WHEATLAND, Mo. – Larry Ferris took over the lead with eight laps to go and went on to victory in Friday’s Warsaw Auto Marine & RV ULMA feature, taking home $1,000.

The ULMA Late Models will have another full program on Saturday night at Lucas Oil Speedway, with $2,000 going to the winner.

Ferris rallied from a 10th-starting position and finished 1.09 seconds in front of fellow Nevada, Missouri, driver Johnny Fennewald who roared from 17th to second. Todd McCoin of Barnett was third.

“I knew I had a good car at the start of the race,” Ferris said. “We just kept picking them off one by one and got kind of bogged up in the middle of the race and we had that yellow. It was just what I needed.”

The race opened up when the front three – Dylan Hoover, Todd Shute and Kaeden Cornell – were waging a battle for the lead after a lap-16 restart when, after Cornell went from third to first, they got together in turn four.

That brought out a caution and ended the night for each of them.

“It’s been a while, especially over here. Those guys are pretty good,” Ferris said when asked if he’d seen a situation like what happened ahead of him. “It usually doesn’t happen like that.”

Lucas Cattle Company ULMA points leader Aaron Marrant started 21st, but rallied to finish sixth. He began the night 54 points in front of Henson, who wound up 18th.

The finish:

A Feature (25 Laps): 1. 51-Larry Ferris, 32:33.978[10]; 2. 21-Johnny Fennewald, 32:35.075[17]; 3. 7X-Todd McCoin, 32:42.352[7]; 4. 15S-Shane Essary, 32:42.675[11]; 5. 1X-Aaron Marrant, 32:43.697[21]; 6. 74-Jon Melloway, 32:45.065[15]; 7. 1T-Tucker Cox, 32:46.516[20]; 8. 7J-Ryan Johnson, 32:25.181[13]; 9. 96-Dalton Imhoff, 32:50.075[12]; 10. (DNF) 66T-Matt Becker, 32:42.618[19]; 11. (DNF) 15-John Aitken, 32:49.297[22]; 12. (DNF) 27-Derek Henson, 31:35.568[16]; 13. (DNF) 17-Daniel Jessen, 30:02.229[18]; 14. (DNF) 99-Dylan Hoover, 19:19.506[2]; 15. (DNF) 5-Todd Shute, 19:20.862[1]; 16. (DNF) 50-Kaeden Cornell, 19:21.349[3]; 17. (DNF) 31C-Cole Henson, 19:22.656[4]; 18. (DNF) 42H-Chad Richwine, 19:36.302[6]; 19. (DNF) OX-Jason Sivils, 19:03.668[23]; 20. (DNF) 16R-Rick Browm, 17:12.052[5]; 21. (DNF) 42L-Lane Ehlert, 09:42.718[9]; 22. (DNF) 16-Ashlee Lancaster, 09:45.174[14]; 23. (DNF) 6-Bob Cummings, 02:19.331[24]; (DQ) 0X-Justin Russell, 32:35.219[8]

JACKSONVILLE, Ill. – A fan favorite each time he rolls onto the surface at Jacksonville Speedway, California’s Rico Abreu dominated Friday night’s Built Ford Tough MOWA Sprint Car Series feature.

Abreu started outside of the front row and jumped to the early lead ahead of polesitter Jake Blackhurst, who had his night end early when he was involved in a front-stretch incident with Robbie Standridge.

The incident, which saw Standridge get upside down in front of the grandstands, brought out a red flag.

Upon returning to green flag conditions, Abreu proved his dominance by extending his lead over the field.

Mid-pack starters Buddy Kofoid and Joe B. Miller added excitement to the feature as they slowly worked their way towards the front, attempting to chase down Abreu.

But easily maneuvering through lapped traffic, Abreu set sail and never looked back, scoring his second MOWA win of the year over Kofoid, Hunter Schuerenberg, Miller and Logan Seavey, who won the POWRi midget feature.

Zeb Wise, making his first career 410 sprint car start, finished sixth after transferring through a B-main and charging forward from the 20th starting spot.

