Manchester City produced a stunning comeback to overturn a 1-0 deficit and beat Real Madrid 2-1 in the first leg of their Champions League round-of-16 tie at the Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday.

Madrid pounced on sloppy play at the back to spring a quick counter, before Isco applied the finishing touch on the hour mark to put Los Blancos ahead, but quickfire goals from Gabriel Jesus and Kevin De Bruyne put City on their way to a famous win. The action wasn't done there, as Sergio Ramos brought Jesus down as the Brazilian raced through on goal and was sent off in the 86th minute, meaning he will miss the second leg at the Etihad.

Positives

Heads could well have dropped after they went behind -- arguably against the run of play -- but De Bruyne grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck in the final 15 minutes and inspired a comeback that will go down in City folklore.

Negatives

Pep Guardiola's side had a tough time working their way through Madrid's high press in the first half, with the ball regularly finding its way back to the hosts, and questions will also be asked about the opener, with a comedy of errors gifting Real the lead.

Manager rating out of 10

8 -- Eyebrows were raised when Guardiola started the game without either of Raheem Sterling or Sergio Aguero, but a system that saw De Bruyne and Bernardo Silva act as false nines gave them composure in the final third and rigidity at the back, while the manager's second-half introduction of Sterling changed the game.

Player ratings (1-10; 10 = best, players introduced after 70 minutes get no rating)

GK Ederson, 6 -- Did well to palm away a Karim Benzema header in the first half, but couldn't deny Isco the opener despite racing out of his goal and closing down the angle.

DF Benjamin Mendy, 6 -- A clumsy first-half foul on Luka Modric earned the Frenchman a yellow card that means he will miss the second leg. Defensively, Mendy was well protected against Dani Carvajal by Jesus' excellent tracking back.

DF Aymeric Laporte, 6 -- Saw plenty of the ball in the opening half hour as he looked to guide his side out of the intense Madrid press, but his evening came to an end after 32 minutes when he limped off and was replaced by Fernandinho.

DF Nicolas Otamendi, 6 -- Landed Rodri in all kinds of trouble with a heavy pass that his teammate failed to bring under his spell, and Real cruelly punished them with a swift breakaway and clinical finish to go ahead.

DF Kyle Walker, 6 -- Looked to have gotten to grips with the slippery Vinicius Junior after a testing first 10 minutes, but he was unable to deal with the winger as he raced away and laid the ball on for Isco to fire home the opener.

MF Rodri, 6 -- One or two nervous moments in possession for the former Atletico Madrid man on his return to the Spanish capital, and didn't cover himself in glory for the Isco strike when his blind pass was intercepted by Real before they broke away to score.

MF Ilkay Gundogan, 6 -- Quietly went about his business and used the ball wisely in what was a no-nonsense display.

MF Kevin De Bruyne, 8 -- Often the most advanced City player as he roamed the final third as a deep-lying centre-forward, and provided an inch-perfect cross for Jesus to nod home the leveler, before calmly stroking home an 83rd-minute penalty to seal a glorious victory.

MF Riyad Mahrez, 6 -- Had a quiet first half, but became a more prominent figure in the second period and had three decent openings, but was unable to give Thibaut Courtois a seriously testing save to make.

MF Bernardo Silva, 5 -- A difficult night in which he was often surrounded by crowds of white shirts when he looked to make something happen, and there were one or two occasions when the Portuguese's first touch let him down.

MF Gabriel Jesus, 8 -- Did a brilliant job defensively to help Mendy deal with the threat of Carvajal, and going forward, Jesus was a constant threat, culminating in a well-taken header to get his side back into the game before forcing a red card for Ramos that makes City firm favourites heading into the second leg.

Substitutes

DF Fernandinho, 7 -- Slotted in at centre-back in place of the injured Laporte, and the switch coincided with City gaining some composure and control in the game. An excellent performance.

