TORRANCE, Calif. – The California Lightning Sprint Car Series has released the schedule for its 27th consecutive season of racing.

The action will begin and finish the year at Bakersfield Speedway on March 14, with 17 races filling the schedule throughout the year.

Five different tracks will host California Lightning Sprint Car Series races in 2020. Ventura Raceway will once again be the home track for the series, with six races on the schedule.  The club will hit Kern County’s Bakersfield Speedway five times.  Included at Bakersfield will be the season-ender, which has turned into an annual affair with the USAC National and Western States Midgets. The group will have a pair of races in the middle of the season at Santa Maria Raceway.

When the California Lightning Sprint Car Series hits the Merced Speedway on June 27 for the Wayne Albright Memorial, the cars will take off their wings for the race which will be a part of the Civil War Series,  In addition, it will be part of a three-race Non-Wing Challenge that will pay $1,000 to the high-point driver.  The other two races in the Non-Wing Challenge will be at a pair of the competitions at Ventura.

Two dates that are yet to be determined will be Civil War Series races with the BCRA at the Placerville Speedway.  In addition to the aforementioned Civil War Series dates, one of the Santa Maria events and one of the Bakersfield races will also be part of the jointly sanctioned series.

2020 California Lightning Sprint Car Series Schedule

March 14 – Bakersfield Speedway – Bakersfield, Calif.
March 21 – Ventura Raceway – Ventura, Calif.
April 18 – Bakersfield Speedway – Bakersfield, Calif.
May 2 – Ventura Raceway – Ventura, Calif.
June 6 – Ventura Raceway – Ventura, Calif.
June 13 – Bakersfield Speedway – Bakersfield, Calif.
June 27 – Merced Speedway – Merced, Calif.
July 25 – Santa Maria Raceway – Nipomo, Calif.
Aug. 15 – Santa Maria Raceway – Nipomo, Calif.
Aug. 29 – Ventura Raceway – Ventura, Calif.
Sept. 5 – Ventura Raceway – Ventura, Calif.
Sept. 19 – Bakersfield Speedway – Bakersfield, Calif.
Oct. 3 – Ventura Raceway – Ventura, Calif.
Oct. 31 – Ventura Raceway – Ventura, Calif.
Nov. 17 – Bakersfield Speedway – Bakersfield, Calif.

WHEATLAND, Mo. – Second-generation racer Brice Gotschall has no illusion of contending for a track championship just yet, especially considering the Ozark Golf Cars USRA B-Mod class at Lucas Oil Speedway includes a trio of former national champions among a large weekly field of entries.

For Gotschall, a 16-year-old junior at Nevada High School, it’s all about getting a little bit better and keeping his goals for the upcoming season realistic.

“I’d like a couple of top-five finishes and a top-10 finish in points,” Gotschall said. “But I’d be happy with whatever. Just to finish a race without motor problems, I’d be happy.”

Motor issues plagued the team in 2019 as Gotschall – son of veteran Late Model driver Brantlee Gotschall – wound up 13th in points in the USRA B-Mod division at Lucas Oil Speedway. He qualified for four A-features with a best finish of 12th on April 27.

Brice said his engine got hot early in the season and it was discovered later in the year that the block had a crack, thus creating chronic motor issues. Despite that, there were some positives to draw upon as he reflected on the experience of mixing it up with 2019 USRA national champions Kris Jackson and past national champs JC Morton and Andy Bryant.

“It’s a lot of fun. It puts you to the test to see what you’re up against,” Gotschall said of the quality of competition. “We still have competition at our home track (Nevada Speedway), but it’s way more difficult at Lucas. Those guys are such good drivers.”

Racing has been in young Gotschall’s blood since he was born, with his dad in the sport as a driver and now owner/operator of Phoenix Race Cars and Troop 4 Motorsports. Brice started racing go-karts at age six and started racing his first B-Mod a couple of years ago.

“I always helped my dad as much as I could, but didn’t know much about it at the time,” Brice said. “Now dad helps me out when he can. He’s at the races every weekend, but might have a customer with him. If we need to change something on the car, I’ll change it.”

Brice Gotschall said his dad might take the car to the Humboldt Speedway Battle of the Bullring in March for a shakedown. Brice’s first track time is scheduled for Lucas Oil Speedway’s test and tune on March 28.

Gotschall looks for continued progressTeam sponsors include Phoenix Race Cars, Troop 4 Motorsports, AFCO Shocks, Brumback Motorsports and H3 Graphics.

“I have to thank my mom (Brooke) and my dad and everyone who helps us,” Brice Gotschall said.

Three former India cricketers - Gautam Gambhir, Madan Lal and Sulakshana Naik are in the running to be part of the next cricket advisory committee (CAC). The CAC has been dormant since the previous panel, led by former India captain Kapil Dev, resigned last October.

