The Oakland Raiders are trading cornerback Gareon Conley to the Houston Texans for a third-round pick, a source confirmed to ESPN.

News of the trade was first reported by The Athletic.

Conley, who was Oakland's first-round pick (24th overall) in 2017, has one interception this season in six starts.

The trade comes a day after the Raiders' secondary was torched by Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who threw for 429 yards and five touchdowns in a 42-24 victory over Oakland.

The Texans' secondary, meanwhile, also struggled as Indianapolis Colts quarterback Jacoby Brissett threw for 326 yards and four touchdowns in a 30-23 victory over Houston.

The Texans are in need of secondary help. cornerback Phillip Gaines was carted off the field in Sunday's loss to the Colts, while Bradley Roby (hamstring) missed the game.

The Texans have been aggressive on the trade market this season. Before the season, Houston acquired left tackle Laremy Tunsil and wide receiver Kenny Stills from the

Miami Dolphins for two first-round picks, traded linebacker Jadeveon Clowney to the Seattle Seahawks for a third-round pick and two players and acquired running backs Duke Johnson and Carlos Hyde in separate trades with the Cleveland Browns and Kansas City Chiefs, respectively.

Conley has four interceptions, 18 passes defensed and 67 tackles in 23 career games.

In Week 1 against the Broncos, Conley suffered a neck injury and was strapped to a gurney and taken off the field on a cart when he tried to take down Denver running back Royce Freeman on Monday Night Football. Conley, though, played for Oakland the following week.

The 24-year-old starred at Ohio State. Two days before the NFL draft, he was accused of sexual assault, but he did not face discipline from the NFL because it happened before he was officially in the league.

DALLAS -- Dallas police said one man has been arrested and a second suspect was being sought in last month's slaying of former NBA and Texas Tech standout Andre Emmett.

WFAA-TV reported 32-year-old Keith Johnson was being held Monday on a capital murder charge with bond set at $500,000. Online Dallas County jail records didn't immediately list an attorney representing Johnson, who was booked Friday.

Investigators said Johnson and a second suspect allegedly shot Emmett during a Sept. 23 robbery attempt. Police said the 37-year-old Emmett was sitting in his vehicle outside his residence when two men approached, and he was fatally shot while trying to flee.

Emmett scored 2,256 career points from 2001-04 with the Red Raiders. After college, Emmett played one season each with the Memphis Grizzlies and New Jersey Nets.

He was a standout in Ice Cube's Big3 the past two seasons and in 2018 finished second in the league in points (134) and fifth in rebounds (58).

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Mitch Kupchak doesn't see the Charlotte Hornets being major players in free agency as they attempt to build a winning franchise in the post-Kemba Walker era -- at least not right away.

Instead, the second-year general manager said Monday that he anticipates the Hornets will construct the roster through draft picks and "savvy trades" during the season, while compiling as many assets as possible.

"We will not be an active player" in free agency, Kupchak said. "I think we can build a culture here and get enough assets and have a promising enough future and really attract the kind of free agent you want to spend that kind of money on -- but I don't think you can do it right now."

So in the meantime, the Hornets will give young players like Dwayne Bacon, Miles Bridges, Malik Monk, Devonte' Graham and even rookie PJ Washington extensive playing time this season as part of their No. 1 overall goal of player development after going 39-43 last season and losing Walker, a three-time All-Star, to the Boston Celtics.

Kupchak said that will take patience, but he and owner Michael Jordan and coach James Borrego are on the same page.

Kupchak said he won't measure this season's success in terms of wins and losses, but rather on how the team's younger players continue to progress.

"Win or lose, I want our players to play with energy and our coaches to coach with energy," Kupchak said. "As the season goes on I want to see improvement. That's how I'm looking at the season."

Kupchak said that concept may not be easy for Borrego.

"I am hoping he is better than he was last season," Kupchak said with a grin. "At the beginning of the season last year he took each loss really, really hard. Hopefully this year he will be able to handle the losses a little bit better."

Borrego has yet to name a starting lineup for Wednesday night's home opener against the Chicago Bulls. Point guard Terry Rozier and center Cody Zeller are locks to start, but the combination of the other three remains a mystery.

That lineup could include Washington, who has impressed Kupchak with his 3-point shooting in the preseason since being selected No. 12 overall earlier this year.

Originally, the Hornets planned for the former Kentucky forward to split time between Charlotte's G League team and the NBA to gain maximum playing experience. But Kupchak said Washington has been the team's most impressive young player during the preseason and will likely remain in Charlotte, provided he's seeing 15-plus minutes per game.

"He does have to play, and, based on his production of late, he will play," Kupchak said. "... He has worked on his game and has turned himself into not only a big man that can be productive down in the paint, but in our game today he can also make 3s."

Win or lose, Kupchak expects the Hornets to use a "fast-paced style of play."

At the end of the 2018 NBA offseason, Brooklyn Nets guard Spencer Dinwiddie was hanging out in Los Angeles with Jeremy Adams, a close friend from their days at the University of Colorado. The two played basketball at Boulder, and they share an enthusiasm for the world of blockchain technology and entrepreneurial pursuits.

Dinwiddie had thoroughly enjoyed the process of developing his own shoe the previous year outside the sneaker industrial complex. He and Adams wondered: What other opportunities existed out there?

"With the shoe, we started exploring ways to try to take control of the brand," Dinwiddie said.

