Bob Tasca’s back-to-back victories during the month of June and a later runner-up finish signaled that Ford is back in the NHRA Funny Car class in an aggressive manner.

It’s proof of a subtle but seismic shift in drag racing. The Funny Car class is showing the automaker diversity that was once Pro Stock’s claim to fame.

It’s debatable which chicken-and-egg scenario has the correct sequence, but the four-make rivalry either reflects the NHRA’s upward trajectory in a static motorsports landscape or is the cause of it.

For Mark Rushbrook, global director of Ford Performance Motorsports, this reunion, which started in 2018, ended a three-year hiatus. A more promising return-on-investment potential — a successful “two-way tech transfer” between racing and production vehicles — caught his eye.

“The world is always changing, especially the auto industry and definitely the motorsports world. At the time we exited, we didn’t see some of the things in NHRA that we necessarily wanted to see. We did see some things in other areas where we could go race and apply our resources and get that two-way transfer in a different way,” Rushbrook said. “NHRA changed, for sure — in the media, the broadcast and viewership. There was a lot of compelling data that Bob and the NHRA brought to us to show how things had changed. Initially, we said, ‘We’ve made our decision. We’re good.’ But as we looked at the data more, it opened our eyes and made sense — and here we are.”

Rushbrook said Ford’s Funny Car participation follows the mantra of all car manufacturers: “We’ve got to go out and win races and championships.” However, he added, “Part of our mission is two-way tech transfer. That means taking the same engineering tools and ideas we apply to our road cars and using them in racing.”

For Laura Pierce, general manager of motorsports and asset management for Toyota Motor North America, it’s an effort that integrates engineering and marketing personnel with the sport’s drivers.

Steve Beahm looks at it as targeted resourcing for a finite budget that pencils out for Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (Dodge/Mopar) with the Don Schumacher Racing quartet that has produced four series cham­pionships. And, like Pierce, Chevrolet spokeswoman Judy Kouba Dominick says the Bowtie Brigade values the sales and B2C opportunities.

“We’re a car company. We truly love motorsports. We’re committed in that arena. We love being involved. We love the excitement of being part of a race team and seeing our product on the track,” Pierce said. “The Camry has been the best-selling sedan for Toyota for 22 of the last 23 years. Camry’s kind of our bread-and-butter of vehicles in North America, so we’re always excited to get it on track. It’s always been a big seller.

“So we wanted to showcase it in the series. In the future, would we consider another car? I’m sure we would, but it’s the one we started out with and we’re very excited to have it performing on the track,” Pierce added. “Other manufacturers are pulling out of sedans — right now it’s a very big truck and SUV market. But Toyota is very committed to sedans. There’s a market for it. We are launching a TRD version of the Camry, in the Avalon. It looks really cool, and it ties into the motorsports/TRD vibe.”

Toyota frames its Avalon advertising appeal through a racing filter, calling it “our latest creation to earn the TRD badge.” Ads read, “Toyota Racing Development (TRD) applies its track-tuning expertise to Avalon for greater handling, thrilling performance and bold styling. It’s time to crank up your commute and turn heads wherever you go.”

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KANSAS CITY, Kan. – Daniel Hemric secured his first Busch Pole Award in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series with a scorching lap during qualifying Saturday at Kansas Speedway.

Hemric, driving the No. 8 Caterpillar Chevrolet, timed in at 30.329 seconds (178.047 mph) around the 1.5-mile oval to earn the top spot on the starting grid for Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400.

The effort was one that not only surprised many fans in attendance, but also surprised the driver himself.

“This is pretty special. I kind of just feel crazy,” admitted Hemric. “I got out of the car and I thought I’d be maybe fifth to eighth but man, these guys on this Caterpillar Camaro ZL1 have done a great job all year of no matter what’s thrown at us, kind of just rising to the occasion and showing back up at the race track every week ready to work.

“With all that going on, there’s so much going on around us that you can get lost in the distraction of things, but to know these guys have continued to have my back through all that stuff has meant the world to me, Hemric continued. “ECR and RCR have been doing a great job all year and it’s cool to be the guy to steer it around the line there and get the quick time.”

Hemric will be joined on the front row Sunday by David Ragan, who timed in second-quickest with a lap of 30.364 seconds (177.842 mph) with the No. 38 MDS Ford.

Ragan is retiring from full-time Cup Series competition at the end of the season.

