MOORESVILLE, N.C. — This time of year in the Midwest is when the harshly cold winds of winter turn into the brutally hot and humid days of summer.

But as the calendar flips to August in the state of Ohio, it means two things: racing season is coming to a close and its time to start practice for the Ohio State University football team, which afflicts the native population with the same near-insanity that high school and college basketball impact its next-door neighbors in Indiana.

This is where it gets interesting for 19-year-old Colton Herta, a Southern California kid from Valencia, far removed from the cold autumn winds of Ohio.

There is this college football game played every November that pits the Ohio State Buckeyes against “that school up north,” as former coach Woody Hayes used to call the University of Michigan.

At times, it has become a Herta family battle because Colton Herta’s father, Bryan, attended Ohio State and Colton’s grandpa went to Michigan.

“They are so against each other,” Colton Herta said. “They are always placing bets on all the different football and basketball games. Whenever there is a game, he (Bryan Herta) is cheering for Ohio State.

“I don’t really care who wins, it’s just whoever I want to wind up more that day — my dad or my grandfather.”

Bryan Herta began his racing career driving for Ohio-based teams, such as Tasman Racing and Team Rahal, when it was based in Hilliard, Ohio. He also made a lot of laps at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

Bryan Herta is a Honda team owner in the NTT IndyCar Series. He is one of the team owners of the No. 98 Honda driven by Marco Andretti. Herta is also a two-time Indianapolis 500-winning team owner.

The first was in 2011 when the late Dan Wheldon won the 100th anniversary Indianapolis 500. Five years later, rookie driver Alexander Rossi was at the wheel for Herta in the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500.

Back when Herta’s career started as a driver, Ohio played a major role in his career and his life.

“I lived in Ohio for the better part of six or seven years,” Herta explained. “We made a life there. My daughter was born there. From a personal standpoint, I have an affinity for the area. When we used to race in Cleveland and at Mid-Ohio, we did a lot of racing in and around that area. I feel like there are a lot of great Indy car fans there and that raises the event when you have really, dyed-in-the-wool Indy car fans coming out like we do at Mid-Ohio, that makes things that much better.”

Although he was born in Warren, Mich., and his father attended the University of Michigan, Bryan Herta chose Ohio State, where he majored in economics.

“I went to Ohio State, I was a full-time student at Ohio State, I was born in Michigan and my dad went to Michigan,” Herta said. “Definitely, when Michigan plays Ohio State, I’m rooting for the Scarlet and Gray.

“I was an economics major. I did not make it to the finish line on that one. I was still enrolled at Ohio State when I started racing in IndyCar. All through Indy Lights and then into IndyCar, I realized I could no longer do both.

“If I had gotten my degree, maybe I’d be a great economics professor.”

Although Herta fell just short of getting his degree from Ohio State, his college years have had a lasting impact on his career as a driver and team owner.

“There is a discipline to learning that benefits you, no matter what you do,” Herta explained. “Whether you use your degree, or not, there is a discipline to learning how to study, how to apply yourself, how to meet deadlines for tests, how to meet deadlines for projects. All of that is the same in any business venture. I think the educational experience really helped me a lot on the business side of racing, even though the particular subject I studied wasn’t directly related to racing.”

As an Ohio State student, Herta started third and finished fourth in the Indy Lights Series race at Mid-Ohio in 1992. The next year, he won the race at Mid-Ohio after starting from the pole for Tasman Racing.

Herta became a test driver at Newman/Haas Racing, then joined A.J. Foyt Racing in 1994. The following year, he moved to Chip Ganassi Racing. He won his first pole at Phoenix in 1995.

In 1996, Ohio-based Team Rahal hired Herta to drive the Shell car in CART. He finished fourth at Mid-Ohio that year and drove to victory at WeatherTech Raceway at Laguna Seca in 1998 for his first triumph. It was the first of two consecutive Laguna victories for Herta.

He joined team owner Michael Andretti’s operation in 2003 and scored a victory at Kansas Speedway. He won again at Michigan Int’l Speedway in 2005.

These days Bryan Herta is better known as the father of 19-year-old Colton Herta. But his time in Ohio brings back special memories to the man and his family.

“Ohioans still have the Rahal home team to root for and maybe a little bit, the Hertas, too, because we did spend time there,” Herta noted. “Even though we live in California now, it was our home for many years and we still feel a great fondness toward the area.

