SALEM, Ind. – Champion Racing Ass’n powered by JEGS officials have released the schedule for the Vore’s Welding CRA Late Model Sportsman Series powered by JEGS.

Next year will be the 15th season of competition for the Vore’s Welding CRA Late Model Sportsman Series, which crowned Zachary Tinkle as its 2019 champion.

The 2020 Vore’s Welding CRA Late Model Sportsman schedule has 12 events scheduled, including the Triple Crown Series that will feature three 100-lap, $2000 to win events, and a point fund that will pay the Triple Crown champion $1,000.

There will also be two random draw winners, earning $500 apiece, from all the teams that attend all three Triple Crown events. Tinkle was also the 2019 Triple Crown champion.

The Triple Crown events will be held at Baer Field Motorsports Park, Mt. Lawn Speedway and Anderson Speedway.

The Vore’s Welding CRA Late Model Sportsman Series will have four events at Anderson Speedway in Anderson, Ind. The series will have two events each at Mt. Lawn Speedway, Lucas Oil Raceway, and Winchester (Ind.) Speedway.

The series will have one event at Baer Field Motorsports Park and one event at Kil-Kare Raceway in Ohio.

CRA will continue the Chase for the Championship format for determining a series champion for the 2020 season. The playoff format has produced more teams competing for a championship in every CRA division since the 2017 season.

2020 Vore’s Welding CRA Late Model Sportsman Series Schedule

Date – Venue – Location

April 5 – Lucas Oil Raceway – Clermont, Ind.
April 11 – Anderson Speedway – Anderson, Ind.
May 9 – Baer Field Motorsports Park – Fort Wayne, Ind. ^
May 17 – Mt. Lawn Speedway – New Castle, Ind.
June 6 – Anderson Speedway – Anderson, Ind.
June 28 – Mt. Lawn Speedway – New Castle, Ind. ^
July 25 – Anderson Speedway – Anderson, Ind. ^
Aug. 2 – Kil-Kare Raceway – Xenia, Ohio
Sept. 6-7 – Winchester Speedway – Winchester, Ind.
Sept. 19-20 – Lucas Oil Raceway – Clermont, Ind.
Sept. 26 – Anderson Speedway – Anderson, Ind.
Oct. 9 – Winchester Speedway – Winchester, Ind. *
Oct. 10 – Winchester Speedway – Winchester, Ind.

^ – 100-lap Triple Crown event
* – non-points special event

AC Milan director Zvonimir Boban has cast doubt on Zlatan Ibrahimovic's move to the San Siro, citing his age and period since his last competitive match.

Ibrahimovic, who won a Serie A title with Milan in 2011, has left LA Galaxy following two years in MLS.

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He has been heavily linked with a return to his former club, but sources have told ESPN he must lower his wage demands in order to facilitate a move.

"The longer it goes on, the harder it becomes," Boban told Italy's Radio Uno. "He is 38, has been inactive for two months.

"It's not easy to start again. Especially considering there are only five months until the end of the season. I can't repeat what Paolo [Maldini] said.

"Let's hope Ibra makes the right choice -- even for himself. We need to see how the next matches go. Ibra is a different solution to the others, he can give a lot in the short-term and for this reason he is unique.

"Let's see if there is the absolute necessity to act now or at the end of the season. Let's see if, aside from this, we need to make attacking signings. But Ibra is unique, a different player in comparison to the others even if he isn't young.

"He has an extreme character. When we started the conversation started, however, we were in a different league position."

Milan are unbeaten in four league matches since a spirited 1-0 defeat to Juventus and have risen to 10th in the Serie A table.

James Anderson is set to bowl in a match situation for the first time since August, after being declared "in a great place" by head coach, Chris Silverwood, ahead of England's first warm-up match of their tour of South Africa.

Anderson has not played competitively since aggravating a calf injury after bowling just four overs of the first Test against Australia at Edgbaston on August 1, a match that England went on to lose by 251 runs in his absence.

However, he has been acclimatising at a fast-bowling camp in Potchefstroom for the past fortnight, having also worked with Manchester City's training staff during the off-season, in a bid to overcome an issue that he first encountered while bowling for Lancashire in a county fixture in July.