Team Penske teammates Ryan Blaney and Brad Keselowski will share the second row of the grid, followed by Kyle Larson in fifth. Blaney and Larson are locked into the Round of 8 in the Cup Series playoffs by virtue of their wins in the last two Cup Series races.

Michael McDowell, Ryan Newman, Daniel Suarez, Austin Dillon and Bubba Wallace completed the top 10 on the grid Saturday afternoon.

Only three of the 12 remaining playoff drivers will start inside the first five rows on Sunday.

Martin Truex Jr. rolls off 11th, while Chase Elliott starts 14th and Alex Bowman qualified 16th. Former Cup Series champion Kyle Busch is on the outside of the ninth row in 18th.

Playoff drivers who qualified outside the top 20 include Clint Bowyer (21st), Denny Hamlin (23rd), William Byron (25th) and Joey Logano (29th).

Kevin Harvick, the 2014 Cup Series champion, saw his car fail pre-qualifying inspection three times on Saturday. As a result, car chief Robert Smith was ejected for the weekend and Harvick was not permitted to qualify. He will roll off last – 40th – for Sunday’s race.

The full starting lineup can be found below.

STARTING LINEUP: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series; Kansas Speedway; Oct. 19, 2019

1. Daniel Hemric
2. David Ragan
3. Ryan Blaney
4. Brad Keselowski
5. Kyle Larson
6. Michael McDowell
7. Ryan Newman
8. Daniel Suarez
9. Austin Dillon
10. Bubba Wallace
11. Martin Truex Jr.
12. Jimmie Johnson
13. Aric Almirola
14. Chase Elliott
15. Kurt Busch
16. Alex Bowman
17. Matt Tifft
18. Kyle Busch
19. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
20. Erik Jones
21. Clint Bowyer
22. Paul Menard
23. Denny Hamlin
24. Ty Dillon
25. William Byron
26. Chris Buescher
27. Matt DiBenedetto
28. Ryan Preece
29. Joey Logano
30. Landon Cassill
31. Corey LaJoie
32. Parker Kligerman
33. Ross Chastain
34. Reed Sorenson
35. Garrett Smithley
36. J.J. Yeley
37. Josh Bilicki
38. Timmy Hill
39. Joey Gase
40. Kevin Harvick

Danny Lee will head into Sunday tied for the lead at the CJ Cup, but his thoughts will no doubt be elsewhere.

Asked on Saturday how he and his wife might celebrate a potential victory, Lee told reporters:

"I was not going to talk about this until the end of the event. My wife was pregnant with our second child, who was due near Christmas. The baby was born premature last Sunday. I’m sorry. I can’t," he said, declining to speak further on the subject.

Per a report from PGATour.com, the Lees' second child "is currently in an incubator."

Lee, the 29-year-old Korean native who was born in Seoul, is seeking a follow-up to his lone Tour win at the 2016 Greenbrier. 

He jumped into a tie for the 54-hole lead via a three-shot swing late Saturday, when he eagled that 18th hole and Justin Thomas made bogey.

"As for that putt, frankly I wasn’t aiming for the hole," Lee said after the round. "I was just trying to get the ball to roll down the slope as slowly as possible, but it kept going." 

Jadon Sancho has been suspended by Borussia Dortmund coach Lucien Favre after returning late from international duty with England.

Sancho was not included in the Dortmund team for the match, and the club's official Twitter account posted that his exclusion was down to "disciplinary measures."

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Sancho, 19, featured in both of the Three Lions' Euro 2020 qualifiers this week, starting in the 2-1 defeat to the Czech Republic and coming off the bench in the 6-0 thrashing of Bulgaria -- a game marred by racist abuse aimed at England's black players.

As recently as Thursday Favre had spoken about Sancho, saying in a prematch news conference: "The expectations for Jadon are enormous, but that is dangerous."

The manager played coy on Saturday though, saying: "I no longer want to talk about it. Today is today and tomorrow is another day. We will not make it public."

Meanwhile, Dortmund's sporting director Michael Zorc said: "We have a responsibility for the club and, in this case, also for the hygiene of the squad.

"And therefore the decision was without an alternative. [Sancho] trained alone today and we'd like to think he'll be back against Inter.

"He is only suspended today. Jadon is a good lad, but he's very young and shot to the top. He might test his limits and that's why we decided to not call him up today."