“I’m humbled to be claimed as a hometown guy for so many races.”

Lunch India 297 and 14 for 0 (Agarwal 8*, Rahul 6*) lead West Indies 222 (Chase 48, Ishant 5-43) by 89 runs

Mayank Agarwal and KL Rahul ensured India didn't lose any wicket in the seven overs they had to bat before lunch on the third morning of the first Test against West Indies. By the end of the session, India had extended their lead to 89 after Ishant Sharma's five-wicket haul had helped them bowl West Indies out for 222.

Resuming their innings on 189 for 8 on day three, West Indies resisted for 15.2 overs with overnight batsmen Jason Holder and Miguel Cummins frustrating India with a 41-run stand for the ninth wicket, of which Cummins' contribution was 0.

But once Mohammed Shami dismissed Holder for 39, Cummins went for a big heave against Ravindra Jadeja, only to be bowled for a 45-ball duck. However, the main destroyer was Ishant Sharma, who finished with figures of 5 for 43. On the second evening, West Indies were 174 for 5 at one stage before Ishant took three wickets in seven balls to reduce them to 179 for 8.

West Indies' hopes of getting close to India's first-innings total of 297 rested on their captain Jason Holder who farmed the strike as much as possible. With two fours in Jasprit Bumrah's second over of the day, Holder took West Indies past 200. In the pacer's next over, Holder chipped him wide of mid-on for another boundary.

At the other end, Miguel Cummins stuck to his brief of just hanging in there, and it wasn't that India didn't have a chance to bowl more than a couple of balls at a time at him. Ishant got two successive overs at him. While Ishant kept beating Cummins' bat, the batsman did well not to edge one.

Virat Kohli turned to Jadeja in search of the breakthrough. Jadeja too beat Cummins thrice in five balls in his first over of the day but the batsman just focused on protecting his stumps instead of poking at the ball.

Holder and Cummins saw out the first hour of the day with India seemingly growing frustrated. When it finally looked like Cummins had edged one behind the stumps off Mohammed Shami, the decision was overturned on review with replays showing the bat had hit the turf and not the ball.

However, Shami wasn't to be denied for long. On the first ball of his next over, he got Holder to nick one behind and this time there was no doubt about the edge.

While each of West Indies' top eight batsmen got into the double figures, apart from Holder, Roston Chase was the only one who offered any semblance of resistance. Chase, who top-scored for West Indies with 48, hit five fours and a six during his stay at the crease.

Earlier, Ajinkya Rahane's 81 had lifted India after a top-order collapse had left them precariously placed on 25 for 3. At 207 for 7, West Indies still had a chance to wrap up the innings under 250 but Jadeja added 90 with the last three batsmen to take India to a respectable total.

DETROIT -- A pair of Detroit Lions starters left the team's preseason game Friday night with injuries.

Starting middle linebacker Jarrad Davis was carted to the locker room with a right foot injury during the first drive, before center Frank Ragnow was helped off the field in the second quarter with a right leg injury.

"There's nothing really to report right now," Lions coach Matt Patricia said after his team's 24-20 loss to the Buffalo Bills. "We'll see what it looks like tomorrow and go through the normal procedures the day after the game and try to see what that looks like and then we'll go from there."

Davis is scheduled to undergo an MRI on the foot Saturday, a source told ESPN. He appeared to suffer the injury at the end of a 9-yard run by Bills back LeSean McCoy when Lions teammate Devon Kennard appeared to roll up on Davis' leg. The run was called back for holding.

Davis fell to the ground clutching his right leg; he tried to get up and get to the sideline on his own but couldn't put any pressure on the leg.

After doctors and athletic trainers examined Davis, taking his right shoe off in the process, they called for the cart to take him to the locker room. Davis, 24, needed assistance to reach the cart, and multiple Detroit defensive players went over to speak with him before he left the field.

"Just making sure that he knows we're there for him," Kennard said. "That's like the leader of our defense and the heart and soul of the defense to an extent, and just so he knows we've got his back and we support him and praying that he's OK, whatever the injury is. I just let him know that I was praying for him and I hope that he's back soon."

Davis, the team's first-round pick in 2017, has been Detroit's middle linebacker the past two seasons and was expected to hold down that role again in 2019. While the Lions have not yet named team captains for 2019, Davis was a captain last season.

