MOORESVILLE, N.C. – Penske Truck Leasing, a transportation services company, will be the primary sponsor of the No. 22 Penske Truck Rental Dallara/Chevrolet driven by Simon Pagenaud for the NTT IndyCar Series race weekend at Pocono Raceway, Aug. 17-18.

Both Penske Truck Leasing and Pagenaud have enjoyed landmark years in 2019 and they will team up for Penske Truck Leasing’s home-state race next month. Based in Reading, Pennsylvania, Penske Truck Leasing is celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2019, having grown from just three locations to operating more than 3,700 across North America, South America, Europe, Australia, and Asia. Today, PTL operates and maintains an expansive fleet of more than 323,000 vehicles.

Pagenaud became the first driver in IndyCar history to sweep the month of May at Indianapolis this year by winning the IndyCar Grand Prix, the Indianapolis 500 pole position and then producing the record 18th victory for Team Penske in The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.

The first French driver to win the Indianapolis 500 in 99 years hopes to continue his remarkable season when he carries Penske Truck Leasing’s iconic yellow Penske Truck Rental livery on his Team Penske IndyCar for the upcoming 500-mile race at Pocono.

“The Pocono race is an important event for Penske Truck Leasing as the only IndyCar Series race in Pennsylvania and it is a great opportunity for our team to represent PTL with the Indianapolis 500-winning team and with Simon behind the wheel,” said Roger Penske. “Pocono will also be a pivotal race in the series championship and we know Simon and the No. 22 Chevrolet team will be working hard to add another 500-mile race win to their accomplishments this season.”

The distinctive yellow and blue Penske Truck Rental paint scheme has a successful history with Team Penske, including four combined wins among NASCAR and IndyCar competition. The most recent race victory for PTL came with Helio Castroneves at the Edmonton City Centre Airport circuit during the 2012 IndyCar Series season. Pagenaud also has a history representing Penske Truck Leasing as the company was featured as the primary sponsor on his car for eight races during the 2015 IndyCar Series season – his first with Team Penske.

“This is a special 50th anniversary year for us at Penske Truck Leasing and what better way to mark our anniversary than by partnering with a winning driver like Simon and Team Penske for the IndyCar race at Pocono,” said Brian Hard, Penske Truck Leasing’s president and CEO. “We’re proud of our founding heritage here in Pennsylvania and we’re sincerely grateful to our customers, associates, and partners for the growth and success we’ve experienced these past 50 years.”

Pagenaud, the 2016 IndyCar Series champion, is currently third in the series standings, just 47 points behind series leader and Team Penske teammate Josef Newgarden with four races remaining on the season. In addition to sweeping the races at Indianapolis, Pagenaud also scored a victory on the streets of Toronto, as his three wins rank second behind only Newgarden among all series drivers this season.

“It is always a special opportunity to represent one of the other Penske companies on the racetrack,” said Pagenaud. “Penske Truck Leasing has a remarkable success story and it will be an honor to help them celebrate their 50th anniversary in their home state of Pennsylvania. A win at Pocono would mean a lot to them, and it would also give our team a great push for the championship as well.”

LAKE ODESSA, Mich. – The American Ethanol Late Model Tour has added an additional event to the series schedule at Indiana’s Plymouth Speedway.

The event will be held Sept. 26-28 and will be known as the Hoosier Autumn Classic. The three day event will pay out a combined $17,000 to race winners. An open practice will begin the weekend on Sept. 26 for drivers to prepare for the unique format.

Friday will feature a pair of $2,500 to win, 25-lap qualifier events. Qualifying race one will be lined straight up from the heat race finish.  After those 25 laps are complete, lead lap cars will be completely inverted, and that will be the starting line-up for qualifying race two. The top four point earners from the qualifying races will be locked in to the Hoosier Autumn Classic on Saturday.