This weekend's suspension does not mark the first time that Sancho's punctuality lapses have seen him clash with a Dortmund coach.

In the 2017-2018 season, his first in Germany, Sancho was demoted to the reserves by then-coach Peter Stoger for showing up late to training sessions on more than one occasion.

Dortmund boss Favre himself is under fire ahead of the match against league leaders Monchengladbach, with BVB drawing their last three league games 2-2 and dropping to ninth in the Bundesliga.

Having blown a nine-point lead at the top of the table last term, and after investing €125 million during the summer transfer window, Dortmund hoped to mount a title challenge this season. But as things stand, they could now face a tough fight to qualify for the Champions League.

Haringey Borough's fourth-round FA Cup qualifying fixture against Yeovil was abandoned on Saturday after the home side walked off the pitch following racist abuse aimed at their goalkeeper by away supporters.

Haringey goalkeeper Valery Douglas Pajetat told BT Sport that he had been racially abused by fans, and that they had thrown objects and spat at him.

The club tweeted after the match to confirm it had been abandoned. The post read: "Sorry for the late update but wanted to make sure we gave correct information.

"Game has been abandoned following racial abuse. Horrendous afternoon. It must be said that 99.9% of @YTFC fans are also disgusted by what's happened as much as we are.

"One club, one community."

Sorry for the late update but wanted to make sure we gave correct information.

Game has been abandoned following racial abuse. Horrendous afternoon.

It must be said that 99.9% of @YTFC fans are also disgusted by what's happened as much as we are.

One club, one community.

— Haringey Borough FC (@HaringeyBoroFC) October 19, 2019

Yeovil also tweeted in the aftermath of the game, where they said both sets of players had returned to the pitch in a "show of solidarity."

A spokesperson for the FA later tweeted: "We are deeply concerned about the allegation of discrimination from an area of the crowd towards a player during the FA Cup fourth-round qualifying match between Haringey Borough and Yeovil Town, which resulted in the fixture being abandoned.

"There is no room for discrimination in our game and we are working with the match officials and the relevant authorities, as a matter of urgency, to fully establish the facts and take the appropriate steps."

The incident comes days after England players suffered racial abuse during their Euro 2020 qualifier against Bulgaria in Sofia.

Gareth Southgate's players initiated a three-step FIFA protocol in that fixture, but opted not to walk off the pitch.

LA Galaxy forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic has said Jose Mourinho is "still the Special One," but continued his long-standing criticism of Pep Guardiola.

Ibrahimovic spent a total of 18 months working with Mourinho at Inter Milan and later Manchester United, winning a Serie A title in Italy and later a Carabao Cup and Europa League at Old Trafford.

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Despite huge success in the early part of his career, Mourinho has won just two league titles since 2010 and failed to reach a Champions League final since winning the Treble with Inter that season. However, Ibrahimovic has backed the Portuguese manager to rediscover his winning touch.

"We still stay in touch, he had an incredible impact on my career," Ibrahimovic told La Gazzetta dello Sport. "He is still the Special One -- a winner.

"I hope he returns to a bench soon and I am certain he will win straight away."

Ibrahimovic's first spell with Mourinho ended in 2009 after 12 months when he signed for Guardiola at Barcelona, and the Swede has been regularly critical of Guardiola since.

"We never had a confrontation, only down to him," Ibrahimovic said of Guardiola. "When we faced each other, he hid from me.

"I went back to the dressing room after the game and he was in a room waiting for me to leave. At the door, one of his assistants told him: 'Ibra has gone, you can come out now.'

"He is phenomenal manager, but as a man..."

Ibrahimovic, 38, also refused to rule out a return to Italy and suggested he would become an immediate fan favourite should he join Napoli.

"I would like to go to a team which is aiming for the title, I can still make the difference," he said. "I am not a zoo animal which people come to see, I can score 20-plus goals."

He added: "After watching the recent documentary about [Diego] Maradona, I'd be quite keen to experience Napoli, maybe replicate what Diego achieved.

"With me, San Paolo would always be full and [Carlo] Ancelotti is a great manager. But the final decision would be depend on several things."

Zimbabwe Cricket has avoided what its board chairman Tavengwa Mukuhlani called a "disastrous," situation by being reinstated as a Full Member of the ICC. Zimbabwe were let back into the fold after satisfactorily showing the ICC there was not outside influence in the running of its board.