He has started all 30 games he has played for Detroit, making 196 tackles with eight sacks, eight passes defended and two fumble recoveries. With the Lions releasing safety Glover Quin in the offseason, Davis has often been looked to as the main communicator and heart of the team's defense since.

With Davis out, a combination of rookie Jahlani Tavai and veteran Jalen Reeves-Maybin took his place in the lineup.

Midway through the second quarter, Ragnow, 23, injured his right leg and was examined on the turf for a few minutes before being helped off the field. He initially could not put weight on his right leg before trying to gingerly test it as he went directly to the locker room for further examination.

Ragnow, Detroit's first-round pick last year, is expected to be the team's starting center in 2019. If his injury turns out to be serious, the Lions would likely shift Graham Glasgow, their center last season, back to the position from right guard.

It would be a big blow to Detroit, though, because the interior of the offensive line is the one area on the offense where starting positions haven't been settled.

MECHANICSBURG, Pa. — The streak has ended.

For the first time in 50 years of Ollie’s Bargain Outlet All Star Circuit of Champions races at Williams Grove Speedway dating back to 1970, an All Stars driver has won a feature at the oval. His name is Aaron Reutzel.

Reutzel and local driver Lance Dewease were the stars of the shows Friday night at Williams Grove in the Jack Gunn Memorial Twin 20s for the All Stars Circuit of Champions Sprint Cars.

Reutzel would end up leading all 20 laps of the first main event at the line each time around but Dewease had the lead more than once and would nearly sweep the twins as he went on to claim the second feature.

Reutzel was chased by fellow All Star Paul McMahan when the first twin got started with McMahan drawing to his outside for control on the second lap as Dewease raced in third.

By lap seven, a fleet-running Reutzel entered the rear of the field as Dewease tested McMahan with an outside move in the third and fourth turns.

Traffic would prove quite challenging for McMahan and especially Reutzel but McMahan held on to the second spot until lap 11 when Dewease was able to power by and then set his sights on the leader.

It only took two laps until Dewease was on Reutzel’s fuel cell and the pair was racing just yards apart as they crossed the line on laps 13 and 14 before Dewease went under Reutzel in the first and second turns with five laps to go.

But Reutzel was not to be denied as he ripped the cushion out of the second corner and drew even with Dewease as the pair raced side by side down the backstretch and into the third turn.

By this point Dewease was exercising a lethal swoop maneuver into the corner but Reutzel put four wheels above the cushion and purely out-powered Dewease around the top and regained control back onto the front chute.

A well-timed move around two lapped cars then gave Reutzel the breathing room he needed with a pair of laps to go in order to preserve his $4,000 payday and his first win at Williams Grove Speedway.

The Texas driver’s margin of victory was .389 seconds.  The win was his ninth of the season overall and the 18th All Stars win of his career.

McMahan, Ryan Smith and Adam Wilt completed the top five finishers.

The second main event saw Kyle Moody take control at the start over Adam Wilt and Ryan Smith while Dewease started fifth in the field thanks to a six inversion from the first feature finish.

The only caution flag of the race unfurled with four laps complete for a stopped Robbie Kendall.

Just before the yellow, Dewease had driven by McMahan for fourth but he was forced to go back for the restart due to the lap not being completed.

Both McMahan and Smith advanced on the restart for second and third respectively and Dewease was soon to follow, taking over fourth spot with six laps in the book.

After that, the Fayetteville flyer found mowed down Smith for second with eight laps to go before using a low move in the third and fourth corner with six laps to go to take the lead and run to the 97th win of his Williams Grove career worth $4,000.

Dewease noted in victory lane that he might not have been aggressive enough in the first main event.

The win was the 39th All Stars win of his career.

Smith rode home second by 1.943 seconds, followed by Moody, Wilt and Chad Trout.

Fast time was set by Dale Blaney with a lap of 16.717 seconds.

