KNOXVILLE, Iowa — Kyle Larson’s pursuit of victory in the 59th NOS Energy Drink Knoxville Nationals is officially over.

Larson qualified ninth during Wednesday’s opening night at Knoxville Raceway before finishing seventh in his heat, relegating him to the Last Chance Showdown.

Larson finished sixth in the Last Chance Showdown and failed to advance to the feature, meaning he’d have to run Friday’s Hard Knox program if he had any hope of making Saturday’s $150,000-to-win main event.

With NASCAR responsibilities on Friday at Michigan Int’l Speedway making it nearly impossible to Larson to make it back to Knoxville for the Hard Knox program, Larson made the call to end his Knoxville Nationals bid.

The California driver does plan to be on hand for Saturday’s finale as a spectator.

• Passing was at a premium during the 10 heat races run during the first two nights of the NOS Energy Drink Knoxville Nationals.

As a result, the points were greatly shuffled and several drivers will have work to do on Friday night in an attempt to qualify for the sport’s biggest event.

Fifteen of the 20 drivers who started in the fourth row of their heat race due to the inversion failed to transfer to features through the heat races. For many years, the heat-race inversion was 10 drivers, making the format easier than it was for decades.

Still, drivers the likes of Donny Schatz, Brian Brown and Kyle Larson found themselves on the outside looking in after two nights of racing.

• Schatz’s Tony Stewart Racing team changed an engine on the No. 15 between the fifth heat race and the B main on Wednesday night. Members of other crews, including the No. 41 Jason Johnson Racing team pitched in to help.

Schatz raced from seventh to finish fourth in the B Main and romped from 24th to 11th in the feature.

• Fifty-three cars signed in on the opening night of the NOS Energy Drink Knoxville Nationals, with another 56 taking the green flag on Thursday.

• Versatile Missouri veteran Hunter Schuerenberg landed a ride in the McGhee Motorsports No. 11 for the Knoxville Nationals.

Schuerenberg filled in for regular driver Dale Blaney, who opted to sit out the Nationals, but will return to the car when the Ollie’s Bargain Outlet All Star Circuit of Champions campaign resumes next week.

• Knoxville Raceway officials recognized the late Greg Hodnett with a tribute video prior to the start of Wednesday night’s program.

Hodnett, who was killed at Pennsylvania’s BAPS Motor Speedway last September, won the Wednesday night preliminary feature during last year’s Knoxville Nationals. It was Hodnett’s 286th and last victory.

• Jac Haudenschild and his son, Sheldon, were both in Wednesday’s field, while the brother combinations of Jeff and Sammy Swindell and Austin and Carson McCarl also participated.

Sheldon Haudenschild finished third in the feature and Jac Haudenschild was eighth.

• Tanner Thorson showed great speed driving the No. 88 CJB Motorsports machine, a team car to the No. 5 that Shane Stewart raced Thursday night. Thorson qualified 25th, but transferred through his heat and finished seventh in the 25-lap feature.

• Tim Kaeding, making another appearance in one of Jason Sides’ No. 7s machines, was steady throughout the Wednesday program and had the second-highest point total for the evening.

• Brent Marks continued to perform during sprint car racing’s biggest weeks. Marks, who raced from 16th to finish third in last month’s Kings Royal at Ohio’s Eldora Speedway, finished sixth Wednesday and qualified for Saturday’s feature.

• Spencer Bayston wheeled the California-based VanDyke Motorsports No. 5h on Wednesday night. Bayston and the team were here for the All Star Circuit of Champions race in late July.

• When Paul McMahan qualified for Saturday night’s feature, he became the seventh driver to make 20 Knoxville Nationals A mains. He joined Steve Kinser (35), Sammy Swindell (34), Danny Lasoski (26), Terry McCarl (22), Stevie Smith (21) and Donny Schatz (21) with 20 starts or more.

• Veteran sprint car driver Johnny Herrera is turning the wrenches for ASCS Lucas Oil Sprint Car Series regular Harli White.

