BLOOMINGTON, Minn. — Red Bull is ruthless when it comes to its young driver program and with the drivers who graduate to Formula One.

Just ask Scott Speed, the last U.S. driver to compete full time in F-1. Driving for Red Bull’s junior team Scuderia Toro Rosso, he took part in 28 F-1 races from 2006 into ’07 before being released from his contract midway through his second season. He is one of many to not be retained by Red Bull.

Red Bull’s backing can help a driver win many races and F-1 world championships, plus millions of dollars. Just ask Sebastian Vettel, who replaced Speed at Toro Rosso and won four world titles with the senior Red Bull team.

Red Bull sometimes gives drivers second or even third chances. Daniil Kvyat, who drove for Toro Rosso in 2014, was moved up to Red Bull in 2015 and stayed with the team for the first four races of 2016 before being sent back to Toro Rosso for the rest of the season. It was none other than Max Verstappen who replaced Kvyat at Red Bull and promptly won his first race, in Spain, with the team.

Kvyat stayed at Toro Rosso for most of 2017 but was dropped with four races to go and replaced by Pierre Gasly. After he spent 2018 working as a Ferrari simulator driver, Kvyat was hired again by Toro Rosso for the 2019 season.

Gasly is the latest driver to not meet Red Bull’s expectations. After 12 races this season, Red Bull officials decided Gasly was not performing well enough at the senior team and demoted him back to Toro Rosso. Alexander Albon, a rookie with just 12 starts, was promoted from Toro Rosso to Red Bull.

It’s significant that Red Bull chose Albon over the more experienced Kvyat, but that does not mean the latter might not get yet another chance.

“Red Bull is in the unique position of having four talented F-1 drivers under contract who can be rotated between the (main) team and Toro Rosso,” the team said in a statement. “The team will use the next nine races to evaluate Alex’s performance in order to make an informed decision as to who will drive alongside Max in 2020.”

If Albon struggles, Kvyat could replace him. Albon has shown a lot of potential this year, but it is going to be a huge challenge for him to go up against the talented and very fast Verstappen as a teammate.

“Good luck to Alex; he’s arrived in F-1 in great style but will need every tool and trick in the F-1 drivers’ repertoire to survive in Max’s lair with the star maker/grim reaper forensically observing his data,” former F-1 driver turned TV commentator Martin Brundle said. “Commiserations to Pierre, but he rides again and is still in the game.”

Verstappen won two of the first 12 races this season. He had two thirds, a second, five fourth places and 181 points. Gasly’s best finish was fourth and he had just 63 points. That certainly is not up to Red Bull standards, but can Albon do anything better having been thrown in to the deep end?

For Red Bull’s racing programs, it is a case of many are called, some get to stay and even fewer get to win.

The star, of course, is Vettel who won those four titles before moving to Ferrari in 2015. The other race winners are Mark Webber, Daniel Ricciardo and Verstappen.

Red Bull was all set to have the latter two proven race winners on the team for the 2019 and ’20 seasons. But Ricciardo made the surprise decision in August of last year to switch to Renault. That left Red Bull in its current scramble to find a replacement for Ricciardo.

As for the rejects, Red Bull’s racing adviser Dr. Helmut Marko estimates about 90 percent of them end up with other rides in everything from F-1 to IndyCar, sports car racing, Germany’s DTM, Formula E and other series.

So being dropped from Red Bull’s F-1 program is certainly not the end of the racing road. After Speed left Toro Rosso in 2007, he moved on to NASCAR, driving for Team Red Bull, Whitney Motorsports and Leavine Family Racing. Then, competing in Global Rallycross with Andretti Autosport where he won titles in 2015, ’16 and ’17.

MONTEREY, Calif. – Team Penske and Hitachi Group will continue their sponsorship agreement during the 2020 NTT IndyCar Series season.

Building on a relationship that first began in 2012, Hitachi and Team Penske have agreed to an extension that ensures the global technology, electronics and automotive company will remain a key collaborator with the team.