MF Raheem Sterling, 7 -- His quick burst of pace drew a poor tackle from Carvajal to win his side the late penalty.

Aaron Finch has hailed the importance of David Warner and Steven Smith to Australia's T20I side, after the pair starred in a dominant batting performance in the third and deciding game of the South Africa series in their first game at Newlands since the ball-tampering scandal of March 2018.

Warner put on 120 in an explosive 11.3-over opening stand alongside Finch, his captain, to set the game up for Australia. The pair put on 75 in the powerplay, Australia's joint third-highest six-over score in T20I history, and allowed only seven dot balls in that phase, the lowest ever.

And Finch praised both his improving touch game and his meticulous planning, suggesting that his attention to detail is "as good as anyone I've played with".

"In this format of the game and probably one-day cricket as well," Finch said, "Davey's been so consistent for such a long time.

"I think if you look at his IPL record where he's played the majority of his T20 cricket, it's been super consistent and he's someone that once he gets in and once he's in good form, he's so hard to bowl to because he accesses both sides of the ground, he's got touch, he's got power, so as soon as you've got guys like that, they can be so hard to stop.

"From his younger days playing T20, when it was all just brute force, I think the way that he goes about thinking through his innings, planning his innings pre-game, but also adapting - it's extraordinary.

"And to sit down and chat with him about plans, how we're going to go about it at the top of the order - which very rarely works the way that you want it to work - his attention to detail in his planning is unbelievable and as good as anyone I've played with."

Smith, meanwhile, was demoted from his usual No. 3 position down to No. 5, with Australia keen to give opportunities to their middle-order batsmen and to maintain left-hand/right-hand partnerships due to the strong cross-wind that blew across Newlands.

But even in an unfamiliar role - this was Smith's first innings at No. 5 in T20Is, meaning he has now played in every position from No. 3 to No. 9 in the format - he found a way to stamp his mark on the game, taking 20 runs from Anrich Nortje's final over to finish unbeaten on 30 from 15 balls.

"[He's] a little bit different [to Warner] in regards to being a middle-order player, No. 3, 4, 5 throughout his career," Finch said. "You're always faced with different challenges. So to have that ability to come in and strike at 200 when the game requires it, or come in at 2 for 10 and navigate through a tricky six or seven overs but still score, the ability to do that has been extraordinary.

"I think what's changed for him slightly in his game is he's probably got a bit more power - maybe he's always had the power, but a little bit more freedom to play his shots, and I think that's been a huge difference to his game.

"Teams used to think that they could just squeeze him, he wouldn't hurt you too much at the back end, but to develop all the shots that he's got now, he's a super-important player to us, and he's bloody impressive to watch."

"Our middle order is all really flexible, and they've had a lot of time to get their heads around being flexible as a group" Aaron Finch

While the top order and his bowling attack were impressive throughout the three-match series, Finch could be forgiven for having concerns over Australia's faltering middle order. The No. 4-6 positions have been the most vulnerable across their recent run of T20Is, with dominant top-order performances against Pakistan and Sri Lanka at home allowing scant opportunities, and the weakness was again exposed during this series.

Mitchell Marsh, Matthew Wade and Alex Carey managed only 121 runs between them in nine innings over the three games, but Finch suggested he was keen to give them further opportunities ahead of the T20 World Cup, even with Glenn Maxwell set to return from injury.

"Our middle order is all really flexible, and they've had a lot of time to get their heads around being flexible as a group," Finch said. "We're always really reluctant to change a winning formula. Obviously with Maxi recovering from injury at the moment, that's probably one of those spots there.

"But regardless of who's available and who's not, the guys who continually do the job for the side will keep getting opportunities, and we've made no secret about that. The winning formula is generally a pretty good one, you don't want to mess with that too much.

"The more games that that middle order in particular can play together - they haven't played a huge amount of T20 cricket together. I know Wadey and Smithy have played a fair bit of Test cricket together and one-day cricket over the years, but T20, the game's changing all the time.

