IRWINDALE, Calif. – The second appearance this year at Irwindale Speedway by the SPEARS Southwest Tour super late model series and touring SPEARS Modified Series presented by Lucas Oil took place Saturday.

Derek Thorn, 33, won a $25,425 SWT non-stop 100-lap feature.

It was the second time R.J. Allen Inc. presented by Pinnacle Peak Steakhouses sponsored a SPEARS race at the Irwindale Speedway banked half-mile. About 5,000 spectators watched the touring drivers display amazing racing skills on a mid-70s evening. No drivers were lapped until late in the race and 23 of 26 starters finished on the lead lap.

Thorn, the four-time SPEARS SRL and two-time NASCAR K&N West champion from Bakersfield, is the SPEARS SRL Southwest Tour series all-time most prolific main event winner with 39. It was his fourth SPEARS Southwest Tour triumph at Irwindale and his third victory in five Spears SRL point races at five speedways this season. He won the $5,000 winner’s bonus from Performance Friction Brakes.

Dylan Cappello, a past Lucas Oil Modified champion and Irwindale feature winner, won the 80-lap modified main. It was divided into two 40-lap segments. The overall winner was the driver with the best combined finishes in both segments. Cappello, from Peoria, Ariz., became a back to back SPEARS Modified 2019 feature winner. He also is the fourth different winner in six series point races this season.

Cappello, driving the No. 11c STR chassis as usual, finished second in a 15-car opening 40-lap race won by fastest qualifier Christian McGhee. Cappello won the second 40 in an exciting, lead-swapping duel with newlywed Ryan Partridge, an Irwindale multi-series champion and winner of 60 IS main events.

The third class on the all-touring series program was the Southwest Tour Trucks. Nine drivers raced a 30-lap main event slotted between the two modified 40-lap races. The Southwest Tour 100-lap feature concluded racing at 10:38 p.m. Unusual events, including a medical emergency in the grandstand and several red flags to clear the track after wrecks, delayed racing during the evening.

Ironically, the SPEARS doubleheader winners on March 23 were not present. Preston Peltier, from Colorado, won the Southwest Tour race and Trevor Cristiani, rom Boise, Idaho, won the modified feature. Cristiani is now racing at speedways closer to his Idaho home. The No. 18 raced by Peltier in March was not present.

SWT 100: The eight fastest qualifiers in a 26-car field drew for starting positions in the first four rows. Linny White and Dylan Lupton occupied the pole and outside row one. Following in order were Kyle Neveau, Craig Raudman, Trevor Huddleston, point leader Cole Moore, Bobby Hodges and Thorn.

Lupton led the first seven laps. White, Huddleston and Thorn traded second place from laps two through five. Thorn used an inside pass in turn four on lap 8 and officially led through lap 100. He won by 6.496 seconds over White, who drove Earl Robbins’ No. 99.

Point leader C. Moore, the 2018 Southwest Tour rookie of the year, finished .001 seconds behind White and collected $1,250. He expanded his series point lead (eight points) after second and third ranked drivers finished outside the top-10. P. 4 Neveau was 7.432 seconds off the lead and earned $1,000. John Moore, father of the point leader, placed fifth, 14-seconds in back of the winner. The top five finishing cars went to post-race tech inspection and passed.

Blaine Rocha, three-time NASCAR Whelen Series track and California champion Huddleston, SPEARS 14-year old rookie and open-wheel rising star Jesse Love, 2015 NASCAR K&N West champion Chris Eggleston and Keith Spangler completed the top-10.

The 56-minute race averaged only 53.287 mph because of five yellow flags and a 10-minute red flag on lap 79 to clear wreckage from a two-car crash near turn one.

MODIFIEDS 1ST 40: Fastest qualifier Christian McGhee made his first start in Cristiani’s March 23 Irwindale winning No. 24 modified. The eight fastest qualifiers drew for starting positions in the first four rows. McGhee started third. Cappello started second and led the first 27 laps.

