FORT WORTH, Texas – Texas Motor Speedway and Speedy Cash have agreed to a multi-year partnership renewal for the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series SpeedyCash.com 400.

The online lender’s partnership with the speedway got off to a thrilling start when the SpeedyCash.com 400 debuted June 7, as part of a doubleheader weekend with the NTT IndyCar Series.

Greg Biffle, in his first NASCAR national series start since 2016 and first Gander Trucks start since 2004, took the lead with 10 laps remaining to capture his first Truck win since 2001 in a one-off opportunity for Kyle Busch Motorsports.

This new multi-year partnership will include entitlement rights for the Gander Trucks race in June, as well as year-round signage around the 1.5-mile oval and in the Fan Zone area.

Speedy Cash joins the ranks of other official partners of Texas Motor Speedway.

“We received an overwhelmingly positive response from both our customers and teammates to the Speedcash.com 400 in June,” said Don Gayhardt, President & CEO of CURO Financial Technologies Corp. “The partnership with NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series and Texas Motor Speedway aligns well with our values and provides an exciting way to share our brand with the community. We are proud to be part of this premier event and thankful for the thousands of people who make it possible.”

“Last year’s SpeedyCash.com 400 was one for the ages so we’re proud to have Speedy Cash back on board to continue our relationship and for them to build their brand loyalty for years to come,” added Eddie Gossage, President of Texas Motor Speedway. “The NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series has been an important part of the Texas Motor Speedway schedule and its history since we first opened the gates in 1997 because it’s always an exciting race.”

Speedy Cash is also serving as the primary sponsor of the No. 36 Front Row Motorsports Ford Mustang with driver John Hunter Nemechek for this weekend’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series AAA Texas 500 at Texas.

BRISTOL, Conn. – On the heels of double-digit television viewership growth in the United States over the past two seasons, ESPN and Formula 1 have forged a new agreement that will keep the FIA Formula One World Championship on ESPN and ABC through 2022.

F-1 returned to the ESPN networks in 2018.

As an additional element of the new deal, ESPN Deportes will serve as the exclusive Spanish-language home for all Formula 1 races in the U.S. starting in 2020.

Spanish-language coverage of F-1 will be made available to fans on ESPN Deportes television network and streaming on the ESPN App.

The new deal will see all F1 races continue to air live on either ESPN, ESPN2 or ABC and all practice sessions, qualifying and races will air live and in replay across ESPN platforms, including on-demand replays on the ESPN App.

ESPN also will continue to air the races commercial-free and will again partner with Sky Sports and Formula 1 to bring Sky Sports’ award-winning presentation of Formula 1 racing to American viewers.

“When we brought Formula 1 back to ESPN two years ago, we had faith that Formula 1 fans in the United States would support the coverage,” said Burke Magnus, ESPN executive vice president, programming and scheduling. “That faith has been rewarded many times over, and we greatly appreciate how fans have responded in record numbers.

“We’re also delighted to add Spanish-language rights to this new deal,” Magnus continued. “This provides us with a unique opportunity to serve Hispanic Formula 1 fans across ESPN platforms in English and Spanish. We look forward to continuing the relationship with Formula 1 and working together to build the sport in America.”

Through 18 races this season, Formula 1 is averaging 671,000 viewers on ESPN networks, an increase of 19 percent over the average of 561,000 at this point last year on ESPN networks and up 24 percent from the average of 542,000 on NBC networks in 2017.

All but three of the 18 races this season have seen year-over-year viewership increases on ESPN networks. In addition, the demographic of persons aged 18-34 has grown 81 percent from 2018 and is up 87 percent from 2017.

“Our partnership with ESPN has delivered a 19 percent increase in viewership across the US and we are delighted to extend our partnership through to 2022,” said Sean Bratches, Managing Director, Commercial Partnerships at Formula 1. “The U.S is one of our key focuses for growth and ESPN know and understand the US Sports audience like no one else. The combination of their dedicated coverage and Formula 1’s amazing racing spectacle is a perfect partnership for us to build on our recent success with US audiences.”

When it began in 2018, the relationship marked the return of Formula 1 to its original U.S. television home – the first race ever aired in the country was on ABC in 1962.

F-1 races also aired on ESPN from 1984-1997.

CORONA, Calif. – The Lucas Oil Off-Road Racing Series presented by GEICO has announced its schedule for the 2020 season.

The world’s premier short-course, off-road championship will feature a total of 11 rounds of action next year, visiting five different tracks in five different states.

