BELLEVILLE, Ill. – The Iowa Sprint League has joined forces with the Performance Open Wheel Racing, Inc. sanctioning body.

With POWRi as a sanctioning body, the POWRi Lucas Oil Iowa Sprint Car League will primarily run throughout the Midwest, focusing on Iowa, Missouri and parts of Illinois.

“This will be a perfect opportunity for the Iowa Sprint Car League to continue to grow non-wing sprint car racing in the Heartland of the Midwest,” said POWRi’s Kenny Brown.

With the addition of the POWRi Lucas Oil Iowa Sprint Car League, there will now be two non-winged POWRi champions crowned. POWRi also sanctions the POWRi Lucas Oil WAR Sprint League.

“This is what the racer’s asked for; it helps to grow the Iowa Sprint League as well as getting to race closer to home,” said Iowa Sprint League Director Joe Leer.

MANCHESTER, England -- Manchester United midfielder Scott McTominay suffered knee ligament damage during the win over Newcastle, according to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

McTominay left Old Trafford on crutches after being substituted at half-time during the 4-1 victory over Steve Bruce's side.

The 23-year-old was involved in a challenge with Sean Longstaff in the opening stages but was able to play on until the break before being replaced with Paul Pogba.

"He's done his ligament in the knee," said Solskjaer.

"I don't know how bad. Let's see. The boy has got the biggest heart, you see the attitude of the kid [to play on]. I'm not sure if he's going to be ready for Saturday [against Burnley] but we've seen him heal quickly before."

United moved to within four points of the top four with victory over Newcastle, which was secured thanks to goals from Mason Greenwood, Marcus Rashford and a brace from Anthony Martial.

Greenwood's goal -- his eighth of the season -- was a spectacular effort from outside the box that went in off the underside the of crossbar and Solskjaer has warned the rest of the Premier League that the 18-year-old is only going to get better.

"He's learning, growing as a human being," said the United boss.

"He'll grow more and more and we're not going to see the best of Mason for a couple for years. When I was 18 ... I was nowhere near the level he is now."

Liverpool are 13 points clear at the top of the Premier League and still, their supporters still refuse to sing that their team are "gonna win the league" this season. There have been too many near misses at Anfield, since the club were last crowned champions of England in 1990, for the fans to tempt fate by going too early with that particular chant, but Jurgen Klopp's players made it 17 wins out of 18 in the league this term with Thursday's 4-0 victory against closest challengers Leicester City.

It would seem that the only people who don't yet believe that the Premier League trophy is on its way to Liverpool are the very supporters who are so desperate to witness it.

Their Boxing Day win at second-place Leicester showed it's no longer a case of if Liverpool win the Premier League this season, but when. It's also become slightly irrelevant as to when they will win it, too. The only real questions that remain unanswered are about how big Liverpool's winning margin will be and how many records they will smash along the way.

Remember the rush to declare Pep Guardiola's Manchester City as the best team of the Premier League era two years ago, when they became the first side to break the 100-point barrier in the top flight? On current form, Liverpool are on course to make 100 points look like little more than a stopping off point towards a much greater final total. By doing so, they will put Guardiola's team firmly in the shade.

City may have gone one further last season by winning a domestic treble, even pipping Klopp's side to the title by one point in the process, but Liverpool ended that campaign as Champions League winners. The gap between the two was already wafer thin but this season, Liverpool have planted their foot so firmly on the pedal that they have left City, and everyone else, in their slipstream.

It took seven minutes for the Reds to finish off Leicester in the second half but they were dominant from start to finish at King Power Stadium. A flurry of early chances culminated in a pin-point cross from Trent Alexander-Arnold to Roberto Firmino for an easy headed finish, and while it remained 1-0 until midway through the second half, the result rarely felt threatened.

In the 71st minute, the rout began: Caglar Soyuncu inexplicably handled in the box to give James Milner, one of the most reliable penalty-takers, an easy finish. Further goals followed from Firmino, who calmly curled a Alexander-Arnold cross into the top corner, and the Liverpool full-back himself, whose thumping first-time finish left Kasper Schmeichel helpless.

As if to cement their controlling performance against the league's second-place team, Jurgen Klopp's side restricted the Premier League's leading scorer, Jamie Vardy, to one off-target shot in his worst performance of the season.