And, with the first Test against South Africa looming in Centurion on Boxing Day, Silverwood is increasingly confident that England's attack leader will be fit to resume a Test career in which he has claimed 575 wickets in 149 matches to date.

"Jimmy Anderson is absolutely flying at the moment, he's in a great place," Silverwood told reporters in Benoni, on the eve of a two-day non-first-class warm-up against a South Africa Invitational XI, in which several members of England's squad will be given a chance to stretch their legs.

That number, however, will not include the newly crowned BBC Sports Personality of the Year, Ben Stokes, who is due to fly into Johannesburg after the match has begun, having attended Sunday night's ceremony in Aberdeen.

Nor will Mark Wood be put through his paces just yet. He too has been at the training camp in Potchefstroom, having missed the Ashes due to a side strain sustained while bowling in the World Cup final. But Silverwood warned that his comeback will be postponed until the New Year.

"Woody, we've got to be a little bit patient with," he said. "We are looking at somewhere around the third Test [at Port Elizabeth on January 16] but we'll be guided by how his body pulls up as well."

England arrived in South Africa off the back of an arduous tour of New Zealand, in which their bowlers struggled for penetration in the two-Test series, claiming just 21 wickets all told in a 1-0 defeat.

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Silverwood, however, is optimistic that South Africa's wickets will be better suited to his attack, including Jofra Archer, who claimed two wickets at 104.50 in New Zealand, but whom he insisted was fit and raring to go.

"There's a bit more bounce here," Silverwood said. "A bit more pace in the wickets will suit our bowlers. But the bowlers as a unit have worked so hard on finding ways to get 20 wickets, it's been a struggle at times but that's something to work on.

"It's something we are working on constantly," he added. "We really want to drive forward the Test team, and in New Zealand we were looking at new ways of doing things. It was a great learning curve in New Zealand and we'll keep pushing on from that."

One man who did make a positive impression in New Zealand, albeit in the second Test, was the captain Joe Root, who had gone into the match under intense pressure - not least for his captaincy - but responded with a hard-earned innings of 226.

"It certainly settled the form issue," said Silverwood. "To get a double was great for him and great for us as a team, and obviously puts him on the front foot coming here, and from a captaincy point of view, he's learning moving forward and doing well."

More generally, Silverwood had a simple formula for further success from England: "We need to get more first-innings runs, and as soon as we do that, we'll be very hard to beat."

However, he promised no complacency going into the South Africa series, against an opposition who were beaten by Sri Lanka in their most recent home series, and were routed 3-0 by India in October.

Off the field, CSA have been beset with controversy, but with Mark Boucher newly installed as head coach, Silverwood expects a side who prove very tough to break down.

"[Boucher] was a fine player, and I'm looking forward to what's going to be a very hard-fought contest," he said. "South Africa are a proud nation, we've seen that in other sports, and I think it's going to be a hard fought contest.

"From our point of view, complacency is one thing we won't have going forward, we expect South Africa to come back hard, in all departments and with hunger."

Dom Sibley and Zak Crawley will head to Australia after the conclusion of England's Test series in South Africa after being selected in the four-day England Lions squad. Keaton Jennings, who has been tipped for a Test recall for Sri Lanka, is also included on the tour, which will encompass five 50-over matches and three four-day games.

Saqib Mahmood, who was last week selected for the ODI squad in South Africa, is also in the four-day squad, along with a couple of candidates to strengthen England's spinning options in Sri Lanka, in Dominic Bess and Amar Virdi. Kent wicketkeeper Ollie Robinson wins his maiden call-up.

In the one-day squad, legspinner Mason Crane will get the opportunity to press his white-ball credentials, while there is a first call for Somerset captain Tom Abell, alongside three of his 2019 Royal London Cup-winning team-mates Bess, Lewis Gregory and Craig Overton.

"We've selected two exciting squads for our Lions' tour of Australia, where the aim is not only to win matches but to prepare players for international cricket," ECB national selector, Ed Smith, said.

"With this tour we've got England's short-term needs in mind, with the upcoming tour of Sri Lanka and a busy summer schedule, as well as an opportunity to provide players with relevant experience for future Ashes series. Australia is a tough place to tour as an England player at any level, so it will be a great test for all involved."