The finishes:

First feature: 1. Aaron Reutzel, 2. Lance Dewease, 3. Paul McMahan, 4. Ryan Smith, 5. Adam Wilt, 6. Kyle Moody, 7. Logan Wagner, 8.Chad Trout, 9. Dale Blaney, 10. Cory Eliason, 11. Danny Dietrich, 12. Brian Montieth, 13. Brock Zearfoss, 14. Freddie Rahmer, 15. TJ Stutts, 16. Anthony Macri, 17. Kyle Reinhardt, 18. Justin Peck, 19. Greg Wilson, 20. Cory Haas, 21. Gerard McIntyre Jr., 22. Jeff Halligan, 23. Skylar Gee, 24. Troy Fraker, 25. Robbie Kendall, 26. Steve Buckwalter

Second feature: 1. Dewease, 2. Smith, 3. Moody, 4. Wilt, 5. Trout, 6. Dietrich, 7. Montieth, 8. McMahan, 9. Reutzel, 10. Wagner, 11. Rahmer, 12. Eliason, 13. Macri, 14.  Zearfoss, 15. Stutts, 16. Reinhardt, 17. Peck, 18. Haas, 19. McIntyre Jr., 20. Halligan, 21. Buckwalter, 22. Wilson, 23. Fraker, 24. Gee, 25. Blaney, 26. Kendall

MANSFIELD, Ohio — Brandon Sheppard and Mike Marlar won featues on Friday night of the second annual Dirt Million presented by Arizona Sport Shirts at Mansfield Motor Speedway.

Each driver earned $10,000 for their 30-lap victories and are guaranteed a starting spot in Saturday night’s Dirt Million finale.

Sheppard took the lead on lap two from polesitter Kent Robinson and led the rest of the way to win the first Duel. It was not an easy win for the 26-year-old Illinois racer, as he had to hold off both a charging Jimmy Owens and the defending Dirt Million winner Earl Pearson Jr.

Brandon Overton was fourth, with Hudson O’Neal coming from the fifteenth starting spot to register a fifth-place finish at the checkers.

“It was really hard staying out front,” said Sheppard. “They have got the track really good right now. You had to have a line where the car would go best. With traffic in front of us, we really didn’t know where to go. My crew guys are awesome, they kept me up to date on where I needed to be on the track. It was tricky out there. I felt good around the top of three and four and in one and two I felt good all over.”

Owens was in the hunt for the win from the halfway mark and came home in second after passing Pearson on lap 21.

“It is hands down better than we ran here last night,” Owens said. “It felt good to be battling for the win. Brandon [Sheppard], he is one of the toughest guys in the country right now, and to have him moving around and looking over his shoulder the whole race was pretty awesome.”

Pearson, who collected over $202,000 for his win in the Dirt Million a year ago, returned to the Lucas Oil podium with his third-place finish.

“It wasn’t too bad tonight, “ he said. “We got up on the cushion and did our thing, which is unusual for me to go to the cushion. We weren’t bad up on the cushion either. When Brandon moved up there, we couldn’t do much after that.”

Marlar claimed his fourth Lucas Oil win of the season, leading all 30 laps for a convincing victory.

Chase Junghans, for the second night in a row, recorded a second-place finish. Michael Norris, in the Clint Bowyer Racing No. 5 entry, posted his best career Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series finish rounding out the podium. Jonathan Davenport finished fourth with Tyler Erb crossing the finish line in fifth.

Marlar who also started on the pole of a Thursday night duel was not going to be denied tonight as he stormed to the lead early on over Norris and Junghans. Norris, who like Junghans, was seeking his first career Lucas Oil win, closed on Marlar in heavy traffic with twelve laps scored. Junghans made the pass on Norris for second on lap 20.

Marlar held steady in lapped traffic as Junghans and Norris could not get close enough in the waning laps to challenge for the win. Like Sheppard, the win also marked Marlar’s thirteenth career win with the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series.

Marlar led every lap for his win.

“Last night was a bummer when you get a good starting spot like that,” Marlar said. “It’s tough when you win a heat and get to start up front like we did. The car was something I could deal with today better than last night. It was definitely ‘elbows up’ early. Last year we had a real good shot for the win and a carburetor spring broke I think I was running second when it broke and I had to start lifting on the gas pedal.”

Junghans was pleased with another runner-up finish.

“The third times the charm, right? Mikey is hard to beat,” Junghans said. “I wish the track would have gotten a little wider for us. We still have a little bit of tuning on the car to do yet. But it’s really good right now. We just need to build off of last night and tonight.”

The finishes:

First feature: Brandon Sheppard, Jimmy Owens, Earl Pearson Jr., Brandon Overton, Hudson O’Neal, Kent Robinson, Shannon Babb, Shane Clanton, Max Blair, Gordy Gundaker, Devin Moran, Brian Shirley, Johnny Scott, Mike Benedum, Dan Angelicchio, Ryan Markham, Doug Drown, David Scott, Bobby Pierce, Scott Bloomquist, Stormy Scott.