Liverpool's consistency has been off the scale. Only Manchester United have been able to land a blow on Liverpool in the league, by holding them to a draw at Old Trafford in October, but the rest have all been beaten at least once. As they approach their final league game of 2019, against Wolves at Anfield on Sunday, Liverpool have not dropped three points since their very first game of the calendar year: a 2-1 defeat against City at the Etihad on Jan. 3.

It goes further. Liverpool have now gone 35 games unbeaten in the league -- Arsenal's 2004 Invincibles hold the Premier League record on 49 games unbeaten -- and 30 of those have been victories. Translate those last 35 games into points and Liverpool would be on 95 points, which is simply incredible, yet with 20 league games still to play between now and the end of the season, there are still 60 points available to Liverpool.

They can drop 12 points -- or lose four games -- and still end up with 100 points, but they're moving like a steam train right now and current form would suggest that Liverpool are going to go well beyond City's century milestone. Such is their lead at the top that Liverpool can now play without fear or anxiety for the rest of the season because they know they have such a sizeable margin for error that the odd mistake or defeat here or there is highly unlikely to make a difference towards the outcome of the title race.

When a team plays with such freedom, they tend to win because they are playing to their strengths, which means things could only get better for Liverpool. And that will lead to the question as to whether they can claim another piece of history by emulating Arsene Wenger's great Arsenal team, which emerged as champions in 2003-04 having gone unbeaten for an entire league campaign.

Back then, the Premier League presented Arsenal with a specially-made gold trophy to mark the achievement. Having waited so long to become champions, any trophy will do for this Liverpool team, but if they can make it gold like Arsenal did, the agonising wait will feel even better when, not if, it ends.

Make no mistake: the Premier League title is heading to Anfield this season. The supporters may not want to sing about it until the silverware is sitting in the trophy cabinet, decked in red ribbons, but they should throw off their inhibitions are sing it loud and clear because nobody is catching this Liverpool team.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- Clemson tight end Braden Galloway, who is set to play against Ohio State in the College Football Playoff Semifinal at the PlayStation Fiesta Bowl after serving a one-year suspension for a positive drug test, said in his first comments since the suspension that he did nothing wrong and still has no idea how the banned substance got into his body.

Galloway, starting defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence and offensive lineman Zach Giella tested positive last December for trace amounts of ostarine and missed both the playoff semifinal against Notre Dame in the Goodyear Cotton Bowl and the national championship game against Alabama.

Ostarine is not approved by the Food and Drug Administration and is not legally for sale in the United States.

There have been instances, however, of the drug's use in supplements without being specifically listed on the label. Galloway is the only player still on the team among the three who were suspended last year. Lawrence left early for the NFL draft, while Giella no longer had eligibility left after the NCAA rejected the school's appeal of the suspension in May.

"I know I did nothing wrong, so no matter what media outlets say, I know I did nothing intentionally that put that in my system and I've taken probably 15-20 drug tests since the one I failed and haven't failed any other," Galloway said. "And they've been drug-tested by the same company the NCAA uses. So I know I've done nothing wrong. I really just put my faith in God every time there's a drug test. I just hope and pray that nothing crazy happens like this again. I don't wish this on any player. There's nothing you can do about it. They want you to tell them how it got in your system, and if you can't tell them that, they can't really do anything about it."

As for how the substance got into his system, Galloway said, "It bothers me whenever there's NCAA drug testing. I don't know how it got in my system. Every time I get drug tested I'm nervous for that whole next week. I don't know if I put something in my system that I just didn't know about, but we take it very seriously what I put in my body."

Galloway, a sophomore, spent the entire season as the tight end on the scout team, and credits defensive coordinator Brent Venables for helping him stay motivated throughout the year.

When he gets onto the field for pregame warm-ups, Galloway said, "Obviously there will be nerves going out there. I haven't played in a year. I know I didn't do anything wrong, so I am going to go out there and appreciate the opportunity and enjoy the moment."

SAN FRANCISCO -- In the wake of his team's best win of the season, Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr acknowledged that his group hit a "different level" in Wednesday's 116-104 win over the Houston Rockets, while sharing a funny anecdote about just how excited his struggling squad was in the waning moments of victory.

"We got to a different level yesterday," Kerr said after Thursday's practice. "In terms of our execution on both ends. It was the best game we've played, and it was great that Steph [Curry] and Klay [Thompson] were on the sidelines cheering them on and so active. At one point the ref told me -- he wanted me to tell our guys not to run on the floor. And I said, 'That's not happening. We've had a lousy season. We're going to run on the floor.' I said, 'If you've got to call a T, you've got to call a T.' And he said, 'All right, fair enough.' So it was a good night."

