Gasser drag racing has seen a resurgence in recent years, with organizations like the Southeast Gassers Association springing up to take advantage of the renewed interest.

We spoke to Quain Stott last weekend at Carolina Dragway to find out a little bit about the history of Gasser racing and what the Southeast Gassers Association is doing to help revive it.

To learn more about the Southeast Gassers Ass’n, visit www.southeastgassers.com.

To watch the full replay of the Southeast Gassers Ass’n event from Carolina Dragway, which was part of the SPEED SPORT Network, visit gassers.speedsport.tv/replay.

MIAMI, Fla. – The Trans-Am Series presented by Pirelli will add a new production-based class to its line-up next year.

Slotted between the Trans-Am and TA2 powered by AEM classes, the new Xtreme GT class will be focused on 2016 and earlier FIA GT3 machines that are no longer eligible to race in other professional series.

Based on feedback from the paddock and continued development from the Trans Am technical staff, the new Xtreme GT class will integrate the GT3-based entries along with cars from other series and track day groups with equivalent performance potential into the new class.

“There are believed to be more than 100 GT3 race cars in North America that are no longer eligible to run in the professional series that they originally competed in,” said Trans Am Company President John Clagett. “These cars have a lot of good life remaining in them, but there are not really any good places for those cars to race competitively. The Trans Am Series intends to deliver a professionally-run series for drivers to compete in these cars and fully exhibit their potential.”

The new Xtreme GT class entries will use advanced aerodynamic parts as homologated into the original FIA GT3 specification, boasting a higher level of downforce than is utilized in the SuperGT and GT class machines in Trans Am competition.

Pirelli sets the international tire standard in GT racing and will continue that tradition with the new XGT class. All XGT cars will be outfitted with the Pirelli P Zero tires.

“At Indianapolis this season, the Audi R8 LMS GT3 car was classified into the SGT class,” said Trans Am Technical Director Aaron Coalwell. “This required significant adjustments to balance the car with the current cars in the SGT. However, it did raise a lot of interest from other teams looking for places to race their former GT3 cars. While in discussions with those teams, they specified that they would prefer running prepared to the former GT3 specifications instead of adjusting the cars to run in the SGT class. We’ve been fortunate to have a lot of positive response from our paddock, and have made the decision to start the new XGT class specifically for these cars.”

The move to add XGT into the Trans-Am regulations marks another chapter of Trans-Am Series management identifying opportunities to integrate production-based machines into the professional series, which will launch its 54th season at Sebring Int’l Raceway on Feb. 28-March 1.

At the beginning of this season, the Trans-Am Series initiated a redevelopment of its production-based classes. This integration represented a different approach by establishing a place to race for individual race teams and tuner shops, allowing them to compete with innovative and unique vehicles to showcase their abilities.

Over the  season, the grid sizes continued to grow with new teams and production-based cars attending the races, bringing innovation and uniqueness between cars from the various teams back into professional racing. The entries for both classes combined were in the single digits near the beginning of the season and grew to more than a dozen by the season’s end.

The adaptation of new regulations to integrate production-based machines has not only helped provide the opportunity for teams and drivers to compete in a professional series like Trans-Am in a cost-effective way, but it also harkens back to the very first days of Trans-Am that originally featured prepared production entries that were not too far removed from street machines.

CHIBA, Japan – Overnight rain saturated Narashino Country Club and officials canceled play early Friday at the Zozo Championship.

Second round tee times had been moved up an hour to avoid the storm, which is a combination of Typhoon Bualoi and a low pressure system moving across central Japan, but most players never made it to the course.

Narashino had been doused with rain for more than a week and quickly became unplayable as the storm was forecast to bring 3 to 5 inches of rain on Friday.

Officials planned to assess the course before finalizing any plans for the weekend, but players were told the current schedule is to play 27 holes on Saturday and Sunday and complete the first-year event as scheduled. The second round is currently scheduled to begin on Saturday at 6:30 a.m. (local), Friday at 5:30 p.m. ET.

