GAFFNEY, S.C. — Eleven races into the World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model Series season and the series saw its first first-time winner Friday night at Cherokee Speedway. Ross Bailes claimed victory in front of his home state crowd.

Brandon Sheppard yet again scored another second-place finish, after starting fifth and chasing Bailes throughout the latter part of the race. Don O’Neal had a solid showing as well, coming from ninth and climbing to third after battling with Chris Madden and Brandon Overton.

It was almost a perfect night for the Clover, S.C.-native, as he picked up the PFC Brakes Fast Time Award, won his Drydene heat race, redrew the outside pole and led all 50 laps. But it certainly was no cakewalk, as Bailes had the Rocket1 Racing ride of Sheppard knocking on his door for over half of the race.

Sheppard started out steady, passing a car for position here and there before finally making the move around Madden for second on lap 17. It was at that moment Sheppard began to track down the Bailes Construction No. 87. Several restarts presented opportunities for Sheppard to make the move, but to no avail. Until the final 10 laps …

Bailes said he initially didn’t see the No. 1 of Sheppard stick his nose underneath. A late restart put Sheppard right on the Barry Wright house car’s rear bumper, and despite “The Rocket Shepp’s” best efforts, Bailes rode the high line and hold off Sheppard’s heavy pressure.

“I had a guy spotting for me and he’s the one who told me to move up top,” Bailes said. “I thought when he told me to move up, Sheppard was five or six car lengths back, but I guess he was underneath me. I didn’t know exactly where he was, but I knew he was closing in on me and I knew just had to hit my marks.”

Lapped traffic is usually always something the leaders run into over the course of 50 laps, and tonight was no exception. Early on in the longest wave of traffic the leaders faced, Bailes was moving through swiftly. Sheppard then began to close the gap rapidly, actually trimming Bailes’ lead to under one second before the caution came back out. But the real story behind his triumph may have been a collective decision made by the driver and crew before they even hit the race track.

“We went with a softer tire, I thought it was the right call, my team thought it was the right call,” Bailes said. “We got [the harder compound] ready but I never once thought I was going to need it. And I’m glad we did go with the softer tire because it allowed me to get that jump and get out front.”

Look back on the season, Bailes has had so far through the first three months of the racing season, and it’s not hard to see the giant wave of success Bailes is now riding. Since becoming the face of the Barry Wright Race Cars house ride over the winter, Bailes scored a big win at the 411 Motor Speedway in Seymour, Tenn., back in early April and picked up another win exactly one week ago at the Laurens County Speedway in South Carolina.

“This is the most confident and comfortable I’ve felt in a car this early in the year,” Bailes said. “We’ve won three races, but we started up front almost every single race, so I feel like I let a few go that we should have won. But we’ve just been fast all year.”

Saturday’s event at the Lavonia Speedway has been postponed to October 3, due to impending inclement weather.

The finish:

Morton Buildings Feature (50 Laps) – 1. 87-Ross Bailes [2][$10,000]; 2. 1-Brandon Sheppard [5][$5,000]; 3. 5-Don O’Neal [9][$3,000]; 4. 2-Brandon Overton [7][$2,500]; 5. 44-Chris Madden [1][$2,000]; 6. 28-Dennis Erb [13][$1,700]; 7. 22-Chris Ferguson [4][$1,400]; 8. 101-Casey Roberts [15][$1,300]; 9. 18-Chase Junghans [23][$1,200]; 10. 75-Donald Bradsher [17][$1,100]; 11. 25-Shane Clanton [18][$1,050]; 12. 7-Ricky Weiss [12][$1,000]; 13. 29-Darrell Lanigan [16][$950]; 14. D89-Dustin Mitchell [22][$900]; 15. 99B-Boom Briggs [27][$150]; 16. 2c-Joey Coulter [11][$800]; 17. 97-Cade Dillard [26][$110]; 18. B1-Brent Larson [25][$110]; 19. 1m-Devin Moran [14][$730]; 20. 8-Jacob Hawkins [8][$700]; 21. 9-Johnny Pursley [6][$700]; 22. 57-Adam Yarbrough [21][$700]; 23. 14-Josh Richards [3][$700]; 24. 88-Trent Ivey [10][$700]; 25. 79-Michael Brown [20][$700]; 26. 18h-Brett Hamm [19][$700]; 27. 36v-Kyle Hardy [24][$700]; Hard Charger: 18-Chase Junghans[+14]

CHICO, Calif. — Justin Sanders won the 30-lap Brownell Memorial at the Silver Dollar Speedway on Friday night.

