CONCORD, N.C. — The CARS Tour is one of the top late model organizations in the Southeast, putting on well-attended shows across the Carolinas and Mid-Atlantic.

Some of the top drivers in the formula — Josh Berry, Deac McCaskill, Tommy Lemons Jr. and others — are regular participants and they draw the big hitters from other groups on a regular basis: drivers such as Phillip Morris, Bubba Pollard and Peyton Sellers.

What the CARS Tour reminds me of, quite honestly, is the American Speed Ass’n when it was in its heyday during the late 1970s.

That’s the feeling I got recently while attending the Old North State Nationals at Orange County (N.C.) Speedway. It didn’t hurt that I attended an ASA race at Orange County that was televised on The Nashville Network, so it was easy to compare the two.

Sure, the ASA back then (2000 or so) was bigger than the CARS Tour. It had TV, sponsorship from ACDelco and others, and featured drivers the likes of Gary St. Amant, Tim Steele and Kevin Cywinski. The competition was fierce, as the .375-mile oval is built for close competition.

There are other comparisons.

In the old ASA, which I grew up around, had its factions. If you were a Bob Senneker fan, you didn’t mix with the Mike Eddy crowd. Dick Trickle was popular, but his fans were loyal to him and no one else.

It’s that way in the CARS Tour, too. Berry fans and Brandon Pierce fans aren’t cooking out together during down times, and there are other rivalries that are rather either/or.

That said, there is a feeling of us against the world when you get right down to it, and that is what makes the series great.

The ferocity of the racing is also similar. Nobody is giving an inch on the track when the money is on the line. For example, in the late stages of the Old North State Nationals, Berry and Lee Pulliam went at it for the $30,000 winner’s check. That late-race battle saw both drivers work to get the other into the marbles at the top of the track and take advantage.

Berry went first and didn’t get Pulliam high enough. Pulliam came back and did get Berry enough into the rubber that it killed his momentum and dropped him back to fourth. Pulliam wound up with the big money.

Many times, I saw the same thing happen in ASA with Trickle, Eddy, Senneker or Mark Martin winning a late-race battle for big stakes and the checkered flag. Like those battles, neither Pulliam nor Berry punted the other, and the race played out between the lines and without an egregious bump-and-run that resulted in one or the other — or both — in the fence.

The CARS Tour competes with the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series for drivers and prestige and while there might be more NWAAS races, there is not a lot of daylight between the two in terms of competition.

The CARS Tour seems to be more of an all-star tour, where the best drivers and teams go. It has that family feel, too, like the one Rex and Becky Robbins engendered in building ASA from local tracks in Indiana into a Midwestern powerhouse that at one point rivaled NASCAR.

Many drivers used ASA as a springboard to the big time. They include Rusty Wallace, Martin, Ted Musgrave, Glenn Allen Jr. and Jimmie Johnson, who ran a season with Howie Lettow for Chevrolet before going on to the NASCAR Xfinity Series and eventually winning seven NASCAR Cup Series titles.

A lot of what ASA did, I see the CARS Tour trying to do, and with a fair amount of success. Ty Gibbs is a frequent competitor, as is Layne Riggs, and development drivers such as Christian Eckes, Anthony Alfredo and Sam Mayer did a season or so in the CARS Tour before stepping up the ladder to the NASCAR K&N Pro Series or ARCA Menards Series.

If the CARS Tour continues to grow — and it will, I think — it could be the second coming of the American Speed Ass’n. The drivers you read about today could be the champions of tomorrow and that would be a wonderful thing.

COSTA MESA, Calif. – MotoAmerica has announced a slightly different qualifying procedure for the EBC Brakes Superbike, Supersport and Liqui Moly Junior Cup classes for this coming weekend’s Championship of Utah at the Utah Motorsports Campus.

Due to the time constrictions of the two-day schedule, Superpole has been eliminated for the UMC round and grid positions for the EBC Brakes Superbike class will be based on each rider’s fastest time from all qualifying practice sessions combined. With Superpole not on the schedule for UMC, Dunlop qualifying tires will not be made available.

For the Supersport and Liqui Moly Junior Cup classes, grid positions for race one will be based on the fastest time recorded by each rider in the qualifying practice, per usual. Grid positions for race two, however, will be based on the riders’ fastest lap from race one. Those classified as DNS will start race two from the back of the grid. Those riders who didn’t start race one will be gridded based on their qualifying time after all the other riders have been gridded.

“After our first two-day event at VIR, we requested feedback from our teams and modified the schedule and qualifying based on that feedback,” said MotoAmerica’s Chuck Aksland. “VIR posed some exciting challenges for the teams, and we think this change will both make the condensed schedule more manageable and a better show for our fans.”

KNOXVILLE, Iowa – Aussies Ian and Kerry Madsen are heading home. Not to Australia. Their other home – Knoxville, Iowa.

