CASA GRANDE, Ariz. — R.C. Whitwell put on a clinic at Central Arizona Speedway on Friday night, leading all 25-laps of the IMCA Modified feature to top the opening leg of the sixth annual Desert Thunder Nationals atop the three-eighths-mile clay oval.

While Whitwell whipped the Modifieds in the opening leg of the three-race set, other Friday night winners included Cody Thompson in IMCA Sport Modified action, Zack Tate in the Bombers, Colton Hardy in the Power 600 Non-Wing Micro Sprints and Dylan Schaadt in the Power 600 Restricted Micro Sprints.

Whitwell made the most of a front row starting position in the Modified feature by gunning into the lead at the outset and racing on to a convincing victory on a lightning-fast racetrack after several days of rain.

“That was the toughest race I’ve had all year,” Whitwell said afterward.  “I was lucky to draw the number two to start up front and then I was just hanging on.”

Whitwell took the checkered flag ahead of Chaz Baca with Zachary Madrid working his way forward from ninth to fill out the podium in third.  Jason Noll was fourth with pole starter Derek Huggins rounding out the top five.

In the IMCA Sport Modified feature, Sioux City, Iowa’s Cody Thompson raced from the fourth row outside to capture the win.

“I think I can be a little better, we’re still a little tight,” Cody Thompson explained in victory lane.

Thompson led an Iowa sweep of the podium with Michael Soboski and Cole Carver in second and third, respectively, with Shelby Frye and Cory Hemphill rounding out the top five.

Coolidge’s Zach Tate battled into the lead early on in the Bomber feature and fended off the duo of Cory Jarbeau and Nick Posey to snare the victory.

Bouncing back from heat race issues, Phoenix shoe Colton Hardy picked up the win in the Power 600 Non-Wing Micro Sprint feature from eighth ahead of Dale Eliason, Jr., and Austin Torgerson while Dylan Schaadt rallied from 12th to top the Restricted “A” Class feature ahead of pole starter Hayley Aragon and Ayden Hamblin.

The finish:

Feature (25 Laps):  1. 96T-R.C. Whitwell, 2. 75jr-Chaz Baca, 3. 5-Zachary Madrid, 4. 44n-Jason Noll, 5. 39-Derek Huggins, 6. 09-Kelly Hayes, 7. 2x-Roy Poeling, 8. 271-Chris Carroll, 9. 10g-Don Geist, 10. 6tc-Taylor Center, 11. 8m-Doug Meeks, 12. 18k-Jacob Pace, 13. 1x-Don Earven, 14. 292-Tony Martin, 15. 36-Bill Miller, 16. 75-Spencer Wilson, 17. 28-Jim Whistler, 18. X-Mike Wedelstadt, 19. 44-Christy Barnett, 20. 71az-Tyler Mecl, 21. 0-Jake O’Neil, 22. 25-Trevor Miller, 23. 5k-Austin Kuehl, 24. 27-Mark Carrell, 25. 44k-Kelsie Foley.

LAS VEGAS — Under chamber of commerce skies, the 15th annual COMP Cams Street Car Super Nationals Presented by FuelTech at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway saw records fall immediately Friday.

In Precision Turbo Pro Mod action, Randy Merick set a track record for supercharged doorslammers with his Q2 run of 5.550 seconds (257.19 mph) in his ’79 Corvette under the lights, good for the provisional top qualifier going into Saturday.

Ed Thornton, the current No. 2 qualifier in his ’70 Camaro, went a different route, shooting for the speed record and just missing it after laying down a pass of 273.16 mph (5.604 seconds).

Temperatures stayed in the mid-50s for most of the day under clear skies, making for incredible passes in every class. Ronnie Hobbs used the conditions to crush the Radial vs.

The world field during the second qualifying round, running a 3.810-second pass at 203.23 mph in the eighth mile in his 2017 Mustang.

“This is what the Street Car Super Nationals is all about,” said event promoter Mel Roth. “We’ve got some of the best racers around with an amazing track crew under perfect weather conditions? Yeah, this is not the year to miss this event!”