Under the new agreement, the black and white Hitachi branding will continue to adorn the No. 2 Dallara/Chevrolet IndyCar driven by 2017 series champion Josef Newgarden. Hitachi will be the primary sponsor on the No. 2 Chevy for eight races in 2020, while the company will once again be featured as an associate sponsor on all Team Penske cars competing in the IndyCar Series.

“We are proud to continue our partnership with Hitachi and build on the success we have enjoyed together over the last eight seasons,” said Roger Penske. “Hitachi has been such an important partner for our IndyCar program and we also utilize their technology and services across many of our Penske Corporation businesses away from the track.”

Newgarden has produced three of his four wins this season while driving the Hitachi-sponsored Chevrolet.

“We’ve had a great season with Hitachi and everyone at Team Penske is looking forward to finishing the year strong with them on Sunday,” said Newgarden. “The support Hitachi provides to our team is so valuable and we see that in the results on race weekend. We can’t wait to build on that momentum with Hitachi in 2020.”

After joining forces with Chevrolet to provide the direct fuel injection systems for the Chevy IndyCar engines, Hitachi first began competing with Team Penske during the 2012 IndyCar Series. The following season, Hitachi expanded its presence to become a primary sponsor with the team.

Hitachi experienced its first series win as a primary sponsor in 2014 when Helio Castroneves drove the Hitachi Chevy to victory lane in Detroit. The company has been a part of numerous wins, Indianapolis 500 victories and series championships as a valued Team Penske partner.

“Hitachi is thrilled to announce the continuation of our partnership with Team Penske for the 2020 IndyCar Series season,” said Toshiaki Higashihara, President & CEO, Hitachi, Ltd. “Hitachi and Penske Corporation envision this partnership to be a catalyst for innovation within the transportation industry. By combining Penske’s world-class industrial expertise with Hitachi’s industry-leading IoT and data analytics solutions, we can advance this sector in a way that will generate value for both our customers and society at large.”

HOCKENHEIM, Germany – Loris Hezemans will be the man to beat on Oct. 5-6 in the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series Finals at Belgium’s Circuit Zolder.

The Hendriks Motorsport driver grabbed his fourth consecutive ELITE 1 win of the year Sunday at the Hockenheimring in an exciting dash to the checkered flag that saw him beat Nicolo Rocca by .203 seconds.

The Dutchman also stretched the championship lead he took over after Saturday’s race to 21 points over Rocca, making it a perfect weekend for Hendriks Motorsport. The team took three wins out of four races at the NASCAR GP Germany.

When polesitter and race leader Alon Day was sidelined by a technical problem in his No. 54 CAAL Racing Chevrolet SS on lap three, his teammate Thomas Ferrando was the quickest to take advantage of the moment and grabbed the lead. Hezemans was too strong for the Frenchman, and moved past the No. 27 CAAL Racing Mustang two laps later. He then fended off every attack from a charging Rocca brought in the remaining 15 laps until the checkered flag dropped.

Rocca fought hard to catch Hezemans, but had to settle for second when a couple of door-to-door battles were not enough for the PK Carsport driver to pass the Flying Dutchman.

“It’s been a great feeling to win the second race here at the Hockenheimring,” said Hezemans. “It wasn’t easy as Alon was driving very well until his car broke down. Hopefully he can compensate that at Zolder. When Alon slowed down Rocca and I were a little bit surprised, but then we saw Ferrando take the lead and I was thinking: ‘Wow, we gotta go!’ The team did a great job and we find a great way to have a fast car. In Zolder it’s all about bringing the car home and win the championship.”

Racers Motorsport’s Gianmarco Ercoli carved his way up to third after an intense battle against Racing Engineering’s Romain Iannetta and RDV Competition’s Frederic Gabillon, who closed the top-five.

Ioannis Smyrlis won the Challenger Trophy in the first NASCAR Whelen Euro Series weekend of his career. The Marko Stipp DF1 Racing driver edged Kenko Miura and Henri Tuomaala in the championship for bronze and silver drivers of the ELITE 1 Division.