When the Madsen brothers moved to America, they landed in the Marion County city of 7,000 people. Their reason?

“It’s kind of the center of the sprint car universe,” said Kerry Madsen, the elder of the two brothers.

The core of that universe is Knoxville Raceway – a half-mile track that’s turned heroes of the Sprint Car world into legends. And the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series is returning to the iconic track for the first time this season on Friday, June 14, and Saturday, June 15 for the Brownells Big Guns Bash.

Since starting their 410 sprint car careers at the raceway in the early 2000s, both Madsen brothers have found success there. Kerry Madsen won the 2005 track championship and has 21 career Feature wins at the raceway – including a World of Outlaws Feature win. He was leading the points at the raceway before skipping the latest race to compete with the World of Outlaws at Granite City Speedway.

“I’ve always loved Knoxville,” Kerry Madsen said. “Fun place to race. Great crowd. Obviously tuning up for later in the year (for the prestigious Knoxville Nationals). Looking forward to it.”

Ian Madsen won the track championship in 2014 and 2017. He has 12 feature victories at the track, but is still seeking his first World of Outlaws feature win there. A win this weekend would go a long way for Madsen and his KCP Racing team.

Madsen, the 2018 World of Outlaws Kevin Gobrecht Rookie of the Year, claimed his fourth series win at Thunderbowl Raceway in March, but he has been searching for a return to the top-five since the beginning of April. Lately, his results have been a mix of top-10 and top-15 finishes.

“The last few weeks have been pretty rough,” Ian Madsen said. “We’ve had a lot of bad luck. I feel like a lot of it has been out of our control. We just really need to get a good night in and turn our luck around. I think if we just get some luck on our side it’ll take care of itself.”

Along with getting to go home, Madsen said he’s happy to get back to a bigger track after spending the last month mostly on smaller tracks.

“That’s what’s good about the Outlaws, you get to mix it up on all sorts of different tracks,” Madsen said. “Knoxville is the best track in the country, I feel. I look forward to going there.”

Kerry Madsen shares Ian’s sentiment, stating he enjoys the bigger tracks and loves the dedication people in Knoxville have to Sprint Car racing.

Not running full-time with the World of Outlaws, unlike Ian, Kerry Madsen said his one goal every race is to just win.

“Pretty simple,” he said with a grin.

His season this year started off slow, barely cracking the top-10, but lately Kerry and his team have found their rhythm, clicking off top-five finishes more consistently – including two podium finishes in his last five races.

While both he and Ian will be eyeing the win at Knoxville, the brothers don’t let the competition get between them. While many drivers isolate themselves to just their team during a race weekend, every time the Madsen brothers are at the same track its guaranteed you’ll find them together throughout the night.

“We’re always pretty close together,” Ian Madsen said. “It can get pretty lonely out here sometimes. So, it’s good to have him out here to hang out with on the off nights and stuff like that. I enjoy being out here with him. It’s just cool we can both be out here at the same time.”

Before Ian began his racing career at Knoxville, he worked on Kerry’s team.

“We’ve always been fairly close that way,” Kerry Madsen said.

While they’re close, and will share anecdotes about their race car, they’re still competitive. Advice isn’t always shared. For more than one reason, too.

“I try not to give him too much advice,” Kerry Madsen said. “I feel like I try to tell him something and it back fires and he ends up going slower. I just let him figure it out.”

INDIANAPOLIS – The logo for the 104th Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge captures four essential elements – tradition, speed, excitement and innovation – of The Greatest Spectacle in Racing within the framework of the new logo system introduced last year.

Bold, dynamic colors and features form the core of the 2020 logo. At the heart of the design is a continuation of the type lock-up introduced with the unveiling in May 2018 of the logo for the 103rd Running of the race.

“The logo for the 104th Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge acknowledges the traditions and grand legacy of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway while propelling ‘The Greatest Spectacle in Racing’ forward, racing for what’s next,” Indianapolis Motor Speedway President J. Douglas Boles said. “This colorful design reminds everyone of the power and pageantry of the world’s greatest race. The logo is the ‘500;’ it is May.”

The wordmark is athletic, prestigious and confident, and includes a rich red shield that contrasts with gold, the color of the iconic Wing and Wheel logo of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. This lock-up creates a strong, consistent annual brand appearance for the event.

A new feature of this year’s logo is a checkered flag pattern that races upward and forward behind the shield, symbolizing the goal of every competitor in the race and the rich history of champions at IMS.

BOSTON -- It's Jan. 2, and the St. Louis Blues are the worst team in the NHL. They're porous defensively and underwhelming offensively. Their meticulously crafted roster has failed the chemistry test. They fired their coach, Mike Yeo, 43 days earlier, but haven't improved under interim coach Craig Berube. For lack of a more clinical term, they stink.