The Warriors have now won three straight games for the first time all year, but they went into the game with a Western Conference-worst 7-24 record in a season that has been littered with injuries and inconsistencies from a young team trying to find its way. Players and coaches beamed with pride after limiting James Harden, who went into the contest averaging over 38 points a game, to just 24 points on the day.

"It was euphoric in the locker room," Kerr said. "You have to put it into context of what kind of season we've had; the frustration and the injuries and the losses piling up. Yesterday was the most fun day of the year for us because our guys know they have gotten a lot better, but for that work to pay off and to win a national TV game on Christmas Day against a great team, that's a really good accomplishment. That game was much bigger for us than it was for Houston. They're going to play in a lot of big games this year. For us that was as big as it's been and maybe as big as it will be all year, just in terms of the magnitude of the game. So in that context, our guys were really, really happy and they deserve to be happy and our fans were great. I'm happy for them, they've been supporting us all along, and so it was just a great day all around."

Warriors swingman Glenn Robinson III got the bulk of the minutes on Harden, but the Warriors made it a point to send bodies at him all day and trap whenever possible. Rockets guard Russell Westbrook went just 11-for-32 from the field as the Warriors defense held the Rockets to just 37% from the field. Harden, who went into the game averaging almost 13 free throw attempts a game, took just one Wednesday and missed it. The 38 minutes he played were the most he has played in a game in his career without making at least one free throw, according to ESPN Stats & Information.

"We were hyped up," Warriors big man Marquese Chriss said. "I think we worked hard for that win. I think we showed that we're continually growing and we're developing as a team and individually. We're showing that we can guard and we can finish games now, so we're just trying to keep competing."

What made the win even more special for the Warriors was the fact that it came against a Rockets team that they have dominated throughout the last few seasons. Injured Warriors stars Curry (broken hand) and Thompson (left ACL rehab) happily yelled in celebration of what their teammates accomplished. The Warriors went into the game as 11.5 underdogs, the biggest margin of a Christmas upset over the last 30 years, according to Caesars Sportsbook.

"It was fun," Chriss said. "It sucks to see people hurt, but they were up there, they were cheering for us and they were supporting us, and I think that that really helped drive us, having people who care about us unconditionally. It gave us a reason to want to keep fighting."

Chriss noted that Curry, who recently rejoined the team after having a second, scheduled procedure to take pins out of his injured left hand in Los Angeles, has given a boost to the rest of the group just by being around.

"His energy," Chriss said. "He's a goofy guy, but at the same time he's super competitive. And he's quiet, but he's honest. He'll tell you how it is, but he's not one of those people who's just going to keep yelling and try to beat a dead horse. It's better for us the last few games that he's been here and been on the bench. He's kind of like an extra coach."

Warriors players and coaches are appreciative of the fact that both Curry and Thompson are starting to be around on a more consistent basis to offer support and advice. For Chriss, the ability to watch and learn from Curry has been beneficial.

"He talks to everybody," Chriss said. "It's weird for me -- somebody being so good, you expect them to have an ego and kind of keep to themselves, but he talks to everybody like they're on the same level as him. I think that it makes for a good culture around here."

FORT WAYNE, Ind. – For all the things that Justin Peck has done in his still-young career, there’s one box during the winter months that he hasn’t checked off yet: a sweep of the Rumble in Fort Wayne.

The Monrovia, Ind., young gun will have an opportunity to do just that this weekend, when he straps in to tackle the sixth-mile indoor concrete oval during the 22nd edition of the indoor midget classic.

Peck will be one of more than 30 entrants for the season-ending indoor race, trying to continue inching his name up the record books after moving into sole possession of fourth on the all-time Rumble win list last year.

A sweep this weekend would tie him with Billy Wease (five) for second-most wins, behind only all-time Rumble winner Tony Stewart, but Peck isn’t so much focused on that list as he is on just winning back to back.

“It’s a confidence thing; you want to be one of those guys that everyone wants to beat, right?” Peck told Sprint Car & Midget. “We come in here every year hoping to be standing in victory lane both nights, and so far that hasn’t worked out for us, but it doesn’t mean we haven’t been close. We’ve had the car to do it a couple of times, and even last year I think we had a car capable of beating (Geoff) Kaiser on Friday too. That one just didn’t play into our hand the way that it needed to.

“But there’s only two guys who have ever swept the weekend in Fort Wayne. It would be cool to be the third, for sure.”