The Built Ford Tough MOWA Sprint Car Series ends its season with day two of the Short Track Championship weekend at Jacksonville on Oct. 5, featuring the Ron Milton Race of Champions.

The finish:

1. Rico Abreu (2), 2. Buddy Kofoid (8), 3. Hunter Schuerenberg (7), 4. Joe B Miller (3), 5. Logan Seavey (5), 6. Zeb Wise (20), 7. Skylar Gee (9), 8. Korey Weyant (11), 9. Cory Bruns (12), 10. Paul Nienhiser (15), 11. Joey Moughan (21), 12. Ayrton Gennetten (10), 13. Kyle Schuett (14), 14. Morgan Turpen (13), 15. Justin Standridge (16), 16. Zach Daum (22), 17. Mason Campbell (18), 18. Jacob Patton (19), 19. Jordan Goldesberry (17), 20. Jake Blackhurst (1), 21. Robbie Standridge (4), 22. Parker Price-Miller (6).

MECHANICSBURG, Pa. – David Gravel scored a clean sweep of Friday night’s Williams Grove Speedway National Open preliminary by setting quick time, winning his heat race and then leading flag to flag to pick up a $10,000 victory.

The win was the second of the year at Williams Grove for Gravel and his

Gravel and Cory Eliason started on the front row of the 25-lap main event and Gravel took command at the drop of the green, while Eliason made a few mistakes in the early going by jumping the fourth and first turn cushions, causing himself to fall backwards.

Third-starting Donny Schatz got by Eliason for second when he first hopped up over in turn four on the second lap.

The first of two caution flags unfurled moments later, when Kerry Madsen slowed with failed brakes.

Gravel out-gunned Schatz on the restart, while sixth-starting Lance Dewease took advantage of another slip by Eliason in the first turn and motored into third.

Gravel’s pace was slowed for the final time with five laps recorded, this time for oil on the race track.

Dewease ran Schatz up to the wall in the fourth turn as the pair headed for the completion of lap six, but Schatz maintained the second spot while Gravel jetted away.

After losing a little ground after his move failed, Dewease was back for another try, this time completing the pass in the fourth corner only to see Schatz drop off of the cushion and reclaim the spot at the line.

The front trio then settled in as the laps began clicking off, with Gravel entering the rear of the field just as Dewease began mounting more pressure on the 18th lap.

With Schatz now trying the low side through the third and fourth turns, Dewease went to the middle groove and drew to Schatz’s outside in the turns, to no avail.

But then when Schatz went high through the turns again with three laps to go, Dewease seized the moment and drove off of the bottom to take over the position.

By then, Gravel had amassed a more than comfortable margin, one that didn’t allow Dewease to get close, although he did cut down the advantage by the finish.

Gravel took the win by 2.377 seconds.

Dewease, Schatz, 2018 Friday winner Gio Scelzi and Aaron Reutzel followed Gravel to the finish line.

Sixth through 10th went to Danny Dietrich, Brian Brown, Daryn Pittman, Matt Campbell and Brad Sweet.

Dietrich locked up the 2019 Williams Grove track title with his run in the main event.

It is the first Williams Grove track championship for the Gettysburg driver and his car owner, Gary Kauffman.

Heats for the 53-car field went to Gravel, Pittman, Brown, Dewease, Reutzel and Scelzi.

Twin dashes went to Gravel and Eliason.

Trey Starks scored the D-main victory, Dylan Cisney won the C-main and Tim Shaffer took the B-main.

Gravel set fast time over the field with a lap of 16.206 seconds, just a tick shy of the pre-weight rule lap record of 16.140.

The finish:

1. David Gravel, 2. Lance Dewease, 3. Donny Schatz, 4. Giovanni Scelzi, 5. Aaron Reutzel, 6. Danny Dietrich, 7. Brian Brown, 8. Daryn Pittman, 9. Matt Campbell, 10. Brad Sweet, 11. Ryan Smith, 12. Cory Eliason, 13. Logan Schuchart, 14. Brian Montieth, 15. Ian Madsen, 16. Freddie Rahmer, 17. TJ Stutts, 18. Chad Trout, 19. Carson Macedo, 20. Bill Balog, 21. Brent Marks, 22. Shane Stewart, 23. Sheldon Haudenschild, 24. Jacob Allen, 25. Kraig Kinser, 26. Tim Shaffer, 27. Cory Haas, 28. Jeff Halligan, 29. Landon Myers, 30. Kerry Madsen.

Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood will be rested for a few more weeks following their workloads in the Ashes, but Test captain Tim Paine is fit to start the Sheffield Shield season for Tasmania after recovering from the broken thumb he sustained at The Oval.

Nathan Lyon will also miss New South Wales' opening game against Queensland at the Gabba, but he is expected to be available for the second match against Tasmania at the SCG in two weeks.

Mitchell Starc, David Warner and Steven Smith - the latter two making their first first-class appearance in Australia since January 2018 - will all play against Queensland, who in turn will have Usman Khawaja and Marnus Labuschagne in their strong top order. Paine will take the field against Western Australia in Perth.

Cummins was the only Australia quick to play all five Ashes Tests while Hazlewood, who was out of action for six months with a back injury, was there for four in a row after being recalled at Lord's. The first match of the season for both is likely to be the Marsh Cup outing against Tasmania on October 23 before Cummins focuses on the T20Is against Sri Lanka and Pakistan with Hazlewood, who is unlikely to be in the T20 plans, returning to the Shield against South Australia on November 1.

Starc is set to see the most Shield action of the New South Wales Test quicks over the next six weeks as he looks to force his way back up the pecking order having played just once in the Ashes. Australia's opening Test of the season is against Pakistan in Brisbane on November 21.

Sheffield Shield opening round matches
Queensland v New South Wales, Gabba
Victoria v South Australia, Junction Oval
Western Australia v Tasmania, WACA

LOS ANGELES -- Cain Velasquez is planning on stepping out of the Octagon and into the pro-wrestling ring for the foreseeable future.

Velasquez, the former two-time UFC heavyweight champion, is in advanced talks to sign with WWE, he told ESPN. He made a surprise appearance Friday on WWE SmackDown's FOX premiere at Staples Center, confronting Brock Lesnar in the closing moments of the show. Velasquez said he is not officially retired from the UFC, but pro wrestling is likely to be his focus right now.

Velasquez said no deal has officially been signed, and he has also been in discussions with other wrestling promotions, including upstart All Elite Wrestling (AEW) and New Japan Pro-Wrestling.

WWE could look to set up a blockbuster match between Velasquez and Brock Lesnar, also a former UFC heavyweight champion. Velasquez knocked out Lesnar to win the UFC belt in 2010. Coincidentally, Velasquez headlined the UFC's first-ever show on Fox in 2011 and Friday he was a major part of WWE's FOX premiere, walking to the ring with Rey Mysterio and hitting Lesnar with a double-leg takedown.

Velasquez, 37, debuted in pro wrestling in August with Mexico's Lucha Libre AAA. Velasquez, a Mexican American, is a celebrity in Mexico due to his UFC success and how he has marketed himself in that region. The 6-foot-2, 250-pound California native impressed at AAA's Triplemania show in front of 18,000 at Mexico City Arena, pulling off athletic moves that were unexpected for a man his size.

Last month, Velasquez had a second match for AAA at Madison Square Garden's Hulu Theatre and his ability once again turned heads. The MMA star has only been training full time in pro wrestling since June, at Pro Wrestling Revolution in San Jose, California. Velasquez has been doing it all with multiple torn ligaments in his left knee, an injury he sustained in a knockout loss to Francis Ngannou at UFC Phoenix in February.

Velasquez (14-3) is one of the most accomplished fighters in UFC history. He won the UFC heavyweight belt in 2010, and then again in 2012. Velasquez owns victories over the likes of Junior Dos Santos (twice), Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Lesnar. Injuries to his knees, back and shoulders marred his run atop the division. Velasquez has fought just three times since 2013. He dropped the heavyweight title to Fabricio Werdum in 2015 and rebounded to beat Travis Browne at UFC 200 in 2016.