"So the more they can get with Alex and Ashton Agar at seven as well, the more that they can keep playing is really important. You just start to understand each other's game a little bit more, you start to recognise patterns with people's play and the way that they're thinking. That's a really important part of going forward and winning a tournament."

It's already got to the stage where we can start to feel sorry for Quinton de Kock.

He has inherited a team on a downward spiral even as his own career is on the up. Aside from his promotion to the leadership role, de Kock has been South Africa's leading run-scorer in all four series this season, and they have failed to win them all.

He is also, for all his expressiveness while batting and his energy in the field, not naturally comfortable in front of the camera. Now, however, he is required to speak to the media every few days. He is asked questions to which he doesn't have answers, and expected to explain underperformance, of which he is not guilty.

Most of his answers have the words "not too sure" somewhere in them, usually prefaced with "to be honest with you", just in case anyone doubts the sincerity of his uncertainty. But it may not be his fault that he doesn't know why things have become as patchy as they have, with South Africa's infrequent wins interspersed with some spectacular losses.

It may be the inevitable result of a new regime finding its feet in a talent pool whose depth is unknown, and within a system that doesn't even know what the next domestic season will look like. The crises of the last few months have come home to roost and their effects are being felt most keenly in the on-field results.

"It's just another blowout," de Kock said after the T20 series was lost at Newlands. "Obviously it's not good enough doing it twice in one series. We are going to have to have a good look at ourselves and ask some honest questions."

Not just of themselves. Questions now need to be asked of those in charge of Cricket South Africa in the last few years, who lost the confidence of players including Vernon Philander, the first to say he retired prematurely because he didn't think the suits had anything but their own interests at heart. He would not be the only one. South Africa have lost a generation of players in the last 18 months, many a year or two before their time. In that, they have lost experience and it means that the national side now finds itself "trying to give guys some sort of opportunity", as de Kock put it, whether or not they are ready.

"Most of de Kock's answers have the words "not too sure" somewhere in them, usually prefaced with "to be honest with you", just in case anyone doubts the sincerity of his uncertainty"

Since touring India in September last year, South Africa have had nine Test debutants, three new ODI caps, and four maiden T20 internationals which speaks to how far and wide they have spread the net. The trouble is that they have not caught much. Only Rassie van der Dussen, who was part of the white-ball set-ups last summer but made his Test debut against England, has shown the consistency to merit a regular place. That means South Africa's batting line-up, especially in the shorter formats, is a revolving door of experimentation. In T20s, nothing beyond the top two is set.

Though Faf du Plessis has returned in a senior-player capacity, David Miller has not stepped up, Jon-Jon Smuts has not been given a proper run, Temba Bavuma and Heinrich Klaasen's were interrupted by injury and Pite van Biljon has not had a platform to build on. They have come unstuck against spin in stunning fashion, losing 13 wickets to Adam Zampa and Ashton Agar at 9.62 in this series and de Kock can't say exactly why.

"I don't think it's a technical thing. It can boil down to situations in the game. Or it could also be a confidence thing, I am not sure," he said. "I am not in the other batsmen's minds. We've got some really good players of spin. But in saying that their two spinners bowled really well. They didn't give much away."

ALSO READ: Finch hails Warner and Smith after Cape Town return ends in triumph

Aaron Finch suggested that scoreboard pressure - South Africa were chasing scores close to 200 in both Johannesburg and Cape Town - had something to do with his spinners' success. He also indicated the surfaces, which slowed and gripped as innings went on, could have contributed but for de Kock, there's only the disappointment of watching his line-up implode after they spoke about the opposite.

"When we chatted yesterday we had an honest conversation about fighting back," he said. "We know they are a really strong team. When they are on top, they are hard to stop. We spoke about not giving them a sniff. They got a sniff and rode the wave."