Peck, now 21, first stunned the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum in 2013 when he rocketed to victory lane as a then-unknown 15 year old, shocking the likes of Billy Wease, Derek Bischak and more on his way to victory for Michigan car owner Steve Clay.

He’s since added two more wins and also amassed a streak of 13 feature starts in 13 appearances inside the Fort Wayne Expo building, a stunning achievement for a driver his age.

But Peck still wants to join the exclusive club that only Wease and all-time Rumble winner Tony Stewart currently inhabit, that of drivers to have won both national midget features in the same weekend.

The closest Peck came to that goal was actually in his rookie year of 2012, when he ran second and third at the tender age of 14.

Since, it’s been a bit of feast or famine for the young Hoosier, but he’s not too worried. In fact, he’s as confident as ever in his equipment and feels his dirt skillset gives him an edge entering the weekend.

“I was just having this discussion, actually, with my brother the other day. When we left the Rumble last year, we felt like the race itself has played more into a dirt driver’s hands as of late,” Peck explained. “That track, especially throughout the 40 or 50 lap feature, will change two or three different times. So the groove will change, instead of a driver just being able to hug and pull around the bottom like we were used to doing three or four years ago. Now, you really have to change and adapt and move around where the actual rubber is at and where the groove is at.

“Last year, I was able to go up top and make a lot of passes around the top shelf, because the bottom groove had just worn out. The rubber was still up on the top and guys were kind of having to go a little slower to roll the bottom,” Peck added. “I could keep my momentum up around the top, and I think that plays a factor and plays towards my hand a little bit … in the sense that I spend all year racing 60 races a year on dirt in a winged sprint car. But I think that’s part of what you have to have at the Rumble now. I don’t think it’s just a matter of getting your car hooked up to that rubber.

“I think the driver needs to be able to drive and put the car where it needs to go to be fast.”

As he’s grown up and matured, Peck has become a wiser racer, but he said he still loves the bullring-style, rough-and-tumble racing that you get when you come indoors and put midgets on the concrete.

It’s something that suits him, and his calculated aggression has led to a perfect record of features made, something that Peck still values just as much as his three feature wins.

“I think that part of it speaks volumes,” said Peck. “Because we have been close to not making it a few times, and even last year on one of the nights, we had to win the last chance race to make the show and we did that. So it’s a tough deal, and that record is something I’m proud of. I know it’ll end at some point, somewhere along the way, but the goal is to extend is as far as we possibly can before it does.”

But for as much as he may have changed over the course of the decade, one thing in regards to Peck’s Rumble procedure has remained a constant.

“The victory celebration will still be at IHOP,” he joked.

OAKS, Pa. – Three-time Daytona 500 winner Dale Jarrett, now an NBC Sports broadcast team member, will be a part of the Pioneer Pole Buildings Motorsports 2020 fueled by Sunoco distributed by Insinger Performance Racecar & Trade Show on Jan. 18.

The show takes place on Jan. 17-19. All 250,000 square feet of the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, Pa., will be filled with displays and more than 200 race cars for the 36th annual event.

Jarrett, the 1999 NASCAR Cup Series champion, who was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2014, will do an interview and answer questions from show attendees before spending two hours from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m., signing free autographs.

The 63-year-old son of NASCAR legend Ned Jarrett, Dale Jarrett won the Daytona 500 in 1993, ’96 and ’00. He tallied 32 Cup wins during his 24 years on the Cup circuit, including two wins in the Brickyard 400 in 1996 and ’99.

The Hickory, N.C., resident will be joining former NASCAR Cup racer Kyle Petty as a Saturday afternoon attraction. Petty, also an NBC Sports broadcast team member, will be on stage from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday afternoon.

There are no fees involved in the autograph sessions, but they are limited to the two hour time period.

Orange County Fair Speedway’s 100th Anniversary display, created by speedway historian Doug Dulgarian, continues to grow, becoming a major part of the show.

The display will feature an Orange County “Past, Present and Future” theme with several special exhibits. The Behrent’s No. 3 Modified that Mat Williamson drove to a $100,000 in the August Centennial race at Orange County will be part of the display.

Brett Hearn, Orange County’s all-time race winner, will have the car he drove in the October season finale Eastern States 200 weekend on display. Hearn, who has semi-retired to take over as the speedway promoter, will also be on hand to sign autographs.