The Aramos, Calif., driver led all 30 laps after starting on the pole in the North County Plastering/Andy’s Construction yellow No. 121. Sanders fended off several challenges from Shane Golobic who had to settle for the runner-up spot.

Tim Kaeding would charge from the eighth starting spot to finish third just ahead of Mitchell Faccinto. Bud Kaeding’s No. 0 finished fifth after starting deep in the field.

Dominic Scelzi spun in the fourth turn on the opening lap forcing a complete restart.  Sanders had passed polesitter Geoff Ensign but the start was negated. With Scelzi put to the rear of the field, Ensign got a poor restart and Sanders was able to take the lead.

His yellow No. 121 started lapping the back markers by lap five. The race was slowed however two laps later when Richard Brace Jr.’s engine let go in the fourth turn. He would be the first car out the race.

Golobic had moved his Matt Wood Racing No. 17w into the second spot but another spin by Scelzi would bring out the yellow flag again. The lap-seven slowdown allowed Ensign to pit and return for repairs but Sean Watts’ night was over. Sanders got a poor restart allowing Golobic to momentarily slip past him but Sanders regained the lead with a slide job in the third and fourth turns.

The track would go red for a flip by Jason Stalter who sailed off the third turn with a series of hard rolls. After the restart, the two Kaeding Brothers, Tim and Bud, put on a show as once again Sanders took advantage of a clear track for a few laps.

Golobic would make it a close race, but could only get to Sander’s rear bumper as the two crossed the finish line, nose to tail.

Thirty-two 410 sprint cars filled the pit area.

The finish:

Justin Sanders, Shane Golobic, Tim Kaeding, Mitchell Faccinto, Bud Kaeding, D.J. Netto, Sean Becker, Dominic Scelzi, Willie Croft, Cole Macedo, Ryan Bernal, Andy Forsberg, Geoff Ensign, Kyle Offill, Blake Carrick, Colby Copeland, Stephen Ingraham, Jason Statler, Sean Watts, Richard Brace Jr.

HAUBSTADT, Ind. – A morning rain shower and persistent precipitation throughout the week created saturated grounds at Tri-State Speedway, forcing World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series and track officials to postpone Saturday’s race until Sunday.

The event’s schedule is being moved up an hour. Qualifying for the $10,000-to-win event is now set to start at 5:30 p.m. and racing will start at 6:30 p.m.

FREMONT, Ohio – Despite a valiant effort by the track crew at Fremont Speedway, track officials have been forced to cancel the Open Wheel Shootout scheduled for Saturday because of rain.

“We worked throughout the afternoon and evening Friday and got right back at it early Saturday morning but a constant mist and steady drizzle prevented us from making any head-way. It’s a darn shame because I think we would have had a fantastic all sprint car show,” said Ryan Schiets, Chair of the Fremont Speedway promotions team.

Fremont Speedway will be back in action May 18 on Kistler Engines Night with the Fort Ball Pizza Palace 410 Sprints, Fremont Federal Credit Union 305 Sprints and Burmeister Trophy Dirt Trucks in Action.

Better believe in the "Bunch of Jerks." The Carolina Hurricanes punched their ticket to the Eastern Conference final, completing a sweep of the New York Islanders on Friday night. Meanwhile, the Dallas Stars pushed the St. Louis Blues to the brink of elimination.

Here's a recap of last night's action (check out replays of every playoff game on ESPN+) and what to watch for tonight, in today's edition of ESPN Stanley Cup Playoffs Daily:

Jump ahead: Last night's games | Three stars
Play of the night | Today's games | Social post of the day

About last night ...

