ANDERSON, Ind. — Kody Swanson joined an exclusive list of drivers May 25 at Anderson Speedway by scoring his third victory in the Pay Less Little 500 presented by UAW for non-winged sprint cars.

In dominating the high-banked, quarter-mile paved bullring, Swanson became the seventh driver in the 71-year history of the crown-jewel event with a hat trick or more of victories to his name.

Eric Gordon is the all-time Little 500 victory leader with nine, while Bob Frey won the race five times and Tom Cherry scored four victories. Swanson, Jeff Bloom, Jim Childers and Darl Harrison have each won the Little 500 three times.

While Swanson’s first two Little 500 victories in 2016 and ’18 were impressive, his win this year in the 71st running of the event was easily his most dominant performance yet.

Swanson started from the pole and led 344 of 500 laps en route to victory, the most laps led by a race winner since Florida’s Dave Scarborough led 347 laps and won for owner Charles Ledford in 1986.

It put a thrilling cap on a trying week for the California native, who was in contention to win the Hoosier Hundred and the Carb Night Classic with the USAC Silver Crown Series before various misfortunes squelched those opportunities.

“Going into Saturday, it had been a tough couple of nights and we’d been looking for a win that we hadn’t found yet, so we were pretty determined going into the Little 500 to make it count … because it was our last race for the weekend,” Swanson told SPEED SPORT. “Needless to say, it all came together pretty well for us. I’m glad it did, because the Little 500 is a historic race that always means a lot to win.

“I wouldn’t say that we necessarily had a chip on our shoulder, but after two Silver Crown races that didn’t fall our way, we weren’t short on motivation,” he added. “You have to put yourself in a position to win at Anderson, and both Shane (Hollingsworth) and I did that by staying up front, just like we did a year ago when I won and he finished third. This time, things just seemed to work out again for us.”

Swanson’s fast start in qualifying was a harbinger of the domination to come, as he jumped out from the pole and led the first 186 laps before making his first of two mandatory pit stops.

“I was fortunate to start from the pole and felt really good about our chances in that first stint,” Swanson recalled. “We had a little trouble on one pit stop and lost one more lap than we wanted to, but the guys stayed calm. Where we could have cross-threaded a nut on an axle that would have ended our night, they made sure to get it on right and give a chance to continue fighting for it.

“That was the point where Shane kind of controlled things, through the middle portion of the race, but once we were able to recover, we had a really fast car,” Swanson added. “We drove back through the field, caught cautions at the right times and put ourselves in position to be there when it counted.”

OSWEGO, N.Y. – Oswego Speedway officials have elected to implement double file restarts for heat and feature action in the Pathfinder Bank SBS and 350 Supermodified divisions.

Under this new format, double file restarts will be used in every event for both divisions, however the last two laps in the preliminary races and the last five laps in the main events will see single file restarts.

The leader will pick the inside or outside lane when the race director instructs the cars to double up on the one way radio. The front row will then proceed to the line in turn four side by side and receive the green flag.

If the front row does not stay together under this double file restart format, officials will go yellow and then switch over to single file on the next restart. If any competitor is determined to be at fault for two double file restart violations, he will be sent to the rear of the field.

Oswego Speedway’s 69th season continues on Saturday, June 8 when Burke’s Do It Best Home Centers and Bosco‘s presents Twin 35 features for the Novelis Supermodifieds, a 30-lap main event for the Pathfinder Bank SBS and the addition of a 30-lap special for the Sunoco New York Super Stock Series. The 350 Supers return on June 15.

LASALLE, Ill. — On its Facebook page Thursday, LaSalle Speedway management announced the facility was ceasing operations, effective immediately.

The Facebook post read, “It is with an extremely heavy and broken heart that I must report that due to the current personal events and unfortunate circumstances in my own life, I am forced to cease any and all operations at the LaSalle Speedway. I am totally unaware of what the future may hold for the speedway or the property but for now and the foreseeable future, the track is closed. I alone have had to make this decision. I refuse to comment or discuss the circumstances around this heartbreaking decision. At this time, I am asking for privacy for myself and my entire family.