For years, Dinwiddie threw himself into the world of markets -- both traditional sectors like financial services and newfangled corners of the ecosystem like cryptocurrency. These days, it's normal to walk into an NBA practice facility and find a hard copy of a pitch deck lying around the locker room. But Dinwiddie isn't just into investing; he is a guy with a more holistic interest in how money works. How is value transferred in an economy? How do you make markets more inclusive? What's a cool way to bring liquid to an illiquid, unrealized sector?

On that last question, Dinwiddie realized the next step in his entrepreneurial journey was to create a financial instrument that would allow him and other athletes to fully maximize their upside. Why not just be the investment vehicle, allowing people who believe in that athlete to cash in when he makes good on his potential?

With that, Dinwiddie decided that in addition to being an NBA combo guard, he also would fulfill a new dream of being a debt security.

The idea of athletes or celebrities securitizing their talents has precedent. In 1997, musician David Bowie worked with an investment bank to sell "Bowie Bonds." Investors were paid a fixed annual return of 7.9% over 10 years for bonds that were backed by Bowie's intellectual property -- in other words, his recordings and songs -- and his rights to royalties. Chicago White Sox slugger Frank Thomas took a long look at securitizing his contract in 1998, but the plan got hung up over skittishness about clauses in his deal that would nullify the contract for scenarios like a non-sports-related injury or player strike.

Dinwiddie plans to offer what he has named his Professional Athlete Investment Token (PAInT) as soon as this week. The offering has a minimum investment of $150,000, and it would be available only to accredited investors on a new platform that he hopes will eventually host dozens of athletes who follow his lead.

The NBA has taken issue with Dinwiddie's efforts, and the two sides have been debating whether issuing a PAInT would violate the league's collective bargaining agreement (CBA). Dinwiddie is hopeful that the measures he has taken over the past few weeks will persuade the league of its permissibility under the CBA.

So what exactly is Dinwiddie trying to do? We dig into the nuts and bolts of PAInT.

What is Spencer Dinwiddie's plan?

A few different things.

In the big picture, Dinwiddie's token would be a proof of concept for a larger objective: He wants to create a new asset class -- athletes -- that would allow fans and anyone else to invest in players the way you would the stock market, a treasury bond, a real estate fund or cryptocurrency. Those assets could then be traded on a platform that he is in the process of creating.

Most immediately, though, he wants to offer a debt issuance to accredited investors that would be backed by his earnings in the 2021-22 season. This product, which would be issued as a token (PAInT), would have many of the characteristics of a typical bond, but it's quite different.

Can anyone buy a Dinwiddie token?

No. You must be deemed an accredited investor under Regulation D of the Securities Act. Accredited investors must earn a hefty income and/or have a high net worth, plus the requisite experience dealing with sophisticated financial offerings.

The minimum investment in a Dinwiddie token is $150,000, and Dinwiddie is offering a maximum of 90 tokens for purchase. That would represent $13.5 million or around 40% of his three-year, $34 million contract with Brooklyn.

I'm accredited and just happen to have $150,000 to invest. So walk me through it.

Whereas most investors purchase a security through a broker, you will buy a digital token for $150,000 and it will live as a form of digital currency on a blockchain (more on that later). Another way to look at it: You're loaning Dinwiddie $150,000 that he will promise to pay back in two years.

Though the information isn't public, Dinwiddie says the token likely will pay an annual interest rate in the range of 2.5%. That would mean that on that initial $150,000 investment, you would earn $3,750 over the next year -- paid either quarterly or biannually -- and $3,750 in 2020-21.

Year 3 is when the token effectively matures and things get interesting for both Dinwiddie and you. Dinwiddie is performing his own personal "revenue sharing" of his individual post-tax 2021-22 basketball related income. Dinwiddie said this will be done at a 60-40 split and that 40% will be paid out to investors.

Because Dinwiddie owns a player option for the 2021-22 season, there's a great deal of elasticity here. Let's say the 26-year-old guard continues his upward trajectory over the next two seasons and opts out of his current deal with the Nets. If his new contract plus additional income pays him a total of $20 million in 2021-22 and his taxes and related expenses run 50% of his income, then you would receive your original principal of $150,000 back, plus an additional $52,934. In the end, you would've earned 10.6% annually over the term of the investment.

What if Dinwiddie decides to opt into the final year of his deal?

Dinwiddie is scheduled to earn $12.3 million in 2021-22 if he opts in -- much less than the $20 million in the above scenario -- so the rate of return would be considerably lower, approximately 7.4% annually, or $150,000 plus an additional $35,825.

What's in it for Dinwiddie?

Dinwiddie raises millions in cash at the front end of his contract that he can now put to work in various investments.

"The $13.5 million would be in relatively traditional vehicles," Dinwiddie said. "You want to be strong with your money -- we've all heard the horror stories. These investments are designed to be something that athletes can benefit from. We're going to set aside [an amount] for venture capital, but it's not like I've found a new element or anything like that."

If he can achieve a decent rate of return on those investments, he can recoup his debt obligation. More broadly, Dinwiddie would establish himself as an innovator who blended traditional and more cutting-edge market tools to create a new financial product that could become fantasy sports on steroids. If that platform became successful, Dinwiddie's 2019 offering could go down as an historic prototype, and he would have ownership of what could potentially be a profitable venture.

Will there be a secondary market for the token?

Not initially, and Dinwiddie's offering can't be traded for one year. But Dinwiddie sees a future where, once there's a critical mass of athletes who have their own tokens, you could log onto the platform and trade NBA players the way you would trade other securities.