In a $5,000 grudge race between Jermaine Boddie and Gilly Bobby Hildebrand later in the night during Hughes Performance Big Tire No Time trials, Hildebrand took the victory after fighting a careening race car down the eighth mile in a thrilling side-by-side race.
Hildebrand’s car was tuned by Steve Petty, who knows a thing or two about SCSN, having won here multiple times with former NHRA Pro Mod champion Troy Coughlin.

Borussia Dortmund captain Marco Reus has labelled his team's performance in a 3-3 comeback against rock-bottom Bundesliga club SC Paderborn "absolute s---" and warned that they "must never, never play like that again."

A 4-0 defeat at Bayern last week sent Dortmund to sixth in the standings and on the brink of another crisis. Regardless, on Friday night, Dortmund could have returned to an overnight second place in Bundesliga with three points against strugglers Paderborn.

The club's leadership demanded a reaction from their team against Paderborn. But they did not deliver any. Instead, the visitors came close to the biggest upset of the season so far.

Paderborn had not scored a goal in three matches and picked up just four points from the first 11 matches of the season. But in the first 45 minutes, they caught the hosts on the counter several times and reached the dressing room with a comfortable lead.

Second-half goals by Jadon Sancho, Axel Witsel and Reus secured Dortmund the point, but things were not well at the Westfalenstadion after the final whistle. Dortmund supporters on the famous Sudtribune shouted at their team when the players walked toward Europe's biggest standing terrace. And club captain Reus said on DAZN that they had every right to do so.

"We must apologise to everyone here in the stadium for this performance," Reus said. "I don't have a clue what we did in the first half. Down 3-0 at half-time at home to Paderborn. Well, yes, it was really embarrassing in the first half."

"We must never, never perform like that again, because that was absolute s---," he added, and when looking at his 92nd minute equalizer, Reus said: "To be honest, I've got zero interest in my goal. We must not just play like that against at home to Paderborn, to any team. No way.

"That was just bitter in the first half. We need to address this, and we will address this. There's no other way."

A visibly shattered Reus then elaborated on what Dortmund did better in the second half but came back to the first 45 minutes. He said: "To be honest, we didn't even know how to press. And that must be food for thought. We did not get away lightly. We received a heavy knock."

Swiss coach Lucien Favre has come under pressure in recent weeks, and a defeat could have all but ended his time at the Westfalenstadion. His future still remains uncertain, but Reus said "it's [the players'] responsibility to show our performance on the pitch. And we don't do that right now.

"We must defend and attack like a team. That's the problem right now. We don't need to talk about the coach. We need to talk about that."

Borussia Dortmund travel to Barcelona for a mid-week Champions League match next, before heading to the German capital to take on crisis club Hertha Berlin. Depending on the Bundesliga results this weekend, they could drop to ninth in the standings by late Sunday.

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Mohammad Abbas is still Pakistan's "main man" according to Waqar Younis and will be seriously considered for the second Test in Adelaide after the visitors turned in a listless bowling display in his absence at the Gabba, leaving them facing the likelihood of an innings defeat inside four days.

The decision to play Imran Khan ahead of Abbas has attracted widespread criticism and surprise, which only grew as the Australians churned out a first innings of 580 in Brisbane with big centuries to David Warner and Marnus Labuschagne.

Waqar, Pakistan's bowling coach, explained that Abbas was still on a long road back from the shoulder injury that he suffered against New Zealand last year, subsequently being recalled somewhat hastily against South Africa and then playing for Leicestershire in the English County Championship.

Waqar indicated that Abbas' return to rhythm would hopefully occur in time for him to play with a pink ball under lights at the Adelaide Oval, in what now looks likely to be a match Pakistan must win to square the series.

"Mohammad Abbas has been a match winner for us over the last 18 months, he's been bowling really well," Waqar said. "Unfortunately he's not at his best rhythm and recently back in the New Zealand tour he had an injury so he wasn't bowling as good as he has done in the past against Australia and of course in England. But we're not losing hope in him, he's our main man and we're going to have a really close look and hopefully once we get into Adelaide we'll think about it."

Pakistan have insisted from the moment Abbas was dropped that he is not injured. This is now likely to invite scrutiny on how Abbas has been managed since that injury, which forced him to miss the last Test against New Zealand in Abu Dhabi and the first Test in South Africa. Since then he has played two Tests in South Africa, three ODIs against Australia in March, a substantial portion of the county season, and three games in the Quaid-e-Azam trophy as well.