Brayden Schenn thought about that dour moment in the season as he lifted the Stanley Cup on Wednesday night, after the Blues ended a 52-year drought with their Game 7 win in Boston. He thought about what the Brayden Schenn who was in last place on Jan. 2 would say if he received a message from Brayden Schenn, Stanley Cup champion, telling him to just hang in there for a few more months.

"[He'd say] you're a liar. We're in last place," Schenn said. "But you keep on fighting. You keep on believing."

Schenn glanced around the ice at his teammates as they hugged loved ones and took photos with the Stanley Cup on the Bruins' home ice. "This doesn't feel real," he said. "It's absolutely incredible. It feels like a video game we're in."

Here's the thing about video games: When they don't go your way, there's a remedy. You hit the reset button.

Down to one life on the first level? Finish fourth in the first race? Give up three goals in the first 10 minutes of a game? Hit the reset button.

Lingering in last place on Jan. 2? Hit the reset button.

"We put everything on the line from Jan. 3 on, and we deserve this," winger Patrick Maroon said after Game 7. "All these people, all these media, they doubted us all year long. And we shoved it right up their ass."

From Jan. 3 through the end of the regular season, the Blues went 29-10-5. Berube unlocked something in this team through straightforward communication and a north-south forechecking game that eventually was like a wrecking ball swinging through the Stanley Cup playoffs.

The Blues' doldrums were a distant memory. Step by step, they walked away from them.

"The coaching change happened. The other guy was a good guy. But then he'd come to practice, and I don't think he had the players' attention," said Bob Plager, an original Blues player who now works in their community relations department. "Then they get the new coach, Berube. You gotta love him. He's old-school, I think. He played over 1,000 games, but he had to work every year. He was the kind of player we were. You went out there and you worked and you learned the game and you understood. You made the mistakes. You corrected them."

And then you forget about them.

If there's anything that defined the Blues in their successful quest for the Stanley Cup, it was their uncanny ability to move beyond adversity. Devastating losses were quickly followed by victories. For example, the consecutive losses in the series against Winnipeg and Dallas that were followed by consecutive victories to close out those matchups.

Calamitous moments were overcome through obliviscence. Such as that undetected hand pass that led to a San Jose Sharks win in Game 3 of the Western Conference final, then led to three straight St. Louis wins to advance to the Stanley Cup Final.

"After the game, I just came in [the dressing room] and talked," Berube recalled. "We talked about how you just gotta move on. The call, you can't change it now. It is what it is."

The Blues experienced deflating moments such as the devastating losses in Game 3, the first Stanley Cup Final home game in franchise history since 1970, and Game 6, when they had a chance to win the Cup in front of those starved fans. They followed each with a win, including in Game 7.

"Every guy on our team has a ton of character," forward Zach Sanford said after Game 3. "We're a really close group, and we all have each other's backs. A tough loss like that, I think [on] a lot of teams, a lot of guys would have started throwing each other around the bus, blaming other people and doing this and that. With this group it's all just boosting each other and having each other's back."

Each time adversity hit, the Blues hit the reset button. "Things don't really seem to faze us," captain Alex Pietrangelo said.

That's especially true for their goalie, rookie Jordan Binnington, who was 14-2 this season with a 1.78 goals-against average and a .936 save percentage after losses. This was a rookie goalie who, when asked whether playing front of a hostile crowd in Winnipeg made him nervous, shot back with, "Do I look nervous?"

He won all three games in Winnipeg. He won three more in Boston. He did this all season, from the moment he won the crease.

"It's just his calmness and his mannerisms more than anything," Berube said. "I think he goes back in there and he feels really confident about himself."

Between Berube and Binnington, the Blues resurrected their season.

"I think the guys realized with this coach and that goaltender, there are games going into the third period where they're tied or a goal behind," Plager said. "And they start to realize, hey, this goaltender is giving us a chance to win some games. So we started winning games. The players became believers."

And they believed they were playing for more than just one another.

This Cup is for Bob Plager.

He was on the first Blues team that existed in 1967-68 and played 616 games with the franchise. He paced the hallways during playoff games, too nervous to watch. He stood in their locker room, teary-eyed, after the Blues eliminated the Sharks to advance to the Cup Final. His face adorned the giant video screen before home games against Boston, telling fans and the team, "Hey buddy, let's make history."

To many outsiders, the Blues are the NHL's equivalent of wallpaper, always present but rarely commented on. They make the playoffs with frequency but never do much with the opportunity. Ask someone what "Blues culture" is; at worst, you'll get a blank stare, at best, they'll assume you're talking about B.B. King.