The final night of the weekend will feature the second largest payout of the season, when $12,000 will be on the line during a 50-lap main event.  On top of the large payout, the action on the track will be exciting for another reason as well – the Hoosier Autumn Classic marks the final race of the season before the Championships from I-96 Speedway.

STATESVILLE, N.C. – CarShield will rejoin Ross Chastain and the No. 45 Niece Motorsports team for the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series playoffs, starting this week at Bristol Motor Speedway.

“I’m so pumped to have the folks at CarShield back on board the No. 45 Truck again, especially as we look to make a championship run,” said Chastain.  “They brought us good luck at Gateway, and I’m hopeful we can make that magic happen again.  It means the world to me to have their support.”

CarShield, who visited victory lane with Chastain and the No. 45 team earlier this year at World Wide Technology Raceway, will again serve as Chastain’s primary sponsor for the final seven races of the season, starting at Bristol Motor Speedway.

“Watching Ross win this season has been great,” said Nick Hamilton, co-founder and Principal at CarShield.  “Seeing him pull into victory lane with the CarShield truck was the best.  Ross knows how to have fun while always competing at the highest level.  We do the same thing at CarShield.  That’s why we made the decision to become the primary sponsor for the rest of this season.  Hopefully, our partnership will help push him to keep smashing those watermelons and win the Championship this season.”

Headquartered in Saint Peters, Mo., CarShield offers vehicle service contracts designed to pick up where automobile owners’ existing warranty drops off and to fill gaps in coverage. CarShield was founded in 2005 by principals Nick Hamilton, Mark Travis, and Rick Brettelle and specializes in shielding its members from the high cost of automobile repairs by offering a wide range of flexible vehicle service plans.

“We are proud and honored to have CarShield join the team again,” said team owner Al Niece.  “I think Ross and this team have really shown what they are capable of, and we are excited that CarShield has recognized that potential and wants to help this team chase a championship.”

Chastain earned his first win of the season at Kansas Speedway in May.  In June, Chastain changed his points declaration, looking to make the playoffs in the NGOTS.

After spotting the competition eight races, Chastain would have to win a race and enter the top-20 in driver points to be eligible to compete for the championship.

Two races after changing his points declaration, Chastain found victory lane in the No. 45 CarShield Chevrolet at Gateway.  Two races later, Chastain found himself in the top-20 in driver points on the strength of one top-five and two top-10 finishes.

With the Knoxville Nationals fresh in our minds, we’re back with a new edition of the SPEED SPORT Power Rankings! Did David Gravel’s dominant performance at Knoxville earn him a place in the Power Rankings? Click below to find out!

Big Picture

In the second ODI at Queen's Park Oval, chasing 270 in 46 overs, West Indies needed 91 off 71 at one stage with six wickets in hand and a set batsman in Nicholas Pooran at the crease.

Percentage cricket for a few more overs was perhaps the way to go, but Pooran played a shot that was a microcosm of West Indies' problems in ODI cricket. Skipping down the track in a premeditated manner, he ended up mistiming a pull to Virat Kohli at midwicket.

Pooran's wicket triggered a collapse and the hosts slipped from 179 for 4 to 182 for 8, with the result all but decided.

At 23, Pooran is a young man with a bright future and the promise of winning many games for his team but West Indies will be hurting after squandering the opportunity to go 1-0 up in the series.

However, it wasn't all gloom for them. Their bowlers had brought them into the match by conceding just 67 runs in the last ten overs. Come Wednesday, West Indies will have another chance - this time to level the series - as the two teams face each other at the same venue for the final ODI.

India, on the other hand, will be aiming to finish the white-ball leg of the tour undefeated. As far as their search for the No. 4 batsman is concerned, it looks like Rishabh Pant has his captain's backing for now. Though he didn't quite convince during his 20 off 35 balls in the last match, Pant should once again slot in at No. 4.

Shikhar Dhawan is yet to strike form after his return from the hand injury that cut his World Cup short, but it's far from a worry for the team management at this moment.