• Fast-qualifier Shane Stewart took a wild flip in turns three and four on the first lap of the first heat race, destroying his CJB Motorsports No. 5. He climbed from the car under his own power.

Stewart will be among those competing in Friday night’s Hard Knox program, looking for one of the four transfer positions.

• Longtime World of Outlaws sprint car driver Andy Hillenburg, who retired nearly two decades ago, attended Thursday night’s event.

• Brian Brown failed to transfer through his heat race on Thursday and ended up in the B main, where he cut a right-rear tire. He missed the feature and will be racing on Friday.

• Sye Lynch, the son of legendary Western Pennsylvania racer Ed Lynch Jr. and the grandson of Hall of Famer Jean Lynch, was impressive in his Knoxville Nationals debut on Thursday night, making the feature after battling David Gravel in a heat race.

Mobil 1 – the best choice for your Truck or SUV. Learn more about Mobil 1 Truck & SUV oil and enter for a chance to win a Toyota pickup or SUV at dirtgiveaway.com.

KNOXVILLE, Iowa — Since the Friday night Hard Knox format was put into play during the NOS Energy Knoxville Nationals, the program has become more and more popular and provided tremendous entertainment value with four starting spots available in Saturday night’s $150,000-to-win feature at Knoxville Raceway.

This year could be the best yet after two topsy-turvy qualifying nights left the field jumbled and a lot of big names found themselves relegated to the Hard Knox program.

The top 26 drivers in points are locked into Saturday night’s program, but the rest of the 109-car field will be in action on Friday.

Jason Solwold, with 426 points, is the high point man heading into the night, while Caleb Helms ranked 109th.

All drivers will start fresh on Friday with a full program of time trials, heats and features.

Three-time Nationals runner-up Brian Brown, who leads the weekly racing standings at Knoxville Raceway this year, may be the headliner in the field after a rough night on Thursday saw him miss the main event.

Shane Stewart was the fast qualifier on Thursday, but flipped his CJB Motorsports entry on the first lap of his heat race and he’ll be racing again on Friday.

Logan Schuchart, who won last year’s Hard Knox feature and finished second the previous year, will be racing in the Hard Knox program again this year.

Veterans Jac Haudenschild, Terry McCarl, Jeff Swindell, Sammy Swindell, Chad Kemenah and Craig Dollansky will also be in action.

Central Pennsylvania kingpin Danny Dietrich, who ranked 30th in qualifying points, Wayne Johnson, Jason Sides, Brady Bacon, Austin McCarl, Sam Hafertepe, Bill Balog, Cale Conley, Greg Wilson, Freddie Rahmer and 2005 Nationals winner Kraig Kinser will also be among those competing in the Hard Knox event.

The top four finishers on Friday night will receive the 21st through 24th starting positions on Saturday night.

Below is the entry list posted by Knoxville Raceway early Friday, which is subject to change as teams may choose to withdraw. Kyle Larson has already confirmed he will not be competing Friday night and has withdrawn from the remainder of the Knoxville Nationals.

83 Cars Race tonight on @FVPparts HARD KNOX Night for a shot at earning positions 21-24 in the Saturday Championship A Main!

Format:
Split Field Time Trials (1 Lap per Car)
6 Heats (Invert 4, Top 3 to A Main)
C Main
2 B Mains (Top 3 of each to A Main)
A Main#NOSvilleNationals pic.twitter.com/eGC9OY5lBe

— #NOSvilleNationals (@knoxvilleraces) August 9, 2019

Mobil 1 – the best choice for your Truck or SUV. Learn more about Mobil 1 Truck & SUV oil and enter for a chance to win a Toyota pickup or SUV at dirtgiveaway.com.

Mobil 1 – the best choice for your Truck or SUV. Learn more about Mobil 1 Truck & SUV oil and enter for a chance to win a Toyota pickup or SUV at dirtgiveaway.com.