Tiger Woods and Gary Woodland share the first-round lead at 6 under par.

Nicolas Pepe curled in a pair of stellar free kicks late in the second half to give Arsenal a 3-2 comeback win over Guimaraes in the Europa League on Thursday night.

The Portuguese Liga club scored inside 10 minutes as Marcus Edwards finished off a swift counter-attack with a nice cutback move and strike to give his team a surprise early lead.

- Europa League group stage: All you need to know

Gabriel Martinelli headed Arsenal level just past the half-hour mark, but Guimaraes were soon back in front after Bruno Duarte buried the rebound from a Davidson shot that came back off the post as the visitors took a 2-1 lead into half-time.

With time running down in the second half, Arsenal found their equaliser from a lovely free kick from Pepe, who came off the bench before curling in a shot from 20 yards out for his second goal since arriving from Lille in the summer.

Pepe then provided the winner from a similar set of circumstances, curling in a nearly identical free kick from the top of the penalty area to beat Miguel Silva again and give the Gunners all three points.

The win makes it three from three for Arsenal, who are on nine points from three matches to lead Group F ahead of Eintracht Frankfurt.

Vlatko Andonovski is expected to replace Jill Ellis as coach of the United States women's national team, according to a source close to the process.

Sports Illustrated originally reported the agreement, with Andonovski to be announced Monday in New York.

Andonovski, 43, becomes the eighth person to hold the U.S. job on a permanent basis and the first to do so as a product of a domestic women's professional league. Currently the coach of Reign FC in the National Women's Soccer League, Andonovski won two titles with FC Kansas City and is one of three people to hold head coaching positions since the league's inception in 2013.

He replaces a woman who won two World Cup titles and more games in total than any other coach in national team history.

Under Andonovski, who has no prior international coaching experience, the U.S. will attempt to become the first team to win World Cup and Olympic titles in successive years.

Terms of the contract were not immediately available.

His overall record in seven NWSL seasons is 68-47-43 with five playoff appearances.

Born in the former Yugoslavia, in what is now North Macedonia, Andonovski moved to the United States in 2000 to play professional indoor soccer for the Wichita Wings. He spent most of his indoor playing career in Kansas City and remained in the area with his wife and three children to coach youth soccer after he retired as a player in 2005.

A relative unknown in women's soccer when hired by FC Kansas City, which shared ownership interests with the Kansas City Comets indoor team for which he had played, Andonovski led the team to the playoffs in its first season and then won back-to-back titles the next two seasons.

He was widely lauded for both working well with veteran players like U.S. internationals Becky Sauerbrunn and Lauren Holiday, who won defender of the year and MVP honors, respectively, while playing for him, and developing young talent like 2013 NWSL Rookie of the Year Erika Tymrak.

"The biggest thing that stands out is just his professionalism and his attention to detail," said Leigh Ann Brown, a defender who earned all-league honors while playing for Andonovski in Kansas City. "Vlatko just has a way of carrying himself. Even the way he speaks to his players, his knowledge of the game, it's very much about attention to detail, very professional."

Andonovski has also received praise for his work this season with Reign FC. Despite losing six players to season-ending or long-term injuries, as well as playing without FIFA Player of the Year Megan Rapinoe for most of the season, Reign FC qualified for the playoffs with a 10-6-8 record. The team will play the North Carolina Courage in a semifinal this weekend.

Asked recently while she was on international duty with the U.S. about Andonovski's strengths, Rapinoe echoed the sentiments about his ability to connect with, and challenge, an entire roster. She also suggested a bigger stage might bring out even more of his knowledge and talent.

"His tactical flexibility and knowledge is tremendous," Rapinoe said. "Even being in the NWSL, I don't think he's really able to put on his full arsenal of what he knows."

