You might have missed it as the camera angle was panned down to a close-up on the corner flag in the 79th minute. With Liverpool 3-0 ahead against Barcelona in their Champions League semifinal second leg but tied 3-3 on aggregate, the announcers were taking a breath ahead of what seemed like a run-of-the-mill corner kick and even Anfield itself seemed quiet.

An extra ball rolled over to a scampering ball boy; Xherdan Shaqiri shuffled toward the corner flag and Trent Alexander-Arnold measured his steps away from the ball. Then, while the Barcelona players were still setting up their marking assignments, Alexander-Arnold suddenly cut his set-up short, scampered back to the ball and bent in a low cross along the ground to Divock Origi, who was standing unmarked in the 6-yard box.

All commentator Martin Tyler could spit out was "QUICKLY TAKEN" before Origi's shot looped in at the first post. That made the score Liverpool 4-0 Barcelona -- the comeback after a 3-0 first-leg defeat was complete, and a couple of weeks later Jurgen Klopp's team would lift the European Cup in Madrid.

Given what Liverpool would go on to do, Origi's second goal against Barcelona was probably the most important goal of the season. And it was also the most fitting.

Back in September, Liverpool hired a throw-in coach. Yes, a throw-in coach. It was an easy target for bad jokes but nearly 12 months on, it looks like a clear indication of the club's new dedication to dead balls. According to postgame reports, everyone at the club -- all the way down to the ball boys -- were briefed on the potential for a quick corner kick against Barcelona. It wasn't a pre-scripted play, but Liverpool were able to capitalise in that specific moment because everyone involved knew there was a chance something similar would arise.

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Thanks to that newfound focus, Liverpool led all teams in Europe's "Big Five" leagues with 22 goals from set pieces last season in domestic play; no one else had more than 17. Take a couple of those away and there's no title race in England and perhaps no sixth European title, either. But Klopp & Co. aren't the only dead-ball dynamos to experience success last season.

Their opponents in the Champions League final, Tottenham, were joint-fifth (16), as were their semifinal opponents, Barcelona, and the Serie A champions, Juventus. Germany's title winners, Bayern Munich, were just one back with 15 (in four fewer games), while France's finest, Paris Saint-Germain, snuck into the top 25 with 13. And guess who led the Champions League in set piece goals? The surprise semifinalists Ajax, with eight.

Despite the attacking talent and beautiful, complex interplay these teams are all capable of from open play, they each needed dead-balls to score as many goals as they did. Set pieces, then, are as important as they ever have been.

Back in 2014-15, FC Midtjylland, a small club located on the Jutland peninsula, won its first-ever Danish league title. The club is owned by Matthew Benham, a former hedge fund manager and sports bettor who also owns Brentford in the English Championship. Under Benham's ownership, Midtjylland have become the closest thing in European soccer to a professional baseball team: unafraid of unconventional behaviour, looking for inefficiencies wherever they can find them. During that championship campaign, they scored 25 set piece goals while no one else in the 12-team league broke 11 and just three others reached double-digits.

One of the reasons why some coaches, players and analysts bristle at the idea of spending more practice time on set pieces is that practice time is finite. The more time you spend on set pieces, the less time you're spending on possession; wouldn't the improvement in dead-balls just be cancelled out in the decline in production from open play?

Eventually, everyone else in Denmark started to copy Midtjylland. In the 2017-18 season, they led the league with 25 set piece goals again and they won the league again, too. Except, this time, two other teams broke 20 set piece goals, and eight others broke into double-digits.

"It was almost an unintentional economics experiment," Ted Knutson, who used to work for Midtjylland, told ESPN.

The league had expanded to 14 teams, but the number of set piece goals per game had increased from 0.55 in 2014-15 to 0.75 in 2017-18. On top of that, the number of goals also increased, from 2.41 per game to 2.91. Everyone got better at set pieces and everyone scored more goals.

"It pointed to a huge under-exploited tactical wrinkle in the game that could help teams score enough goals to win a title," Knutson said. "And it's repeatable across the entire sport. That's a pretty big deal."

Knutson now runs Statsbomb, an analytics consultancy with clients across the world. They also teach a course on set piece design.

"Right now, the average team scores between 0.30 to 0.35 goals a game from set pieces," he said. "The best teams can bump this up to 0.75 to 0.80. That type of leap in production takes an average Premier League forward and moves them into the realm of Neymar, except without the transfer fee or the massive cost in wages."

Liverpool averaged 0.58 set piece goals per game last season, so Knutson believes that not even the best team is executing on set pieces as best as it can. But his comparison still works: Only seven Premier League players (Sergio Aguero, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Sadio Mane, Harry Kane, Gabriel Jesus, Mohamed Salah and Jamie Vardy) averaged more than 0.58 goals per 90 minutes last season.