Yorkshire's Tom Kohler-Cadmore returns for the first time since being stood down over involvement in a WhatsApp group discussing sexual conquests. Also in line for Lions debuts are Warwickshire fast bowler Henry Brookes, Durham seamer Brydon Carse, Nottinghamshire wicketkeeper Tom Moores and Kent seamer Matt Milnes, all of whom are in the 50-over squad.

ECB performance director Mo Bobat said: "In addition to meeting England's Test needs, one of our goals is to broaden and strengthen our white-ball talent pool in order to deliver sustained success across both formats. We have some exciting young players travelling in the squad this winter who we believe have what it takes to step up in the future. With several young players selected for the England ODI tour of South Africa, the Lions can provide a developmental opportunity to an extended group of players.

"In selecting our squads, we have given careful consideration to players who have been presented with franchise cricket opportunities and, for some, these competitive experiences are exactly what they need at this stage of their development.

"Our selections have been underpinned by progressive discussions with the counties about each player's best interest and I'd like to thank the counties for their collaborative approach to informing our decision-making."

The Lions will depart the UK on January 21, with 50-over matches scheduled against Cricket Australia and New South Wales XIs, followed by four-day fixtures against Australia A, Cricket Australia XI and New South Wales XI.

England Lions 50-over squad: Tom Abell (Somerset), Dom Bess (Somerset), James Bracey (Gloucestershire), Henry Brookes (Warwickshire), Brydon Carse (Durham), Mason Crane (Hampshire), Laurie Evans (Sussex), Richard Gleeson (Lancashire), Lewis Gregory (Somerset), Sam Hain (Warwickshire), Will Jacks (Surrey), Tom Kohler-Cadmore (Yorkshire), Dan Lawrence (Essex), Matt Milnes (Kent), Tom Moores (Nottinghamshire), Craig Overton (Somerset)

England Lions four-day squad: Dom Bess (Somerset), James Bracey (Gloucestershire), Zak Crawley (Kent), Richard Gleeson (Lancashire), Lewis Gregory (Somerset), Sam Hain (Warwickshire), Keaton Jennings (Lancashire), Dan Lawrence (Essex), Saqib Mahmood (Lancashire), Sam Northeast (Hampshire), Craig Overton (Somerset), Ollie Robinson (Kent), Ollie Robinson (Sussex), Dominic Sibley (Warwickshire), Amar Virdi (Surrey)

On Sunday, Indian captain Virat Kohli said he was miffed at the Ravindra Jadeja run-out being referred to the third umpire. He felt the on-field umpire Shaun George changed his original not out decision only after West Indies players, prompted by "people outside" appealed to him to review the incident. It now turns out that George was also prompted by the third umpire Rod Tucker to refer the decision "upstairs".

ESPNcricinfo understands that immediately after George had turned down the initial run-out appeal by the fielder Roston Chase, Tucker asked his colleague, via the radio that wires all the match officials, to refer it "upstairs" as the decision was "tight". All this happened at the same time as replays of the incident were broadcast on TV. As soon as he had seen the replays, Tucker decided to intervene.

George, who is from South Africa, then signaled he was referring the run-out to the third umpire, Tucker, who then relayed to George that Jadeja was indeed short of his crease.

The incident took place on the fourth delivery of the 48th over of the Indian innings. Having dug out a yorker-length delivery from Keemo Paul, Jadeja set out for a single. Chase, rushing in from cover, broke the stumps in a brilliant piece of pick-and-throw fielding.

George, who had witnessed the throw from the side-on angle, felt Jadeja had made his ground and ruled not out when Chase inquired if it was out. But the decision was soon overturned, something that Kohli disputed instantly by walking up to the fourth umpire who was standing outside the ropes.

During the post-match presentation, Kohli told commentator Harsha Bhogle that "dismissal ends there" once George had told Chase it was not out. Kohli suspected George only referred the decision after the West Indies players, prompted by "people sitting outside", who had seen the replays. "People sitting outside can't dictate what happens on the field and I think that's exactly what happened then," Kohli said.

The ball was not dead

Another key question asked on air immediately, but one that went unanswered, was whether it was valid for West Indies to raise an appeal after replays were already shown around the ground. The simple answer is yes. The MCC's Laws of Cricket says a team has time until the next ball to make an appeal.