ESPNcricinfo understands Gambhir has given his consent to be appointed to the panel, while Madan Lal confirmed that he had given it the nod. Naik, the former Mumbai and Indian batsman, said to wait for the news to come out officially. The BCCI is yet to make an announcement on the matter.

It is not clear whether the BCCI will appoint the CAC formally just yet, or wait for the Supreme Court to hear its pending plea on the conflict of interest rules and other amendments it has proposed to the board's constitution. The court was scheduled to hear the case on January 14, but it is yet to list it as part of the next week's roster.

Lal, the former India fast bowler and a 1983 World Cup winner, told ESPNcricinfo: "I was approached in the last week and I gave my consent. I have received no guidelines yet."

Both Gambhir and Lal work as cricket experts for television but they and Naik are not part of any other sate association or IPL franchise. Gambhir had stepped down from the Apex Council of the Delhi & Districts Cricket Association after he was elected as a Member of Parliament last year.

The formation of the CAC was a foremost priority, Sourav Ganguly had said soon after taking charge as BCCI president on October 23 last year. The CAC's primary role is to pick the men's selection panel as per the constitution. But previous CACs have picked the head coaches of both men's and women's teams and Ganguly said the next CAC would carry out that role too.

However, as the weeks went by, Ganguly said that his administration was finding it hard to find suitable candidates for the CAC, a panel which he himself was once part of before being forced to stepped down after being found to be in conflict of interest.

The same conflict of interest issue, Ganguly said, had dissuaded many former players from applying to be part of the CAC and other cricket committees, which, as per the Lodha Committee reforms, need to be made up of cricketers. Even Kapil Dev and his panel members - former India batsman Anshuman Gaekwad and former women's captain Shanta Rangaswamy - stepped down in reaction to the conflict of interest charges against them.

The charges against the previous CAC members barring Ganguly came from the same complainant - Sanjeev Gupta, a life member at the Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association. In all instances, Gupta said that each of the CAC members was holding more than one position in Indian cricket, which was a clear violation of the conflict of interest rule that permitted only one post per person.

India have named a 16-member squad for the five-match T20I series against New Zealand, which will kick off their tour from January 24. Rohit Sharma, who was rested for the recently concluded three-match series against Sri Lanka, is back in the squad as vice-captain. His direct replacement for the series, Sanju Samson, has been drafted out of the squad.

An addition has also been made to the squad that played Sri Lanka, with fast bowler Mohammed Shami back in the T20I squad after playing one match against West Indies in December, which was his first since July 2017.

Shami's inclusion makes it three express fast-bowling options for India, with Jasprit Bumrah and Navdeep Saini retaining their places. Shardul Thakur, who was Man of the Match in the last T20I against Sri Lanka, and took five wickets in two matches in the series, rounds up the frontline seam options. Backing them up is the medium-pace of allrounder Shivam Dube.

Sharma's return and Shikhar Dhawan's retention gives India three in-form opening options, while KL Rahul will also double up as the back-up wicketkeeper. The length of this series, however, may also prompt India to try all three of them together as they have before, with Virat Kohli acknowledging during the Sri Lanka series that he was open to batting lower than the top three if needed. In essence, that would mean Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant could see themselves in and out through the course of these five matches, depending on which top-three combination India chooses.

Among the spinners, India have continued to go with one of every kind - Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, and Kuldeep Yadav have all kept their places in the squad.

India T20I squad for New Zealand tour: Virat Kohli (capt.), Rohit Sharma (vice-capt.), KL Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Rishabh Pant (wk), Shivam Dube, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Navdeep Saini, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur

The BCB has raised the match fees of Bangladesh's centrally contracted players after three years, with the highest jump given to Test fees. In the 2020 calendar year, a player will earn BDT 600,000 (approximately $7,000 approx) per Test, which is a rise of more than 70% from their BDT 350,000 ($4,000 approx) from 2017 and 2019.

The rise in Test match fees comes after a poor year in the longest format, when Bangladesh lost all five matches to New Zealand, Afghanistan and India. But the BCB has put emphasis on their performance in Tests in light of the World Test Championship, which has already increased the number of Tests Bangladesh play in the next two years.

Match fees for ODIs and T20Is have also increased significantly from the previous three years. For each ODI, a player will get BDT 300,000 ($3,500 approx) compared to the previous BDT 200,000 ($2,300 approx), while the match fees for T20Is have increased from BDT 125,000 ($1,400 approx) to BDT 200,000 ($2,300 approx).

BCB president Nazmul Hassan, after the board meeting on Sunday, said that they will also reconsider the number of centrally contracted players. During the players' strike last year, the cricketers had demanded that the number should be 30. They had also pointed out that their salary or match fee hadn't increased since 2017.

"We will again discuss the number of players on January 15. We want there to be some more new guys who have performed recently," said Hassan.