In 2018, Velasquez trained at WWE's Performance Center to see if he could physically work a match in the ring. He drew rave reviews from coaches there, but things didn't work out at that time with WWE as far as a contract, and he ended up signing a short-term deal with AAA.

After his two appearances for AAA in August and September, Velasquez saw the interest in him heat up. WWE came back to the table.

"We've talked a little bit back and forth and nothing happened," Velasquez said. "They wanted to see my development. I think they're pleased with what I'm doing now."

Velasquez's interest in pro wrestling comes at a particularly busy moment in pro wrestling history. The emergence of AEW, owned by the Khan family, which also owns the Jacksonville Jaguars and Fulham FC, is the first major effort to enter a space dominated by WWE for 20 years. Additionally, WWE signed TV contracts to bring SmackDown to FOX and extend Monday Night Raw on the USA Network valued at over $1 billion.

Velasquez would join the likes of Lesnar and Ronda Rousey as former UFC champions in WWE. WWE also has UFC veterans Matt Riddle and Shayna Baszler under contract.

"This is definitely my focus," Velasquez said of pro wrestling. "My family is into it, they love it. They're super excited. I haven't seen them excited over something like this in a while. It's cool."

LOS ANGELES -- Stephen Strasburg turned in another dominant playoff outing, Max Scherzer overpowered Los Angeles for an inning out of the bullpen and the Washington Nationals held off the Dodgers 4-2 Friday night to even their NL Division Series at a game apiece.

Scherzer struck out the side in the eighth, but Washington's shaky bullpen still ran into trouble. Daniel Hudson labored through the ninth, loading the bases with two outs before striking out Corey Seager for the save. The tense final inning also included a twisting, falling grab by third baseman Anthony Rendon on Cody Bellinger's pop fly in shallow left field, as well as a gutsy intentional walk by manager Dave Martinez that brought the winning run to bat.

Game 3 is back in Washington on Sunday night, where Scherzer was expected to face major league ERA leader Hyun-Jin Ryu.

"I'm going to see how he feels tomorrow," said Martinez, adding Anibal Sanchez would start Sunday if Scherzer doesn't.

Pitching on the shortest rest of his career, Strasburg took a perfect game into the fifth inning while outdueling Clayton Kershaw. Strasburg pitched one-run ball for six innings and struck out 10, lowering his career postseason ERA to 0.64 -- the best in history for players with at least four starts. He edged out Dodgers great Sandy Koufax (0.95 ERA), who watched from the front row.

Rookie Will Smith broke up Strasburg's perfect bid with a two-out single. The three-time All-Star allowed his first earned run in 23 consecutive postseason innings dating to the 2014 NLDS against San Francisco and limited Los Angeles to three hits and no walks.

Scherzer came on for the eighth and punched out Gavin Lux, Chris Taylor and Joc Pederson on 14 pitches. The 35-year-old right-hander threw 77 pitches in the NL wild-card game Tuesday, yet he topped out at 99 mph in his fourth career playoff relief appearance.

"We weren't expecting that," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said.

Justin Turner led off the ninth with a ground-rule double off Hudson, spurring hope from a chanting, clapping sellout crowd of 53,086. A.J. Pollock struck out, and then Bellinger popped up to shallow left. Rendon misjudged the ball but recovered and made the catch while he tumbled over. The goateed All-Star smiled wide as he stood.

"The ball kept going and I kept thinking, 'Where the hell is our left fielder at?'" Rendon said. "He didn't call it so I knew I had to catch it."

Martinez intentionally walked Max Muncy, who hit a solo shot off Sean Doolittle in the seventh, before Hudson walked Will Smith to load the bases. Seager fouled off four fastballs before Hudson got him to swing over a slider.

Los Angeles struck out 17 times.

Strasburg was making the first start of his 10-year career on three days' rest. The right-hander tossed three shutout innings with two hits Tuesday night in a dramatic wild-card victory over Milwaukee, the first relief appearance of his career.

The Nationals took a 4-2 lead in the top of the eighth on Asdrubal Cabrera's pinch-hit RBI single.