That summing-up could also apply to the bowling, which conceded 75 runs in the Powerplay at 114 in the first 10 overs. They escaped much of the post-series analysis apart from questions about why South Africa again chose to bench Dale Steyn, their most experienced quick. At least there, de Kock had an answer. "After Anrich's performance, thought he deserved another chance," de Kock said, referring to Nortje's last-over heroics in Port Elizabeth. "We all know what Dale can do."

So maybe South Africa are happy to sacrifice results for finding out what other players can do as they build towards the T20 World Cup but that still doesn't put de Kock in an easy position. He still has to lead the team and he still has to front up and answer for how they perform. Is it already becoming too much?

"I am still taking it in my stride," he said, and then like a real leader, accepted the responsibility for turning things around. "I am still learning. There's a lot of things that I didn't see when I was just a normal player. Now I am seeing things and learning about the game and the thinking behind decisions. I am asking a lot of advice from Faf. I hope I can get better and put the results on the board."

Unlike du Plessis, de Kock has not been rested from the next rubber, a three-match ODI series against Australia that starts on Saturday, when he will hope things can start to turn around.

Washington Redskins coach Ron Rivera remains excited about quarterback Dwayne Haskins and continues to mention the plan they have to develop him. That won't stop Rivera from looking around, however, as the Redskins plan to host quarterbacks Tua Tagovailoa and Joe Burrow in pre-draft visits. Just in case.

Rivera told reporters at the NFL scouting combine in Indianapolis on Wednesday that hosting those two quarterbacks goes beyond doing due diligence.

"Everything is an option," Rivera said. "We're not closing the door on anything."

The Redskins drafted Haskins in the first round last April, but that was a different regime. Ever since he was hired on Dec. 30, Rivera has been consistent whenever discussing Haskins: He likes his potential but is not ready to anoint him as the starter for 2020.

However, a key part of Rivera's interviews, both with owner Dan Snyder and prospective coaches, was about having a plan to develop Haskins. Rivera pointed out that new offensive coordinator Scott Turner was with Carolina as an offensive quality control coach when the Panthers drafted Cam Newton in 2011. Turner also was with Teddy Bridgewater after he was drafted with Minnesota, and new quarterbacks coach Ken Zampese was with Cleveland when it picked Baker Mayfield.

But that doesn't mean they won't do their homework on quarterbacks in the draft. They could be bringing them in to create a smokescreen -- and perhaps increase the value of the No. 2 overall pick. If teams don't feel the Redskins would take a quarterback, they might be more inclined to try to trade up to No. 3.

The team also wants to interview them to get a feel for how other teams might perceive them after their own meetings. That could help them realize what they might be able to get if they traded back. Or they could end up having legitimate interest.

"We have to go through this process," Rivera said. "You don't know what's going to happen in front of you. You don't know what's going to happen with you. We're going to prepare and get ourselves ready."

He also said they would meet with defensive end Chase Young and others expected to go high in the draft.

Alex Smith is the only other quarterback on the Redskins' roster, and there is still question about whether he will return from his compound fracture of the right leg. Rivera wants more competition for Haskins -- someone, he said, who can challenge him.

But even while meeting with other quarterbacks and possibly seeking another veteran as competition, Rivera remains upbeat about Haskins.

"We have a very good young player," Rivera said. "The more I learn about him, it puts us in a pretty good spot. I'm excited about him. One thing I have seen is his commitment. He's been around a lot. I walk by the weight room, there he is. I walk by the locker room, there he is. That's a sign of a young man learning that he needs to be around."

Haskins played nine games as a rookie, starting seven. He finished with a Total QBR of 26.4 -- but it was 73.0 in his last two games. In those two outings -- losses to the Philadelphia Eagles and New York Giants -- Haskins threw for a combined 394 yards, four touchdowns and zero interceptions.

But the game that stood out to Rivera was a 19-16 win over the Detroit Lions. Rivera wasn't focused on the stats -- 13-for-29 for 156 yards with an interception -- or the fact that Haskins took a selfie in the stands with a fan while the offense was in victory formation. What he liked is that Haskins led two late field goal drives in a comeback win.