Ninth starter Travis Thirkettle, a past IS champion, led lap 28 after battling for the lead with Cappello from lap 20. Cappello led lap 29 with Ryan Partridge and Thirkettle trading second place a length behind the leader. On lap 31 Thirkettle’s car got into Partridge, who spun and drove to the infield work area. Under caution, Thirkettle also went to the work area with a flat right front tire.

McGhee passed Cappello for the lead on the lap 31 restart and led the final ten laps. He edged Cappello by 1.354. Jeremy Kay, Ryan Schartau and rookie Kyle Keller, 14, from Las Vegas, completed the top five in a 20-mintue event. Partridge returned from the work area four laps down and placed 13th. Cody Kay dropped out on lap 31 with damage.

MODIFIEDS 2ND 40: The first seven finishers in the first 40 were inverted by finishing positions for the second 40. Doug Carpenter and William Guevara were on the front row. Two cars were unable to start, so 13 cars took the green flag at 8:34 p.m. Guevara led the initial three laps. Sixth starter Cappello led laps 4-16. Tenth starter Partridge led laps 17-35 after charging past Cappello on the inside approaching the third turn. He drove his own No. 9 Racecar Factory-built car sponsored by Sunrise Ford.

The entertaining Partridge-Cappello duel continued with Partridge on the outside and Cappello inside. That was a reversal of their track positions when Cappello was leading. On lap 36 Cappello shot past Partridge on the inside at turn four and took the lead for good. Cappello opened a ten-yard advantage during the closing laps and beat Partridge by .762.

The second modified 40 had four yellow flags for spins or debris and one red flag on lap three for a multi-car crash. Keller spun high in turn three and involved Jerry Toporek, whose car hit the third turn wall and had to be towed to the pits. The crash also sidelined first 40 winner McGhee, ending his chance for the overall victory.

The final caution flag on lap 34 involved the brothers Kay, from Reno. Cody was third and younger brother Jeremy was fourth when he hit Cody Kay’s ex-No. 51A series championship car of Austin Barnes. Cody spun into the fourth turn infield grass. Jeremy was penalized to the back by Spears officials for causing the incident. Both Kays returned, charged forward from the back during the final seven laps, and finished in the top five.

Third through ninth place drivers completed 40 laps. Guevara, C. Kay, J. Kay, Carpenter, rookie Travis McCullough, Jeff Longman and Keller all finished within 6.029 seconds of winner Cappello, who ran the fastest lap of 19.290 (93.313 mph).

Max McLaughlin is gearing up for Friday’s NASCAR K&N Pro Series event at Iowa Speedway, where he’ll have a unique pit crew helping him chase his first series victory.

LEXINGTON, Ohio – Turn 3 Motorsport will make its debut in the Indy Pro 2000 Championship Presented by Cooper Tires this weekend at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course with driver Antoine Comeau.

The rookie team is led by Peter Dempsey, a nine time race winner and previous vice champion of the Star Mazda (now known as Indy Pro 2000) Championship.

In addition to competing in the Road to Indy, Dempsey has worked as a driver coach and engineer across the ladder series over the past several years. Working alongside Dempsey at T3M is Emanuel Talquenca who has been a part of the ladder series for many seasons as a mechanic, crew chief, and engineer. The pair have worked together previously to achieve multiple race wins and championship titles in the Indy Pro 2000 Championship, bringing multilevel skills and experience to the team’s new venture.

“It’s great to be back to being a part of the Road to Indy ladder,” said Team Owner Peter Dempsey. “Antoine (Comeau) has been working really hard over the past year to adapt to the Indy Pro 2000 car. We had a very successful test here at Mid-Ohio a few weeks ago, and I’m really looking forward to using that as a platform to keep improving throughout the weekend.”

“Antoine has done a fantastic job in the Radical Cup this year,” continued Dempsey. “Joining the Indy Pro 2000 series presents a new challenge for him. We are looking to build on this weekend and finish out the rest of the 2019 season with the goal of competing in a full season campaign in 2020.”

Comeau, a Radical Cup North America champion and the current series points leader, has been testing the Tatuus PM-18 over the past several months in preparation for his entry into the Indy Pro 2000 Championship.