Game 4: Carolina Hurricanes 5, New York Islanders 2 (Hurricanes win the series, 4-0). The Hurricanes don't always make the postseason, but when they do, they go big. (They've made the playoffs four times since 2002, all four times they've reached the Eastern Conference final). Journeyman goaltender Curtis McElhinney (age 35!) is a win or two away from becoming the stuff of legend this postseason. With another offensive outburst, the Canes are trending toward wagon status, while the Islanders had a hard time mustering any offense, yet again, knowing they'd have to win four straight to stay alive.

Game 5: Dallas Stars 2, St. Louis Blues 1 (Stars lead the series, 3-2). A timely (and pretty) goal from Jason Spezza got things going for the Stars early in the first, as he buried a one-time feed from behind-the-net Tyler Seguin. Esa Lindell also scored, and that was all the offense Dallas needed to take hold of this game, and the series. It's now win or go home time for St. Louis, as they hit the road for Game 6. The Blues need to improve their power play, which went 0-for-4 on Friday and is now 2-for-16 in the series. Their third power play was particularly brutal, and the the crowd in St. Louis let them know it with some boos.

Three Stars

1. Ben Bishop, G, Dallas Stars

What a start for Bishop in front of his hometown crowd. He shoveled away 38 saves to record the win.

2. Teuvo Teravainen, LW, Carolina Hurricanes

His goal to open the second period -- which proved to be the game-winner -- began the surge. The Finn finished with a goal and assist.

3. Curtis McElhinney, G, Carolina Hurricanes

A journeyman goaltender gets his moment; he was solid to earn the win for the home crowd and had a few beauty saves.

THIS ONE'S GONNA BE ON A LOOP pic.twitter.com/vVCL01F4n3

- Carolina Hurricanes (@NHLCanes) May 4, 2019

Play of the night

Roope Hintz is having quite the playoff run. This backcheck to breakup a shorthanded chance highlights the Finn's speed.

Hintz with the �� skates on the backcheck on a Pietrangelo shorthanded chance. pic.twitter.com/32EJ4HRZ0h

- Hockey Playoff Szn Dylan Nadwodny (@dnadders) May 4, 2019

Dud of the night

Robin Lehner wasn't the dud here. His team broke down in front of him and that's why the Islanders lost. The dud is how his spectacular season ended. What's worse: after Lehner was pulled in the second period, he had to watch the game, isolated, ways away from his team, thanks to cruel arena construction.

The goalie, however, shows unrelenting class:

Not the ending we wanted. I'm so proud of this group. This organization has a bright future! From the bottom of my heart me and my family want to thank the islanders fans for the great support. Never gonna forget this year of my life. Good luck too Carolina. Great team.

- Robin Lehner (@RobinLehner) May 4, 2019

On the schedule

Columbus Blue Jackets at Boston Bruins, Game 5, 7:15 p.m. ET (Series tied, 2-2)

Welcome news for the Boston Bruins: the stars are OK. After combining for just one goal in the first three games, Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak helped account for thee of the goals in Game 4. And after letting Sergei Bobrovsky hog the headlines early, Tuukka Rask looked terrific in Game 4 (saving 39 of 40 shots, though it probably should have been a shutout, given that the Jackets' lone goal came after the puck hit the netting). The Blue Jackets like how they played in Game 4 (minus taking so many penalties) and probably won't change much for Game 5; Columbus believes this is going to be a series decided by special teams.

Colorado Avalanche at San Jose Sharks, Game 5, 10 p.m. ET (Series tied, 2-2)

The Nathan MacKinnon lovefest will continue (and rightfully so). MacKinnon is the most dominant star remaining in these playoffs; he and Mikko Rantanen are a scary good duo right now, combining for 11 goals and 26 points in nine games. Tyson Barrie is also having a monster playoffs. Meanwhile, don't be surprised if you see some new looks from the Sharks' power play; they need to get something going there (1-for-9 so far this series). One obvious area for improvement: winning the possession battle with the man advantage. The Sharks haven't won nearly enough power-play faceoffs.

Social post of the day

What do we have here? A rare case of an NHL player ... trolling an opponent?

Dougie Hamilton head tapping Nelson in the handshake line ��. pic.twitter.com/1EWhOBnmx6

- Paul Bissonnette (@BizNasty2point0) May 4, 2019

Quotable

The kid knows how to stay in the zone.