ELMONT, N.Y. -- The New York state board responsible for economic development has approved a $1.3 billion project to build a 19,000-seat arena for the New York Islanders at Belmont Park.

Newsday reports the six members of the Empire State Development board voted Thursday in favor of the complex that will include shops, restaurants and a hotel.

The project on state-owned property would allow the Islanders to move from Brooklyn to Elmont, in Nassau County, while creating thousands of new jobs.

However, some residents of surrounding communities are worried about increased traffic and noise.

The state Franchise Oversight Board must still approve an environmental review. That could happen in the coming weeks.

The arena project was first announced by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo in December 2017.

MANCHESTER, England -- Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has said Leroy Sane's knee injury is set to rule him out for "six or seven months."

The Germany winger suffered the injury during the Community Shield victory over Liverpool at Wembley on Sunday and will undergo surgery in Barcelona next week.

- Premier League fixtures 2019-20 in full
- ESPN fantasy: Sign up now!

Guardiola said he expects to be without the 23-year-old until after Christmas. Sane had been linked with a summer move to Bayern Munich throughout the transfer window, which closed for Premier League clubs on Thursday.

"Normally this kind of injury is six or seven months," Guardiola told a news conference on Friday ahead of his side's Premier League opener against West Ham.

"Hopefully in February or March he can be back with us. I didn't think about him leaving. Always I said he's our player and he didn't tell me he wanted to leave, always I thought he was ours.

"It's bad news and in three seasons we've had three ACL [injuries]. He's young and he will recover well hopefully. All the people will help him, he will feel alone and we help him to feel as comfortable as possible."

City kick off their campaign with a trip to West Ham on Saturday a week after lifting the Community Shield with a penalty shoot-out victory over Liverpool.

Riyad Mahrez missed the game at Wembley because of fears he could fail a doping test after taking an unknown sinus medication while playing for Algeria at the Africa Cup of Nations, but will return to the squad at the London Stadium.

Aymeric Laporte is also fit after recovering from a knock picked up in training.

"Last season West Ham finished well," Guardiola said. "Manuel [Pellegrini] has quality in identifying the way he plays. In the start it was not easy [for him], they lost the first three or four games but he's a calm person and the board supported him.

"He made good results at the end of the season -- [against] Tottenham, Watford. The quality in his teams and the quality of the players up front, they've got many good players. It's the first game. Playing away is tricky but we are ready."

Guardiola also confirmed that David Silva will replace Vincent Kompany as club captain after a vote among players this week. Fernandinho, Kevin De Bruyne and Sergio Aguero will act as vice-captains to Silva, who is entering his final season in Manchester after joining the club from Valencia in 2010.

"He has to be himself, David has to be himself and make decisions for the team," Guardiola said. "He will be a good captain."

Arsenal's Mesut Ozil and Sead Kolasinac, who escaped unhurt after an attempted carjacking last month, are not in the squad for the team's Premier League opener at Newcastle United on Sunday due to "further security incidents," the club said on Friday.

"Ozil and Kolasinac will not be part of the squad for our opening match against Newcastle following further security incidents which are being investigated by the police," an Arsenal spokesman told Reuters via email.

"The welfare of our players and their families is always a top priority and we have taken this decision following discussion with the players and their representatives."

"We're liaising with the police and are providing the players and their families with ongoing support," added the Arsenal spokesman.

"We look forward to welcoming the players back to the squad as soon as possible. We will not be making any further comment on the matter."

Ozil and his wife Amine Gulse were unharmed after being the targets in the incident, a sourced had previously told ESPN FC. The incident occurred when the two were pulling up to the home of Kolasinac, according to the source, when two assailants approached the car brandishing knives.

In video of the event, Kolasinac can be seen fending off the masked aggressors, with the source saying that Ozil stayed in the car to protect his wife.

Ozil then sped off and was followed by the attackers for about five minutes before arriving at Likya, a Turkish restaurant he likes to frequent in the nearby area of Golders Green, the source said. Employees of the restaurant emerged to help Ozil and confront the attackers.