ZC was banned in July for government interference into cricket administration. But following a meeting with the ICC top brass, Mukuhlani and the Zimbabwe Sports Minister Kirsty Coventry were able to remedy the situation.

As a result, Zimbabwe will regain access to ICC funds and their teams will be back playing ICC tournaments.

"It's obvious that any further sanctions to what has been in place would have been disastrous in the country." Mukuhlani said at a press conference in Harare on Thursday. "This means we will be able to settle outstanding salaries and match fees. We will now be able to run our domestic competitions while a lot of other development programmes already in place can continue.

"The ground for the future way in Zimbabwe Cricket will be debt-free and will not struggle to pay salaries, in future way our core business will thrive and see us consistently thrive for doing well in major global tournaments and series across all formats of the game."

Thank you @ICC .There is a lot a relieved people in Zimbabwe.
Thank you to @ZimCricketv Chairman the @ZimbabweSrc Chairman and the Honourable Sports Minister @KirstyCoventry for their combined efforts throughout this process. https://t.co/Vzx4ByOBcY

— Brendan Taylor (@BrendanTaylor86) October 14, 2019

ZC has had a lot of trouble becoming self-sufficient. It has previously been unable to pay its staff and has also been hit by player protests over non-payment of match fees. Much of this is because of an inability to generate enough revenue even while hosting international cricket, which is why ZC was keen to get back into the ICC fold and be eligible to share in the profits made by the global governing body.

Zimbabwe's players, meanwhile, were happy to hear the news that they'll be back at work soon.

Former captain Brendan Taylor and fast bowler Kyle Jarvis, who recommitted to his country after being a long-time first-choice pick in the English county circuit, tweeted their approval of the ICC's decision, while Mukuhlani said "Our men's team will join the ICC Super League from 2020 [the qualifying tournament for World Cup 2023] where they are considerably busy, counting down with the number of tours that are already lined up, starting with the home series against Sri Lanka sometime in January."

Taylor, Jarvis and their team-mates now face a different challenge with Mukuhlani suggesting big changes are on the cards and that "no one is permanent in this team."

2 years ago I moved back to play for @ZimCricketv loads of ups and downs but couldn't be happier where I am ! pic.twitter.com/NvVbdxQHwp

— Kyle Jarvis (@KyleJarv89) October 19, 2019

"We have to have a culture of people who will fight to be in the team, and when they get the chance, they cherish and make the best of that chance," the ZC chairman said. "We are not going to continue to have a situation where we have the same faces and the same results.

"We are obviously not looking to make wholesale changes as we definitely need some of the experienced to help the new generation find their feet in international cricket. While we are organising more games for our national teams across age-groups, we are also stopping at nothing to make sure our first-class and domestic competitions remain strong and competitive."

The men's senior team continued playing even during the three months their board had been suspended largely because they still had the right to arrange bilateral series with other cricket boards. That is how they went to play in Bangladesh, where veteran batsman Hamilton Masakadza wrapped up his international career. Mukuhlani said his focus was now to find more such top-class players at the grass-root level and bring them up.

"Club and age-group and school cricket are a vital part of this ZC. Our club structure is in a bit of disarray, we need to rearrange our club cricket, we need to relook at our age-groups, we need to relook at our schools cricket."

"We have a very good team and definitely Karnataka is a very strong side."

It's odd to hear those words from Vinay Kumar, talking of his team playing against Karnataka. It's odder still when you realise he's going to occupy the 'away' dressing room at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. The anomaly is complete with Jagadeesh Arunkumar standing beside Vinay, as the 'away' coach against Karnataka at the Chinnaswamy.

Before the current domestic season began, Puducherry pulled off a coup of sorts by not only hiring Arunkumar as coach, but also roping in Vinay as one of their three professional players. They wouldn't have known then, that the combination that took Karnataka to an unprecedented double-treble - of the Vijay Hazare Trophy, Ranji Trophy and Irani Trophy - from 2013 to 2015, would end up facing their former team at the first available opportunity in the 2019-20 domestic season.

Puducherry steamrolled their opposition in the Plate Group, earning a quarter-final spot against the Group A and B toppers, which turned out to be Karnataka. And now, the two men who were front and centre of Karnataka's two most glorious years, will be plotting their downfall.

