SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – Championship hopeful Dalton Gauthier scored a critical victory in Friday night’s Springfield Short Track to claim sole possession of the Roof Systems AFT Singles presented by Russ Brown Motorcycle Attorneys points lead.

The action at the Illinois State Fairgrounds was every bit as tense and frenetic as one would expect an Roof Systems AFT Singles Short Track showdown to be. In the midst of a tight title fight with three races remaining on the American Flat Track calendar, and serving as a microcosm of the season to date, while a handful of riders enjoyed their moments in the spotlight. Ultimately it all came down to Gauthier and reigning class champion Dan Bromley.

Former AFT Twins presented by Vance & Hines standout Chad Cose stormed to the holeshot and threatened to break free of the chaos before anyone else had an opportunity to react. However, Gauthier rolled forward on the momentum he had built up all day long when he ran quickest in both qualifying sessions and ripped to heat and semi victories.

Gauthier first slashed ahead of Spanish dirt track hero Ferran Cardús to move into third and then ran up the inside of Bromley to take over second on lap seven. By lap 10, he was hounding Cose inside and outside, applying heavy pressure wherever possible in hopes of prompting a mistake.

That mistake came on lap 13. Gauthier squared up Cose and the two very nearly came together on the short straight as Gauthier slid ahead into first. Once clear, the new leader was able to call on his superior pace to pull open just enough of a gap to negate the possibility of a potential last-lap Hail Mary.

Title rival Bromley was going in the opposite direction, dropping down to fourth after he was also overhauled by Peoria TT winner Dallas Daniels.

Sixteen-year-old prodigy Daniels had earned the pole but was shuffled back to seventh early. Undeterred, he clawed his way through the fray, not only edging ahead of Bromley but lining up Cose for the runner-up position.

Desperate to minimize the championship damage done by another Gauthier victory, Bromley turned in a clutch sequence of his own. With time running out, the defending champ dove up the inside of Daniels and Cose in two consecutive corners to leap up from fourth to second in one short lap. From there he held on to the checkered flag to remain within five points of Gauthier for the Roof Systems AFT Singles championship lead (241-236).

The victory was Gauthier’s third of the season.

“It’s huge. Coming into these last few races, it’s anyone’s game,” said Gauthier. I’m trying to get in front of Dan as much as I can, but he’s running strong. We’re having fun.

“Chad rode a really great race. It took me a few laps to catch him, but he was riding defensively. I just waited. I knew I had a few laps to go so I just waited for the mistake. He made one, and we got pretty close, but it was clean racing.”

Daniels secured his second consecutive podium, in third, in what was just his sixth-career AFT outing, while Cose ended up one spot off the box after leading the majority of the laps.

Meanwhile, Mikey Rush kept his championship aspirations alive in fifth. While the bulk of the focus is understandably on Gauthier and Bromley, Rush remains very much in contention. He’s within striking distance — 25 points back of the lead (216) — with a Half-Mile and two Miles left to decide the 2019 crown.

Juventus captain Giorgio Chiellini will have surgery for a torn right ACL he suffered during training on Friday, the club have announced.

No timetable has been given for a return to action for the 35-year-old defender, whose contract expires next summer.

"During today's training, the captain reported distortion of his right knee and a lesion of the anterior cruciate ligament," Juventus said in a statement.

"The diagnostic tests performed at JMedical showed the lesion of the anterior cruciate ligament.

"It will be necessary to have surgery in the coming days."

The Italy international has made 507 appearances for the Bianconeri since joining from Fiorentina in 2005 and has been capped 103 times for his country.

Sydney Sixers have signed fast bowler Jackson Bird for a second stint at the BBL club after helping the Melbourne Stars to the final last season.

Bird, 32, who has played nine Tests for Australia and was part of Australia A's tour of England this winter, has alternated between the Stars and Sixers across all nine seasons of the BBL.

He was with the Stars in the first four seasons of the BBL before joining the Sixers in BBL 05. He is originally from Sydney but plays his first-class cricket in Tasmania. He played three seasons with the Sixers but was starved of opportunities in BBL 07 playing just one game and was coaxed back to the Stars last year. He had an excellent season in Melbourne despite only playing nine games. He took seven wickets at economy rate of just 6.70 including two key wickets in the thrilling final.

But with the Stars signing Australia ODI and T20 fast bowler Nathan Coulter-Nile, the Sixers saw the opportunity to bolster their fast bowling stocks ahead of a season where the schedule will be far more compacted and the fast bowlers may need to be rested and rotated.

"With this season's tightened schedule, quick turnarounds and multiple flights across the country, the depth and durability of your attack will surely be tested," Sixers coach Greg Shipperd said. "So the addition of a player like Jackson is timely and welcomed."

"Jackson continues to be one of Australia's very best and respected all form bowlers and we know he will play an integral role in our chase for a title.

"Jackson's skill with the new ball and experience will complement our emerging young pace attack in a format that demands flexible and multiple role playing."

Bird said he was keen to head back to Sydney and contribute more meaningfully than he did in his previous three seasons there.

"I am really excited about coming back to the Sixers," Bird said. "I've had three years at the Sixers in the past and didn't play well so I want to come back and really contribute. Getting back with the guys I have played with before and returning to the SCG is awesome and I am grateful for the opportunity."

The Sixers made it to the semi-final last season only to be beaten in a nail-biter by the eventual champions Melbourne Renegades.

NEW YORK -- Daniil Medvedev angrily snatched a towel from a ball person's hands, threw his racket toward the chair umpire and was captured on the big screens giving a middle finger.