"Very calm, very calculated," Rivera said. "He showed his poise and showed his leadership. ... He has that type of potential, but he has to grow into that."

ESPN's David Newton contributed to this report.

Heat star Jimmy Butler is available to play Wednesday night against the Minnesota Timberwolves after missing Miami's past two games for personal reasons.

Butler didn't travel with the team for Monday night's game. He also didn't play Saturday night when the Heat routed the Cavaliers 124-105 in Miami.

Butler, who leads the Heat in scoring, played in the All-Star Game and scored 17 points in Miami's first game after the All-Star break against Atlanta.

The 6-foot-7 guard/forward is averaging 20.6 points, 6.9 rebounds and 6.2 assists in 47 games.

Miami is 36-21 and in fourth place in the Eastern Conference.

Wednesday's matchup with Minnesota marks the beginning of a five-game homestand for the Heat.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

CHICAGO -- A viral video clip of Zach LaVine from Tuesday night has emerged from the Chicago Bulls' 124-122 nail-biting loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder that the star guard would like to clarify.

LaVine is spotted on camera mouthing, "I have f---ing 40 points" to someone on the sideline, before drilling a deep 3-pointer from the Bulls logo.

Based on previous encounters, many assumed that LaVine was yelling at Bulls coach Jim Boylen, but he says that wasn't the case.

"You get into the heat of the battle and between players when you guys are talking, you talk smack sometimes, right? And that's all it was," LaVine told ESPN, after finishing with 41 points.

"We were still down. Dude was talking a little mess to me and I just let him know, 'Look, I've got 40, I don't know why you're talking to me,'" he added. "I don't know why they said they thought I was talking to Jim, but it was just people being competitive in the game talking."

It was LaVine's sixth 40-point game of the season. The only Bulls player with more in a season was Michael Jordan, who posted at least seven in 11 seasons, per ESPN Stats & Information research. Despite the Bulls' 20-39 record, LaVine is averaging a career-best 25.5 points per game, which he feels has heightened his media attention.

"I've got to do a better job," LaVine said. "The cameras have been following me lately, so people are going to make their own assumptions on what's going on between me and Jim or me and the team, but our relationship is fine. I'm a competitive and fiery guy on the court, so that's pretty much what happened."

LaVine and Boylen have clashed on previous occasions, though. During Boylen's early tenure as interim coach last year, they disagreed on practices, then again this season about late-game timeouts in blowouts.

That also became evident earlier this season during a home loss to the Miami Heat. After falling behind 13-0 in the opening quarter, Boylen singled out the Bulls' best player by benching him for what he described at the time as "three egregious defensive mistakes." Behind closed doors, Boylen says he was pushing LaVine to stay engaged in games at all times.

"My goal for Zach at that time was to become a more efficient player -- a two-way player. I asked him to shoot less contested 2s, get to the free throw line and shoot more of his 3s," Boylen told ESPN. "And be a two-way player and a winning, productive player, an elite scorer and [an] All-Star."

With that history, LaVine understands how things can be taken the wrong way. However, he gets upset when inaccurate news is shared instead of his highlights or in-game plays.

"That stuff sells with what's happened before," LaVine said. "Between a player and coach, I don't think anybody should ever think it's going to be buddy-buddy or best friends. You have mutual respect and obviously, when you have two competitive people out there, they just want the best, you want to win, and we haven't been in a winning situation yet, so I think people get frustrated, but at the end of the day, me and Jim talked.

"We have player-coach meetings and we're in a good place right now. It's unfortunate that it got misconstrued, but it was just between two players out there just having fun with the game."

Former Heisman Trophy winner and NFL quarterback Tim Tebow, who is in the New York Mets minor league system, will play for the Philippines in next month's World Baseball Classic qualifiers.

Tebow's parents were missionaries in the Philippines when Tebow was born in 1987.