Los Angeles finally scored in the sixth on Turner's sacrifice fly after Matt Beaty's pinch-hit single and Pederson's double. With the tying run at the plate, Pollock lined out to Strasburg to end the inning.

Until Smith broke through, the Dodgers' closest attempt at a hit came in the third when Kershaw's sinking line drive was grabbed by diving left fielder Juan Soto.

Kershaw ran into immediate trouble, with Trea Turner doubling on his first pitch of the game. After Adam Eaton popped out to third, Kershaw walked Rendon and hit Soto to load the bases. Howie Kendrick, who had two errors in a Game 1 defeat, followed with a run-scoring single.

The Nationals tacked on a pair of two-out runs in the second for a 3-0 lead. Kershaw hit Victor Robles leading off, and Robles got sacrificed to second by Strasburg. Eaton singled in Robles and Rendon followed with a double off the wall in center.

After the early damage, Kershaw settled down and gave up two hits over his final four innings.

The three-time NL Cy Young Award winner allowed three runs and six hits in six innings. He struck out four and walked one.

DUMPSTER DIVING

Lux's pinch-hit homer in Game 1 ended up in a right field trash can in the eighth inning.

The man who retrieved the ball told Lux how his first postseason homer bounced into the garbage.

"I'm like, 'You went dumpster diving for it? I guess I appreciate you doing that,'" Lux said. "Twenty years from now I can tell my kids, 'Hey, this ball was in the trash can.'"

UP NEXT

Scherzer has now pitched in consecutive playoff wins after his teams endured seven straight postseason losses with him on the mound. The three-time Cy Young Award winner was slowed by a back injury this season but brought a live arm Friday. He is 4-5 with a 3.83 ERA in 14 postseason starts and 17 appearances.

Ryu led the majors with a 2.32 ERA, earning his first All-Star nod. He was the NL starter in the game. The South Korean is 2-2 with a 4.11 ERA in seven career postseason starts. Los Angeles elected to start him on the road (4-4, 2.72 ERA in 15 starts) even though he was much better at home (10-1, 1.93 ERA).

NEW YORK -- The Yankees outpunched the Minnesota Twins in Round 1 of the American League Division Series.

The Bomba Squad might have edged the Bronx Bombers in their battle to become the all-time regular-season home run champions this year, 307-306, but the home team handed them a 10-4 loss in Game 1 of the ALDS on Friday night at Yankee Stadium, continuing a long run of postseason dominance over the Twins.

First baseman DJ LeMahieu homered and drove in four runs to lead the Yankees, who have now won 11 consecutive playoff games against Minnesota, dating back to 2004, their longest postseason winning streak against any single opponent. Minnesota has now lost an MLB-record 14 straight playoff games.

The Twins outhomered the Yankees 3-2 on Friday night, but New York hung in there with timely hitting to take the 1-0 series lead.

"We had a lot of opportunities to score with a lot of guys on base. We did a really good job against their pitchers," LeMahieu said. "It felt good to come through."

The Yankees also got key hits from veteran designated hitter Edwin Encarnacion and 22-year-old second baseman Gleyber Torres, who battled back from an 0-2 count to hit a go-ahead, two-run double in the fifth inning, after which the Yankees never looked back.

"That is a special thing about our team. We got I don't how many games, but we start to lose and we finish to win -- we are patient. We know what we got in our lineup," Torres said. "Just be patient, waiting for the opportunity. We got a few opportunities, we take advantage of the mistakes and all the really good at-bats everybody takes. And we win the night."

Yankees right fielder Aaron Judge offered his take on Torres' performance.

"I've been seeing that all year from GT, especially with guys on base -- he just finds a way to get the job done," Judge said. "I was at third right there, and he smoked that one down the line ... that was awesome. Great at-bat by him and just great poise. In a big situation like that, I could barely hear [third-base coach] Phil [Nevin] talking to me at third base -- and to do that at 22, it's impressive."

Encarnacion, who went 2-for-5 with two doubles and an RBI in his first game since Sept. 12 after suffering a left oblique injury, also preached patience as the recipe for success against Minnesota.