ENSENADA, Mexico – Running a relatively conservative pace over a rugged, dusty, tight and twisty race course, third-generation veteran SoCal desert racing champion Ryan Arciero roared to the overall and SCORE Trophy Truck race victory Saturday in the inaugural Lucerna SCORE Baja 400.

The race on a characteristically challenging, intensely rugged 390-mile course started and finished in front of the historic Riviera del Pacifico Cultural Center in the heart of Ensenada.

Arciero, 46, recorded a hard-fought penalty-free winning time 8 hours, 26 minutes and 32 seconds while averaging 46.20 mph in his No. 32 Levi Arciero Racing Ford F-150 built by Herbst-Smith Fabrication.

It was Arciero’s fourth SCORE Trophy Truck race win and first since 2004, when he won the SCORE Baja 500 with Mark Miller.

When the final checkered flag waved, a total of 189 vehicles left the start line early Saturday morning with racers from 25 U.S. States and eight countries. When the course closed at 3:58 a.m. PT on Sunday, there were 146 official finishers for an unusually high 77.25 finishing percentage, especially considering the difficulty of the race course.

The results were made official following complete data tracking review of the devices on each vehicle in the event late Sunday morning.

“It was a great race for us,” said Arciero. “We started in the middle of the Trophy Truck field and I knew Andy McMillin was just two trucks in front of us. I used Andy as a guide for most of the race. Everything was smooth for us today and the new Joe Gibbs Racing motor was sensational. Great power and we have NASCAR guys in off-road which is a super crossover in the sport. We didn’t quite know where we stood overall with so many trucks bunched up and running very close.”

“The dust made it tougher for the SCORE Trophy Trucks and we just had to work our way through the field as best we could. I’m excited that my dad (Frank Arciero Jr.) could make it down to this race too. He got me started in the sport and it’s fun to celebrate an overall win with him. We knew we needed a good finish for the starting position in the upcoming SCORE Baja 1,000. And we couldn’t have done better than taking the victory today.”

Joining Arciero on the podium were San Diego’s Andy McMillin, who won the first two races of the 2019 SCORE World Desert Racing Championship, and Mexico’s Gustavo Vildosola Jr.

Besides podium finishers Arciero, McMillin and Vildosola, all of the top 19 overall four-wheel vehicle finishers were SCORE Trophy Trucks.

SCORE Trophy Truck had a race-high 36 vehicles, including seven in SCORE TT Legend for drivers over 50, start the race.

All among the top 19 overall four-wheel vehicle finishers after penalties were assessed, fourth in SCORE Trophy Truck was Robby Gordon, fifth was brothers Alan, Aaron and Rodrigo Ampudia, sixth was Justin Lofton, seventh was Cameron Steele and eighth in class was Las Vegas’ B.J. Baldwin.

Finishing ninth in SCORE Trophy Truck and overall four-wheel vehicle was Chris Miller and 10th was Ricky Johnson.

Riding the No. 1x Honda CRF450X, Justin Morgan, and his three-rider team raced to the overall motorcycle victory for his seventh consecutive overall motorcycle win in the SCORE World Desert Championship.

The trio crossed the finish line in 8:32:30 with an average speed of 45.66 mph. Morgan split the riding with Mark Samuels and Ricky Dietrich.

Defeating 20 starters in his class and 34 total UTVs to win the overall UTV win title in this year’s race was veteran racer Wes Miller with a winning time of 10:00:50 in his No. 2975 Polaris RZR XP4 Turbo. He also won his Pro UTV FI (Forced Induction) class.

Second generation SCORE desert racer Cody Parkhouse captured the unlimited Class 1 victory while finishing 21st overall among four-wheel vehicles in the No. 127 Chevy-powered Jimco open-wheel desert race car. His winning effort was completed in a penalty-free 9:12:02 (42.39 mph). He defeated 10 starters in his class.