He also said that Mashrafe Mortaza, Bangladesh's ODI captain, had asked the board to not given him a central contract. "Mashrafe Mortaza has asked us not to keep him in the central contract [list]. He will continue playing but he wants someone new to get a place among the contracted players," Hassan said. "We have accepted it."

OWINGS MILLS, Md. -- Pro Bowl cornerback Marlon Humphrey didn't back down from his postgame comments that the identity of the Baltimore Ravens is they "choke" in the playoffs.

"I stand by that," Humphrey said after the Ravens' final team meeting Sunday morning. "It actually was what I was thinking on the sideline. It's crazy. You are what you show on paper, and you are what you show on the field. That's what we've shown on the field."

On Saturday night, the Ravens suffered a stunning 28-12 divisional-round playoff loss to the Tennessee Titans, marking Baltimore's second straight one-and-done in the postseason.

Last season, the Ravens lost 23-17 at home to the Los Angeles Chargers in an AFC wild-card game. Baltimore's season ended this year with the biggest upset loss in franchise history. Baltimore was a 10-point favorite over the Titans.

After Saturday night's game, Humphrey spoke about "the sad reality" of this team.

"I think you have to look at yourself in the mirror, and I think this team's identity right now is to get in the playoffs and choke," Humphrey said. "It is what it is. This is just the hard truth."

The Ravens won their last 12 games of the regular season to finish at 14-2, the best record in the NFL. Baltimore then became the second No. 1 seed since 2013 to fail to advance to the conference championship game.

Instead of being one win away from the Super Bowl, Humphrey and the Ravens were cleaning out their lockers after John Harbaugh's final team meeting of the season.

Asked about the message of the meeting, Humphrey said, "I don't really know the vibe of it. You feel like you've got to say something in those meetings, so Coach gets up there and says whatever."

BEREA, Ohio -- The Cleveland Browns are planning to hire Vikings offensive coordinator Kevin Stefanski as their head coach, a source confirmed to ESPN.

Stefanski, 37, will replace Freddie Kitchens, whom the Browns fired on Dec. 29 after he posted a 6-10 record in his one season at the helm. Stefanski was a finalist for the Cleveland job last year as well, before the team promoted Kitchens from interim offensive coordinator instead.

NFL Network first reported the Browns' plan to hire Stefanski.

The Vikings fell 27-10 to the San Francisco 49ers in the divisional round Saturday, clearing the way for Cleveland to officially move forward with Stefanski.

The Browns met with eight candidates, including 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh. They also interviewed Mike McCarthy, whom the Dallas Cowboys later hired to be their head coach, Baltimore Ravens offensive coordinator Greg Roman, Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy, Buffalo Bills offensive coordinator Brian Daboll, Philadelphia Eagles defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz and New England Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels.

The Browns did not overreact to the performance of Stefanski's offense on Saturday, when it managed just 147 total yards and allowed six sacks.

Stefanski becomes the franchise's 18th head coach, but already the 12th (including interim head coaches) since the Browns returned to the NFL in 1999. Stefanski will also be the fifth head coach that owners Jimmy and Dee Haslam have hired since purchasing the team in 2012.

The Haslams are still searching for a new general manager to pair with Stefanski in the wake of firing John Dorsey on Dec. 31 after just two years.

Jimmy Haslam told reporters last week that the new head coach would be "heavily involved" in whom the Browns hired to head the football operation, and that each would report to ownership as equals.

League sources confirmed the Browns have already put in a request to interview Indianapolis Colts assistant general manager Ed Dodds and Eagles vice president of football operations Andrew Berry, who worked in the Browns' front office from 2016 to '18.

Cleveland still has chief strategy officer Paul DePodesta, who assisted the Haslams with the coaching interviews. DePodesta has been a fan of Stefanski and pushed for the team to hire him last year, according to a team source.

"We will not have an arranged marriage," Jimmy Haslam said on Jan. 2. "If you look at the successful organizations that are consistently in the playoffs year after year, there is alignment within the organization and they have the right people in the right place, coach and GM. That is what we are focusing on tremendously, and that alignment is something that is really, really important."

Stefanski played defensive back at Penn. After graduating in 2005, he went to work for the Vikings, where he remained an assistant for the past 13 years.

Stefanski took over as interim offensive coordinator in Minnesota during the 2018 season and was promoted to offensive coordinator in 2019. This season, the Vikings ranked eighth in the NFL in scoring offense with 25.4 points per game and sixth in rushing offense with 133.3 yards per game.

He will take over a Browns offense loaded with talent, despite its poor performance this season, ranking 22nd in the league in offensive efficiency.

Running back Nick Chubb, wide receiver Jarvis Landry and offensive guard Joel Bitonio were Pro Bowl selections this year. Wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. is a two-time All-Pro selection, and quarterback Baker Mayfield finished second in the Offensive Rookie of the Year voting in 2018.