Given everything that could go wrong, every open-play goal is a minor miracle. In order to develop an efficient and productive open-play attack, there has to be an innate understanding between players who must move in sync with each other and then execute a succession of high-level skills at a fast pace. They're never replicating an exact pattern of movement or passing -- every goal is as unique as a snowflake -- but rather constantly interpreting a set of pre-practiced principles. That takes a lot of time to develop. But with set pieces, teams can literally import the exact routines they practice directly onto the field.

The 2018 World Cup was further proof that dead-ball training can provide immediate dividends. National teams simply don't spend enough time together to develop the necessary open-play cohesion. (It's not a coincidence that perhaps the two best international sides of the past 10 years, Spain and Germany, included an outsize number of players from Barcelona and Bayern Munich.) But they can develop their set piece proficiency.

In Russia last summer, there were 70 set piece goals, eight more than the previous record set in 1998. Gareth Southgate studied the plays of both NBA and NFL teams before the tournament, and then England scored nine set piece goals, breaking the record Portugal set back in 1966.

However, despite both England and Liverpool's success with set plays, the best team in the U.K. is still lagging behind. Manchester City's 12 set piece goals were tied for eighth most in the Premier League last season. Pep Guardiola's side had the best goal differential of any team in Europe in 2018-19. Could there still be room for improvement?

"Pep is a genius, but Man City can definitely get better at executing in that one phase of the game," Knutson said. "I'm not sure it will be good for the Premier League as a whole if they do though."

NEW YORK -- Jurgen Klopp has ruled out a Liverpool return for Philippe Coutinho, telling ESPN FC he hopes the midfielder "finds his luck at Barcelona."

The 27-year-old left Anfield for Camp Nou in a £142 million deal in January 2018, but has found it exceedingly difficult to cement a starting spot in the centre of the park for La Liga's champions or win over their fans.

Barcelona are already looking to offload their most expensive signing, with Coutinho's agent Kia Joorabchian accusing the Catalan club of providing mixed messages for his client.

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Liverpool have been an easy and obvious link given Coutinho's four-and-a-half happy years on Merseyside before his aggressive push, which included handing in a transfer request that was rejected in the summer of 2017, to join Barcelona.

And while Klopp greatly appreciates the Brazil international as a player and person, he will not sanction a massive outlay to re-sign him.

"In general, Phil Coutinho helps each team in the world, still -- 100%," Klopp told ESPN FC during an exclusive interview in New York during Liverpool's pre-season tour. "It's not about that. I like Phil, I think he's a fantastic footballer and all that stuff, but it would be a big, big, big, big, big, big, big, big-money signing and it's not our year for that.

"It's just not possible. As I said, having him would make each team better -- us included -- but I really hope that he finds his luck at Barcelona.

"Or maybe he found it there. We have contact, but not that close contact that I know exactly how he is doing, but the rest is only newspaper talk and stuff like that.

"If everything was true what newspapers write about me -- wow! If it's similar to what they write about me, I would say he's completely happy at Barcelona and wants to sign a new six-year contract or whatever."

ESPN FC also understands that Liverpool have not considered a loan deal for Coutinho, who scored 54 goals in 201 appearances for the club following his £8.5m transfer from Inter Milan in January 2013.

The European champions are expected to do minimal business this summer, with their policy of player retention being paramount.

Liverpool plays the last of their three match pre-season tour of the U.S. against Sporting CP at Yankee Stadium on July 24.

Nottinghamshire 155 for 3 (Clarke 45) beat Northamptonshire 152 for 8 (Christian 3-32) by seven wickets

Joe Clarke rediscovered some of his best form to help Notts Outlaws open their account with a first victory in this season's Vitality Blast competition. Notts had already been defeated by Worcestershire Rapids and suffered a washout in their other match but had the better of their Trent Bridge encounter with Northants Steelbacks, eventually triumphing by seven wickets with 11 balls to spare.

Clarke, who has had a lean season with the bat, scored 45 from only 34 balls and put on 79 for the first wicket with Alex Hales as Notts chased down a victory target of 153 to maintain a lengthy winning streak against the Steelbacks. Hales followed up his 52 against the Rapids with a stylish 33.

Notts had the run chase in control right from the start, although Pakistan international Faheem Ashraf did begin with a maiden to Clarke. Hales helped both Nathan Buck and Dwaine Pretorius over the ropes in the initial overs and Clarke then heaved Ashraf over wide long-on to end the Powerplay on 60 without loss.

A crowd of 13,691 - a Trent Bridge record for a midweek T20 match - lapped it up as the home side found the boundary repeatedly.

Clarke was eventually dismissed by Nathan Buck and Hales followed, falling to former team-mate Graeme White but the onslaught continued. Ben Duckett, playing against his former side, scored 26, effectively setting the contest with two sixes off Pretorius in the 15th over.