"We just stayed true to ourselves. We were patient and were able to control the strike zone, and that allowed us to come out with the victory," he said. "It was really important for us to get that first win against a team that can hit a lot of home runs, but we can do that too. And even though things started slow for us, we were able to stay patient and come out with the victory."

Teams that win Game 1 of a best-of-five postseason series have gone on to win the series 72% of the time (95-37).

The Yankees will send Masahiro Tanaka to the mound for Game 2 on Saturday, facing Twins rookie right-hander Randy Dobnak, who had had a meteroic rise after spending the past offseason as an Uber driver.

The chance to take a 2-0 lead had the Yankees clubhouse buzzing, even after the contest lasted 4 hour, 15 minute, the second-longest nine-inning postseason game in franchise history. The teams combined to use 13 pitchers.

"That'd be awesome," said outfielder Brett Gardner, who added a solo homer of his own. "It's nice to get this first one under our belt. We'll take things one day at a time, but tomorrow, another must-win game for us."

Judge agreed.

"First one's the biggest game. The first one's always the biggest game," he said. "It sets the tone for the series. Especially getting it here at home and putting up 10 runs. That's big. And it's going to carry on into tomorrow. We have to just get ready for tomorrow's game and keep it rolling."

AUSTIN, Texas – Record-breaking Texas heat couldn’t keep Ernie Francis Jr. from claiming his second consecutive pole position and fifth of the season at Circuit of The Americas during Trans-Am Series presented by Pirelli qualifying on Friday.

Wheeling his baby blue No. 98 Frameless Shower Doors Ford Mustang, Francis Jr. was the only driver to touch times in the 2:07s on the 20-turn, 3.426-mile circuit with a fast lap of 2:07.991 seconds.

The flying lap earned the defending TA champion an extra three points to the season-long championship battle, furthering his lead over second-place Chris Dyson.

“Feels great to be back on pole here at COTA,” said Francis Jr. “I really love racing around this track. I think we should have a really good result tomorrow to extend our lead in this championship.”

Piloting the same Pancho Weaver-built Dodge Challenger that Boris Said drove to victory two weeks ago at Virginia International Raceway, Adam Andretti edged out Dyson with a time of 2:08.630 for a second-place start in Saturday’s 100-mile feature.

Dyson, who was fastest in Friday morning practice, will start the race from row two.

“I am kind of disappointed because we had a really good run this morning, the car just wasn’t good in qualifying today,” Dyson said. “I thought for sure we were going to have a low 2:08s or high 2:07s, based on what we did this morning. We didn’t make any changes, but the car just didn’t respond this afternoon. I am a bit baffled frankly about where the handling ended up today.”

The extreme heat had no effect on Southern California native Cindi Lux in the No. 45 LuxPerformanceGrp/ BlackRockCoffee Dodge Viper as she claimed her first SGT class pole-position of the season.

Using the slipstream from Ken Thwaits’ Audi R8 to her advantage, Lux knocked off a flying lap of 2:17.371, edging out VIR SGT winner Aaron Pierce by two tenths of a second.

“I owe Ken (Thwaits) a beer,” Lux said with a grin. “He and I were just laughing about it in tech because he towed me down the straight away. It was a Hail Mary lap. I really didn’t think I had much for Aaron (Pierce) or Ken; those are two really fast cars. We just threw everything to the wind for the one lap. Right now I am feeling good, but qualifying to me is just one percent of the weekend, we still have to finish the race tomorrow.”

Hailing from the Trans-Am Series presented by Pirelli West Coast Championship, Joe Bogetich put his No. 65 Westover Controls Chevrolet Camaro SS on point in the GT class.

“It’s bumpy in places and super hot out there,” Bogetich said. “Tomorrow we race in the morning so we are hoping for a lot cooler temperatures. We are planning on holding on to this pole position to take the win.”

MARTINSVILLE, Va. – Friday’s festivities for the ValleyStar Credit Union 300 at Martinsville Speedway featured two different, but very distinct, aspects of competition: high speeds and high drama.

The speeds came courtesy of cool temperatures that led to the top eight qualifiers either tying or breaking the former track record of 20.100 seconds (94.209 seconds) set by Stacy Puryear in 2018.