Form guide

West Indies LWLLL (last five completed matches, most recent first)
India WLWWL

In the spotlight

From the start of 2018 to the start of the World Cup, Shai Hope scored 1460 runs in 28 ODIs at an average of 66.36. More than half those runs came in just eight innings, while opening the batting. At the World Cup, where he batted mostly at No. 3, Hope had lukewarm returns - 274 runs at 34.25. After being dismissed for 5 in the second ODI, Hope will look forward to getting back among the runs.

Fifteen wickets in five innings. A bowling average of 6.73, a strike rate of 14.0. Only Curtly Ambrose has more wickets than Bhuvneshwar Kumar at Queen's Park Oval. With the game in the balance, it was his three wickets in seven balls that turned the second ODI in India's favour. India will be hoping for an encore from the swing bowler.

Team news

Evin Lewis, who struggled with his calf injury during the second ODI, has recovered well after a day's rest and should be part of the playing XI. Fabian Allen is also fit and most likely will replace Oshane Thomas who went for 32 in his four wicketless overs on Sunday.

West Indies (probable): 1 Chris Gayle, 2 Evin Lewis, 3 Shai Hope (wk), 4 Shimron Hetmyer, 5 Nicholas Pooran, 6 Roston Chase, 7 Jason Holder (capt), 8 Carlos Brathwaite, 9 Fabian Allen, 10 Kemar Roach, 11 Sheldon Cottrell

With the series still not decided, India might once again field an unchanged XI.

India (probable): 1 Rohit Sharma, 2 Shikhar Dhawan, 3 Virat Kohli (capt), 4 Rishabh Pant (wk), 5 Shreyas Iyer, 6 Kedar Jadhav, 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 9 Mohammed Shami, 10 Khaleel Ahmed, 11 Kuldeep Yadav

Pitch and conditions

The weather is expected to be humid once again, with a forecast for showers throughout the day. Although teams batting first have won five of the last six completed ODIs here, the chance of rain might tempt the captains to bat second.

The match will be played on the same pitch the last one.

Stats and trivia

• As an opener in ODIs, Hope has scored 860 runs at an average of 95.55 and a strike rate of 92.47. Batting elsewhere, his 1672 runs have come at an average of 38.00, with a strike rate of 69.00.

• In his last 20 ODIs, Kuldeep Yadav has taken only 29 wickets at an average of 32.62. Prior to that, he had 67 wickets in 33 games at an average of 20.07.

• Currently on 96 wickets from 53 ODIs, Kuldeep has a chance to break Mohammad Shami's record (55 matches) for the fastest Indian to 100-ODI wickets.

Quinton de Kock will captain South Africa's T20 side during their upcoming trip to India. There are also three newcomers in the squad for the three-match T20 International series, with Temba Bavuma and Anrich Nortje included and Lions allrounder Bjorn Fortuin in line for an international debut.

Faf du Plessis was not included in South Africa's T20 squad, but will captain South Africa in the three-Test series that follows the T20s, with Bavuma named as his vice-captain. Cricket South Africa's acting Director of Cricket Corrie van Zyl stressed that du Plessis "remains an important part of our plans for white-ball cricket" despite his absence from the T20 squad.

Nortje was one of three new caps in South Africa's Test squad, along with wicketkeeper Rudi Second and spin-bowling allrounder Senuran Muthusamy.

Offspinner Dane Piedt returns to the Test squad on the back of very impressive performances in domestic four-day cricket, having topped last season's bowling tables with 54 dismissals. Also included is Zubayr Hamza, who was one of only two batsmen to make double hundreds in the franchise four-day competition last season, and made his Test debut against Pakistan in January.

"All three newcomers to the Test side have more than earned their spurs through impressive performances in last season's Four-Day Franchise competition," said van Zyl.

"We feel we have covered all the options for the conditions we are likely to encounter on the sub-continent with Muthusamy and Dane Piedt, who was far and away the leading wicket-taker in our Four-Day competition, providing the back-up to Keshav Maharaj.