Andonovski is the fifth man to coach the women's national team on a full-time basis. National team general manager Kate Markgraf, the first person to hold that position, was asked when hired this year if she wanted to replace Ellis with another woman to lead a team that has been visible in promoting gender equality (including a wage discrimination lawsuit filed by players against the federation). Markgraf said at the time that was her inclination, all things being equal, suggesting she believes Andonovski stood out beyond all others in the coaching search.

Andonovski's first game as U.S. coach will be against Sweden, currently ranked fifth in the world, on Nov. 7 in Columbus, Ohio. The U.S. will go through Olympic qualifying at a date still to be determined next year. Only two CONCACAF teams qualify for the 2020 Olympics.

Kane Williamson will miss New Zealand's T20I series against England with a hip injury, with Tim Southee named as captain in his absence. Trent Boult has also been omitted for the first three of five T20Is, in order to focus on his Test preparations.

Although Williamson played in the Plunket Shield this week for Northern Districts, it was concluded after discussions with coach Gary Stead that rest was the best course of action.

"We've been monitoring the injury for a while now and it's the same issue that ruled him out of the final Test against Bangladesh back in March," Stead said. "It's disappointing timing for Kane at the start of an exciting Kiwi summer, but we feel it's the right decision with a busy season ahead.

"We're fortunate to have someone experienced like Tim who can comfortably step in and take the reins, as he successfully did on the recent tour of Sri Lanka."

Southee led New Zealand to a 2-1 victory in the T20Is against Sri Lanka, after Williamson was rested from that leg of the tour. Apart from Northern Districts' game against Canterbury, in which he batted once and scored 26, Williamson has not played since the two-Test series in Sri Lanka in August.

Lockie Ferguson, who is due to make his return from a thumb injury in England's warm-up matches ahead of the series, has been named in the T20I squad for the first three games, with Boult returning to take his place for the fourth and fifth.

Boult will instead play in the second round of the Plunket Shield for Northern Districts, building towards the two Tests against England at the end of November, and New Zealand's subsequent tour of Australia.

"In working with Trent and looking at the season ahead, we feel another four-day game will provide him with the best preparation for the upcoming Test series against England and Australia," Stead said.

The rest of the squad is similar to that which took on Sri Lanka. Allrounder Jimmy Neesham returns, along with pace bowler Blair Tickner, who has been capped once previously in T20Is, while Todd Astle, Tom Bruce and Seth Rance missed out.

"If you look at the batsmen there's plenty of good ball strikers and that explosive hitting is a crucial component in the shortest format," Stead said of the selections. "Tim will have a variety of bowling options including our spin combination of Ish [Sodhi] and Mitch [Santner] who are both ranked inside the top ten T20 bowlers in the world.

"We obviously have a lot of T20 cricket on the horizon ahead of next year's World Cup and a tough five-game series against England should be a great start to the summer."

New Zealand T20I squad: Tim Southee (capt), Trent Boult (games 4-5), Colin de Grandhomme, Lockie Ferguson (games 1-3), Martin Guptill, Scott Kuggeleijn, Daryl Mitchell, Colin Munro, Jimmy Neesham, Mitchell Santner, Tim Seifert (wk), Ish Sodhi, Ross Taylor, Blair Tickner

The Dallas Cowboys have acquired veteran defensive end Michael Bennett from the New England Patriots, sources told ESPN's Adam Schefter on Thursday.

The Patriots will receive a 2021 seventh-round pick that could eventually improve to a sixth-round pick if conditions are met, sources told ESPN.

The NFL's trade deadline is Tuesday.

Bennett, who turns 34 on Nov. 13, was suspended by the Patriots for last week's game for conduct detrimental to the team following a disagreement with defensive line coach Bret Bielema, which sources said occurred in front of other players.

Bennett, a three-time Pro Bowl selection who has 65.5 career sacks and 13 forced fumbles in 147 career games, was upset that his playing time with New England had declined sharply since he started the season opener. In Week 6, he played just 11 of 50 defensive snaps in a win over the New York Giants.