Plager, naturally, pushes back on that notion. Buried in the franchise's DNA, obscured by decades of mediocrity, are the building blocks of a champion. Those first Blues teams had Hall of Famers like Dickie Moore and Doug Harvey, who'd made names for themselves with the Montreal Canadiens. They set the example for Bob and Barclay Plager and Red Berenson, who set the example for Brian Sutter and Bernie Federko, who set the example for Brett Hull, who set the example for Chris Pronger. It continued with David Backes setting the example for Alex Pietrangelo. It continued further with Ryan O'Reilly setting the example for this team, from the moment he arrived via trade from Buffalo last July.

"You got a guy like O'Reilly that comes in here at the start of the year. Every shift, he played," Bob Plager said. "There's no cheating in his game. That rubbed off on some of the players. They saw the way you're supposed to play."

In Plager, O'Reilly saw an honorable ex-player and an important link to his new franchise's past. Last August, when the Blues unveiled their new third jerseys, Plager handed one to O'Reilly. Plager recalled whispering to him: "You know, I need my parade." He said O'Reilly responded, "Well, we're going to get you one."

And he did.

These Blues are connected to previous generations of players, and intentionally so. For example, a pair of Plager's hockey gloves from the 1960s were used as the "player of the game" trinket in the Blues' postgame celebrations this season.

"It's just a tribute to guys who built this thing to get us where we are," Pietrangelo said. "I think we all know what Bobby stands for in this organization and this city, so it's fun for us to get him to be part of our group in some way. Nobody loves this organization more than Bobby, especially with the effort and time he gives."

This Cup is for Bernie Federko, too.

He played all but one of his NHL seasons in St. Louis, scoring 1,130 points in 1,000 career games and making the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2002. He reached the playoffs 11 years. He reached the conference final once. He has lived vicariously through this year's team.

"You always want to feel a part of it," he said as he stood in the middle of the Blues' Cup celebration. "I'm proud to be a Blue. More than ever. I'm always proud. But this makes one step higher on the totem pole. Because now you feel that we, as an organization, that we, as a carrier of the Blue Note, get to achieve this goal. It's so surreal to be standing on this ice right now. It blows me away."

This one is for Brett Hull and Chris Pronger and Kelly Chase and every other Blues alum who remained around the organization and acted like a booster club for this team during the playoffs.

Pietrangelo said his teammates are playing for not only themselves but also the Blues who came before them. "Those guys have built the foundation of this organization, and they represent the Blue Note pretty well. We try and carry that on," he said.

The Blues are a family. One that extends all the way to the stands.

Lalia Anderson gingerly walked on the ice toward her friend Colton Parayko. The Blues defenseman spotted her, skated over and dropped to his knees, his arms spread wide. He let out a jubilant laugh as he embraced her and she gripped him tight.

Anderson has hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis, a disease with which only 15 other children in the world have been diagnosed. Her love of the Blues, she said, is one of the things that has helped her through treatments and recovery.

Blues players Alexander Steen and Parayko befriended her at the St. Louis Children's Hospital. Parayko took her trick-or-treating inside that facility. They became fast friends, and Laila would text him after games.

After a bone marrow transplant in January, Laila was confined to her house and the hospital. But during the Western Conference final, she was cleared to finally attend a Blues playoff game, and the video of her ecstatic reaction quickly went viral. She attended every Blues home playoff game after that, and the team flew her out to Game 7 in Boston, perhaps the best sign of her recovery.

"I thought it was 100 percent a joke. I didn't really think I was going to be here," she said on the ice in Boston. "When I got on the plane ... I wasn't ready for this night to start, because I'm not ready for it to end."

Parayko has been open about the perspective Laila has given him. The kind of perspective that allows him to process, say, a playoff loss and move past it.

"We get to show up to the rink and be with the guys, do things like that," he said before Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final. "But you go to the hospital, and you speak with her, and you watch her go through all that stuff. I can't imagine what she's going through. What kinds of things they're putting in her body to try and help her recover. She continues to have a strong attitude. A positive attitude. It's so special. We might lose a hockey game, and we're frustrated or go home really upset. But there are people out there trying to battle for their lives."

Parayko grabbed Laila's arm and led her to where the Stanley Cup was being hoisted. He grabbed the chalice and helped her hold it. Laila planted a kiss on its rings, wiping away a tear from her eyes with a mitten.

This is what she held on for. This is what she overcame to experience.

"I'm going to remember this until the day I die," she said.

There are over 50 years' worth of stories to tell from St. Louis, of fans who never thought they'd see this day.

Some are young, like Laila. Some are older, such as Charles Glenn, the team's anthem singer who has multiple sclerosis and decided this would be his final season. He then watched as the Blues kept winning and winning until he sang in what was, mathematically, the most home games in which he could have sung during the season.