"Zubayr Hamza made an impressive start to his Test career against Pakistan last season when Faf du Plessis was ruled out and the retirement of Hashim Amla creates a further opportunity for him."

Aiden Markram, Theunis de Bruyn and Lungi Ngidi were not considered for T20 selection as all three are part of the South Africa A squad that will be playing four-day cricket in September. Allrounder Chris Morris, who has been playing for Hampshire in the Vitality Blast, did not make himself available for selection. Dale Steyn, who recently retired from Test cricket, did make himself available for T20 selection, but was not picked.

"As far as the T20 squad is concerned, Temba Bavuma and Bjorn Fortuin were two of the standout players in the CSA T20 Challenge last season while Nortje was outstanding in the Mzansi Super League until ruled out by injury," van Zyl said. "This is very much a form squad with players being rewarded for their consistent performances at franchise level. This applies equally to Junior Dala and Jon-Jon Smuts.

"The T20 series gives us the last chance to have a look at our leadership and batting options as the next edition of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup is now little more than a year away which is why we have gone with an inexperienced leadership group," explained van Zyl. "This is our last chance to do this before we settle on an established squad."

Test match squad: Faf du Plessis (capt), Temba Bavuma (vice-capt), Theunis de Bruyn, Quinton de Kock, Dean Elgar, Zubayr Hamza, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, Senuran Muthusamy, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje, Vernon Philander, Dane Piedt, Kagiso Rabada, Rudi Second.

T20I squad: Quinton de Kock (capt), Rassie van der Dussen (vice-capt), Temba Bavuma, Junior Dala, Bjorn Fortuin, Beuran Hendricks, Reeza Hendricks, David Miller, Anrich Nortje, Andile Phehlukwayo, Dwaine Pretorius, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi, Jon-Jon Smuts.

Sri Lanka may have whitewashed South Africa in February, but their most recent Test series at home brought a 3-0 defeat at the hands of England. Though the hosts' spinners were expected to dominate the England batsmen, the opposition top order batted aggressively, and found ways to put up daunting totals.

A lot has changed in Sri Lanka's world since that series in November. Rangana Herath is no longer around. Dilruwan Perera, Sri Lanka's other lead spinner in that series, is recovering from injury. Left-arm spinner Malinda Pushpakumara, a domestic veteran, is not even in the squad. The spin bowlers Dimuth Karunaratne has at his disposal, instead, are largely inexperienced - Akila Dananjaya, who has played only five Tests, and Lasith Embuldeniya, who has played only two, and none at home.

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A captain who has been unafraid to change a long-standing strategy so far, Karunaratne suggested he would encourage his young bowlers to bowl tighter than they did against England.

"When we played against England, we kept attacking them too much with our bowlers, and we couldn't stop the runs," Karunaratne said ahead of the first Test against New Zealand. "But we have that experience with [the loss against] England now, and we have some new plans. In these conditions, rather than giving away a lot of runs, we need to dry them up. Even though we lost the toss in all three of those games, we still had a good chance, and I think this is where we made the mistake. If their batsmen attack us, we need to know how to deal with that."

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Drying runs up may be especially vital in the first Test, if, as Karunaratne suspects, the pitch is more batting-friendly than it usually is in Galle. Frequent rains have forced the ground staff to keep the pitch under covers in the lead-up to the Test, which means the surface may not start as dry as it generally might. If that is the case, Sri Lanka's batting order, which should be strengthened by the return of Angelo Mathews, after he missed the South Africa Tests with injury, will be called upon to put up a substantial first-innings score.

"Angelo and Dinesh Chandimal are in this squad now, so there might be a few changes to the top order that played in South Africa," Karunaratne said. "It's different conditions as well here. We have to pick the best batsmen to counter spin. I think it will be a good wicket for the batsmen, but because we haven't been able to see the pitch properly over the last few days, we can only make those decisions about selection tomorrow morning."