The season will commence on March 14-15 with the series’ annual visit to Southern California’s Glen Helen Raceway, and will ultimately come to a dramatic conclusion on Oct. 24 from Arizona’s Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park.

The 2020 schedule will also feature an anticipated return to Utah Motorsports Campus on June 27-28, as well as Wheatland, Missouri’s Lucas Oil Speedway on Aug. 22-23.

Lucas Oil Speedway underwent major renovations after suffering significant damage during extreme weather this past summer.

“We enjoyed a memorable, highly competitive season across all nine classes of competition in 2019, and we’re excited about what lies ahead in 2020,” said Bill Smith, Series Director for Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series.

2020 Lucas Oil Off-Road Racing Series Schedule

Date – Venue – Location

March 14-15 – Glen Helen Raceway – San Bernardino, Calif.
April 25-26 – Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park – Chandler, Ariz.
June 27-28 – Utah Motorsports Campus – Tooele, Utah
July 25 – Wild West Motorsports Park – Reno, Nev.
Aug. 22-23 – Lucas Oil Speedway – Wheatland, Mo.
Oct. 3 – Glen Helen Raceway – San Bernardino, Calif.
Oct. 24 – Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park – Chandler, Ariz.

FORT WORTH, Texas — Brandon Jones walked into the Texas Motor Speedway media center on Friday looking like a man who had the stress blasted off his shoulders.

He had good reason to, as well, considering Jones announced a contract extension this week, ensuring that he’ll continue as the driver of the No. 19 Toyota Supra at Joe Gibbs Racing in the NASCAR Xfinity Series next year.

It will mark Jones’ third full season with the Gibbs outfit, as he chases a maiden championship.

“It’s a big weight off of our shoulders,” said Jones of having his deal sewn up. “Any driver right now is fighting to get some stuff going and that was really big for us to be able to come back for 2020.”

Jones’ future was the subject of some speculation in the rumor mill in recent weeks, but he made an emphatic statement that he belonged by grabbing his first Xfinity Series victory at Kansas Speedway on Oct. 19.

The Atlanta, Ga., native used a late-race restart to catapult himself to the front of the field and held off defending series champion Tyler Reddick for the win in his 134th start.

“I think those last four laps were the longest four laps of my life,” Jones noted in recalling the victory. “I’ve won a lot of different races throughout different stuff, but I think the Xfinity level is one of the most competitive series we have in NASCAR. After every lap, I would look in the mirror after a corner and see how much more they had gained on us and I could tell that they were catching a little bit — but not as fast as I was thinking they were. It was definitely nerve wracking though.

“I know I mentioned after the race that I wasn’t even sure if I was wide open on the throttle at times. That just goes to show how much nerves were going on through my mind,” Jones continued. “I was trying to do everything I could at the end. I knew that maybe the top line was maybe the quickest, but for me it was risk versus reward at that point. I didn’t want to get up there and brush the wall or do anything crazy and have that put us out of contention. I was taking the safe route around the track for those last four laps.

“I knew if we were able to get clean air that was going to be key.”

Now that he finally has that first win under his belt, Jones is hoping the floodgates will open and he’ll be able to become a more-frequent victor in NASCAR’s national series ranks.

“To have one win is big. I know when I was racing in the ARCA series even, the first win was tough to get … and then the next week we blew by everybody and it was a piece of cake,” Jones said. “I think it’s a mindset thing. You have the mindset of you think you can do it, but every time you get in a car and you’re having tires go flat or you have people wreck you and stuff — it kind of gets in your head a little bit, so it’s always good to get back on track, winning races and doing really well.

“I think that’s really big for team morale and even myself.”

While Jones is happy with where he’s at right now in his career, he also didn’t hesitate to point out that there’s one more rung above him on the NASCAR ladder — and that’s his ultimate goal in racing.

“Eventually, yeah, (the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series) is where I want to be,” Jones said. “I mentioned earlier in the year, if I ever get to the point where we are racing Cup and we are doing it full time, I want to be able to step in the year before and maybe run five races and see what it’s like, to see how the competition is. I know it’s got to be stiff. I know those guys really race hard. We have guys come down from the Cup level and race Xfinity, so you definitely get a taste for it there.

“It would be interesting (to move up). I don’t know how long a race would be on your body either,” he added. “There are a lot of unknowns there for a driver, but ultimately, that’s where I want to be (is) in Cup.”

Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde has assured France World Cup winner Antoine Griezmann that he will continue to play regularly as long as he keeps on performing on the pitch.