"We envision a world where you're gonna be able to trade a Spencer for a Kyrie [Irving] for a [Kevin Durant]," Dinwiddie said. "In a lot of ways, it kind of does represent this paradigm of real fantasy sports. It's an extremely interesting model. It's a non-correlated asset in relation to the legacy market, and we're gonna have a lot of fun with it."

Is there a cryptocurrency and blockchain component to what Dinwiddie's doing?

Though Dinwiddie is a cryptocurrency enthusiast and payment for a token can be made in cryptocurrency, he is issuing this offering in a more traditional construct. The token will exist on Ethereum, a blockchain-based platform that functions like a ledger, but it is functionally a debt security.

Is this a risky investment?

The 10-year U.S. Treasury Note, arguably the most reliable debt instrument in the world, currently offers a yield of 1.753%. Dinwiddie's offering would pay around 2.5%, marginally more, but it comes with more credit risk. After all, PAInT is an unproven asset class with an unproven payment mechanism -- and novelty, by its very nature, is uncertain.

Yet an investment's risk is measured in downside, and it's difficult to imagine scenarios in which a token holder's principal disappeared. Even if Dinwiddie suffers a career-ending injury or underperforms to the point where he falls out of the Nets' rotation, he is guaranteed a salary of $12.3 million in 2021-22, when the token comes due. The circumstances in which he doesn't receive that money are catastrophic -- the NBA going bankrupt, Dinwiddie violating the league's drug program or Paragraph 16 (effectively the CBA's morality clause).

So he's using his contract as collateral?

No, and for Dinwiddie, that's a very important point.

Dinwiddie says he will lock up $1 million in cash, $1 million in gold and $1 million in Bitcoin, with the larger goal of setting aside as much as $9 million in reserves. These holdings aren't exactly risk-free -- Bitcoin in particularly is volatile -- and he's in conversation with his financial advisors about where they'd place the additional millions.

But if Dinwiddie can get to $9 million in escrow and/or reserves, there would be moderate loan coverage, in addition to the $12.3 million he's due before taxes in 2021-22 (which could be considerably greater if he opts out and signs a more lucrative deal in free agency).

One could argue that the token is implicitly backed by the contract, but not explicitly.

I read a statement issued by the NBA to the New York Times that the league regards Dinwiddie's plan as a violation of the league's collective bargaining agreement. What's the nature of their objection?

The NBA believes Dinwiddie's plan violates CBA rules prohibiting players from entering into a legal arrangement that transfers the right to their NBA pay to third parties. The league says the rule exists to protect players' long-term financial health and avoid potential third-party interference with relations between teams and players (for example, an unhappy investor suing the Nets).

If Dinwiddie moves ahead with the opening of his investment vehicle, what recourse does the NBA and/or the Nets have? Could they suspend him? Could the Nets nullify his contract?

Sources say the NBA hasn't reached the point where they're contemplating disciplinary actions against Dinwiddie, and the two sides are continuing to discuss the matter. But if the league felt like Dinwiddie was truly in violation of the CBA, disciplinary action could be conceivable.

What is Dinwiddie's response to this claim?

Dinwiddie insists that what he's doing is neither an assignment of his contract to a third-party nor a transfer of his pay to his investors. After all, he isn't collateralizing his contract with the Nets, and he feels that the proceeds he'll use to repay investors fall far outside the league's jurisdiction.

"If I take my money and I choose to pay the investors with money that I already have -- or money that I got from the Nets or money that I sold a house with -- however I choose to pay them back is my choice," Dinwiddie said. "Once the Nets pay me, their jurisdiction on my money is over."

What are some other implications of Dinwiddie's aspirations that could threaten the league?

In conversations with players and agents, they perceive a skittishness about players realizing too much brand value outside the auspices of the NBA. When you consider what Dinwiddie is proposing with his offering, you begin to understand why: If he's able to sell all 90 tokens, he will raise $13.5 million in cash for a season in which he'll earn less than half of that amount post-tax from the team that employs him.

Athletes like to say they "play for the fans." In Dinwiddie's case, his fiduciary obligations to his fans/investors certainly would be comparable to what he owes the Nets. It's easy to see how that could make institutionalists nervous -- and players curious.

WASHINGTON -- The between-pitch routine that is now known simply as "The Soto Shuffle" began when Juan Soto was young -- exceedingly young -- and in the minor leagues. It developed into a tic but began as a mindset, a tenet, about taking ownership of at-bats and, more so, approaching life with unwavering confidence. The ritual followed him to the majors, where Soto finished his teenage years, its theatrics growing increasingly more aggressive as the months passed and the success persisted.

Then Anibal Sanchez saw it.

"He just started laughing," Soto recalled. "I mean, I started laughing too."

It was July 20, 2018, during their second confrontation. Sanchez was pitching for the Atlanta Braves, midway through his 13th season. Soto was 19 years old and two months into his big league career. Sometimes he would take a pitch and aggressively tug at his crotch. Other times he would squat really low, lunge forward, stare directly into Sanchez's eyes and grin.

"I'm like, 'What's going on over here?'" Sanchez said. "I thought this guy was going to fight with me."

It continued through Soto's first two plate appearances. Sanchez would giggle, causing Soto to crack a smile and break character. On nights when he wasn't pitching, Sanchez began imitating Soto's routine from the opposing dugout, egging him on. Soto grew to love it.

The following year, Sanchez joined Soto on the Washington Nationals and began to view the histrionics differently. He saw a young man with distinct poise who took on a fighter's mentality in the batter's box. The routine, Sanchez learned, was merely an extension of Soto's identity.

"It's good," Sanchez said, "especially when you have him on your team."