Some are like Allan, an Uber driver in St. Louis. "I waited 50 years for this," he tells me. "I was a kid, and I was turning the dial on my television, with the antenna. And I came across this hockey game. I had never seen one before. It was the Blues against somebody, and here were two guys just beating each other in the face, and they're just letting them. This was back when they let them fight, mind you. And I could not ... stop ... watching it. I was hooked."

He was never worried they'd fall short of the Cup.

"They can't. Not this time," he said.

Some are like Scott Berry, the Blues fan who put a $400 wager on St. Louis to win the Cup at 250-1 odds, refused to hedge his bet and is now $100,000 richer after their Game 7 win. "This has been an incredible ride, to say the least. In my opinion, the $400 I spent was well worth this experience," he said, adding that even if the Blues hadn't won the Cup, "I've already won."

Some are like the fans who filled Enterprise Center and packed Busch Stadium on Wednesday night just to watch the game on television. Or the ones who crank "Gloria," the 1980s pop hit that became their victory song this season, at red lights in town. Or the ones who would come up to O'Reilly in Whole Foods to give him fist bumps of encouragement.

"It's so cool that people are a part of this. That's what this is all about," O'Reilly said. "It's not just the guys in here. It's a city that's together. We're all trying to win."

In a season defined by the reset button, O'Reilly personifies it.

He collected the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP one year, two months and three days after telling the hockey world that he lost his love of the game while playing with the Buffalo Sabres.

"We're stuck in this mindset of just being OK with losing," O'Reilly said on locker cleanout day in Buffalo. "I feel it, too. I think it's really crept into myself. Over the course of the year, I've lost myself a lot, where it's just kind of get through, just being OK with just not making a mistake. That's not winning hockey at all.

"That's how I kind of fell out of love with it, and I miss that. I want to get back to myself."

At that point, a trade was deemed a necessity for the Sabres, who shipped O'Reilly to the St. Louis. Blues GM Doug Armstrong had long coveted the center, tracking him back to his draft year. O'Reilly tried to put Buffalo behind him, telling Armstrong in their first conversation, "Let's go win a Cup."

Then the losing started.

"It was frustrating," O'Reilly said. "I was coming off a bad year, I come to a great team, and then they get off to a bad start. I was worried I was a big part of why they were losing -- that I had to something to do with it."

Instead, he was part of the solution.

"Looking at his play all year long, his worth ethic and his production for us all year and then throughout the playoffs, he was just a relentless hockey player for a long time. Never quits. Such a smart two-way player. He's a special player," Berube said.

And now he's a playoff MVP.

"It's tough to describe," O'Reilly said. "The Cup is the ultimate goal, and just trying to go out there and be the spark and try to make a difference, and looking at the names on this thing and to be a part of that group -- most of these guys on here I pretended I was as a kid and now to be on there with them, it's an incredible feeling."

One of those names is Larry Robinson, who won the Conn Smythe in 1978. He has now been a part of 10 Stanley Cup championships as a player and a coach. And he's absolutely blown away by the resiliency of the Blues.

"This is a special group," he said as the Blues paraded with the Stanley Cup. "We've been counted out at times all year in certain situations, and every time we were counted out, we came back. We had calls go against us in this series and other series. Most teams might have panicked and did something stupid. But they showed a lot of will and a lot of heart."

And a short memory. Which, in the end, is why the Blues won the Stanley Cup. Every loss was forgotten. Every injustice was dismissed. The burden of 52 years of futility didn't ultimately crush them. Jan. 2 was ancient history.

They hit the reset button, again and again, until they finally beat the game.

Manchester United are ready to make David De Gea an improved offer in a bid to keep him at Old Trafford beyond June 2020, a source close to the Spain international has told ESPN FC.

De Gea, a reported target for Paris Saint-Germain, recently turned down a five-year United contract worth £350,000 a week.

- When does the transfer window close?

Negotiations over a new deal have been ongoing for 18 months but appeared to have stalled, leading to reports that United were prepared to pay De Gea millions to leave in the summer in order to avoid him leaving for free next year.

However, the source said United did not want to sell De Gea at any price, were not prepared to transfer him and would make him a new contract offer.

De Gea reportedly earns £240,000 a week, half what teammate Alexis Sanchez is reported to earn.

PSG are looking for a keeper after parting company with Gianluigi Buffon and are the only club that could afford to pay both a fee for De Gea and his wages. A move to the Parc des Princes would enable De Gea to play in the Champions League.

De Gea had a difficult second half of last season, with the 28-year-old making a number of errors as United missed out on a top-four finish, but remains a key player for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

Since joining United from Atletico Madrid in the summer of 2011, he has made 362 United appearances and said last season that he was "very happy" at Old Trafford.

But he looks to have lost his No. 1 spot in the Spain team, with Chelsea's Kepa Arrizabalaga having started the past three games.