Law 31.3, which deals with 'Timing of the Appeals' says "for an appeal to be valid, it must be made before the bowler begins his/her run-up or, if there is no run-up, his/her bowling action to deliver the next ball, and before Time has been called."

The National Basketball Players Association is meeting with G League players this week to discuss further a plan to unionize the NBA's minor league system, league sources told ESPN.

The NBPA sent an email to player agents on Monday morning to "continue that conversation" with players at the G League Showcase in Las Vegas this week, according to the memo.

The union and players would work toward collectively bargaining items such as salaries, broader benefit packages and travel, sources said.

The NBA and G League have been aware of the union's plans and are planning to work with a new formation of a union, which is expected to be ratified once taken to a vote, sources said.

"We support the players' right to unionize," G League president Shareef Abdur-Rahim told ESPN in a statement. "We view this as a positive thing and are looking to continue to grow our league for the players to develop and accomplish their dreams."

If anyone could convince a team to ignore the analytics, it would be Madison Bumgarner, because he has defied probability so often.

No baseball algorithm exists that would've predicted Bumgarner would throw more than twice as many innings as any other pitcher in the 2014 postseason. But that's what he did for the San Francisco Giants.

No math would suggest a guy who has never averaged higher than 92 mph with his fastball would excel in an era when premium velocity is a separator. But that's what he has done in his career, generating a 3.13 ERA in almost 2,000 regular-season innings, receiving Cy Young consideration in five different years.

Front offices could run a billion simulations and no computer would forecast anyone like Bumgarner -- a pitcher with two wild-card game shutouts, an ERA of 0.25 in three World Series and five innings of scoreless relief in a Game 7 three days after pitching a shutout in Game 5. No statistical models apply for someone who presented a bull to his bride as a wedding gift, or rode into a championship ceremony on a horse, a pitcher who swings a bat like he's wrestling steers.

It's enticing to bet the over on Bumgarner, and that's what the Arizona Diamondbacks have done, making an $85 million investment other teams ran from because of a trove of foreboding metrics.

Leicester Tigers have signed utility forward Joe Batley on loan from fellow Premiership side Bristol Bears.

The 23-year-old has turned out twice for the Bears so far this season, with both appearances coming in the Premiership Cup.

Batley can be recalled to Bristol at any time and has also been on a dual registration deal with Hartpury.

"This is a good opportunity for Joe to get game time at a very competitive level," Bristol boss Pat Lam said.

LAVONIA, Ga. – Zack Mitchell powered to a 40-lap Drydene Xtreme DIRTcar Series victory on Sunday afternoon at Lavonia Speedway, halting a two-race win streak by Chris Madden.

Mitchell held off the entire field en route to his first Drydene Xtreme DIRTcar Series win with a strong display of car control and patience, giving the South Carolina native an early $5,000 Christmas present.

“It means a lot, going into the, quote-unquote, offseason,” Mitchell said. “We’re going to regroup, enjoy the holidays, spend some time with family and all. We really appreciate DIRTcar and Drydene putting this deal on and giving us something to do this winter, that way we wouldn’t be at the house twiddling our thumbs.”

Sunday’s preliminary events went quite smoothly for the Enoree, S.C.-native as he set fast time in Qualifying, won his Heat race and redrew the pole, making it a clean sweep of the afternoon with his 40 feature laps led. But it didn’t come easy, even with the front-row starting spot.

“It all started off with drawing the one in the redraw, that really had a lot a lot to do with it,” Mitchell said. “I’m not saying we wouldn’t have won had we drawn a three or a four; we had a good car.”

The competition Mitchell held off was fierce and included the likes of Madden, Logan Roberson, Kyle Strickler, Trent Ivey and G.R. Smith. On the first lap, Roberson actually pulled up beside Mitchell to challenge for the lead but was unsuccessful as Mitchell shut the door in between turns three and four. This remained the only serious challenge made for the lead, but Mitchell dealt with the pressure of several restarts over 40 laps, which made him work for it.