Among those eight, Josh Berry was the fastest of all, earning his first ValleyStar Credit Union 300 pole with a lap of 19.927 seconds (95.027 mph) in the No. 88 All Things Automotive Chevrolet for JR Motorsports.

Not just because he won the pole, but because of the format change back to single-car qualifying from group qualifying, Berry was all smiles at the results of on-track activities at the Virginia paper clip.

“I do definitely enjoy this style of qualifying myself, way more than group qualifying,” Berry noted. “Hats off to Martinsville for all the changes they’ve made and how they’ve really worked hard on this event. We love this event. Dale (Earnhardt Jr., team owner) loves this event. We want to be here a long time.

“To see the speeds up … record speeds; that’s fun for all of us. We take pride in marks like that.”

In contrast, the drama was fueled by the return of the “top 20 lock-in rule,” which guaranteed that the fastest 20 drivers from two-lap qualifications start in positions one through 20 for Saturday’s feature.

That meant that while there were plenty of heavy-hitters who earned starting spots in the first 10 rows for the finale, there were even more drivers who will have to race their ways into the field.

Drivers from 21st on back will be split into a pair of 50-lap Last Chance Showdowns, which will take place Saturday afternoon prior to the 200-lap feature. The top 10 from each LCS will move into the field.

Matt Leicht was the first driver below the cut line, missing the automatic transfer by .014 seconds with his No. 2m Gear Headz Unlimited-sponsored machine. He’ll start on the pole of LCS No. 1.

However, that doesn’t mean Leicht has an easy road ahead, even though he said he has a fast car.

“I think I have a car that can win,” Leicht noted. “It’s just going to take a lot of luck. Everybody has to have luck to get around this place and not get wrecked. Last year, we got killed. We’re just going to keep our wheels and fenders on it and be there at the end.”

NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series racer Brennan Poole – driving a late model prepared by On Point Motorsports, his Truck team – was 22nd-quick in qualifying and will be the pole man in LCS No. 2.

Late model heavy-hitters Kres VanDyke and Jake Crum were 23rd and 25th, respectively, while Mike Looney could only muster the 27th-fastest lap in time trials, showing the true level of difficulty of making the Martinsville field.

Young gun Brenden Queen was 29th in the qualifying order, though he admitted he knew his No. 03 would struggle in time trials, as he had a two-barrel engine in the car instead of a four-barrel motor.

“Coming into a weekend where we expected to be 15th to 30th, due to us running the two barrel versus the four barrel, we knew qualifying would be a challenge,” Queen said. “I know our motor will race well, because it will keep the brakes on the car longer than four barrels will. We honestly shocked ourselves in practice, because we were 18th, and suddenly realized we might have a shot at the top 20 if we picked up a little bit.

“The only problem was that we pretty much ran the same lap time in qualifying that we ran in practice, and a lot of other people picked up.”

Despite starting fifth in his LCS, Queen knows that if he stays out of trouble, he’ll race in the big show. It doesn’t mean he’ll be free of nerves beforehand, however.

“If we had locked in, I’d be able to enjoy my night a lot more. I’d go to the hotel and relax and not have to worry about anything but showing up and racing tomorrow night,” Queen said. “But now we’ve got to come back and run a 50-lap heat race to make sure we’re in the show.

“It’s so stressful, because if you cut a tire or have any sort of mishap, you’re probably out,” he added. “We have to be pretty much perfect to move on, but I believe in this team. We can make the show.”

The contrast of emotions between those on the outside looking in and those locked into the field was unmistakable in the garage after qualifying, and duly noted by outside polesitter Layne Riggs.

“It’s a huge relief to be locked into the race,” Riggs said. “It takes all the pressure off and lets you breathe. At that point, you can just focus on what you need to do to get a grandfather clock.

“I’m sure glad I’m not one of the ones below the top 20. For them, it’s gonna be a long day tomorrow.”

ESPNcricinfo's live updates on the fourth round of Quaid-e-Azam Trophy matches. If the blog doesn't load for you straightaway, please refresh your page.