The Soto Shuffle will be on display on baseball's grandest stage this week, when the Nationals -- fresh off a convincing sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals in the National League Championship Series -- face the Houston Astros in their first World Series.

Fans throughout the country have become equal parts captivated, enraged and excited by the flamboyance of Soto's routine. He'll swing his hips or spread his legs or sweep his feet or shimmy his shoulders or lick his lips or squeeze his, um, junk, sometimes all at once. Soto has stated that it's a mechanism to synchronize his timing, but he also admitted to an ulterior motive.

"I like to get in the minds of the pitchers," Soto said earlier this postseason, "because sometimes they get scared."

Soto's father, Juan Sr., was watching from the Dominican Republic when Cardinals starter Miles Mikolas got Soto to bounce into an inning-ending groundout in Game 1, waited for him to turn his head and grabbed his own crotch in retaliation. The incident, dismissed as playful banter by Mikolas, seemed to symbolize the sport's ongoing culture war. But Juan Sr. just laughed. The antics, he explained, are the manifestation of a mindset ingrained in Soto as a child.

"It's like I always told him -- when you get into the batter's box to hit, you own that space," Juan Sr., speaking in Spanish, said in a phone conversation. "Nobody can intimidate you. On the contrary, those guys [the pitchers] are the ones who should be afraid of you. And you have to show them why."

When Soto was only a few months old, his father was already taking him to Estadio Quisqueya, home to the Licey Tigers and the most intense, pressure-packed baseball on the island. Juan Sr. would bring a bottle and a blanket, and the two would take in the atmosphere together. Baseball was at the core of Soto's life from then on. He was always too young and too good for the league he played in. Through the years, his father often repeated the same phrase: "You're going to be a big leaguer."

Soto never needed the confidence boost.

"That," Juan Sr. said, "was always in him."

The Nationals signed Soto for $1.5 million in July 2015, a franchise record on the international market. Injuries limited him to 83 games through his first two seasons of professional baseball, so he used the downtime to become a fluent English speaker. After the 2017 season, he returned home to Santo Domingo and trained with purpose, then zipped through the Nationals' minor league system the following spring, graduating from both Class A levels in five weeks.

Soto arrived at the Nationals' Double-A affiliate in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, on May 10. The clubhouse was overrun, and one of the catchers was forced to share half his locker with Soto.

"Don't worry," Soto told him, "I won't be here long. This isn't my league."

Nine days later, Nationals president of baseball operations Mike Rizzo sat in Dave Martinez's office after his postgame media session. Martinez, then in his second month as a major league manager, lamented the injuries that were beginning to pile up, the latest a torn Achilles tendon suffered by Howie Kendrick.

"We're bringing up Soto," Rizzo said.

Martinez was incredulous.

"We're bringing up Soto," Rizzo repeated. "He's gonna have to learn to play sooner or later."

Soto homered in the first at-bat of his first start and batted .346 through the first 16 games of his rookie season. By the end of it, he owned a .292/.406/.517 slash line with 22 home runs in 494 plate appearances, setting a record for weighted runs above average among teenagers. Martinez was awed by Soto's plate discipline and poise, but was also impressed by his diligence.

Soto's second-year numbers -- .282/.401/.548 with 34 homers in 659 plate appearances this season -- only improved. When the postseason began, he held the record for most walks before age 21 and trailed only Mel Ott for the most home runs. Then came the game-winning hit off Josh Hader in the eighth inning of the NL wild-card game, and the game-tying home run off Clayton Kershaw on the decisive night of the NL Division Series.

"He likes the big moments," Martinez said. "The 50,000 fans, the big lights -- it doesn't bother him a bit."

Soto expanded his strike zone often in the minor leagues and was told to hone in on one pitch, in one location, until he got into two-strike counts. Soto has adopted that mindset in the major leagues, a strategy that works only when hitters possess a firm grasp of opponents' tendencies. Nationals starter Max Scherzer has taken note of the way Soto interprets data, a rarity for his age.

"When you're young and trying to solidify yourself, you're trying to solidify yourself in the baseball standards," Scherzer said. "But to be able to take on the data is a whole different ballgame. And the fact that you can do both, especially when you're young, that really is a testament to how smart he is."

Soto accumulated one hit and seven strikeouts through his first 12 at-bats in the NLCS. The Cardinals attacked him mostly with breaking balls out of the strike zone, and Martinez noticed Soto trying too aggressively to pull pitches. The night before Game 4, Soto was in the batting cage with hitting coach Kevin Long until midnight, working on seeing the ball deep and hitting it to the opposite field. Hours later, in an eventual pennant-clinching 7-4 victory on Tuesday night, Soto put together four impressive plate appearances -- lining a double down the left-field line, flying out to the left-field warning track, smoking a 107 mph line drive to center field and singling sharply through the right side.

Soto's flamboyant mannerisms appeared in alternating games.

They annoyed Mikolas in Game 1 and seemed to irritate Jack Flaherty in Game 3, but they were nonexistent in Games 2 and 4. The between-pitch routine, Soto said, "fuels my confidence." But he has learned to pick his spots with it. The tighter the situation, the more likely it is to make an appearance.

"I just think it's a fight, just the pitcher and me," Soto said. "I forget about everybody that's around me -- I just think of the pitcher and me."

Former British number one Kyle Edmund suffered his eighth-straight defeat after US Open semi-finalist Matteo Berrettini fought back to win their Vienna Open first-round match.

Edmund, now 75th in the world rankings, showed glimpses of his best form in a consistent opening set.