Information from Reuters was used in this report.

It's another big home date for Pity Martinez and Atlanta United against New York City FC, while red-hot Marco Fabian and the Philadelphia Union host struggling Houston, plus Seattle and New England will each try to rebound from home defeats.

Pity and de Boer turn a corner in Atlanta

Pity Martinez's rocky start to life at Atlanta United has been mentioned many times before on these pages, and just two weeks ago the Argentine looked downright incredulous when coach Frank de Boer yanked him off the field in the second half of the 4-3 loss at Los Angeles FC. That was followed by All-Star break comments from teammates and countrymen Leandro Gonzalez-Pirez and Ezequiel Barco about "the challenges" of adjusting to playing under de Boer. Needless to say, it wasn't a ringing endorsement of the Dutchman's tactics.

- Stream games LIVE on ESPN+
- Inter Miami FC: How the franchise is shaping up
- MLS Confidential: The definitive player poll

Just when it looked like things were going to go scorched earth on Peachtree, Martinez summoned his best performance of the season in last Saturday's 3-0 win over the LA Galaxy, earning rave reviews from de Boer.

Atlanta has had a few false dawns this season, but this time things feel different and Sunday's clash with New York City FC (4 p.m. ET, ESPN) offers a chance to show that Martinez and de Boer are on the same page and that Atlanta's 2019 has turned the corner. Helping the cause is Josef Martinez, who has scored in nine straight, but an injury may keep the Venezuelan out of action this weekend.

NYCFC remain a tricky bunch to figure out. After stringing together an impressive 12-match unbeaten streak, they have won three and lost three. However, unsung midfield maestro Maxi Moralez is capable of picking the lock of any defense in MLS and no doubt he'll be keen to upstage his countrymen on the other side of the ball.

Fabian finding form in Philly

Marco Fabian was one of the biggest winter signings in MLS by joining the Philadelphia Union, but the Mexican midfielder endured a frustrating start in the league due to a combination of injuries and suspension. In all he played just eight of the first 18 games for Philadelphia, scoring two goals. Not exactly the return on investment a team looks for in a designated player.

But credit to boss Jim Curtin for keeping Philly either near or at the top of the Eastern Conference table during that span, and now the Union look poised to take advantage of Fabian finding form, and at the right time of year.

- Vickery: Pavon boosts Galaxy's attack in hopes of Europe move
- Carlisle: Why Rooney's Derby move diminishes his MLS legacy

The Mexico international has four goals in his last six games and was masterful in last week's 5-1 win at DC United with a brace and an assist. With no standout team in the East this season, an in-form Fabian gives Philly the goods to separate from the pack, and a chance to potentially pad a three-point cushion comes this Sunday against Houston (6 p.m. ET, ESPN+).

The Dynamo have lost 10 of their last 13 and became the first team to lose at home to Chicago this season in a 1-0 final last Saturday. Making things more difficult for coach Wilmer Cabrera was the 3-2 loss to NYCFC on Thursday night, meaning just two days off before playing a fully rested Fabian and Philly. Things could become very uncomfortable for the Colombian if the Dynamo return home empty-handed.

Rebound battle in Seattle

This is usually the time of year when the Seattle Sounders kick things into gear, but 2019 has presented a different story. Back-to-back home defeats are leaving folks in the Emerald City scratching their heads, including the newly bald Nicolas Lodeiro. Last week's 3-2 home loss to Sporting Kansas City was particularly surprising, given Sporting KC's struggles this season.

The positive though has been the play of Jordan Morris, who has accounted for all of Seattle's scoring in the last two weeks with three goals. An opportunity to add to that total comes on Saturday against New England (4 p.m. ET, ESPN+).

The Revs' 11-game unbeaten run came to an end last week at home to LAFC, with some woeful finishing playing a part in New England's doom. It doesn't mean that New England is reverting to its poor early season form, but a good result in the Pacific Northwest would help quell any doubts that the recent hot streak was a one-off.