"It's a decision that depends on the head coach and the selectors on who'll play and who won't," Waqar said. "But it would be injustice against Imran Khan to say that his selection was unjustified. His performance in first-class cricket has been great and so too in the warm-up game in Perth. He was bowling well. But unfortunately he couldn't do the same here."

ALSO READ: Not without Mohammad Abbas

Looking at how the bowling attack had fared, struggling to find the consistency required to trouble Australian players hardened by plenty of Test cricket this year and far more familiar with the Gabba conditions, Waqar said that the youth of Naseem Shah (16) and Shaheen Afridi (19) needed to be considered.

"You can learn from your opposition always. Naseem is only 16 don't forget. Even Shaheen Shah is a teenager. Of course they're going to learn a lot from this tour, going further into their careers," Waqar said. "I'm very hopeful that these guys and the likes of Muhammad Musa and Mohammad Hasnain. They are the future of Pakistan cricket. All we need is time. We all need to give them time and hope that they learn in the next year or so and they'll be a force.

"It's difficult to say what was going wrong out there. We sit down every evening and we talk about it and try to teach them what lengths need to be bowled. I think we missed it. It was very obvious and everyone has seen that our lengths weren't right. With the first new-ball we bowled poorly. If we would have put the ball in the right areas, things might have been different. We got carried away and with a young attack it can happen in Australia.

"We have to be very careful with Naseem Shah. He's very, very young and we have to manage him well because he bowls very quick. You don't want to put too much load on him, be careful with him. He is the future for Pakistan. We have to use him sensibly and I thought that's what the captain did. He's a wicket-taker. It was just his first Test match."

Yasir Shah's selection, meanwhile, was put down to the fact that this was otherwise an inexperienced bowling attack, rather than the wrist spinner's handsome record of dismissing Steven Smith six times in Tests - now seven after his full-length drifter snuck under the Australian No. 4's bat.

"We thought of both plans [four quicks or three and a spinner]. But picking him had nothing to do with the fact that Yasir has dismissed Steve Smith six times," Waqar said. "Yasir is a match-winner and has won a lot of games for Pakistan. His track-record in Australia isn't great. But he has a lot of experience and we all thought he'll perform better but unfortunately that didn't happen.

"There is a lot of inexperience in the bowling and Australia is a tough place to bowl. Hopefully these guys are learning, and they are the future. One of them is making a debut, the other has played three Tests and one is making a comeback. It's not easy. But we are working on it and hopefully we will get better."

Glenn Maxwell and Nic Maddinson have made positive returns to cricket playing for their club sides in Victoria premier cricket in Melbourne on Saturday.

Maxwell made 5 not out and took 2 for 49 from 19 overs for his club Fitzroy-Doncaster against Geelong. Maddinson hit 58 for St Kilda to help his side chase down 330 against Casey-South Melbourne at the Junction Oval.

Will Pucovski, who played for Australia A against Pakistan in Perth, but during the game asked not to be considered for Test selection, remains away from the game.

ALSO READ: 'Shows incredible courage to talk about mental health'

Maxwell has not played since Australia's second T20I against Sri Lanka on October 30 after taking leave for mental health reasons. Maddinson last played for Victoria against Tasmania in a Sheffield Shield game on October 31, but after being selected to play for Australia A against Pakistan he also stepped away from the game.

All three players are working to individual timelines as far as returns to cricket are concerned. Victoria's next Shield game is against New South Wales at the MCG starting on Friday but there is no indication as yet if any or all will be available. Pucovski took two breaks from the game last season to manage his mental health.

Cricket Australia are continuing to research how to manage the mental health of their players. Australia and Melbourne Renegades allrounder Sophie Molineux stood down from WBBL duties on Friday also citing mental health concerns.

James Pattinson was also at the Junction Oval bowling in the nets on Saturday morning after taking leave from Australia's Test squad following his one-game suspension for a third code of conduct charge in Sheffield Shield cricket.