But the 24-year-old could not sustain that level as errors crept in and the 11th-ranked Italian won 3-6 6-3 6-4.

Edmund has not won since beating Nick Kyrgios in Montreal on 6 August.

This latest defeat could also damage his hopes of being picked by Great Britain for the Davis Cup finals in Madrid next month.

Edmund was not named in captain Leon Smith's initial four-man squad earlier on Monday, with either the Yorkshireman or Cameron Norrie - ranked 17 places higher - looking set for the final spot.

Berrettini, who struggled with an ankle injury before recovering in the second set, is looking to cap an impressive breakthrough year by reaching the ATP Finals in London next month for the first time.

France lock Sebastien Vahaamahina has retired from Test rugby the day after his World Cup red card against Wales.

The forward, who turned 28 on Monday, was dismissed early in the second half for an elbow on Wales back-row Aaron Wainwright.

France had led Wales but went on to lose Sunday's quarter-final 20-19.

Vahaamahina admitted he "lost control" in the incident, but said he had always planned to retire from internationals after the tournament.

"It's hard, very hard for me today - especially because, as I have planned for several months, it was my last match with the national team," the Clermont Auvergne player said.

"I hadn't made a public announcement of my retirement but the people impacted by the decision have known since the summer: (France coach) Jacques Brunel, (Clermont coach) Franck Azema and several of the players.

"I wanted to have the best possible match and tournament to finish on... perhaps I wanted it too much. My desire and my aggression got the better of me."

Vahaamahina won 46 caps for Les Bleus, with his solitary try coming in the game against Wales, who now advance to face South Africa in their semi-final next Sunday.

His dismissal continued to cause controversy after the game, when referee Jaco Peyper was pictured with a group of Wales fans imitating Vahaamahina's elbow.

World Rugby is looking into South African official Peyper's pose to "establish the facts".

Vahaamahina faces a World Rugby disciplinary hearing on Thursday but its consequences will be minimal after he revealed he will have a long-planned operation on his arm.

He added: "It is the end of a cycle, a new page turns in my career. I am 28 and I can't wait to rebuild, physically and mentally, and come back even stronger."

Editor’s Note: This story, which appeared in the October 2019 edition of SPEED SPORT Magazine, was published before Ross Chastain was announced as a full-time competitor for Kaulig Racing in the NASCAR Xfinity Series in 2020.

Ross Chastain is a busy race car driver, often competing in each of NASCAR’s three national touring series on the same weekend. His participation in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR Xfinity Series and NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series helped him acquire the nickname “The Busiest Driver in NASCAR.”

This spring, Chastain broke the all-time NASCAR record for most consecutive races run across all three national series to start a season, surpassing the mark of 22 set by Kyle Busch in 2008. Through the end of August, Chastain had competed in 57 of 67 races in the three series this season.

In the trucks, he’s competing for the championship and was in the thick of the title hunt with three victories and 15 top-10 finishes as the calendar turned to September.

At the same time, Chastain is a lousy planner.

“I don’t manage time very well,” the 26-year-old native from Alva, Fla., which is near Fort Myers, said with a chuckle. “I just go all day and finally go to sleep. And when I wake up, I go all day again.

“I’m not the best planner. I just take it as it comes. I could be a lot better.”

Other nicknames Chastain has acquired in his racing career include “The Watermelon Man” and “Melon Man.” It’s those two nicknames that formed the foundation for Chastain the person and Chastain the race car driver. In a way, without the root of those nicknames, Chastain likely wouldn’t be a race car driver.

About 15 years ago, Chastain’s great aunt researched the family’s history and discovered Pierre Chastain left France in the early 1700s and arrived in America. Soon after, he got involved with farming and grew just about everything. More than 300 years later, the Chastains are still farming.

These days, the family has a watermelon farm in Punta Gorda, Fla. Ross Chastain is an eighth-generation watermelon farmer. Growing up, life was busy on the family farm.

“It kept me out of trouble,” he said.

So did racing.

“When I started racing at 13, there was no time to get in trouble,” Chastain said. “I look back at it and there were long days and nights at the farm, whether it was getting the fields ready to plant or planting or cold snaps coming through and trying to cover the plants up or harvest and everything in between to racing … between the two of them, it kept me from going down the wrong path.

“When there are plants in the ground, you never clock out,” he added. “It’s the same thing I apply to racing. There’s no days off; full speed ahead and make the best business decision to help myself down the road.”

Chastain’s interest in racing started with his dad’s hobby racing and seeing other kids his age competing.

“All race car drivers, once you get that addiction, once you realize you have a problem, you wake up thinking about race cars whether you’re racing front-wheel drive, four-cylinder cars at your local track or racing in the Cup Series or anything higher or lower. There comes a day you realize all you think about is racing,” Chastain explained.

That was the case for him. Once introduced, he raced four-wheelers or an old Pontiac in the pasture. Thankfully, he had support to do it from those in his life, including his family. Because of that, Chastain raced as often as he could, starting in a crate late model in 2007. However, fitting racing into the schedule was difficult because of an element out of his control: weather.

“That was always tough,” Chastain said. “Florida is a tough to race through the summer. You’re going to have an afternoon rain shower or thunderstorm somewhere around you during the summer, so a lot of Saturday night races get rained out. The tracks got to where they were trying to race through the winter and take the summer off and other places would take the winter off and race through the summer. That was tough because we plant the first week of January. That was our busy time. We always struggled to run the full season.”

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Manchester United removed a supporter from Old Trafford over alleged incidents of racist abuse during their 1-1 draw with Liverpool on Sunday.