"It's America. You can voice your opinion about how you feel about certain situations. That's what I did," Bennett said after returning from his suspension. "... I got suspended. Lost money. What am I supposed to take away from that? There's no love lost. It's just how it is."

Bennett had 5 tackles, 2.5 sacks and 1 pass defended in six games with the Patriots. In that six-game span, he had been on the field for 133 of 374 defensive snaps (35.6%).

The Patriots clear about $2.5 million of salary-cap space by trading Bennett, although some of that will be used by the player the team signs to fill his roster spot. The figure is significant because the Patriots have been extremely tight to the cap, as they restructured the contract of starting right guard Shaq Mason to create space to acquire wide receiver Mohamed Sanu in a trade Tuesday. Without the restructure, the club wouldn't have been able to bring Sanu aboard.

That is the greatest benefit to the club, as the draft-pick compensation is modest. Bennett had become a niche player in the team's system, and had expressed his desire to play more, so it wasn't a great fit in New England despite high expectations after he had been acquired from the Eagles on March 14.

The Patriots had acquired Bennett and a seventh-round pick in exchange for a fifth-round pick, and then sweetened Bennett's contract through the 2020 season.

It's the second straight year the Cowboys have made a bye week trade. They acquired Amari Cooper from the Oakland Raiders and went on to win seven of their last nine games to win the NFC East last season.

Earlier Thursday, coach Jason Garrett said the team would be on the look for help, but he did not see a specific need to be filled.

"Excited about the group that we have. Really am," Garrett said. "And really focused on coaching the group that we have. There've been a lot of good things in the early part of the season we can build on and certainly plenty to correct and that's really what we're focused on as coaches more than anything else.

"Rather than thinking about, 'OK, getting somebody from somewhere else,' we'll let the personnel people address that here at the outset and if something comes to us, that's when we consider it."

The Cowboys put defensive end Tyrone Crawford on injured reserve last week with a hip issue that required surgery. Second-year defensive end Dorance Armstrong did not play a week ago because of a stinger but he was on the practice field this week. Robert Quinn suffered from rib muscle spasms that knocked him out of the second half of the win over the Eagles, but Garrett said the team anticipates he'll be able to practice when they return from the bye week.

In addition to the Patriots, Bennett has played for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2009 to 2012), Seattle Seahawks (2013 to 2017) and Philadelphia Eagles (2018) over his career.

Bennett's brother, Martellus, was the Cowboys' second-round pick in 2008 and spent four seasons with the team before leaving in free agency.

The Cowboys and Patriots meet Nov. 24 at Gillette Stadium.

ESPN's Mike Reiss and Todd Archer contributed to this report.

Nate Diaz wrote Thursday on social media that he will no longer be competing at UFC 244.

Diaz, who was scheduled to headline the event Nov. 2 at Madison Square Garden against Jorge Masvidal, wrote that he had an adverse drug-test finding and will not make the trip to New York until things get figured out. Diaz wrote that he was told he had "elevated levels" that might have come from a tainted supplement. He did not specify who told him that or what the prohibited substance might be.

UFC 244 was set to be one of the biggest pay-per-view events of the year for the promotion. In the post, Diaz adamantly denies taking any banned drugs.

"I only take Whole Foods or natural food supplements," Diaz wrote. "I don't even eat meat. So until UFC, USADA or whoever is F---ING with me fixes it I won't be competing."

Diaz went on to write he was told to hide the drug-test results or keep it quiet and he didn't want to do that.

"I don't give a f--- about some money over my dignity and my legacy," Diaz wrote. "I'm not playing along with this bulls---. I'm not staying quiet and figuring it out after the fight. That's cheating."

Requests for comment from USADA, the UFC's anti-doping partner, and the New York State Athletic Commission (NYSAC) were not immediately returned. UFC president Dana White was not immediately available for comment.