Thailand goalkeeper Sukanya Chor Charoenying paid tribute to United States forward Carli Lloyd for offering words of encouragement after the Americans scored 13 goals in the team's women's World Cup opener on Tuesday.

The U.S. was ruthless in its demolition of the Asian side in their Group F match in Reims, France, with Lloyd grabbing the final goal in stoppage time.

Sukanya, however, wrote a message of thanks to Lloyd on Twitter alongside a picture of the two embracing after the final whistle at Stade Auguste-Delaune.

"Thanks so much, Lloyd. Your words that you told me make me strong. Keep going for this tournament and so on. Firstly, I felt disappointment in worst situation but this is the biggest experience in my life," Sukanya said on Thursday.

Thanks so much, Lloyd. Your words that you told me make me strong. Keep going for this tournament and so on.firstly, I felt dispointment in worst situation but this is the biggest experience in mylife.☺️☺️☺️??❤️?? pic.twitter.com/BdFxbc0GgW

— ช.ผลิตค้าบ?? (@chor_1987) June 13, 2019

Lloyd responded to Sukanya with a message of hope for the rest of the tournament.

"All you can do is give it your best each and every day. Keep fighting and never give up!! Still 2 more games to play," she said.

Thailand is making its second successive World Cup appearance but failed to make it out of the group stage last time out in Canada in 2015.

It will be difficult for Thailand to bounce back, given its next opponent is 2016 Olympic silver medallist Sweden on Sunday, while the U.S. faces Chile later on that day.

Big Picture

Thrill-seekers, "atten-shun!"

Here's a clash of the heavyweights to make the mouth water (assuming the water that's currently on the Hampshire Bowl outfield deigns to recede in good time, of course). A tussle between two of the hardest-hitting batting line-ups in the tournament, not to mention some of the fastest, nastiest bowlers on display in this World Cup (a prospect that, for differing reasons, has probably taken some seasoned observers somewhat by surprise).

All this is due to unfold on one of the best batting surfaces in the country - a venue where England shared 734 runs with Pakistan on their last trip to Southampton in May. And given the fireworks that these two teams laid on in the Caribbean earlier this year, there could be few better settings for what, among other things, could also be seen as an unofficial series decider - with the sides locked at 2-2 after an astonishing one-day leg of England's tour in February, the winner clearly stands to take it all in terms of bragging rights.

The jeopardy of the contest has been heightened by the events of the last few days. Australia's defeat of Pakistan has propelled their curiously ill-balanced but spirited band of brawlers right into the semi-final mix, while the wash-out between India and New Zealand - the two remaining unbeaten teams - is a blow to those around them who would have been anticipating one or other dropping a full two points up at Trent Bridge.

Instead they've both consolidated their statuses by a point, which means that if (IF!) there is a positive result in Southampton, the negative effect on the losers will be exacerbated. Certainly England will have earmarked this contest as an "ought to win", given that their last three fixtures of the group stage are arguably the toughest of the lot, against India, Australia and New Zealand.

Meanwhile West Indies, who tripped up from a commanding position against Australia and then were thwarted by the rain against South Africa, will need something more positive than three points to show for their enterprising start to the campaign, especially with fixtures against India and New Zealand still to come, not to mention their next outing, in Taunton on Monday, coming against the Bangladesh team that pipped them in the tri-series in Ireland last month.

But, as the players themselves will doubtless be reminded, all that matters in this World Cup is the team that's in front of you on the day. And the dramatis personae on both sides makes for a compelling cast-list. The power of Chris Gayle on the one hand, versus the panache of Jason Roy and Jonny Bairstow on the other; the silky speed of Jofra Archer versus the brutalist architecture of the fearsome Oshane Thomas.

The savagery of Andre Russell's six-hitting versus the preposterous boundary-plundering of Jos Buttler; the cultured anchor roles that Shai Hope and Joe Root can provide for their respective sides. And not to mention the battle of the captains, Eoin Morgan and Jason Holder, two of the most impressive leaders of men in the world game, whose tactical nous is matched by the degree to which they've managed to mould teams in their own image.

It could - it should - be some of the most compelling viewing of a World Cup that may be spluttering in the puddles right at this moment, but which has already produced some outstanding match-ups on the days when the heavens have relented. Here's hoping the clouds can give this contest a break. It's one that promises to be unmissable.

Form guide

England WLWWW (last five completed matches, most recent first)
West Indies LWLLW

In the spotlight

It's all about Jofra, who else? There are "no secrets" in Jofra Archer's methods, claimed Floyd Reifer earlier this week, given that he was a regular in West Indies' age-group teams until his omission for the 2014 Under-19 World Cup prompted a move from Barbados to Brighton, and thence to the world stage. But there will be no shortage of spice when one of the bowlers of the tournament to date lines up against the men with whom he is surely sharing a dressing-room in a parallel universe. The liquid pace that he is able to generate from his near effortless run-up has already produced some startling moments in this tournament, not least the savage bouncer which rattled Hashim Amla's grille and left him with concussion. And as he admitted in that South Africa match, the adrenalin of his World Cup debut drove his game, and his pace, to rare heights. You might presume that this contest will get his appetite similarly whetted.