Second feature: Mike Marlar, Chase Junghans, Michael Norris, Jonathan Davenport, Tyler Erb, Rick Eckert, Ricky Weiss, Jared Landers, Josh Richards, Darrell Lanigan, Tim McCreadie, Steve Casebolt, Boom Briggs, Dennis Erb Jr., Shanon Buckingham, Mason Zeigler, Kyle Bronson, Dale McDowell, Billy Moyer, Billy Moyer Jr.

KOKOMO, Ind. — One night after claiming a victory in Sprint Car Smackdown’s annual karaoke contest, Logan Seavey was singing a different tune Friday night at Kokomo Speedway, ending it in victory lane following his first USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car triumph.

The reigning USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget champion used his voice to win karaoke hardware with Garth Brooks’ “That Summer” after a broken wheel cover ended a solid run on track on Thursday.

For the Sutter, Calif., native, however, tomorrow would come, and he’d use his right foot to capture an even bigger trophy, a bigger payday and the prestige of becoming the series’ first first-time winner of the 2019 season.

Along the way, Seavey cut a new record, ripping 30 laps around Kokomo Speedway 33 seconds quicker than the previous USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car track record for that distance at the quarter-mile, a record formerly held by Bryan Clauson set during Smackdown in 2013, at six minutes and 48.92 seconds.

“Just to be racing sprint cars with USAC and to get to run good racecars with a family like this, is pretty crazy for me,” Seavey noted. “We just race and have fun. We normally end up pretty good and, the more fun we’re having, the better we run. Finally, it all came together tonight. We’ve had that speed the last two nights, and it all finally came together.”

Perhaps, most impressively, was that Seavey was making just his second start of the USAC AMSOIL National Sprint car points season, the first of which came just 24 hours earlier. Seavey picked up a win behind the wheel of a Reinbold/Underwood Motorsports machine in USAC Southwest Sprint Car competition in April at Arizona Speedway.

And, as it turns out, Friday of Smackdown has a special significance to Seavey, as this is the same night in which he first met team co-owner Andy Reinbold a year ago, kicking off a winning connection that certainly paid its dividends on this night.

“Friday night of Smackdown last year was the first time I met Andy,” Seavey remembered. “We got together and ran a few races last year together out west. We came into this year knowing he had a full-time USAC car and that was going to take up a lot of his time. He told me early in the year that, in the big races, he wanted to bring out another car from Arizona to run Smackdown, Western World and the Oval Nationals.”

Seavey began the main event from the pole and led a trio of nineteens on the opening lap aboard his No. 19s while leading the 19 of Kevin Thomas Jr. and the 19az of C.J. Leary. Leary made quick work from his fourth starting spot, rushing into second by lap three past Thomas and began the hunt to track down Seavey.

Leary tried high, sought the middle, looked low, and even cut a diamond groove off turns one and three. Leary chopped into Seavey’s advantage and gained ground off the corners on each go-around, pulling side-by-side in turns two and four each lap for several laps early on before Seavey utilized the topside momentum to surge ahead and maintain his lead.

By the 10th lap, Leary’s exit plan on the low line became stifled with a bevy of traffic occupying the bottom, hindering his path as he pursued Seavey. At the halfway mark, Seavey maintained a three car length lead as he seemingly ran his own race up top and, with no cautions in sight, kept traffic as part of the equation and allowed the top lane to be wide open for Seavey all by his lonesome where he was most comfortable running, up against the cushion.

Seavey had to be perfect and execute flawlessly as a hungry Leary sought his first series victory in 20 starts. Yet, Seavey managed to up the interval in the final ten laps, from a half-second, to three quarters of a second, to more than a second on the final lap, closing out a superb performance with a 1.114-second win over Leary, Tyler Courtney, Kevin Thomas Jr. and Justin Grant.

Reinbold/Underwood Motorsports’ one-two finish was the first time teammates have occupied the top-two positions in a USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car feature on dirt since July of 2008 when Keith Kunz Motorsports’ stable of Cole Whitt and Darren Hagen finished first and second, respectively, during the Indiana Sprint Week round at Gas City I-69 Speedway.

To see complete results, turn to the next page.