By the end of the summer, this is what the typical St. Louis Blues player will have done:

• You hoist the Stanley Cup for the franchise's first time before walking through a car wash's volume of champagne and beer in the dressing room, and then having an all-night celebration with teammates.

• A few hazy days later, you attend a parade in your honor, as hundreds of thousands of St. Louis neighbors flood the streets to acknowledge your accomplishment and general greatness.

• You travel to Vegas with teammates, where the Stanley Cup becomes a Sin City skeleton key, unlocking doors that many a bachelor party had tried and failed to break down with a battering ram.

• After a few days, you arrive back in your small hometown (based on the percentages, in Canada) where family and friends treat you with the awe and reverence of an astronaut who just splashed down back to Earth after walking on Mars. The town organizes a day in your name, featuring parades and packed auditoriums and photo opportunities with the Stanley Cup, which you later use to both feed chow to your dog and ice cream to your cousins, though not at the same time.

• You text a photo of you sleeping next to the Cup to everyone you've ever known or met tangentially, and briefly make it your Tinder profile shot.

• After all of this, you actually get to exhale in a way 30 other teams of players never get to this summer, because for a brief moment you can take solace in the notion that you lived the dream instead of wondering what might have been, like the rest of those losers.

So tell me: Who wouldn't want to feel all of that again a year from now?

Ask anyone who has won the Cup about getting back there again. The response amounts to being awakened from the greatest reverie and dedicating every living moment to return to euphoria. The Blues are, we imagine, no different. The desire will be there.

The question is whether this team has the stuff to win back-to-back Stanley Cups.

As it stands, the Blues are ranked sixth in the latest ESPN NHL Power Rankings. They are tied for sixth with the Dallas Stars at 14-to-1 to win the Stanley Cup next season, per the Caesars sportsbook. (The Tampa Bay Lightning, who didn't win a game in the playoffs last season, are naturally No. 1 in both.) This is around what you'd expect for a defending champion that returns most of its roster: The Washington Capitals were at 14-to-1 last summer.

And they lasted one round in last season's playoffs.

What about the Blues? Can they do it again? Here are some reasons to believe, and reasons to doubt, that we'll hear "Gloria" played on the last night of the 2019-20 season:

The Blues won't repeat because it's really, really hard to repeat. The Pittsburgh Penguins' back-to-back championships in 2016 and 2017 were the only ones of the salary-cap era and the first since the Detroit Red Wings in 1997 and 1998. Previously, back-to-back wins were actually commonplace: In that dynastic period from 1974 through 1992, it happened 10 times. Then the NHL grew from 21 teams to 31 teams, talent was no longer consolidated and was further dispersed by the salary cap, while the postseason remained at 16 teams.

Oh, and teams that repeat do so after playing more meaningful hockey in a year than many of them ever have before, and being asked to win that war of attrition a second time. In the Blues' case, it's after having played some of the "heaviest" hockey in the NHL last season, and basically having a playoff pace from January on after the early-season ditch they dug for themselves.

The Blues will repeat because, on average, teams that win the Stanley Cup return with strong follow-up seasons. From 1998 to 2017, and excluding the lockout years, teams that won the Cup have averaged 102.5 points in the standings in the next season. That would have won the Central Division last season.

The Blues won't repeat because they were lightning in a bottle. You know the drill by now: The Blues were dead last in the NHL on Jan. 3, and then rallied with a new coach and a hot goalie to earn a playoff spot -- a run that included a 10-game winning streak -- and then roll through the postseason. The chances of those stars aligning in consecutive seasons? The chances that they get those breaks the following year? Ask the Vegas Golden Knights about that.

The Blues will repeat because it's not that they turned into something they're not, but because they became the team they were built to become. Ryan O'Reilly put it this way to me at the NHL Awards: "It took us a while to come together and find that identity. But once we did, we became a team that was very tough to play against."

They weren't necessarily punching above their weight. They weren't riding the PDO train, as they were 13th in the NHL (1.002) in that metric that measures, for lack of a better word, how lucky a team is. Once they found the right coach and the right goalie, they just became a solid, hardworking, efficient hockey team.