Two Modifieds that helped make up Gary Balough’s legendary career, the Batmobile No. 112 and the Ferraiuolo No. 73 will be part of the Orange County Fair Speedway display. Balough will also be available for autographs.

Many other drivers who have competed at the popular track during the last 100 years will be on hand to sign autographs on Saturday afternoon.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Era Motorsport will make its IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship debut during the Rolex 24 at Daytona Int’l Speedway in January.

In advance of the season-opening event, the team will test the No. 18 Oreca 07-Gibson LMP2 entry during the Roar Before the 24, with Kyle Tilley, Dwight Merriman, Nicolas Minassian and Ryan Lewis sharing driving duties during the test and the race.

“Era Motorsport has come a long way in a year,” said Tilley. “To say I’m excited is an understatement. For myself, to be back in a top level prototype is fantastic, but to do it as a team owner is unbelievable. A mountain of work has gone in to get us to this point, and we couldn’t have done it without the crew and especially our recently appointed team manager, Ross Needham.”

Merriman, a longtime lover of cars, will be racing alongside Tilley for the entire LMP2 season. Merriman’s motorsport career began at the Monticello Motor Club, where he raced in series formally known as the Pirelli World Challenge in the TCR class in 2018, as well as many Radical Cup North America events, and raced alongside Tilley in historic racing, where Era Motorsport first began.

“Advancing to the IMSA WeatherTech LMP2 class will be a big step,” said Merriman. “Kyle has been a great coach and team owner, and with his and the team’s continued coaching and support, I know we’ll be up for the task.”

French driver Minassian began his racing career in the 1990s, starting in open wheel racing. After finishing second in the 1993 Formula Renault Eurocup, he advanced to the French Formula Three Championship, and continued his climb in the years to follow. By 1994, Minassian participated in his first of seventeen attempts in the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

“I am very excited to be joining Era Motorsport for the 2020 Rolex 24 at Daytona,” said Minassian. “It’s such a great race with a rich history, and one of the top endurance events in the world. I have a lot of respect for the way the team works and how this wonderful adventure is developing. Racing the Oreca chassis is also a joy, and I know that car and it is a great choice by the team. Kyle and Era have put a lot of effort into this program and I am very happy to be part of it.”

After also starting his career in open wheel racing in Europe, British driver Lewis clinched the 2004 British F3 National Series title before coming to the United States to race in Formula Atlantics. In 2008, he made the transition to sports car racing, joining the American Le Mans series. With over seven years of experience racing the Oreca chassis, Lewis will be a strong addition to the team’s Rolex 24 effort.

“I couldn’t be happier to be coming back to race in the IMSA WeatherTech series next season,” said Lewis. “I have to thank Kyle, and Dwight for bringing me onboard. The Roar can’t come soon enough.”

The team had previously announced a joint effort with DragonSpeed, but has since decided to make the upcoming season a sole venture, ready to take on the six races in this year’s championship.

“Advancing up to the IMSA ranks is a big step, and we initially thought it was best to join with a team that has had the success of DragonSpeed,” said Tilley. “However, the more invested we became in this program, we all decided this is really something we wanted to do on our own.”

OSTRAVA, Czech Republic -- Alexis Lafreniere had a goal and three assists and Barrett Hayton scored two power play goals for Canada to beat the United States 6-4 to open the world junior ice hockey championship on Thursday.

Connor McMichael, Nolan Foote and Ty Dellandrea also scored for Canada, and goaltender Nicolas Daws made 28 saves in the Group B game.

The U.S. got a pair of goals and an assist from Shane Pinto.

Canada, the most successful team in the competition with 17 titles, is determined to rebound from a sixth-place finish last year when it hosted the tournament. It needed a comeback in its first match.

Pinto and Arthur Kaliyev scored power play goals in the opening frame to give last year's finalist the U.S. a 2-0 advantage.

McMichael, Hayton, and Foote scored in a span of less than 10 minutes in the second period comeback by Canada.

Hayton added his second midway through the third for 4-2, then Nicholas Robertson and Pinto tied it at 4.

Lafreniere, one of the top NHL draft prospects, scored the winner with 3:11 left, and Dellandrea finished it off with an empty net goal.

The U.S. next plays Germany on Friday, while Canada faces Russia on Saturday.

In Group A contested in Trinec, Finland began its title defense by losing to Sweden 3-2 in overtime.

The host Czech Republic defeated Russia 4-3 in Group B, and Switzerland topped Kazakhstan 5-3 in Group A.