Trevor Bayliss apparently had a wry smile on his face when asked for his opinion of Sheldon Cottrell's victory salutes - though the trouble with the edgiest of quotes is that they get stripped of context as soon as they are laid out on a flat page of words. And sure enough, having claimed that Cottrell's antics "probably piss me off more than anyone else", Bayliss laid the groundwork for some extra jubilant send-offs on Friday - "exactly, more salute to come!! Aaaatttennntiooon!" said Chris Gayle on Instagram in response to an ESPNcricinfo post. And no matter what England's players may privately think of the man himself, there's clearly something about Cottrell's methods that place substance over style. He's scalped five wickets in the tournament to date, including two in four overs on this ground in Monday's washout against South Africa.

Team news

England's hopes of fighting West Indian fire with their own fully-loaded arsenal have taken a slight hit with the news that Mark Wood's dodgy ankle has been playing up again. He is expected to undergo a fitness test on the morning of the game, but with five more group matches to come before the semis, and England reasonably well placed at this early stage of the round-robin, prudence might be the order of the day. Moeen Ali, who missed the Bangladesh match to attend his daughter's birth, is likely to slot back into the twin spin attack, alongside Adil Rashid.

England: (probable) 1 Jason Roy, 2 Jonny Bairstow, 3 Joe Root, 4 Eoin Morgan (capt), 5 Ben Stokes, 6 Jos Buttler (wk), 7 Moeen Ali, 8 Chris Woakes, 9 Adil Rashid, 10 Liam Plunkett, 11 Jofra Archer.

Russell remains the biggest unknown quantity for West Indies on the eve of the contest. He was rested for the South Africa match in a bid to manage his long-term knee problem, and Holder admitted that a decision on whether he plays or not will "boil down to how he wakes up tomorrow morning and feels". Kemar Roach is a suitable pacy understudy, although he lacks the explosive power with the bat. Evin Lewis also missed the last match after being struck on the hand in practice but is expected to be fit to return in place of Darren Bravo.

West Indies: (probable) 1 Chris Gayle, 2 Evin Lewis, Shai Hope (wk), 4 Nicholas Pooran, 5 Shimron Hetmeyer, 6 Jason Holder (capt), 7 Andre Russell, 8 Carlos Brathwaite, 9 Ashley Nurse, 10 Sheldon Cottrell, 11 Oshane Thomas.

Pitch and conditions

The weather in Hampshire has been miserable all week, so it's a matter of sitting tight and hoping for clearish skies come the toss on Friday. Quite how the pitch will have been affected is anyone's guess - it hasn't been seen for days. But given the life that West Indies' quicks extracted in the 7.3 overs available to them against South Africa, it promises to be another bowl-first day.

Strategy punts

• The tastiest match-up of this contest is surely the resumption of the nascent rivalry between opening batsman and bowler, Gayle and Archer, which has so far been limited to five innings across three T20 campaigns (one BPL and two IPLs). Gayle, true to reputation, hasn't stood on ceremony, cracking 35 runs from 25 balls faced all told. But he has been dismissed by Archer on two occasions for an average of 17.50.

• By his lofty standards, Gayle's overall record against 140kph-plus bowlers is less than stellar - he has been harassed by Trent Boult in recent match-ups and was given out three times against Mitchell Starc last week before a decision finally stuck. Another factor will be the importance of running between the wickets on one of the largest playing areas in the competition - rarely a Gayle forte, or that of many of his team-mates for that matter, who prefer to let their six-hitting do the running.

• With no legspinner in West Indies' ranks, Jason Roy and Jonny Bairstow may finally be presented with an all-pace new-ball attack at the top of England's order. Cottrell enjoyed early success against both men in West Indies' win in Barbados in February.

Stats and trivia

• England may never yet have won the World Cup, but at least they can say they haven't lost to West Indies in the tournament since they lifted the last of their two crowns in 1979.

• England were the beaten finalists at Lord's in 1979, when West Indies successfully defended their title. Since then, they have won all five of their encounters across four tournaments - two in 1987, and one each in 1992, 2007 and 2011.

• With 215 runs at 71.67 and a strike-rate of 118.8, Roy has been one of the outstanding performers in this World Cup. His record, however, is a far cry from his role in the 2017 Champions Trophy, when he was dropped after a run of 18 runs in the same number of games.