After three races, there remain three unbeaten racers in their respective classes for this season. Leading the group is the Morgan team (Pro Moto Unlimited). The other three-time 2019 two-wheel class winner is Giovanni Spinali in Pro Moto 50. Spinali’s teammates were Earl Roberts, Troy Pearce and John Griffin.

Pro Quad San winner Said Sanchez won again to remain unbeaten in the SCORE World Desert Championship this season.

Driving as a substitute driver for Clyde Stacy, former SCORE Class 8 season point champion Nick Vanderwey won SCORE TT Legends class for SCORE Trophy Truck drivers over 50 years old for the second straight race.

In a class with 25 starters, winning the Trophy Truck Spec class for the first time was Jorge Sampietro, Ensenada, Mexico in the No. 298 Mason-Chevy. He finished the race with a class-winning time 9:30:24 (41.02 mph).

Besides Stacy/Vanderwey in SCORE TT Legend, winning for the second time in three races in the SCORE World Desert Championship were: Kaden Wells (Pro UTV NA), Freddie Willert (SCORE Lites), Edward Muncey (Baja Challenge), Marco Pena (Pro Moto Limited) and Jason Trubey (Pro Moto 40).

MONTEREY, Calif. – Rinus VeeKay might not have won this year’s Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires championship, but he certainly demonstrated his class this weekend at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.

VeeKay claimed a weekend sweep at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, securing two pole positions, two race wins and two fastest race laps, and on Sunday he again led all 30 laps en route to an emphatic victory for Juncos Racing.

After tying up the championship Saturday for Andretti Autosport, Oliver Askew finished second in Sunday’s 18th and final round. Toby Sowery completed an impressive final phase of the season by finishing third for HMD Motorsports/Team Pelfrey.

Significantly cooler conditions this morning made not a lot of difference to VeeKay, who capitalized on his pole position to take the lead as the field headed uphill past the pits and then downhill into the heaviest braking area of the track at turn two, the Mario Andretti Hairpin. A good start by Sowery from third on the grid briefly elevated him to second place, but Askew was having none of it and promptly drove around the outside at turn two, keeping his nerve and then sneaking back into second place at turn three.

VeeKay and Askew traded fastest laps during the first seven laps before VeeKay turned the best lap of the race at 1:16.4032, an average speed of 105.451 mph on Lap Seven. He then carded another 1:06.51 on his next time around the 2.238-mile road course to finally eke out a significant margin for the first time.

A series of consistently fast laps enabled VeeKay to stretch his advantage to over three seconds by lap 20, by which time the game was clearly up for Askew, who settled for second place and eventually took the checkered flag almost six seconds behind his rival.

The victory was VeeKay’s sixth of the season and his 15th in total on the Road to Indy in the span of just three years.

“The Juncos team gave me a great car and I had a good start, though Oliver was good with the push-to-pass,” said VeeKay. “I’ve learned a lot about tire management and that really came into play today. It was great to win the little battle with Oliver today, to end up with more Road to Indy wins than he has. But the Road to Indy has taught me so much. Everything I’ve learned is what I will take to IndyCar, and I can show them what the Road to Indy means to drivers. I’m so happy, it is the best way to end the Road to Indy for me. I knew the championship was not to be this weekend so to take both wins means a lot. It shows the IndyCar teams what I can do.”

The finish:

Rinus VeeKay, Oliver Askew, Toby Sowery, Robert Megennis, Ryan Norman, Dalton Kellett, David Malukas, Lucas Kohl.

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- The Sabres have assigned rookie forward Arttu Ruotsalainen to Ilves of the Finnish Elite League, part of a series of roster moves made 11 days before they open the season.

The 21-year-old Ruotsalainen was an undrafted free agent who signed an entry-level contract with Buffalo in March after spending the past two years playing for Ilves. He is a promising prospect who had a team-leading 21 goals and 42 points last season.

The Sabres also demoted 14 players to Rochester, their American Hockey League affiliate. Forward C.J. Smith and goalie Andrew Hammond must first clear waivers before they can report to the minors.