"We are aware of an incident at yesterday's game where an individual in the home section has allegedly engaged in racial abuse," the team said in a statement on Monday.

"The individual was identified and ejected from the stadium. We are currently investigating the matter as a priority.

"Racism and all forms of discrimination are completely unacceptable and do not reflect the values of our club."

Liverpool, who equalised in the 85th minute to secure a point on the day, said in a statement they would support "the strongest possible action" taken toward whoever is responsible.

The incident comes days after England's black players were subjected to racist abuse during a Euro 2020 qualifier against Bulgaria in Sofia, which led to arrests and the resignations of manager Krasimir Balakov and football union president Borislav Mihaylov.

And on Saturday, an FA Cup match between Haringey Borough and Yeovil was abandoned after racist abuse was aimed at goalkeeper Valery Douglas Pajetat by Yeovil fans.

The return to club football didn't disappoint after a two-week layoff. Here's Gab Marcotti to get you up to speed with the latest edition of Monday Musings.

Jump to: Man United rattle Liverpool | Alarm bells for Real Madrid? | Man City avoid Palace trap | Barca's front three in sync | Juve hold their nerve | Germany's tight title race | Good start for Pioli, Milan | Defensive crisis for Bayern | Chelsea's winning run | Magic Milik leads Napoli | Dortmund win, but also lose | What's wrong at Tottenham? | Inter drama vs. Sassuolo | Atalanta's wild weekend | And finally... Bas Dost

Man United get the last laugh vs. Liverpool

Shortly before kickoff at Old Trafford on Sunday, I retweeted United's lineup and asked "Back 3?" Typically, I got all sorts of humorous responses of the "back 8" and "back 10" variety but it was Ole Gunnar Solskjaer who had the last laugh. For a little more than an hour, he had the tactical upper hand over Jurgen Klopp and Liverpool. And that was something few of those on social media, who seemed to luxuriate in the fact that this was the least gifted United side since the 1980s, would have expected.

Solskjaer's plan was straightforward and effective: three central defenders and two holding midfielders to create density through the middle, two wing-backs to patrol the flanks, Andreas Pereira to do a Park Ji-Sung man-marking job on Fabinho, and two forwards, Daniel James and Marcus Rashford, to throw themselves in the space between full-back and central defender, thereby pinning back Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson. It's not rocket science, but it's a plan based on sound principles. And when you have such a plan and you have guys who can execute it with intensity, life becomes difficult for the opposition. Especially when, as happened Sunday, the opposition both fails to adjust and has a rough day in a 1-1 draw.

Divock Origi, standing in for Mohamed Salah, showed all his limitations though Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino also struggled up front. With Pereira harassing Fabinho and the full-backs pinned in their own half, there was little in the way of creativity from Liverpool. Klopp eventually made adjustments at the hour mark, sending on first Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and then Adam Lallana, but you were reminded once again that if the strikers aren't on song and you can bottle up the full-backs, this team has issues in the creative department. And the bench offers little solace: maybe a fit Xherdan Shaqiri, possibly a Naby Keita playing like the guy they thought he was when they signed him.

There was plenty of controversy around the United goal, though few would have argued they didn't deserve at least a draw. Whichever way you feel about Victor Lindelof's challenge on Origi prior to Rashford's goal, it's pretty evident that the Premier League's version of VAR doesn't help. This "high bar" nonsense, coupled with the league's decision never to have on-field reviews (supposedly to not "slow down the game"), means you have to put up with situations like this. The VAR is a no-name hiding in some basement somewhere in Stockley Park and the referee is one of the three best in the Premier League: does anybody really think he's going to have the guts to ask Mark Atkinson to take another look?

Nope, me neither, and that's the absurdity here. It was a subjective call -- I thought it was a foul, personally, but I can see how, in the context of this game, Atkinson might not give it -- and you have a different, far-less-experienced guy watching on TV hundreds of miles away rubber-stamping the decision. Rather than having the referee "own it," you're abdicating responsibility.

Klopp said postgame that Atkinson didn't give it because he knew there was VAR and VAR didn't give it because they didn't want to contradict Atkinson. I wouldn't go that far: Atkinson called it the way he would have called it last year, when there was no VAR, based on his experience and during a fast-paced match in full flow. That's his job. But not giving the very person who is in charge of the game a chance to re-evaluate -- especially since, as we're seeing, the VARs are absurdly deferential to the match official -- is silly and counterproductive. The final word on anything subjective ought to be with the referee.

So where does this result leave United? Better off than they were Sunday morning, especially in terms of confidence, both in themselves and in Solskjaer's ability to read a match, though I'm not sure this is a viable blueprint going forward: most teams won't approach games the way Liverpool did.

As for Liverpool, the streak ends at 17 straight wins from last season to this, but that was always going to happen. There were enough warning signs in previous games. The lack of creativity beyond the full-backs (and Firmino, if they can get him the ball) is something Klopp will want to address, however. Because as the campaign progresses, they're bound to run into more parked buses.

Warning signs galore for Real Madrid

Regular readers will know I'm less concerned by results than by performances, which is why Real Madrid's 1-0 defeat at Mallorca on its own isn't cause to pull hair and gnash teeth. Mallorca scored early and then hung on. Madrid, despite having eight players unavailable for reasons ranging from injury to fatherhood (Eden Hazard), created enough to win but failed to capitalize. While that's all true, that's also viewing the game through white-tinted spectacles.