“I knew those guys were behind me, and I knew if I slipped the wheel too much, they were going to get [under] me,” Mitchell said. “I felt like a gazelle being chased by a pack of lions. You can’t slip a wheel against any of those guys. Lady luck was on our side tonight and we capitalized on it.”

Most leaders don’t like seeing the caution flag start waving late in the race, but Mitchell said he actually benefitted from them because of his tire compound choice.

“We went a little bit softer than everybody else did on tires,” Mitchell continued. “Those cautions, they were helping us a lot, helping get that thing cooled back off.”

The drivers were met with beautiful weather for Dec. 15. Low-mid 60s temperatures and sunny skies during the day made it ideal weather for the fans, but gave drivers a fit or two at various points in the race with the sun beginning to set over turn two. Everyone races on the same track, and Mitchell just seemed to handle it the best.

“The sun glare, it was in the right spot in the middle of [turns] three and four, almost at the apex of the corner where it really wasn’t playing that big of a factor, but it was still right there. I figured it would change the racetrack a little more than it did. They had a great racetrack,” Mitchell said.

A big stretch of green flag laps early on meant a bit of lapped traffic for the leader to navigate through, which he did perfectly, keeping a good distance between he and second place.

“I was having to slide my car a little bit more than I wanted to in traffic,” Mitchell said. “I felt really confident out there when I was running my own race. I really wasn’t expecting anybody to go around me on the outside, I just made sure I kept it around the bottom and kept the car straight.”

Overall, just a perfect day for the Southeastern super late model favorite. He now looks to build on this momentum after the holidays, picking it back up on Jan. 18 at a place he’s all too familiar with – Cherokee Speedway in Gaffney, S.C.

Another fellow South Carolina native, former crate late model racer Trent Ivey, drove a great race to grab second from Smith on a lap 15 restart, which he held through the remaining 25 laps to pick up his first top-five of the Series.

“We’ve run like absolute crap the past two or three months, so this is huge for us,” Ivey said.

Bouncing back from a 20th-place result last weekend at Volunteer Speedway, a podium finish in Ivey’s super late model was just what he needed to restore confidence. But he did struggle with the sun glare getting into turn one as well, which made things difficult, despite his excellent restarts.

“The sun was in a terrible spot too, I couldn’t see anything going into [turn] one, Ivey said. “Luckily, things just went our way. I was able to slip by people on the restarts, they weren’t paying attention, I guess.”

For the third race in-a-row, Madden has scored a podium finish with the Xtreme Series, padding his points lead just a bit more as he now leads Ivey by 15.

Madden came from the fifth spot and challenged for the podium all race long but had a tough time cracking into it as Roberson refused to lay over for the Scott Bloomquist Racing driver.

Their battle culminated with a bit of contact going down the backstretch on lap 35 as Madden was trying to get around Roberson on the outside. Roberson switched to the top side heading into turn three and the contact forced Madden to the inside, where the two drag-raced out of turn four and into turn one, Roberson still with the spot.

Roberson had a rough corner exit and eventually gave up the final podium spot to Madden, but the two showed that they weren’t about to back down from a good challenge. And Madden took notice.

“No big deal, the redraw put us back there anyway. Hats off to all the guys that get this thing ready and bring it to the racetrack for me to drive, we appreciate that, putting the hard work into it,” Madden said.

The finish:

1. 57M-Zack Mitchell [1][$5,000]; 2. 88-Trent Ivey [6][$2,500]; 3. 0M-Chris Madden [5][$1,700]; 4. 17-Logan Roberson [2][$1,400]; 5. 89-GR Smith [4][$1,200]; 6. 87-Ross Bailes [12][$1,000]; 7. 8-Kyle Strickler [8][$800]; 8. 22-Chris Ferguson [3][$700]; 9. 2X-John Henderson [10][$600]; 10. 2W-Pearson Williams [11][$550]; 11. F1-Payton Freeman [9][$500]; 12. 77-Brian Connor [13][$500]; 13. 18E-Ethan Wilson [16][$500]; 14. 70-Jeff Smith [15][$500]; 15. 42K-Cla Knight [19][$500]; 16. 17V-Tim Vance [14][$500]; 17. 101-Avery Breedlove [21][$500]; 18. 121-Blake Craft [18][$500]; 19. 1C-Kenny Collins [7][$500]; 20. 32-Bubba Russell [17][$500]; 21. 38-James Oliver [20][$500]

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The Northern Auto Racing Club has released a 19-race King of the West Fujitsu 410 Sprint Car Series campaign for next season.