“I’d like to thank all the fans for their loyalty and support over the past 26, years. To each and every racer, it truly has been a pleasure to have worked with you. Some of your friendships will always remain dear to me for a very long time. I’d like to thank all of our sponsors who have been with us all these years. To my employees, from the bottom of my heart I thank you for all your hard work and dedication. I will miss you all.

“If anyone has a refund coming for purchased tickets please call the office. Arrangements for refunds are in the process already. The office will remain open until June 7. Thank you for your patience.  Warmest Regards To All.  Kerry Izzo”

Earlier in the day, organizers of the annual Bill Waite Jr. Memorial Classic, which was slated for the LaSalle dirt oval on July 21, commented on Facebook that the event would not be held at LaSalle as they had met over the past weekend with LaSalle management, who informed them that the track was going to close down immediately.

The Izzo Family, headed by former Chicago area dirt late model champion Tony Izzo, took over the LaSalle third-mile oval in 1992 with the track seeing its first full season of competition promoted by the Izzo group in 1993.  Previously, it had been known as Tommy’s LaSalle Speedway and operated by Tommy Glynn for about four years, beginning in 1986.

The speedway hosted weekly racing through the 2016 season when it went to a specials-only format.  The Waite Memorial and the track’s annual Thaw Brawl in late March highlighted the LaSalle specials.  With LaSalle absent from the schedule in recent years, the DIRTcar UMP Summer Nationals dirt late model tour was to return to LaSalle this year on July 3.

The track was located at the site of an old outdoor theatre with the huge movie screen still there when the stock cars raced.  Before that, the property was the former site of the old Tri-City Speedway, which hosted midget and hot rod races in the 1940s.

Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Nikita Zaitsev has asked for a trade for personal reasons, and the team is willing to oblige him.

TSN first reported the trade request, and Maple Leafs general manager Kyle Dubas confirmed it to NHL.com.

"That will be our goal, to try to find a fresh start for him, for his own personal and private reasons," Dubas said, according to NHL.com.

The 27-year-old Zaitsev had a big rookie season with the Maple Leafs in 2016-17 after playing in the KHL. His 36 points netted him a seven-year extension that runs through 2023-24 with a cap hit of $4.5 million per season.

But Zaitsev hasn't come close to that production in the past two years. He had 14 points last season in 81 games. Still, Dubas thinks the young Russian has some value.

"His penalty killing, his right shot ... he plays in our top four, and he's signed reasonably for a long time," Dubas said. "That's where that's at."

Trading Zaitsev likely isn't at the top of the Maple Leafs' to-do list. They must re-sign restricted free agent and budding superstar Mitch Marner. And they already had a burgeoning hole on the blue line with free agent Jake Gardiner unlikely to fit under the salary cap.

Norway's Erling Braut Haland scored a record nine goals for his team in a runaway 12-0 victory over Honduras at the U20 World Cup in Poland on Thursday.

The 18-year-old RB Salzburg striker scored four times before the half and then added another five after to break the previous record for goals in a single game at the U20 World Cup of six.

- Bell, Ames: Players to watch at the U20 World Cup

The 12-0 win also represents the largest margin of victory for a team in U20 World Cup history, eclipsing the 10-0 thrashing Brazil handed Belgium in the 1997 edition.

"It annoys me a little bit that I didn't score with my last kick of the game. I'll have to sit down and think a little bit about it and maybe I'll work out what happened," he told the Norwegian Football Association's website.

Having lost their opening games to Uruguay and New Zealand, the win gives Norway a chance of advancing to the knockout stages of the 24-team tournament as one of the four best third-placed teams from the six groups.

The Hondurans finished the game with nine men after Everson Lopez was shown a straight red card and crashed out of the tournament with no points following three defeats and no goals scored.