Madrid's chances came about more through individual quality than any sort of cohesive play. They were out-hustled and outworked by Mallorca. Isco in a midfield two is a nice idea in theory, but not viable in practice. (You assume Federico Valverde, who played 180 minutes over the international break, was too fatigued to start, but his absence was certainly felt.) Luka Jovic and Vinicius Jr. looked like foreign objects, James Rodriguez didn't seize the opportunity in the playmaker "hole" and Alvaro Odriozola was poor even before his bone-headed sending-off.

So much for the B-team seizing opportunities.

"Every player needs to prove every match that they deserve to be here," said Zinedine Zidane afterwards. To some degree, it also applies to him. He needs to show this Madrid side can be molded into what it was three years ago, and he needs to do it quickly. Galatasaray away is never fun -- as Real must do in the Champions League this week -- and even less so when you're stuck with just one point from two games. From that vantage point, the postponement of next weekend's Clasico until December is a godsend.

Man City avoid the Palace trap

On paper, it was a trap game. After an International break and after a home defeat, Manchester City traveled to a counterattacking side with two central defenders injured (Aymeric Laporte and Nicolas Otamendi) and another only fit enough for the bench (John Stones). Guardiola opted to play two central midfielders, Rodri and Fernandinho, in central defence, with Joao Cancelo and Benjamin Mendy wide against Roy Hodgson's roadrunners of Jordan Ayew, Andros Townsend and Wilfried Zaha.

It worked and City won 2-0, though largely because Palace were awful until the final 20 minutes or so and because this City side still have so much going forward that they can outgun anyone. It's still far from ideal and Guardiola knows it. Expect them to pick up a centre-back in January, just to have an extra option. Because as good as Eric Garcia may look, if he can't get on the pitch in a game like this, he's not getting a game when Stones and Otamendi are fully fit.

Barca's front three have finally figured it out

Barcelona leapt back to the top of the table with a 3-0 away thumping of Eibar. But more than the victory -- not to be taken for granted against a side that had not lost in more than a month -- the big takeaway for Barca fans must be the performance of the front three. For the first time, the big guns all fired together.

Antoine Griezmann got on the scoresheet early (and added an assist later), Lionel Messi chipped in too and so did Luis Suarez, who scored in his fourth straight game. There's been a lot of talk about a lack of cohesion and a clash of egos among those three. Saturday showed that some of it might be exaggerated.

Juventus hold their nerve vs. Bologna

Juventus stayed top of Serie A this weekend despite being stretched by Bologna, who hit the crossbar and forced a tremendous last-ditch save from Gigi Buffon deep in injury time. That said, they played well, with Cristiano Ronaldo arguably turning in his best performance of the season in the 2-1 win and you can see Maurizio Sarri's concepts percolating into this side.

That said, a number of small things went their way, and not just when it comes to Bologna's late chances. Miralem Pjanic's winner was a gift from Bologna's defence, who failed to clear, while at the back Matthijs De Ligt once again showed he's still learning the trade. (That said, Bologna players were wrong when they appealed for a penalty after the ball hit his arm following a deflection off his leg. The Laws of the Game are quite explicit on this point: if there's a carom off the body to the arm and the arm is in a natural position, it's not a penalty.)

Enjoy the Bundesliga chaos while you can

We thought the top of the Bundesliga was a giant cluster-mess when there were seven teams separated by just two points. How about now, when there are (count 'em) nine (or, put it differently, the entire left-hand side of the table) within two points?

Hope springs eternal, sure, but when results back up your dreams, it's that much sweeter. You can say there's a long way to go but equally, after next week the Bundesliga season will be more than a quarter over and, right now, there's not much separating "the nine" on the pitch. Injuries and inconsistency are acting as great levelers. And the fact is that seven of those nine also finished in the top half of the table last season. Of the two who did not, you always expected Schalke to bounce back after last year's debacle and, as for Freiburg, well, Christian Streich has long been an imponderable witch doctor.

We'll get regression to the mean, we'll see the table thin out and things will go back to normal. At least, logic says they will. So for now, just enjoy it while it lasts...

A promising start for Pioli in Milan

A 2-2 home draw with newly promoted Lecce is nothing to write home about but Stefano Pioli can still take some comfort from Milan's performance on his debut. Two of the most criticised Rossoneri thus far, Hakan Calhanoglou and Krzysztof Piatek, got on the scoresheet, while Lecce scored via a penalty (fair, but somewhat unfortunate) that Gigi Donnarumma could only parry into Khouma Babacar's path and a late (and improbable) long-range strike.

Rafael Leao looked sharp, if a bit wasteful, leading the front-line before a muscular injury forced him to give way to Piatek. There was more bite in the midfield and Calhanoglou, especially, looked an entirely different player to the plodding midfielder we saw under former boss Marco Giampaolo. There's work to be done and it will take time to win over the fans -- the Ultras again mostly sat in silence and you can't blame them for their "wait and see" attitude -- but it's a first step forward. Under his predecessor, they weren't taking any steps, but merely sinking in quicksand.

Bayern have a defensive crisis on their hands

So much went wrong for Bayern in their 2-2 away draw with Augsburg: bad luck on the first goal, bad defending on the injury time equalizer and wasted chances in-between (including one by Thomas Muller, who came on as a substitute for the umpteenth time). But the worst news came in the injury department: Niklas Sule's cruciate injury will rule him out for most of the season.

Defensively, they are now a mess. Benjamin Pavard has been poor and Lucas Hernandez (he got roasted for the equalizer) hasn't been much better. Mats Hummels, of course, now plays for Borussia Dortmund. Javi Martinez hasn't played central defence consistently in years and, in fact, hasn't played consistently in years, period.) That leaves Jerome Boateng, himself a perpetual injury worry and a guy they spent much of the summer trying to offload.