Griezmann, 28, joined Barca from Atletico Madrid in the summer for €120 million but has been left on the bench for two of the Spanish champions' last three La Liga matches.

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With Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Ousmane Dembele all injured earlier this season, he started Barcelona's first seven league games. However, Dembele was preferred against Sevilla and Ansu Fati was selected ahead of him for the midweek win over Real Valladolid.

Griezmann has scored four goals for the Catalans, setting up three more, but with Suarez and Messi playing in his favoured positions, he has been forced to play out on the left wing most of the time, where he hasn't always looked comfortable.

"He has been playing regularly," Valverde said in a news conference on Friday when asked what could be read into the forward being dropped against Sevilla and Valladolid.

"He has [only] not played a couple of games. The other day I made some changes, but I don't like to speak about whether players are undisputed starters or not. Griezmann is playing regularly and he will keep on playing [regularly] if he continues to fulfil expectations."

Valverde also said he has no regrets about Ansu's promotion to the first team with the club now facing a dilemma about how to manage the teenager's progression.

Ansu, who turned 17 on Thursday, has seen his playing time dramatically reduced since Suarez, Messi and Dembele returned to action, leading to some calls for him to drop down to the B team in order to get the minutes his development requires.

"Of course I don't regret bringing him into the first team," Valverde said. "We had a shortage of players in attack and we needed cover -- and he has come in and demonstrated a lot of quality.

"He is very young. He has a lot of room to grow. In principle, he's in the first-team setup, knowing that he could play some games with the B team, but the decision was the right one.

"I know that when a new player comes [out of the academy] and in such a stunning way as he did, it generates a huge amount of exception. But he [only] turned 17 this week. He has still not got used to the [top flight] and it's a learning process. He has to learn how to manage the rhythm of the games, how to look after his body and he still needs to get stronger."

Barca's win over Valladolid saw them return to the top of La Liga and they travel to Levante on Saturday with the chance to strengthen their grip on top spot.

"Levante press high and have a lot of options in attack," Valverde said. "It is one of those games where anything could happen.

"They looked back to themselves beating Real Sociedad the other day. Away games are fundamental for us right now."

SANTA CLARA, Calif. - The San Francisco 49ers have won all eight of the games they've played this season, but they did suffer a significant loss in their latest victory.

Linebacker Kwon Alexander, the team's prized offseason free-agent addition, suffered a torn pectoral in Thursday night's win against the Arizona Cardinals, a source told ESPN's Adam Schefter on Friday afternoon.

Alexander is expected to miss the rest of what is shaping up as a season full of potential for the Niners.

I'm built for this shhh! It's all part of the game! I sacrifice everything when I step in between the white line! Ima be Legendary! Everything happens for a reason! I'll be back ‼️

— Kwon Alexander (@kwon) November 1, 2019

Alexander suffered the injury late in Thursday's win and was declared out for the rest of the game soon after getting to the sideline. After the game, Niners coach Kyle Shanahan said Alexander would have an MRI on Friday morning but suggested there was fear that it was a pectoral injury.

In the locker room, Alexander seemed to be in good spirits, did not have his arm in a sling and was able to offer at least some range of motion when talking with team medical personnel. Despite some initial optimism based on that, Shanahan and the Niners remained concerned until the MRI results came in.

Shanahan had a conference call with Bay Area media Friday morning while Alexander and tight end George Kittle were getting MRIs. Kittle suffered knee and ankle injuries against the Cardinals and played through them for most of the game before sitting out the final few drives.

During the call, Shanahan was optimistic that there'd be good news on Kittle but not so much when it came to Alexander.

"Kwon's been great for us this year on the field and as a leader," Shanahan said Friday morning. "I'm a lot more nervous about the MRI coming back today.

"He's been a great addition for us. It's going to be a tough loss. Hopefully it's not for the whole season, but if it is, we'll deal with it. I'm really hoping it's not."

Some of Alexander's teammates reacted to the news on Twitter.

Heartbroken for my brother @kwon ..... this game put you through it man

— Richard Sherman (@RSherman_25) November 1, 2019

.@kwon We gone hold it down for you bro. Going to take all of us to match the energy you bring us pic.twitter.com/0xQssumock

— Arik Armstead (@arikarmstead) November 1, 2019

With the tests confirming Shanahan's worst fears, the Niners will now be without a player who had quickly become one of their emotional leaders in addition to adding some much-needed speed and athleticism to the linebacker corps.

In most of eight games, Alexander had 34 tackles, an interception, a half of a sack, a forced fumble and four passes defended.