Pakistan 240 and 3 for 64 (Masood 27*, Starc 2-25) trail Australia 580 (Labuschagne 185, Warner 154, Burns 97, Wade 60, Yasir 4-205, Haris 2-75, Afridi 2-26) by 276 runs

Marnus Labuschagne's maiden Test century and highest first-class score, which he narrowly missed converting into a double, followed by an evening surge from the quick bowlers put Australia well on track for victory at the Gabba on Saturday. A lead of 340 would have been overwhelming for Pakistan even before they stumbled to the close on 3 for 64 against Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins.

Australia ended up losing their last five wickets for 35 but it barely mattered, and gave them the perfect period to bowl in the evening. Starc raced in and struck in his second over when he had Azhar Ali lbw with a bail-trimmer, and then continued Haris Sohail's poor tour when the left-hander sparred at a short delivery he could have left alone much in the manner of the first innings.

Cummins, who was handed the first new ball for the first time in Australia, was then brought straight back into the attack to target Asad Shafiq and the move worked a treat as he edged to third slip. Shan Masood and Babar Azam did well to survive to the close, Masood coming close to nicking Nathan Lyon to slip in the penultimate over of the day when the umpires' soft signal was not out.

ALSO READ: Brettig - Labuschagne blossoms into a selector's dream

In January, there was much surprise - and a degree of ridicule - when Labuschagne was elevated to the No. 3 spot, but he will end the year having cemented the role for the foreseeable future. His hundred came from 161 balls with one of his least convincing shots of an innings filled with classy, classical strokeplay, when he edged Shaheen Afridi to third man. His progress continued to be serene until after tea when he steered Afridi to gully and had to haul himself from the crease, acknowledging congratulations from the Pakistan players and the crowd.

Though David Warner could only add three to his overnight score, before becoming Naseem Shah's maiden Test wicket, and to the almost disbelief of the crowd Steven Smith was bowled by Yasir Shah for 4, Matthew Wade joined Labuschagne in a stand of 110 which kept Australia motoring.

Resuming on 1 for 312, it was Labuschagne who dominated the early scoring as Warner struggled for the fluency of the previous day - adding 3 off 25 balls - as Pakistan finally opted for a sustained around-the-wicket line. In a match that has become an almighty struggle for the visitors, Warner's dismissal was an absorbing moment as 16-year-old Naseem worked him over from around the wicket before finding his under edge with a rapid short ball (and his foot was behind the line this time).

However, that was Naseem's only spell of the day as he sent down just four overs before spending the rest of the time grazing in the outfield, while the lead swelled against some unthreatening part-time spin and the expensive Yasir, who became the first bowler to concede over 200 three times in Test cricket.

Yasir did, though, have the satisfaction of claiming Smith for the seventh time when, the ball after Smith had whipped a boundary to the leg side to get off the mark, he played over a very full delivery - again looking for the on side - and was bowled. Yasir knew the stats, signaling seven as he celebrated, leaving Smith with his first single-figure Test score since Newlands when his career was thrown into turmoil. To no-one's surprise he was spotted in the nets during the lunch break. When Josh Hazlewood later drove a boundary, it meant Smith would have the lowest score of the innings.

While claiming two of the bigger wickets offered solace for Pakistan, the lead was already over 100. With Naseem not returning to the attack, and Yasir unable to stem the runs, no pressure was built on Labuschagne or Wade up to the lunch interval. By then, Labuschagne had the century and Wade was settled.

Pakistan appeared to stop trying to bowl out Australia, giving Haris's part-time left-arm spin a lengthy outing against defensive fields. Wade helped himself, his half-century including a huge six down the ground off Iftikhar Ahmed, and Labuschagne continued on his pristine progress with one of the shots of the match - a straight drive off Imran Khan - and some delightful deft touches against the spinners to move past 150.

Wade had a hundred for the taking when he edged Haris, the ball bouncing off Mohammad Rizwan's knee into the gloves. Rizwan then took another excellent catch off Haris when Travis Head could hardly believe he had glanced an edge down the leg side having been gifted the opportunity for one of the more pressure-free Test innings.

After tea, the talk was when, or if, Australia would declare in the evening but Tim Paine bottom-edged a pull that looped to slip against Afridi and after Labuschagne departed the tail was whittled out swiftly. However, the most significant wickets of the final session were still to come.