All that in the first set of the fifth-seeded Medvedev's third-round US Open match against Feliciano Lopez on Friday night turned the Louis Armstrong Stadium crowd against him, resulting in a cascade of boos and then thunderous cheers every time he lost a point.

The drama midway through the first set began when a frustrated Medvedev snatched the towel from a ball person and was given a code violation by umpire Damien Dumusois. Medvedev then threw his racket in the direction of Dumusois, barked something at him and later flashed a middle finger next to his forehead as he walked past the umpire's chair.

Even in the midst of that turmoil, Medvedev went on to win that drama-filled set in a tiebreaker, 7-1, before Lopez won the second set 6-4. At one point in that set, the anti-Medvedev crowd began chanting "Lopez! Lopez!"

Medvedev won a third-set tiebreaker to take a two-sets-to-one lead.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

The Seattle Seahawks have waived quarterback Paxton Lynch, a source confirmed to ESPN on Friday, ending his bid to back up Russell Wilson.

That job instead will go to Geno Smith -- as long as tests on his knee don't reveal a serious injury.

The Seahawks signed Lynch to a futures deal in January after the 2016 first-round pick of the Denver Broncos was out of football in 2018. They then signed Smith in the spring to compete for the lone backup spot, as Seattle keeps only two quarterbacks on its 53-man roster.

Lynch could end up on Seattle's practice squad if he goes unclaimed on waivers. The Seattle Times first reported that he was being waived on Friday.

Smith looked like the more capable of the two throughout the offseason and the summer, though Lynch started to gain ground after an impressive showing in the first preseason game against Denver. He took a hard hit to the head from Minnesota Vikings cornerback Holton Hill in Week 2 that sidelined him for the third game. In Thursday night's preseason finale against Oakland, Lynch completed 1 of 7 passes for 4 yards. One of his incompletions was a near interception that could have gone for a pick-six had the defender not dropped it.

Lynch's final line in three preseason games: 18-of-37 for 180 yards, a touchdown and no interceptions. He ran for another score.

Smith, meanwhile, went 4-of-7 for 107 yards and a pair of touchdown passes Thursday but couldn't finish the first half after his knee got rolled up on. He missed the second preseason game after surgery on his knee to remove a cyst.

Coach Pete Carroll called Smith's latest knee injury a "little tweak" and said the team will know more in a couple of days once he gets checked out. Smith said his knee felt fine postgame but added that he might need to get an MRI.

In three preseason games, Smith went 18-of-34 for 282 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. He also rushed for a touchdown.

Said Carroll of Smith: "He looks in control of the offense. He gets it. He really understands it. So that's a real positive."

J.T. Barrett was the fourth quarterback on Seattle's 90-man roster.

The Seahawks also waived Shalom Luani, defensive end Logan Tago and rookie running back Xavier Turner on Friday, a source told ESPN, and veteran defensive back DeShawn Shead posted on Twitter that he'd been released.

NEW YORK -- New York Yankees left-hander CC Sabathia was pulled from his start Friday night against the Oakland Athletics with a recurrence of right knee soreness that has bothered him for years.

Sabathia, who plans to retire at the end of the season, said he will get his knee drained Saturday and hopes to be able to pitch again this season.

"That's the plan," he said. "Hopefully I can just get enough rest where it'll calm down, and I'm able to get back out there and throw 90 to 100 pitches."

Sabathia pitched three innings of one-run ball against the A's and was pulled after 48 pitches. He was flexing the surgically repaired knee at times, but appeared to be in a groove before getting pulled in a 1-1 game.

Yankees manager Aaron Boone said he could tell Sabathia was struggling with his knee early in Friday's start.

Asked if he thinks Sabathia will pitch again this season, he said, "I hope so. I mean, I don't want to speculate on that. We'll see as far as treatment goes tomorrow, and then see how he responds to that, and we'll go from there."

Oakland went on to win 8-2, snapping the Yankees' four-game winning streak.

Sabathia, 39, spent time on the injured list to heal his right knee this month, and Friday marked his third start since returning. He said earlier this season that his knee is constantly at least an "eight out of 10" painwise.

Sabathia has 251 wins and surpassed the 3,000-strikeout mark earlier this season.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

A week after Luis Castillo and Octavio Dotel headlined a list of suspects named in an investigation of drug trafficking in the Dominican Republic, local authorities have cleared the former MLB players of charges of money laundering.

The public prosecutor announced Friday that he's suspending the arrest warrant against Castillo after an interview during which Castillo presented documentation to demonstrate he's not linked to the criminal organization.

Authorities explained that Castillo, who lives in the United States, traveled to the Dominican Republic after coming to an agreement with Attorney General Jean Alain Rodríguez. In the deal, Castillo promised to collaborate with the prosecutor and to clarify his alleged relations with the criminal organization.

"After evaluating the new documents and information offered by Castillo during the interview, we found no evidence to link him to activities related to money laundering. We are closing the case initiated against him," Rodríguez said in a statement.

Dotel, who was released on bail Thursday, still faces charges of possessing illegal weapons at the time he was arrested, a charge that's not connected to the drug bust.

Last week, Dominican officials and the U.S. Department of the Treasury accused César Emilio Peralta, aka "César the abuser," who is a fugitive, as the head of a powerful group that has operated in Dominican territory for about two decades.

Dotel and Castillo, who played for a combined 30 seasons in the majors, were named in the investigation as being suspected of laundering money for the group.

Castillo, 43, was a three-time All-Star, won three Gold Gloves and was a member of the 2003 Florida Marlins team that won the World Series.

During his 15 seasons in MLB, Dotel, 45, set a record for playing on 13 teams, more than any other player.

Information from ESPN's Enrique Rojas was used in this report.