Exchange in #stlblues dressing room this morning with goalie Jordan Binnington:

Scribe: "Montgomery said yesterday you lost your cool."

JB: "Who's Montgomery?"

Scribe: "The Dallas coach."

JB: "Oh."
#nhlstars

- Mike Zeisberger (@Zeisberger) May 3, 2019

Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane has backtracked over his recent praise of Paul Pogba and said it doesn't mean he wants to sign the Manchester United midfielder.

Zidane returned as Madrid coach in March talking about big changes being made to an under-performing squad, speaking openly about liking Pogba "a lot" and suggesting Madrid could be the next club for a player he knows very well.

Pogba's future at United is uncertain amid links to Real Madrid but Zidane said: "I said Pogba was a good player, but I could say the same about other players.

"I know him, nothing else. I am not getting into something. If you ask me about Pogba, I say that he is a very good player, but he plays for Manchester United. At the end of the season we will see which players come here, and who leaves. But I did not say 'We are going to sign Pogba,' nothing like that. I will not say anything [about any deals] until things are done."

Madrid's troubled 2018-19 campaign is coming to a close, with the latest embarrassment last weekend's 1-0 defeat at relegation-threatened neighbours Rayo Vallecano.

Home fans are likely to vent their frustration during Sunday's visit of struggling Villarreal and Zidane said changes are coming in the summer.

"I was very angry the other day, the players were too, they did not enjoy it. Sometimes nothing goes for you," Zidane said.

"The season is what it is, but the fans must think about next season. There will be changes, but many of these players will stay. The fans will be the same, and most of the players, and we must stick together. We are going to have time to prepare for next season. Until August 31 anything can happen, so it will be a long summer."

Gareth Bale has been targeted by Madrid fans in recent months and Zidane was asked if he expected better from him.

"I expect the best of all the players," he said. "[Gareth] must train and think about playing. I cannot speak for Gareth or other players, just say that we wear the Real Madrid shirt so we all have a responsibility, even if the season is bad. I must pick the team and the bench. We will see what happens tomorrow."

Meanwhile, Vinicius Junior is set to return after two months out with a hamstring injury he sustained during the Champions League round-of-16 second-leg exit to Ajax.

"Vinicius is training much better, and ready to be in the match squad," Zidane said. "He is still 18. He is very good, an important player for future of this team and the seasons to come."

Big picture

The World Cup is nearly here, but not quite, and the IPL is nearly done, but not quite. In this in-between time comes an ODI tri-series of in-betweenish significance, with each team looking to take something different out of it.

Bangladesh have whisked Shakib Al Hasan away from Sunrisers Hyderabad and assembled their full World Cup squad, plus four others. For them, this is a chance to figure out their best combinations, and to acclimatise to the conditions in the British Isles, although whether early-May pitches in Dublin will remotely resemble the ICC-curated strips in England and Wales remains to be seen.

Ireland won't be at the World Cup, and will want to show everyone - like they did on Friday when they gave England a proper scare - that this is unfair on them.

West Indies, meanwhile, have allowed their star players to remain at the IPL, and their squad here only contains eight players who are part of their preliminary World Cup 15. Spots are theoretically still up for grabs before the final squads are inked in, and the likes of Sunil Ambris, Shane Dowrich and Roston Chase will strive to achieve the optimum balance between exuding team spirit from every pore and hoping for an injury to strike down a bigger name or two.

The last time West Indies met Ireland in an ODI, the stakes were high: a chance to take two crucial points to the Super Six of the World Cup Qualifier in Zimbabwe. Ireland had West Indies down to 83 for 5 and then 169 for 6, but a century from Rovman Powell ultimately lifted them to a match-winning 257. Much like in Friday's game against England, Ireland showed they had enough quality to inflict serious damage on more fancied opponents, but not perhaps the depth of resources to seize the advantage fully. Can they show a little more bite this time, against a less-than-full-strength West Indies?

Form guide

Ireland LWLWL (last five completed matches, most recent first)
West Indies WLWLL

In the spotlight

With Chris Gayle, Evin Lewis and Shimron Hetmyer still at the IPL, West Indies' top order is perhaps their weakest suit in this tri-series. Ireland will have their best chance of putting them under real pressure if Tim Murtagh and Boyd Rankin can make a few early breakthroughs.