Masvidal's team was unaware of the situation until Diaz's tweet, a source told ESPN. Masvidal tweeted that he'd like to fight Diaz regardless of what a drug test said.

The Sacramento Kings say second-year forward Marvin Bagley III will miss four to six weeks with a nondisplaced fracture of his right thumb.

According to the team, Bagley suffered the injury in Wednesday's season-opening loss to the Suns. He started and played 28 minutes, scoring 14 points. An MRI determined the extent of the injury.

Bagley, the former Duke star, averaged 14.9 points and 7.6 rebounds last season. The second overall pick in the 2018 draft, he finished seventh in NBA Rookie of the Year voting.

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. -- The Los Angeles Lakers' experiment starting LeBron James at point guard will be short-lived. Rajon Rondo is coming for the No. 1 spot.

"I've given it a lot of thought and I think he'll be in the starting lineup a lot," Lakers coach Frank Vogel said of Rondo after practice Thursday. "I definitely envision a lot of games where he'll be the starting point guard."

Rondo missed the Lakers' season-opening loss to the Los Angeles Clippers, sitting out with a sore calf, and the offense sputtered. The Lakers shot 43.5 percent from the floor and had 14 turnovers against 20 assists.

James started as the de facto point guard, flanked by two off-ball guards in Avery Bradley and Danny Green, along with Anthony Davis and JaVale McGee in the frontcourt.

Rondo, who said he first experienced discomfort in his calf the day before the Lakers' preseason finale in Golden State, went through Thursday's practice at "full speed" and "didn't look impaired at all," according to Vogel, but his availability for Friday's game against the Utah Jazz is to be determined.

"He looked really good," Vogel said. "He looked fresher than everybody else. A little bounce in his step, which is good. But, you know, it's not how he feels today, it's how he feels after today's workload. Right? So we'll see how he responds to what he's doing today and make that decision tomorrow."

Bradley impressed the coaching staff with his fit with the starting unit, sources told ESPN, in the Lakers' dominant 126-93 preseason win over the Warriors on Oct. 16, scoring 18 points on 7-for-9 shooting. With Rondo injured, the natural choice was to go back to that group for the opener, sources said.

James finished with 18 points on 7-for-19 shooting, 10 rebounds and 8 assists against the Clippers, but shot just 1-for-4 in the fourth quarter and committed three of his six turnovers in the final frame.

James spent much of the night targeting Davis with post feeds -- something that worked for the offense, to be sure -- but became less effective as the game wore on.

"I think if there's one thing that stands out, is when they started bringing soft help in the post, we didn't respond to that well enough in terms of our spacing," Vogel said. "There's simple counters, and if they're going to sit in AD's lap, with the shooters that we have out there, we should be shooting open 3s, if we're spaced appropriately in those situations."

Rondo, entering his 13th season, averaged 9.2 points on 40.5% shooting (35.9% from 3) with 8.0 assists and 5.0 rebounds last year, his first with the Lakers. He said that a starting role isn't something he is pushing for, necessarily.

"My preference is what coach Vogel wants me to do," he said. "I'll be cool with that."

Vogel said there still could be games where Rondo comes off the bench and Bradley starts, depending on matchups.

Rondo, a career 31.5 percent shooter from 3, all but admitted that he isn't the typical guard that's been paired with James in his career, but said he feels like he can ignite James in fast-break situations and also keep the offense flowing.

"The league is big on analytics now so I don't know what the statistics are when LeBron and I are on the court at the same time, but that's last year's stats," Rondo said. "This year is obviously a different team, different feel. So we'll see how it goes. You can't predetermine anything. You got to see how the game flows and go from there."

Has he improved his 3 in the offseason?

"I'm always going to play my game," Rondo said. "I think me at point is a pretty good (option). I've been pretty good in my career with me at point, as well. So, like I said, it's all about sacrifice and figuring out what's best for our team."