The Philippines are in Pool 2 of the WBC along with the Czech Republic, Great Britain, New Zealand and Panama. The top two teams will advance to next year's World Baseball Classic. The qualifying games will be held in Tucson, Arizona.

Tebow, who is also a college football analyst for the SEC Network, batted .163 with four home runs and 19 RBIs last season for Triple-A Syracuse. He struck out 98 times in 77 games.

The United States, which won the last WBC in 2017, is an automatic qualifier for the tournament.

TAMPA, Fla. -- Oft-injured New York Yankees slugger Giancarlo Stanton will likely miss Opening Day because of a strained right calf.

Manager Aaron Boone said Stanton was injured near the end of defensive drills on Tuesday. An MRI found a Grade 1 strain.

"It will probably put us against it a little bit," Boone said Wednesday. "I would say it's time for him to get back, but then getting built up and stuff. We'll see."

This was the second straight day New York announced an injury to one of its stars. Pitcher Luis Severino needs Tommy John surgery and will miss the entire season, the team said Tuesday.

The AL East champion Yankees open on March 26 at Baltimore.

Stanton played in just 18 games last season due to a number of injuries, batting .288 with three homers in 59 at-bats. He hit 38 homers in his first year with the Yankees in 2018, one year after going deep a career-high 59 times in 2017 with the Miami Marlins.

The outfielder/designated hitter signed a $325 million, 13-year contract after the 2014 season.

"It's disappointing because you want to get guys going and built up," Boone said. "But it's just a little bump in the road and we're equipped to handle it.''

IRVINE, Calif. – Led by four-time MotoAmerica Superbike champion Cameron Beaubier, the MotoAmerica Series season entries in the premier Superbike class have grown to 19 for the upcoming racing season.

“It’s great to see the entries for the MotoAmerica Superbike class grow,” said MotoAmerica President Wayne Rainey. “It’s also good to see a lot of the Stock 1000 guys are stepping up into the Superbike class. For 2020, with the help of Dunlop, we’ve created an incentive program to get the Stock 1000 riders to also participate in the Superbike events. It’s awesome to see how many have taken advantage of this opportunity. I think they will surprise themselves with how competitive they can be and it’s going to make them all better racers. We also have five manufacturers represented in the Superbike class and riders from six different countries entered. We’re ready to get this season started. It’s going to be a good one.”

Beaubier will carry the No. 1 plate on his Monster Energy Attack Performance Yamaha as he aims for his fifth title in six years, but there are plenty who hope to challenge the Californian when the 10-round series commences, April 3-5, at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, including his new teammate Jake Gagne.

Also at the top of that list is Toni Elias, the only person other than Beaubier to take a Superbike crown in the past five years. Elias, the 2017 Superbike Champion, will again run the familiar No. 24, but this year it will be on an M4 ECSTAR Suzuki. Elias will be joined on the M4 ECSTAR team by 2019 MotoAmerica Supersport champion Bobby Fong.

Elias’ former Yoshimura Suzuki teammate Josh Herrin will be on the Superbike grid again, but he’ll do so on a Scheibe Racing BMW S 1000 RR. Herrin will be on one of three BMWs in the MotoAmerica Superbike class. The other two belong to Brazil’s Danilo Lewis and Travis Wyman Racing’s Travis Wyman.

KWR’s Kyle Wyman won’t be the only Ducati Panigale V4 R in the Superbike class in 2020 as Celtic HSBK Racing will field P.J. Jacobsen, who finished second to Fong in the 2019 Supersport title chase. He will be making his MotoAmerica Superbike debut in 2020, though he has World Superbike experience.

Wyman, meanwhile, will come better prepared than he was in his debut season with the Ducati as he has had a complete offseason under his belt to work with the bike. Wyman will also be physically stronger after off-season neck surgery has him pain free for the first time in a long while.