The Blues won't repeat because Jordan Binnington won't be Jordan Binnington again. C'mon: Only five regulation losses in 32 games, a 1.89 goals-against average, a .927 save percentage, 13.11 goals saved above average, .667 quality starts percentage ... these are preposterously good numbers for any goalie, let alone a rookie. No amount of ice water in his veins -- and, having covered him for months, it's like the Arctic Ocean is pumping through his body -- can chill the concern that the rest of the league will be more prepared for him now.

The Blues will repeat because who cares if he's not Jordan Binnington again? The Blues had a .906 team save percentage and ended up with a points percentage of .604. The key to their run wasn't just Binnington solidifying the crease, but the Blues playing worlds better defensively under coach Craig Berube than they had under Mike Yeo, when it looked like they were getting paid commission on every odd-man rush surrendered to opponents. They were the third-best defensive team in hockey last season in expected goals against (137.49), and were sixth best (138.7) in 2017-18. So, in essence, a really good defensive team became great, and then became excellent thanks to the value added by Binnngton. If he gives them average but consistent play, and they defend as well as they can defend, they'll still be fine. (Heck, that scenario is basically how they won the Cup.)

The Blues won't repeat because the Craig Berube Effect can't be repeated. Berube, who finally had the interim tag lifted with a new contract weeks after the Blues won the Cup, went 38-19-6 after taking over from Yeo. He was the perfect contrast to Yeo: a meat and potatoes players' coach whose even temperament was just the sort of thing the Blues needed when, say, an entire officiating crew misses a hand pass to cost them a conference final game in overtime. Sometimes a coaching change can be like a shot of adrenaline to the heart of a team. But now he's the full-time coach.

The Blues will repeat because ... OK, that's a fair point actually, and the message of a coach gets quieter and quieter as time progresses. But in his second stint in the NHL, Berube certainly looked like he picked up a trick or two last season, and has the total buy-in from the players entering next season.

The Blues won't repeat because O'Reilly probably isn't doing that again. The winner of the Selke and the Conn Smythe trophies had a career-high 77 points last season in a wire-to-wire performance for the ages. That's a 0.94 points-per-game average, light years beyond what he has done previously. This isn't to say that one of the best two-way players in hockey will all of a sudden become fat and happy after a Cup, but you can't ignore the additional motivation O'Reilly had after escaping Buffalo last season.

The Blues will repeat because it's not just about O'Reilly. "This team showed a lot of character all year long, and then they found their footing," Blues general manager Doug Armstrong told me after the Cup win. "They didn't care who scored. Or who the stars were." Vladimir Tarasenko, Jaden Schwartz and Brayden Schenn up front, with Robert Thomas, Zach Sanford and Jordan Kyrou as the next wave. Alex Pietrangelo and Colton Parayko eating up minutes on the back end. Yes, O'Reilly was arguably the glue that held it all together. And there's no reason to believe he can't be that again, even if he doesn't break offensive records in the process.

The Blues won't repeat because the West is a meat grinder. Matt Duchene is in Nashville. Joe Pavelski is in Dallas. Nazem Kadri is in Colorado. Phil Kessel is in Arizona. Vegas is Vegas. Calgary is Calgary The Sharks are, for the most part, still the Sharks. The Jets aren't the same Jets, but still dangerous. Good luck, St. Louis.

The Blues will repeat because, to paraphrase Arby's, they have the meat. The "heavy hockey" the team played in winning the Cup had the expected copycat effect for some teams -- looking at you, Milan Lucic and the Flames -- because the Blues showed that's the kind of "by any means necessary" play you need to advance in the West. Well, that and some outstanding offensive talents and an all-world goalie. They help too.

Can the Blues repeat? Absolutely. Will the Blues repeat? You'll have to come back to this spot in two months, when we do our predictions, to find out. No sense in making that kind of proclamation when there are still players' dogs out there that need to eat out of the Stanley Cup.