"Every time you have a guy go down, you're very worried for him," DeForest Buckner said. "The best thing that Kwon can do for us and himself right now is to get healthy and figure out what's going on."

The 49ers will turn to rookie Dre Greenlaw to fill the large void left behind. Greenlaw stepped in for Alexander against Arizona after moving to Alexander's "Will" linebacker spot from his usual spot at "Sam" linebacker. Greenlaw finished with three tackles and had his first career sack.

Veteran Mark Nzeocha would likely step in to Greenlaw's spot at "Sam" with Azeez Al-Shaair offering depth. Shanahan said practice squad linebacker Elijah Lee could get promoted to offer additional help.

While the Niners must deal with losing Alexander, they are expecting better news on Kittle.

Early in Thursday's game, Kittle took a helmet to his left knee and briefly departed before returning. After the game, he didn't seem too concerned that he had a serious injury.

"I know once something happens, I try to push through as much as you can," Kittle said. "It comes to the point where if I feel like I'm a liability to the team and I'm not the best man for the job then I definitely have to, you know. I just talked to my coach about it, and we made a decision about it."

Because the 49ers played on Thursday, Kittle will have some additional time to heal. San Francisco doesn't play again until Nov. 11, when it hosts the Seattle Seahawks on Monday Night Football.

Shanahan was uncertain but hopeful that Kittle will be available for that game.

"I know he played through a lot of stuff and it's going to be tough on him this week," Shanahan said. "But I feel pretty good that it's not going to be a long-term thing and hopefully we'll get him back this week."

Oklahoma State receiver Tylan Wallace, a Biletnikoff Award finalist in 2018, suffered a torn ACL in practice Wednesday and will miss the rest of the season, sources confirmed to ESPN on Friday.

An MRI on Thursday confirmed the injury, and it's unclear when Wallace will undergo surgery.

The Oklahoman first reported the diagnosis of his injury on Friday.

An OSU athletic department spokesman declined to confirm Wallace's injury because of team policy.

Wallace, a junior from Fort Worth, Texas, led the Cowboys with 53 catches for 903 yards with eight touchdowns this season. He has more than twice as many catches and nearly four times as many receiving yards as any other OSU player in eight games this season.

Last season, Wallace led FBS with 63 receptions of 10 yards or longer and tied for second with 25 catches of 20 yards or more. He was second in the FBS with 1,491 receiving yards and third with 114.7 yards per game.

It isn't known how the season-ending injury might affect Wallace's decision on whether to enter the 2020 NFL draft. ESPN's Mel Kiper Jr. didn't rank Wallace among the top 10 receivers available for the draft, and ESPN's Todd McShay didn't include him in the first round of his latest 2020 mock draft, which included five other receivers among the top 32 picks.

The Cowboys (5-3, 2-3 Big 12) host TCU (4-3, 2-2 Big 12) at Boone Pickens Stadium on Saturday (3:30 p.m. ET, ESPN).

Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry underwent surgery on his broken left hand/second metacarpal Friday and will miss at least three months, the team announced.

Curry had the surgery the Cedars-Sinai Kerlan-Jobe Institute in Los Angeles.

The Warriors said he is expected to make a full recovery and will update his status in three months.

Curry was hurt in Wednesday's loss to the Suns when he drove to the rim and collided with Phoenix big man Aron Baynes, who attempted to take a charge and ended up falling on top of the star guard's hand. The team said Thursday that he had a CT scan on the hand and would have specialists look at it before deciding how to proceed.

Ultimately, they decided surgery was the the best course of action.

It's a significant loss for a Warriors team off to a 1-3 start to the season. The six-time All-Star was expected to carry the bulk of the offensive load for a Warriors team without Klay Thompson and Kevin Durant this season. He was averaging 23.5 points this season.

The Warriors will play 45 games over the next three months; they have 51 more games before the All-Star break.

"It's hard," forward Draymond Green told The Undefeated's earlier this week. "Makes things even harder."

Golden State's odds to win the NBA championship tumbled from 35-1 to 100-1 at Caesar's Sportsbook after the injury Wednesday.

The New York Mets plan to hire Carlos Beltran as the team's new manager, a source confirmed to ESPN's Jeff Passan.

Beltran spent parts of seven of his 20 MLB seasons with the Mets and will replace Mickey Callaway in the dugout.

News of the hiring was first reported by MLB.com.

The job will be Beltran's first as a major-league manager, though he was a candidate for the New York Yankees opening that eventually went to Aaron Boone.

Beltran has served a special assistant in the Yankees' front office since 2018.