' cricket. Thank you, and good night miners everywhere. The good folk who are organising next week's matches at York and Tunbridge Wells must have their manicured fingers and pedicured toes crossed.

Spectators at Woodbridge Road, meanwhile, were left to make the most of not too much. They had seen Steve Patterson collect the eighth five-wicket haul of his first-class career when Jordan Clark hoisted a skier to the safe hands of substitute fielder Matt Fisher at mid-on. Then they had watched as Adam Lyth hit four of the sweeter boundaries of the season in his innings of 30. That delight was ended when Will Jacks swooped to take a low catch in the gully off Rikki Clarke. Fifteen minutes later we were off for the day.

But yes, it could be very much worse. Perhaps 30 years ago in the not-so-golden age of three-day cricket these sides might have been tempted to concoct a result with the aid of a couple of declarations and an hour's nonsense.

The morning's play, you see, was properly contested, but as we watched the tussle for advantage in a match seemingly reduced to three full days some minds drifted back to the 1980s when all games were of that length and pitches were covered. If the wicket offered a fair contest between bat and ball, everything was fine. But all too often teams would contest the first two days or so before agreeing a target which rendered the fourth innings of the game a bastardised version of over-limit cricket, albeit one in which the draw was an option. To achieve this goal, runs were given away by non-bowlers to embarrassed batsmen. All too often the first session of the third day was reduced to a cheap slog which annoyed the statisticians, insulted the spectators and demeaned the players.

These matches belonged not to a golden era of a treasured memory but an age that at times was scarcely pewter. The gradual covering of pitches, which had begun in the 1970s, had both diminished the art of batting and sounded the passing bell for the three-day game; only when four-day cricket became the norm in 1993 did the wretched buffet bowling more or less disappear. You still see it occasionally towards the end of the season but generally the best team wins a four-day game of cricket.

This match, though, will not merit even 400 words in next year's Wisden. At 3.15 in the afternoon the scoreboard was turned off and half an hour later play was abandoned. The PA announcer told everyone in the ground the news, although the only folk he was informing were the players and media, who knew already. Then again, perhaps we should not be surprised by such surreal communications. After all, Lewis Carroll is buried in Guildford. Wonderland, indeed.

Jos Buttler has given England a significant boost by reporting fit for training in Southampton, following a thigh injury sustained during last week's victory over Bangladesh.

Buttler did not keep wicket in Cardiff on Saturday - Jonny Bairstow took the gloves - after sustained heavy bruising after being hit by a delivery while batting. But he has recovered well and is all but certain to play in Friday's match against West Indies.

"He'll be fine," England coach, Trevor Bayliss, said. "He'll be back and able to practice fully. It was a bit precautionary the other day. He could have kept. We just weren't really sure if he would have been able to sprint after a high catch."

Moeen Ali was absent from Wednesday's session, however. He was at the bedside of his wife, Firuza, as she gave birth to their second child, a daughter named Haadiya. He is expected to re-join the squad in time for training on Thursday morning, and is likely to return to the team for Friday's game in place of one of the seamers. Bayliss hinted that the final place in the side would probably be between the new-ball bowler Chris Woakes or middle-overs seamer Liam Plunkett.

"Southampton is somewhere where we have played two spinners in the past," Bayliss said. "If Moeen does come back in - and we'll have to have a look at the wicket first - then it is one of the pace bowlers who misses out. It is a difficult decision: you've got one guy who bowls up front [Woakes] who can get the ball to move off the seam versus a guy [Plunkett] that is the leading wicket-taker through those middle overs over the last few years. It's a difficult decision and I can't tell you right at this moment who would miss out."

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The statistics would suggest Plunkett might have the better chance of retaining his place. He has been England's most economical bowler in the tournament to date - he is conceding just 4.86 runs per over on average - and has claimed three wickets at an average of 24.33. Woakes has been England's most expensive bowler - he is conceding 7.71 runs per over - and has claimed three wickets at a cost of 54 apiece. Woakes is the better batsman and fielder, however, and bowls in the first Powerplay, so the comparison is not entirely valid.

A glance at the pitch - which is nowhere near as green as the surface seen in the match against Bangladesh - suggests England will recall Moeen. The playing area in Southampton is also much larger than the one in Cardiff - it is probably the largest among international grounds in England and Wales - so there is less chance of mis-hits carrying over the boundary.

While Bayliss admitted to some concerns over the form of Adil Rashid, who came into the World Cup with a shoulder injury, he also expressed confidence in his anticipated contributions in the remainder of the tournament.

"I think what he needs is more bowling whether that is in the nets or in a match," Bayliss said. "He did have a niggle in his shoulder, but over this last couple of weeks he hasn't had anywhere near as much of a problem with it. I don't think the wickets have necessarily been an advantage to the spinners yet, but the further we go through the competition and maybe get a bit of drier weather and play on used pitches, he may come into his own."

England's training session was heavily curtailed by rain on Wednesday afternoon, though West Indies were able to train in the morning. Andre Russell was a noticeable absentee - he missed the match against South Africa due to his chronic knee problem - though the team management remain confident he will be fit for Friday. Evin Lewis, however, was able to return to training after recovering from a hand injury.

Christi Viljoen, the 31-year old Namibia allrounder, has been handed a four-match suspension for breaching ICC's Anti-Racism Code during the T20 World Cup Africa Qualifiers in May.

Viljoen's sledges towards Uganda players on May 21 were deemed "inappropriate". He accepted the charges against him.

Section 2.1.1 of the code, which he breached, pertains to "engaging in any conduct (whether through the use of language, gestures or otherwise) which is likely to offend, insult, humiliate, intimidate, threaten, disparage or vilify any reasonable person in the position of a player, umpire, match referee or any other person (including a spectator) on the basis of their race, religion, culture, colour, descent, national or ethnic origin".

As per ICC's rehabilitation measures for those suspended under this code, Viljoen will have to undergo an education programme to "promote a better understanding and awareness of issues" directly relevant to the offence he has committed.

Viljoen had an impressive tournament performance-wise, picking up nine wickets in three matches, apart from making 33 in a winning cause against Uganda.

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