Jersey Fouls

From earlier this year:

The reason the @GoldenKnights lost is because this crap #SJvsVGK pic.twitter.com/LJu3amB9N3

- Trevor bloom (@bloom1123) April 24, 2019

This actually falls under the "Protest Jersey" exception in the Jersey Foul rulebook, as it's a clear troll job of a hated opponent combined with support of the local team. There's something delightfully punk rock about it, declaring the Los Angeles Kings as old and busted and the Vegas Golden Knights as the new hotness. Not a Foul.

Are you dead or alive?

As summer hockey distractions go, mega kudos to @GameTimeArt for this wonderful puzzler:

The best hockey player born on your birthday has to score on a penalty shot to save your life. The goalie he's facing is the starter of the Stanley Cup champs the year you graduated high school.

Do you get to see tomorrow?

- Noted Hockey Fan (@GameTimeArt) July 24, 2019

I was born on March 20. So the players I have to choose from include Valtteri Filppula, Sergei Kostitsyn, Justin Faulk, Dennis Wideman ... oh, and some guy named Bobby Orr.

Ah, but I graduated high school in 1995, so he'll be shooting on none other than Martin Brodeur.

I think I'll see tomorrow. Maybe.

For what it's worth, my daughter has either Mark Stone or P.K. Subban shooting against Antti Niemi, so at least someone will be around to carry on the family legacy.

Listen To ESPN On Ice

The full season archive of our podcast can be found on iTunes. Honestly, if you're lounging at the pool, nothing is better than listening to two people who have had it up to here about playoff officiating.

Four incredible things about Phil Kessel's house listing

Kessel, America's sweetheart. will ply his trade in Glendale, Arizona, next season, which means it's time for him to put his $2.1 million house in the Pittsburgh area on the market. To the delight of literally everyone, the realtor put photos of said house on the internet. Here are four incredible things about Phil Kessel's old house:

I have so many questions. https://t.co/fyT96TPhXe

- Amanda Stein (@amandacstein) July 24, 2019

1. The movie room. There's a chance that this single chair facing the protection screen was placed there by the staging people in order to try to better sell the house. Or, there's a chance that Phil's screening room featured a single chair, for Phil and only Phil, because no one else wanted to come over and watch what we assume is a steady stream of Adam Sandler comedies and films about talking animals.

2. Those posters. In the screening room are the kinds of posters you'd expect to see, like "Rounders" for example. And then there's this:

Computer e n h a n c e https://t.co/9J02BmZTby pic.twitter.com/vND8vZLJ4P

- king husband (@elanpin) July 24, 2019

Yes, a poster for the all-time Mariah Carey bomb "Glitter," and one that appears to have a personalized inscription for Phil. As friend Barry Petchesky said: "If Coyotes beat writers don't ask about this before literally anything else they should be fired."

3. The wine cellar. Phil's house had a temperature-controlled room that appeared ready to house a few hundred bottles of the good stuff. It appears Phil may have mostly used it to house his finest vintages of Bailey's Irish Cream.

4. His office. Phil apparently used to keep his replica Stanley Cups on the windowsill of his office, much like the dad in "A Christmas Story" put that leg lamp in the window of their house. These are all major awards!

Puck headlines

Who has the Philadelphia Flyers' most untradeable contract?

We have a Matt Moulson sighting!

Roberto Luongo makes a WWE cameo appearance. We see no reason why Lou vs. The Goon can't main event Mania.

"Using the best contracts in hockey to create the optimal NHL team," aka "Eh, who needs goalies?" ($)

Is this the 50th anniversary Buffalo Sabres jersey leak and when, exactly, can we get our hands on one?

Looking at the Winnipeg Jets' unsigned players and future plans.

The Battle Creek Rumble Bees is an early contender for hockey name of the year.

Making heads or tails about that David Clarkson trade with the Leafs and Knights.

The NHL makes an interesting hire when it comes to sports wagering and its place in the game.

Hockey tl;dr (too long; didn't read)

Round 10 billion of the analytics vs. eye-test debate.

In case you missed this from your friends at ESPN

My extensive look at the restricted free agents who have and haven't signed yet.