If he features, as he should, Shai Hope will be making his 50th ODI appearance. His numbers so far - an average of 45.56, a strike rate of 72.38 - suggest he's still searching for that extra gear to become a truly elite 50-overs batsman. If he can find some form in this tri-series and carry it into the World Cup, he could just make that step-up at the perfect moment.

Team news

There isn't much reason for Ireland to make any changes to the XI that competed so strongly against England at the same venue.

Ireland (possible): 1 William Porterfield (capt), 2 Paul Stirling, 3 Andy Balbirnie, 4 Lorcan Tucker, 5 Kevin O'Brien, 6 Gary Wilson (wk), 7 George Dockrell, 8 Mark Adair, 9 Tim Murtagh, 10 Josh Little, 11 Boyd Rankin

Given that seam-friendly conditions are expected, West Indies are likely to go in with only one frontline spinner in Ashley Nurse, and three fast bowlers plus Jason Holder in the allrounder's slot at No. 7.

West Indies (possible): 1 John Campbell, 2 Shai Hope (wk), 3 Jonathan Carter, 4 Darren Bravo, 5 Roston Chase, 6 Sunil Ambris, 7 Jason Holder, 8 Ashley Nurse, 9 Kemar Roach, 10 Sheldon Cottrell, 11 Shannon Gabriel

Pitch and conditions

Rain reduced Friday's ODI to a 45-overs-a-side contest, but Sunday's forecast does not suggest a high chance of showers. The pitch can be expected to favour seam bowling once again.

Stats and trivia

• Ireland have beaten West Indies only once in six completed meetings. This was at the 2015 World Cup, where fifties from Paul Stirling, Ed Joyce and Niall O'Brien helped Ireland chase down a target of 305.

• Ireland have hosted two ODIs against West Indies. Both matches - in Dublin in 2007 and in Belfast ten years later - were washed out by rain.

• Gary Wilson needs 18 runs to become the sixth Irish batsman to score 2000 ODI runs.

• Apart from being on the cusp of playing his 50th ODI, Shai Hope is three catches away from 50 as a wicketkeeper in ODIs.

Brilliant piece of wicketkeeping or pushing the Laws of the game? Ben Foakes' stumping of Andy Balbirnie in Friday's ODI between Ireland and England left many praising his smart glovework, but Ireland's captain, William Porterfield, was less impressed and afterwards suggested the ball was "pretty much dead".

The issue of a wicketkeeper waiting behind the stumps for the merest hint of a batsman lifting his foot is not quite as contentious as running out a batsman backing up - and Porterfield declined to make a comparison with Mankad dismissals - but similar questions were asked in some quarters about the legitimacy of such stumpings by stealth.

Porterfield was more concerned about the tactic delaying play, if wicketkeepers regularly sought to wait for a batsman to accidentally leave his ground, and suggested games could end up lasting "15 hours" .

"You can say it was great wicketkeeping or you can say it's a bit of a grey area of 'when is the ball dead?'" Porterfield said. "The ball was pretty much dead. The batsman wasn't going anywhere or over-balanced. The keeper has waited for three or four seconds. If we do that all day, it's going be a pretty long game. How long do you wait? We'll be playing 15-hour games if you wait that long."

Seeing lots of admiration for Foakes' keeping after that stumping. Not the first time too.

And it's almost exactly what Stewart did to Lara 22 years ago. Just hope the spirit of mother cricket's watching all of it. pic.twitter.com/fOhqZyPSrc

— Srinath (@srinathsripath) May 3, 2019

On the subject of whether it was similar to Mankading a batsman at the non-striker's end - recently (and controversially) employed by R Ashwin when running out Jos Buttler in the IPL - Porterfield suggested this was a different matter.

"He [Balbirnie] was probably more unhappy that he did lift his foot a little bit as he wasn't going anywhere or trying to do anything," he said. "The ball is pretty much dead like. On another day, that ball is probably [thrown by Foakes] into the covers."

Foakes himself saw the dismissal as simply going about his normal business. "When it's a sweep you think they might fall over and I just saw he lifted his foot and nicked [the bails] off," he said.

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