Westby Racing is another team that returns to the series with the same tried and true package and rider in Mathew Scholtz and the team’s always-developing Yamaha YZF-R1. Scholtz finished sixth in the 2019 title chase, with five Superbike podiums.

FLY Racing will return to the MotoAmerica Superbike class in 2020 with three riders in the David Anthony owned team. Anthony, who rode a Kawasaki last year, will campaign a Suzuki GSX-R1000; Sam Verderico will be aboard his trusty R1; and Brit Bradley Ward will fly the Kawasaki colors in the FLY Racing team with his ZX-10R.

Another rider changing bikes and teams is Cameron Petersen, the South African moving to the Altus Motorsports team to campaign a Suzuki GSX-R1000. MotoAmerica Superbike regular Max Flinders, meanwhile, will be back on his signature all-yellow Trashed Bike Racing Yamaha YZF-R1.

Young Ashton Yates continues to rapidly rise through the ranks of MotoAmerica and will make his Superbike debut on a Yates Racing Honda CBR1000RR, the only Honda in the field thus far. Jeffrey Purk, meanwhile, will also make the move to the Superbike class after finishing 11th in last year’s Stock 1000 class.

Stock 1000 front runner Corey Alexander will be another making his Superbike debut in the coming season, the New Yorker racing a Kawasaki ZX-10R for the Ride HVMC Racing team.

Another set to make his MotoAmerica Superbike Series debut in 2020 will be Steven Shakespeare, the Brit set to campaign a Yamaha YZF-R1 for the Monkey Moto AGVSPORT team.

FORT WORTH, Texas – Genesys, a global leader in cloud customer experience and contact center solutions, has inked a multi-year agreement with Texas Motor Speedway.

The company will serve as the title sponsor of the NTT IndyCar Series race dubbed the Genesys 600.

Genesys announced in January a sponsorship program with Canadian IndyCar Series driver James Hinchcliffe for the month of May in Indianapolis. Genesys will also serve as Hinchcliffe’s primary sponsor at Texas Motor Speedway.

“We share a passion with IndyCar and Texas Motor Speedway for delivering great experiences, so naming this iconic event the Genesys 600 is a natural fit,” said Tony Bates, chief executive officer of Genesys. “That coupled with the fact that Texas is home to a large concentration of Genesys customers and employees, gives us a great opportunity to play host to both IndyCar fans and James. We’re honored to be part of this exciting race under the lights at Texas Motor Speedway.”

The June 6 Genesys 600 marks the 33rd race and 24th consecutive year that IndyCar has competed on the 1.5-mile tri-oval since the first race in the track’s inaugural season in 1997.

“I am pumped to see Genesys as the title sponsor of the Genesys 600 race here at the Texas Motor Speedway. This is a world-class company that is laser-focused on building their brand around myself, Andretti Autosport and IndyCar racing,” said Hinchcliffe. “Adding this to their program further solidifies their dedication to moving as fast as the race pace here at the track. It’s really exciting to see.”

Genesys helps organizations around the globe deliver the best customer and employee experiences. The company’s technology powered by the cloud and artificial intelligence connects more than 70 billion customer moments each year across voice, text, messaging apps, web chat and social media.

“We were thrilled to announce Genesys as part of the Andretti Autosport family last week, and now happy to congratulate them on the Genesys 600,” said Michael Andretti, chairman and chief executive officer of Andretti Autosport. “We are proud to have a partner that not only sees the value in the team, but in the race events and series as a whole. I can’t wait to get our six cars to Texas Motor Speedway and hopefully come home with some winners’ cowboy hats.”

“Racing is all about speed, accuracy and a relentless determination to be the best, which are all characteristics of how Genesys has approached its introduction into the world of motorsports,” said Eddie Gossage, President and General Manager of Texas Motor Speedway. “Texas Motor Speedway prides itself on aligning with industry leaders and the energy and sense of cooperation Genesys brings to this partnership is a strong indicator of great things ahead.”