This season, the Browns ran the NFL's longest playoff drought to 17 years this season. They haven't won a division title since 1989, which is also the longest streak in the league.

With the Browns tabbing Stefanski, there are currently no remaining head-coaching vacancies in the NFL.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The Kansas City Chiefs and Houston Texans announced their list of inactive players for Sunday's divisional-round playoff game at Arrowhead Stadium.

The Chiefs' inactives include defensive tackle Chris Jones, who led the team in sacks this season with nine. Jones has a calf injury. He didn't play in the Chiefs' Week 6 game against the Texans because of a groin injury; that game was one of just two all season in which the Chiefs failed to register a sack.

Kansas City's other inactives are quarterback Chad Henne, offensive linemen Jackson Barton, Ryan Hunter and Andrew Wylie, linebacker Darron Lee and cornerback Morris Claiborne.

Inactive for Houston are tight end Jordan Akins, safety Jahleel Addae, wide receiver Steven Mitchell, cornerback Cornell Armstrong, tackle Elijah Nkansah, defensive end Carlos Watkins and nose tackle Eddie Vanderdoes.

The checklist in the life of a big league catcher includes the regular chore of pitch-block practice. At about the same time that the ballpark food service staff check in and begin to stock the concession stands, hours before the gates open for fans, the catcher will don his shin guards, gather equipment and trudge out to the bullpen, accompanied by at least one instructor.

A coach launches baseballs at him, using either a pitch machine or a fungo bat, and from these sessions, small spots of discoloration will linger on his biceps or forearms. If you meet a former player and his fingers point east, north and west, odds are he was a catcher.

There is time spent on pitch framing, the outer laces of the glove subtly turned inward as the ball is received to feed the perception that a pitch is a strike. The catcher's pregame work sometimes shifts onto the main field, where the act of throwing to bases is repeated, from the crouch to the (hopefully) quick setting of the feet to the fizzing sound of the ball zipping over the mound.

For the catcher, there is extensive video work, opposing hitters to be studied, scouting reports to be read. There is a meeting with the starting pitcher, and depending on that guy's personality and preferences, there might be a last-minute review of possible pitch selection or the plotting of an ambush, maybe a discussion about the metrics of that night's home plate umpire. Or maybe the catcher will mostly listen, if the starter is an alpha pitcher, a la Justin Verlander.

Long ago, the phrase "tools of ignorance" was assigned to the position of catcher, and there could be no more misleading cliché. Those many thousands of hours of pregame preparation, as well as lifetime membership in the both the pitcher and position player fraternities, are why former catchers have graduated into becoming managers so often.

But once the electronic strike zone is implemented sometime in the next few seasons, a lot of the skill and nuanced understanding required to play catcher will become obsolete.

Novak Djokovic inspired Serbia to victory in the inaugural ATP Cup as his singles win over Rafael Nadal helped his country beat Spain 2-1 in Sydney.

World number two Djokovic, 32, defeated top-ranked Nadal, 33, 6-2 7-6 (7-4) to level the tie after Roberto Bautista Agut beat Dusan Lajovic 7-5 6-1.

Djokovic then partnered Viktor Troicki to a 6-3 6-4 doubles win over Pablo Carreno Busta and Feliciano Lopez.

"I will remember this experience for the rest of my life," Djokovic said.

"It's definitely one of the nicest moments of my career."

Djokovic and Troicki quickly went 3-1 down in the first set of the doubles but the animated Serbian pair won the next five games to take the opening set.

They broke early in the second and maintained their momentum, with Djokovic serving out the match at his first attempt.

Djokovic, the reigning Australian Open champion, did not lose a match during the week-long tournament, claiming six singles and two doubles wins.

"It was a huge team effort," Djokovic said.

"I've been very fortunate and blessed to have an amazing career but playing for your country, with some of my best friends, you can't match that."

The Australian Open begins on 20 January, eight days after the ATP Cup finishes.

Nadal frustrated by crowd

Nadal has now lost his past nine hard court matches against Djokovic, who was barely troubled in the opening set.

The Spaniard was broken in the first game of the match and was visibly frustrated by the pro-Serbian crowd, giving them a sarcastic thumbs-up as he dropped serve again.

Djokovic served out the opening set but was given a tougher test in the second, saving five break points in one 10-minute service game.

Nadal saved two break points with consecutive backhand winners but Djokovic took control of the tie-break, closing out victory as Nadal sent a forehand into the net.

"The respect for both players should be there," Nadal said of the crowd afterwards.

Nadal won the Davis Cup with Spain six weeks ago, which is a similar format to the ATP Cup, and he believes the two events are too close together.

"I think that [scheduling] is a confusion for the spectators, and we need to be clear in our sport," he added.

"And for the health of our sport and for the benefit of our sport, in my opinion, it is mandatory that we fix it."