Haland, the son of former Leeds United and Manchester City player Alf-Inge Haland, had scored just six goals in all competitions for both club and country since September 2018, before his record-setting outing on Thursday.

Prior to his move to Austria in January, Haland scored 14 times for Molde in Norway's top flight and netted his first goal for Salzburg in May in a win over Linz.

It's been described as one of the greatest catches of all time. Here's what viewers, commentators, team-mates and the man himself said about Ben Stokes' incredible grab to dismiss Andile Phehlukwayo off the bowling of Adil Rashid.

Ben Stokes:

"I was actually in the wrong position. I made a relatively straightforward catch into a hard one. It would have been a regulation catch if I was in the right place. It is one of those that sticks or doesn't. We do train hard.

"Was it better than the one in the 2015 Ashes? Nah. That one was against the Aussies. So that one ranks higher.

"The crowd's reaction behind me was pretty awesome. I just tried to take that in as much as I could. I bowled the next over and Morgs had to come to me and ask if everything was all right, if my heart rate had gone down. Things like that catch do get you fizzed up. I didn't really know quite how to react to be honest, I just tried to take it in. The crowd today were phenomenal. It's the best thing about having a home World Cup."

Eoin Morgan:

"We see a lot of him in training do stuff like that all the time. You just shake your head because it doesn't happen every day.

"He misjudged it at the start. He ran in, stopped and then I thought it was going to be way over his head. The next leap in that direction … unbelievable.

"I've only seen a catch like that made before by AB De Villiers in a game in Bangalore."

"I'm going to take my clothes off and run up and down the street naked with England winners in a minute, it was just that big a win."

Beware, people of London - @Swannyg66 is getting carried away! #ENGvSA #CWC19 pic.twitter.com/59SvDuPqOu

— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) May 30, 2019

Moeen Ali:

"He ran in for no reason. He screwed it up! [smiles] I'd have just stood there and it would have gone straight in my hands!

"We see him do that in practice all the time. He's always got a great chance of catching those. He's a big part of this team."

Faf du Plessis:

"It was as good as it gets."

Nasser Hussain: (on TV commentary)

"No way! No, no way! You cannot do that, Ben Stokes. That is remarkable. That is one of the greatest catches of all time!"

Amazing how "boundary riding" has become fielding focus in the modern game - only time @hershybru and I ever left the inner ring was to chase the ball down en route to the rope!!!! https://t.co/lKBmJHOUT3

— Jonty Rhodes (@JontyRhodes8) May 30, 2019

Hey Jonty Have You Seen Stokesy catch another Jonty2019 Pull Of 2019 ......

— Bhanu Chander (Gunnu) (@evry1ns4me) May 30, 2019

Andrew Miller: (ESPNcricinfo ball-by-ball commentary)

"Ben Stokes, that is absolute fifth! Absolutely leathered through deep midwicket ... and Stokes somehow launched himself horizontally towards the rope, timing his jump like a mortar from its tube, and clinging onto a certain six, in his outstretched, reverse-cupped, right hand! My God, that is an utter, utter worldy! If Alisson got a mitt to a screamer like that in Madrid on Saturday and tipped it over the bar, we would be talking about it for years..."

If David Warner pulls up all right on Friday, he is set to open the innings for Australia in their first World Cup outing on Saturday against Afghanistan.

Struggling with a sore right glute, Warner was put through a fitness test at the start of Australia's training session Bristol on Thursday. Following the test, Warner suggested he felt much better than on Wednesday - when his lateral movements were hampered - and went on to have a hit in the nets, during which he didn't look in apparent discomfort.

Batting, though, has not been a problem. Nor has running in straight lines. It is when he has to field or turn sharply or make sideways movements that he has complained of pain. Overnight pain medication has done some work for him, but Australia still face the dilemma of whether to risk aggravating it against Afghanistan. The trade-off is losing out on an opportunity of easing him back in in a less challenging game.