The worst part of all? As one Bayern fan I know joked, it gives Niko Kovac an alibi...

Impressive Chelsea win their fifth straight

Chelsea made it five wins in a row in all competitions thanks to Marcos Alonso's winner late over Newcastle in the second half. The fact it took so long to break down Steve Bruce's side in the 1-0 win shouldn't be cause for concern. When your opponent parks the bus, stuff like this can happen. What has to be encouraging to Frank Lampard is his team's resilience in pushing for the winner and the fact that Callum Hudson-Odoi is already looking like the player many thought he might be.

So too, in his own way, is Christian Pulisic, albeit coming off the bench. Remember all the whining from some media about how Lampard wasn't giving him his chance and how Pulisic should seek a move in January? He's getting his chance now and he's taking it.

Napoli don't need Icardi. They've got magic Milik

Arkadiusz Milik bagged two goals as Napoli downed Verona, 2-0, but still the rumblings continue in some quarters about a "lack of cutting edge" and "finishing ability" and how Carlo Ancelotti ought to "get more out of Lorenzo Insigne." They even trot out the old nonsense about how they should have mortgaged the house to sign Mauro Icardi over the summer, because he's some kind of finishing savant.

The fact is, Ancelotti is rotating his front men and none have started more league games than Insigne. They may be fourth in Serie A right now, but they've also had to play Juventus away (hitting them for three goals) and, in Europe, they've beaten the current Champions League holders. How about we chill out a little?

As for Icardi, since finishing is his forte, you might want to note that over the past 15 months he has underperformed xG -- unlike, of all people, the much-maligned Milik.

Dortmund win, but still lose

Other than the result, there aren't too many positive takeaways for Borussia Dortmund this weekend. Marco Reus' second-half strike means they get the three points against Borussia Moenchengladbach, 1-0, but for long periods they were second-best and it took an absurd late save from Marvin Hitz (who came on for Roman Burki) to secure them.

On top of that, there's more grumbling in the camp. Jadon Sancho was dropped for returning late from international duty. With Paco Alcacer out, Lucien Favre played Reus up front instead of Mario Gotze, fueling further suggestion that the former Golden Boy is being marginalized.

Overall, it was Marco Rose's Gladbach who looked better equipped to challenge for the title: more personality, more verve and even more quality.

What's wrong with Tottenham?

These are tough times at Tottenham Hotspur. They've won just one of their last eight in all competitions and could easily have been on the losing end at home to Watford on Saturday. Instead, a late Dele Alli strike got them a point in a 1-1 draw but only because of the usual PL-style VAR nonsense. Jan Vertonghen clearly brought down Gerard Deulofeu and Watford should have had a penalty. Referee Chris Kavanaugh waved play on, and anonymous-VAR-man-in-Stockley-Park-basement didn't dare ask him to take another look. (You sort of get somebody being fearful of contradicting Atkinson, but Kavanaugh? Chris Freaking Kavanaugh? Really?!?)

Beyond that, there are two evident -- and worrying -- differences between this side and the one Mauricio Pochettino sent out for most of the past few years. One is the sharp decline in pressing, which used to be a Pochettino hallmark. The other is the shaky, fragile defence -- whether in a back four or a back three -- where once the Vertonghen-Toby Alderweireld partnership seemed to be the by-word of solidity.

The personnel has hardly changed, evidently the answer can be found somewhere between the manager and the squad.

Inter avoid collapse vs. Sassuolo

Inter stopped playing their long-time club anthem "Pazza Inter" ("Crazy Inter") before games, possibly to shed their long-standing flaky image. Sunday's performance at Sassuolo makes you wonder whether it isn't indelibly in their DNA. They dominated -- with the strike force of Romelu Lukaku and Lautaro Martinez turning in their best joint performance of the season -- and were 4-1 up with 20 minutes to go. But then Sassuolo pulled two back, making for another nervy ending of the sort Antonio Conte hates as Inter hung on to win 4-3.

I don't think there's a larger message here, other than individual errors -- especially from Valentino Lazaro, who came on and was horrendous... not sure we'll see this guy again -- and the fact that Sassuolo, like other smaller Serie A sides, are a footballing team who always play on the front foot. That means managing a lead, even a sizeable one, can be that much trickier.

You can write this off, cautiously, and instead focus on the growing chemistry between Lukaku and Lautaro or, as one paper called them, "Laukaku."

Gasperini overshadows Atalanta's wild weekend

Only Barcelona, Bayern and Manchester City have scored more league goals than Atalanta this season. Gian Piero Gasperini's free-scoring run continues and they're deservedly third in Serie A. On Saturday, they drew 3-3 with Lazio and Gasperini was furious with the match officials, especially with a penalty given for a pretty evident Ciro Immobile dive. (The dive wasn't Immobile's most embarrassing moment of the day: this was.)

He overstepped the mark with his comments (forgetting perhaps that Josip Ilicic won a similar penalty very recently in similar circumstances) and it's a shame that his post-match behaviour risks overshadowing the brilliance of his team's play.

And finally...

Bas Dost scored in Eintracht Frankfurt's 3-0 home victory over Peter Bosz's Bayer Leverkusen, a win that leaves them joint sixth in the table, eighth on goal difference, but just two points off the top. He has three goals in five Bundesliga appearances this season.

This concludes the latest instalment of #BasDostWatch.