The series will invade 10 dirt tracks throughout Northern and Central California.

More than $470,000 in prize money will be up for grabs to competitors, plus a $60,000 Fujitsu General USA and Hoosier Tire sponsored championship point fund. In addition, NARC will announce details for a lucrative contingency product award package in February.

The Dirt Track at Kern County Raceway Park in Bakersfield is set to host the season opener on Saturday, March 14. That will be followed by the Fujitsu Infinite Comfort Shootout at the Stockton Dirt Track a week later (March 21).

The series picks up momentum during the month of May after the World of Outlaws leave the Golden State. Headlining the month will be the popular 30th annual running of the Dave Bradway Jr. Memorial race (May 2) at Silver Dollar Speedway.  Also on tap is the lucrative $11,000 to win Peter Murphy Classic (May 16) at the Thunderbowl Raceway.

Petaluma Speedway, Ocean Speedway in Watsonville and Calistoga Speedway each host three races apiece.  Petaluma’s first event is the Salute to Baylands Raceway Park on May 30. The three-eighth-mile dirt oval also features the NARC-King of the West sprint cars on July 11 and Aug. 30.

Ocean Speedway showcases the Pombo-Sargent Classic on June 12, the $5,000 to win Howard Kaeding Classic on July 18 and Friday Night Frenzy on Aug. 28.

The historic half-mile Calistoga Speedway will kick off its summer on June 13.  That will be followed by the Louie Vermeil Classic on Sept. 5-6, which also features the USAC-CRA sprint cars.  Both of those races pay $6,000 to the winner each night.

Placerville Speedway will showcase the NARC King of the West and Sprint Car Challenge Tour 360’s with a Marcel Cassulo Classic combo show on June 6.  The quarter mile bullring will also feature a special Aug. 26 Gold Country Showdown to kick off the Sunnyvalley Bacon Sprint Car Blitz of four races in five days.  After Placerville, that stretch continue on to Ocean Speedway (Friday), the Champions Classic at the Stockton Dirt Track (Saturday), and the Sunday Sprint Car Showdown at Petaluma Speedway.  NARC is currently negotiating a possible Thursday night show at another venue.

The NARC King of the West sprint cars are also slated to return to Santa Maria Raceway after a great show in 2019.  This Winged Madness date is July 25 and will also feature a wheelie contest.

Keller Auto Speedway will showcase the 410 sprint cars of the NARC King of the West and Kings of Thunder 360’s at the 35th Annual Cotton Classic.

The season wraps up with the Tribute to Gary Patterson Championship at the Stockton Dirt Track on Nov. 7.

2020 NARC/King of the West Fujitsu 410 Sprint Car Series Schedule

March 14 – The Dirt Track at Kern County Raceway Park – Bakersfield, Calif.
March 21 – Stockton Dirt Track – Stockton, Calif.
May 2 – Silver Dollar Speedway – Chico, Calif.
May 16 – Thunderbowl Raceway – Tulare, Calif.
May 30 – Petaluma Speedway – Petaluma, Calif.
June 6 – Placerville Speedway – Placerville, Calif.
June 12 – Ocean Speedway – Watsonville, Calif.
June 13 – Calistoga Speedway – Calistoga, Calif.
July 11 – Petaluma Speedway – Petaluma, Calif.
July 18 – Ocean Speedway – Watsonville, Calif.
July 25 – Santa Maria Raceway – Nipomo, Calif.
Aug. 26 – Placerville Speedway – Placerville, Calif.
Aug. 27 – TBA – TBA
Aug. 28 – Ocean Speedway – Watsonville, Calif.
Aug. 29 – The Stockton Dirt Track – Stockton, Calif.
Aug. 30 – Petaluma Speedway – Petaluma, Calif.
Sept. 5-6 – Calistoga Speedway – Calistoga, Calif.
Oct. 10 – Keller Auto Speedway – Hanford, Calif.
Nov. 7 – The Stockton Dirt Track – Stockton, Calif.