Buffalo has two preseason games left before opening the season at Pittsburgh on Oct. 3.

VIRGINIA WATER, England - Danny Willett won a European Tour event on home soil for the first time in his career with a three-shot victory at the BMW PGA Championship.

The 31-year-old Englishman finished three strokes ahead of nearest challenger Jon Rahm in the final round.

Willett shot a 5-under 67 to finish at 20 under overall and collected his seventh European Tour title. He dropped only one shot Sunday on the par-4th 11th, which could have been much worse.

Rahm shared the overnight lead with Willett and finished second after a 2-under 70.

Rory McIlroy followed up his third-round 65 with a 67 to finish tied for ninth.

Nelly Korda didn’t leave Europe without a trophy after all.

A week after Korda and the Americans were defeated by the Europeans at the Solheim Cup in Scotland, Korda romped to her first Ladies European Tour title.

With a 4-under-par 67 in blustery conditions Sunday, Korda won the Lacoste Ladies French Open by eight shots.

“Conditions were tough, but I tried to stay level headed, and I tried to keep my head down and make as many birdies as possible,” Korda said.

Korda was 3-0-1 at the Solheim Cup team. She also had a second-place finish in South Korea before heading to the Solheim Cup.

“I’m playing really solid,” Korda said.

Korda, 21, has strong European ties. Her parents, Petr and Regina, were Czech tennis stars.

“It feels great to win in Europe,” she said. “Hopefully, I’ll win one day in Czech.”

Korda was the highest-ranked player in the field at the Lacoste Ladies and finished at 15 under overall. She played the final round alongside France’s Celine Boutier (71), who finished second at 7 under, and France’s Joanna Klatten (76), who tied for third at 5 under.

VIRGINIA WATER, England – After completing his FedExCup-winning season at East Lake and adding his third Player of the Year Award to his resume, Rory McIlroy’s season was far from over.

Like many Europeans, the Northern Irishman had to turn his attention to the European Tour and the remaining Race to Dubai, but McIlroy eyed a different goal. After ending 2018 ranked eighth in the world, he set his sights on regaining the top spot in the ranking.

“There are always goals, they just need to be reset,” McIlroy said. “I don’t know if it’s a realistic target to get to No. 1, but I can get closer.”

McIlroy took a small step in that direction on Sunday at the BMW PGA Championship with a closing 67 that lifted him into a tie for ninth following a poor start to the week.

He will have plenty of chances to close on current world No. 1 Brooks Koepka in the ranking with starts planned at next week’s Dunhill Links Championship followed by the ZoZo Championship next month in Japan and the WGC-HSBC Champions in China before finishing the year at the European Tour’s finale in Dubai.

“If someone had of told me I'd have a chance of finishing in the top-10, I would have taken it [after starting the week with a 76],” McIlroy said. “To play like this over the weekend, even to just grind it out and be here for the weekend and make the most of opportunity, proud of myself just how I hung in there.”

VIRGINIA WATER, England – After starting the final round at the BMW PGA Championship tied for the lead, Danny Willett moved ahead with early birdies at Nos. 2 and 3 but it was the par-4 11th hole that proved to be pivotal for the Englishman.

Two strokes clear of Jon Rahm through 10 holes, Willett’s drive sailed deep into the woods left of the 11th fairway and his recovery shot clipped a tree and dropped into a deep lie. That’s when things became tense for the Englishman.

After hitting his third shot from the rough Willett seemed to injure his right wrist.

“It was a little bit funky for 20 minutes, so I popped a couple [Advil] and did some stretches that would somewhat ease it off, but it was a little sneaky for a little bit there,” said Willett, who has a history of back injuries.

With Rahm facing a birdie putt Willett rolled in a 45-footer for bogey to avoid a potential two-stroke swing and the Spaniard missed his birdie attempt.

“I believe that 11th hole was the key moment of the match,” Rahm said. “That was at least a one-shot swing right there and if he doesn't make it, I'm putting more relaxed without the whole crowd going crazy. That was a key moment of the match.”