However, one decision has been made for sure. There had been speculation around whether Warner would walk back into the opening slot occupied by Usman Khawaja. Australia tried Warner at No. 3 in the unofficial warm-up against New Zealand in Brisbane. He returned to the top of the order in the official warm-up against England before missing the one against Sri Lanka.

Justin Langer, the Australia coach, acknowledged there had been some indecision, but said Warner was going to open the innings if and when he was fit. That is a decision, Langer said, they want to make as soon as possible because they want to be fair to the player missing out: Khawaja or Shaun Marsh.

"We'll have a pretty good idea today, how he moves and how he pulls up in the morning," Langer said before the start of the training session. "But what I have expressed to him is it's really important to be fair to the other players, we don't want to be getting to Saturday morning and making a call.

"When a couple of other guys are wondering if they are going to play or not going to play, the earlier we can make the decision the better. Hopefully we can make it tonight where he says 'yep, I'm ready to go' or 'I'm not sure' if he pulls up sore in the morning. But the earlier the better. He knows that, and collectively we're really strong on that."

Langer emphasised the importance of selecting Warner only if he is fully fit, lest he aggravate the injury.

"He had throwdowns yesterday, and was just a bit sore in his right glute," Langer said. "He's obviously desperate to play, he would love to play. Like all 15 players would, he is jumping out of his skin, his energy is up, and he's laughing a lot, which is a really good sign.

"But we've just got to make sure he can move, particularly in the field. Batting seems okay, running in a straight line seems okay, but going side to side we've just got to make sure we don't aggravate it."

Steven Smith and David Warner are humans too. They made a mistake - a pretty big mistake - and have paid a price for it - a pretty heavy price. Stop booing them. That's the plea from Australia coach Justin Langer to crowds in England after the duo were made to feel welcome upon their return in the IPL. However, they have had to cop it in the World Cup warm-up games in England, where they will likely stay back to play the Ashes too.

Smith and Warner - captain and vice-captain at the time - spent a year out of cricket for their role in the ball-tampering scandal in the Cape Town Test last year. These will be their first international matches back after they resumed competitive cricket during the IPL.

The booing at the warm-up game was a wake-up call for Australia after which Langer spoke to the duo.

"We have talked about it a lot," Langer said. "We are expecting it. That said, when it happens, it doesn't make it any easier. You can take about it as much as you like but that doesn't make it any easier. I mean they are human beings, and that's the truth. That's where I find it hard.

"I am a dad, and I have got kids. A lot of the time, players feel like they are my kids. And you see that happen. You know, you feel for them personally. They are going to have to have thick skin. We have talked about earning respect. I think it is really important that people show some respect as well. Because they are humans, they are really good cricketers. They made a mistake. They have paid the price for it. Big price actually. I feel for them as people more than anything else."

Langer said speaking more about it was not going to make much difference.

"After the experience of the other day at Hampshire, I think they have got a pretty good idea what to expect," Langer said. "And, as I said, you can talk about it as much as you like, you can put strategies in place to make sure they deal with it, but no human likes it. That is the truth. As professional cricketers, they will put that out of their mind. They will go and do their job but no one likes that."

Forget Smith and Warner, Langer said he didn't want to see any cricketer booed. "I will be disappointed any day if any cricketer is booed on a cricket ground," Langer said. "Regardless of what country they play for. It is not the spirit that any of us like to see.

"Obviously it hurts because I have got an emotional attachment, and personal attachment, to our players. But it is never a good look, is it, when that happens."

This appears to be consistent with how Australia reacted to the booing of visiting captain Virat Kohli in the home summer when he copped it in pretty much every Test. Ricky Ponting, assistant coach now, called it "disgraceful", and Cricket Australia asked fans to show more respect to the visitors.

It is a departure from the time when Stuart Broad was booed all summer in the 2013-14 Ashes, when then-coach Darren Lehmann said: "I just hope the Australian public give it to him right from the word go for the whole summer and I hope he cries and he goes home."