"I never thought I was going to play against Karnataka," Vinay said on the eve of their quarter-final. "But it's cricket. We just need to play to win. I'm looking at it as one more game. Definitely there will be a lot of emotion involved, but when it comes to business, it's business. I never thought that I would be playing so soon against them in an important game. It's a bit similar to how in the IPL and KPL, my close friends could be in the opposite teams but we needed to win that game."

Karnataka are the heavyweights and the favourites, but in Puducherry, they have an opponent with tools uniquely fitted to cause a flutter of worry. Vinay has performed better at the Chinnaswamy than he has overall, and both he and Arunkumar know not just the ground, but the opponent, inside out. Vinay's first-class average at the Chinnaswamy is 21.46, against a career figure of 23.53. In List A matches, he averages 18.60 at an economy rate of 5.14. Those figures would read even better without the only ODI he's played there, where he conceded 102 runs in nine overs for one wicket. His overall List A average and economy rate are 24.19 and 4.81. The last time Vinay played at Chinnaswamy, he almost took Karnataka to victory over Saurashtra in the Ranji Trophy 2018-19 semi-final, having put in his most inspired bowling performance of an otherwise sub-par bowling season, only for Cheteshwar Pujara to get a lucky break in their fourth-innings chase.

"It's a bit of an advantage because you know these players really well," Arunkumar said. "(Devdutt) Padikkal even played for my team in the KPL. But the execution is very important. Usually, if you plan too much it doesn't work."

"I know about their weakness and they know about mine," Vinay said, while Arunkumar joked about whether Vinay actually had any weaknesses.

S Aravind, who is now the Karnataka bowling coach but bowled alongside Vinay for several years and worked under Arunkumar, said it was bittersweet facing old friends. "We have to look at them as opposition now. There'll be a healthy competition," Aravind smiled. "As friends, we are in touch, but during the game, we are in different units."

One of the aces up Karnataka's sleeve is captain Manish Pandey. He has been in sublime touch through the tournament, and has looked like he belongs to a level above the one he's currently competing in every time he has stepped out to bat. And both Vinay and Arunkumar know that they will need to neutralise Pandey.

"He's performed in every game. I've been watching his scores and he's doing superbly," Vinay said. "Being a captain and performing like that shows his calibre, and you can see the difference in the team - they've ended up top of the group."

Arunkumar focussed on the fact that it was a one-ball game for batsmen. "In the end, it just takes one ball, one mistake, or one brilliant catch," he said. "Throughout all our league games, we've got all teams all out within 40 overs [Puducherry bowled their opponents out in all seven games they had a full bowling innings in, but three of the teams lasted beyond 40 overs]. It shows how commendable our bowling unit is. Our medium pace department is fantastic, and I think we have some of the best spinners in the country.

"He (Pandey) is playing his natural game as captain, (but) there will be a bit of pressure now since it's a quarter-final. Like I said, it's just a matter of one ball."

Vinay will have potentially 60 of them with his new team, to overturn the fortunes of his old one.

Netherlands 140 for 6 (Ten Doeschate 59, Frylinck 3-25) beat Namibia 96 all out (Williams 27, Glover 3-15, van Meekeren 3-16) by 44 runs

Netherlands became the first team at the T20 World Cup Qualifiers to win their first two games, defeating Namibia by 44 runs to move to the top of the Group A points table, albeit temporarily.

Paul van Meekeren, the Netherlands medium-pacer, followed up his three-for on Friday with another three-wicket haul today. His dismissals of Namibia's top-scorer Craig Williams for 27, JJ Smit and Zhivago Groenewald ensured that he raised his hands for another Player-of-the-Match Award.

Namibia were bowled out for 96 in 19 overs, chasing 141 for victory. Van Meekeren was assisted by three wickets from Netherlands pacer Brandon Glover, who ran through the Namibia lower-middle order, and two scalps from left-arm pacer Fred Klaassen.

That Netherlands reached 140 in the first innings was courtesy their No. 5 Ryan ten Doeschate. The veteran struck 59 after Netherlands were reduced to 66 for 4 at one stage, collecting four fours and a six in his innings. Namibia's left-arm seamer Jan Frylinck had taken three top-order wickets to rattle Netherlands early, and it seemed that Netherlands may struggle to cross 120, but a late burst from ten Doeschate and wicketkepeer Scott Edwards (six-ball nine) took them to 140. It was eventually more than enough, with Namibia suffering a big loss in their opening match of the competition.