LA Galaxy and U.S. youth international full-back Julian Araujo would consider a move to the Mexican national team if the right opportunity presented itself.

The 17-year-old dual national right-back was part of the United States' Under-20 squad that reached the quarterfinals of the World Cup in Poland in June, but didn't see the field. He has excelled with the Galaxy since making his MLS debut in April.

"My options are always open," Araujo told The Scuffed Podcast. "It's always about opportunities, who is going to give me better opportunities."

Lompoc, California native Araujo was in the U.S. U20 squad that defeated Mexico 2-0 in final of the CONCACAF U20 Championship last November and has started seven games so far in MLS.

"I'm not going to close the door on Mexico and I'm not going to close the door on the U.S.," he continued. "If Mexico comes at me, giving me opportunities, I'm going to have to take it, you know."

Araujo stated that working hard to continue to establish himself in MLS is his immediate concern, but he stressed that he'll keep his options open as to which national team presents the best opportunity.

"I haven't heard anything from [U.S. head coach Gregg] Berhalter or anybody else, you know, it's all about opportunities," he said. "I wouldn't give up on any of the teams because I grew up in a Mexican household, I watched Mexico throughout my life, I always watched the U.S. throughout my life and I have dual citizenship so I can play for both."

Galaxy teammate Efrain Alvarez is also a dual Mexico-U.S. international and is set to compete for El Tri at the upcoming Under-17 World Cup.

Monterrey midfielder Jonathan Gonzalez made headlines when he switched from the United States to Mexico in early 2018 in an ongoing battle between the federations over dual national players.

NEW YORK -- Soccer star Megan Rapinoe has scored again, this time with a book deal.

Penguin Press announced Thursday that Rapinoe's book, currently untitled, will be published in Fall 2020. Penguin is calling the book a "perfect vehicle" for an "honest, thoughtful, unapologetic" take on everything from soccer to nationalism to gay rights. Meanwhile, a division of Penguin Young Readers will work on a Rapinoe book for middle graders.

Rapinoe became an international celebrity this summer after she helped lead the U.S women's soccer team to a World Cup championship. She openly denounced President Donald Trump and said she would refuse to attend a White House celebration if invited. Trump tweeted in response that Rapinoe should "never disrespect our country, the White House or our flag."

United States international Geoff Cameron has joined Queens Park Rangers on a one-year contract with the option of a second year.

Cameron, 34, spent last season on loan to QPR from Stoke City making 19 appearances and scoring one goal.

"It's great to be back," Cameron said. "I really enjoyed my time here last year -- it's a family-orientated environment and this move is the best fit for myself and my family.

"The manager [Mark Warburton] wants to get the ball down and play good football. Hopefully myself and Angel [Rangel], who has also come back, can use our experience to help what is a young squad.

"I'm here to help the team in any way that I can -- whether that's leadership on the pitch or off it as well.

"For me, I'm excited for this role and I'm excited to be here. I just want to enjoy my football, like I did here last season."

"He is well-known by both the fans and the players, and his physicality is an asset as well.

"We're delighted to welcome Geoff back to QPR."

LAFC forward Carlos Vela has been voted captain of the MLS All-Stars for the second year running.

The vote was conducted on Twitter with the hashtag #CaptainVela representing one vote. Orlando City SC forward Nani, D.C. United midfielder Wayne Rooney and San Jose Earthquakes striker Chris Wondolowski were the other nominees.

- Ibrahimovic: I am better than Carlos Vela 'by far'
- Vela hits back at Zlatan: I am playing better than you

LA Galaxy superstar Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who engaged in a war of words with Vela before and after his hat trick led the Galaxy to a 3-2 win in the "El Trafico" derby last week, was not nominated.

The MLS All-Stars will take on Atletico Madrid on July 31 at Orlando's Exploria Stadium.

The Mexico international is the runaway leader in the league MVP race this season, with 21 goals and 12 assists. His combined total of 33 goals and assists is already tied for the fourth-most in league history.

With 13 games remaining in the regular season, Vela has a chance to break the regular season goal-scoring record of 31 set last season by Atlanta United's Josef Martinez.