• The focus on Friday may be on the quicker bowlers on both teams, but one of the most penetrative in recent England-West Indies games has been Holder - who has dismissed Bairstow, Root, Ben Stokes and Buttler on two occasions each.

Quotes

"It is not frustration because we learnt a huge amount about growing our game out in the West Indies. I think it's important to have days where you are beaten or can't beat a side because you then look even more into areas of improvement. You almost look outwardly and say, 'What were we missing today?'"
Eoin Morgan sees plenty of positives in England's 2-2 draw in the Caribbean earlier this year.

"I don't think it will change, that's just Sheldon. I guess Trevor will just have learn to accept it [smiling]."
Jason Holder on the prospect of a "special salute" for Bayliss from Sheldon Cottrell

Alec Stewart has emerged as a leading candidate to replace Trevor Bayliss as head coach of England.

While some other high-profile candidates - notably Gary Kirsten - appear to have been put off by the decision not to split the roles of Test and limited-overs coaches, Stewart is seen as an ideal character to sustain the hard-working yet relaxed environment around the current England sides. Crucially, as a highly respected former captain of the side, he is also seen as an ideal character to build on the cultural values that have been instilled in recent months.

Appointed as Surrey coach mid-way through a 2013 season in which his troubled team was heading for relegation, Stewart oversaw a revival that resulted in them winning the Championship title in 2018. Now director of cricket at the club, he has given opportunities to an array of home-grown players - including Ollie Pope, Zafar Ansari, Rory Burns and the Curran brothers - all of whom have gone on to represent England.

ESPNcricinfo understands that Stewart will be one of those invited to apply when the process formally begins in the coming weeks. However, it is not absolutely certain he will do so, given that he often refers to his current role at Surrey as "the best job in the world".

Stewart's family are steeped in the history of the club - the pavilion is named in honour of his father, Micky (who also managed England between 1986 and 1992) while his brother Neil is a youth team coach - and at the age of 56, he may also be at the stage of life where touring has lost some of its appeal.

In the end, however, the allure of such a role with the England team may prove hard to resist. Stewart has spoken often of his pride in representing his country and while he did not apply for the director of the men's team role - a position subsequently filled by Ashley Giles - he did hint that he would have considered it had it been offered.

While Chris Silverwood - England's current bowling coach - remains another strong candidate, several competitors appear to have ruled themselves out. Kirsten confirmed to ESPNcricinfo that he "had expressed an interest in coaching one format" - which might be interpreted as a reluctance to coach both - while Stephen Fleming is believed to have held a similar view.

Giles has previously said the ECB are "99.9 percent" certain to appoint one person to replace Bayliss. He has also outlined a plan for three assistants to support that head coach - or director of cricket - providing an opportunity for rest, rotation and career development over the course of an almost unrelenting international schedule. Stewart, Silverwood and, perhaps, Tom Moody - who was also in the mix when Trevor Bayliss was appointed in 2015 - might now be considered frontrunners for the job.

The other leading candidates

Chris Silverwood: Won the County Championship as head coach at Essex and has an excellent reputation as England's current bowling coach. He is a very strong candidate for the top job.

Tom Moody: Vastly experienced in both international cricket (he has been head coach of Sri Lanka) and in England (he was director of cricket at Worcestershire). Moody has subsequently held various management roles in T20 leagues around the world. Indicated he was interested in both the India and England roles the last time they were vacant. It is, however, unclear whether he would give up the portfolio of positions he has now for the demands of such a job and he insists he has had no contact with the ECB at this stage.

Andrew McDonald: Fast developing an excellent reputation as one of the best young coaches in world cricket, McDonald already has trophies in all formats on his CV. He seems happily settled in Australia, though, and perhaps this job comes just a bit early in his career.

Paul Collingwood: The only man to captain England to a global limited-overs trophy. But Collingwood has relatively little coaching experience - he retired as a player less than 12 months ago - and may have to be content with a role as one of the three assistants. This time round, anyway.

Graham Thorpe: England's lead batting coach has an excellent chance of winning one of the three assistant roles, but looks an outsider for the top job at this stage.

Mark Robinson: The England women's coach is perceived, perhaps unfairly, as a little intense, but he has enjoyed great success at international and domestic level. He guided Sussex to two County Championship titles before lifting the Women's World Cup in 2017.

Ottis Gibson: The current South Africa coach has vast experience - he has also coached West Indies - and has had two spells as England's fast bowling coach. He is out of contract in September and thought to be interested in the role.

Mickey Arthur: Another hugely experienced international coach who is sure to be considered if he shows an interest. He may not be seen as the right fit for this role, however, and would have to be considered an outsider.

Jason Gillespie: Having enjoyed great success at Yorkshire, in particular, Gillespie understands the culture of English cricket and has a good reputation for building the sort of working environment England would want. Was heavily touted in 2015 and, if he's interested, he has to be a contender.