Dan Christian, the Outlaws' captain, enjoyed a fine match and finished with an unbeaten 22, with Tom Moores bludgeoning the ball over the ropes for the winning runs.

Earlier, the Steelbacks made 152 for 8 after winning the toss and opting to bat. They limped their way to 39 for 2 from the opening six overs, with Matt Carter removing the dangerous Adam Rossington with the sixth ball of the match.

Josh Cobb hit both Carter and Samit Patel for sixes but was then completely bamboozled by Harry Gurney's slower delivery and could only balloon the ball up to cover. Christian couldn't have had a better start with the ball, bowling Rob Keogh with his first delivery and having Matt Coles caught behind with his fifth.

The Steelbacks' new overseas pairing of Pretorius and Ashraf mounted a counter-attack, adding 36 in just three overs together but neither could see out the innings. Ashraf was unlucky, having plundered 24 from only 14 balls he was caught by a diving Gurney at short third man, giving Christina his third wicket.

Pretorius fell to Jake Ball for 34, leaving White to muscle some useful runs in the closing couple of overs, hitting two sixes in his unbeaten 24.

On a decent surface, with a fast outfield, the eventual total appeared light and so it proved, extending Northants' unwanted record of never having beaten Notts in the group stages.

The endorsement agreement aligning New Orleans Pelicans No. 1 overall pick Zion Williamson and Jordan Brand extends five years and becomes the richest annual rookie shoe deal in NBA history, sources tell ESPN.

Williamson announced the partnership Tuesday on his social media platforms.

The competition to sign Williamson -- the national player and freshman of the year at Duke -- was intense. Before Williamson committed to Jordan Brand, several shoe competitors made offers on total deals that extended well into the nine-figure range, sources tell ESPN.

Williamson had other offers in excess of $10 million annually, according to reporting from ESPN shoe analyst Nick DePaula.

Prior to Williamson's new Jordan Brand deal, LeBron James had the most lucrative annual rookie shoe contract in history.

"I feel incredibly blessed to be a part of the Jordan Brand family," Williamson said in a statement Tuesday. "Since I was a kid, I dreamed of making it to the league and having the type of impact on the game Michael Jordan had and continues to have today. He was one of those special athletes I looked up to, and I really can't express how happy and excited I am for this journey."

Jordan Brand's roster includes signature sneakers for All-Stars Russell Westbrook and Chris Paul.

LOS ANGELES -- A historic afternoon for the LA Clippers franchise started with a fired-up Steve Ballmer shouting his excitement and Kawhi Leonard and Paul George calling it "destiny" to play with one other.

The Clippers ushered in a new era with Ballmer, arguably the NBA's most exuberant team owner, turning an introductory news conference for the team's newest star duo into a pep rally.

"I have these notes but I have to say I'm fired up to be here today," Ballmer said as his voice kept rising. "Pretty cool! Pretty cool!"

"Most of all, I'm pumped!" Ballmer later added before imploring the audience at Green Meadows Recreation Center to stand up and cheer. "To say hello as Clippers to Paul and Kawhi. Come on! Come on! Get up! Yeah!"

Unlike Ballmer, George was at a "loss for words" to describe what it was like to return and play in Los Angeles after growing up in nearby Palmdale. The All-Star swingman, who said he grew up a Clippers fan but idolized Kobe Bryant, added that teaming up with Leonard felt like it was meant to be.

"I remember I was in Indy when we drafted Kawhi," George said, referencing when the Indiana Pacers selected Leonard with the 15th overall pick in the 2011 draft before sending him to San Antonio in a trade. "I was a little confused by it because I was the 2-guard and Kawhi was the same position and I was a bit nervous for the competition that was coming.

"But fast-forward, knowing that the player I am and the player he developed into, I wish we would have kept that pick and we could have [grown] together. ... It seems like this was destiny that we were supposed to play together."

In his first comments since keeping the NBA world waiting breathlessly for a week for his free-agency decision, Leonard was his usual understated and soft-spoken self. But the NBA Finals MVP made it clear why he found the Clippers the most attractive situation for him over remaining in Toronto, where he won a championship, or forming a superteam on the Los Angeles Lakers with LeBron James and Anthony Davis.

"I grew up a Clippers fan," said Leonard, who also grew up in the Los Angeles area. "I loved the Clippers as a kid. With Doc [Rivers] being a championship head coach, that is something I wanted, an experienced coach. And the front office is very transparent with me. They want to win.

"It's an opportunity for us to build our own and make history. They haven't been to a Finals and haven't won a Finals and that was something exciting for me to make my decision."

Leonard spoke of the importance of the Clippers remaining quiet and not breaking his trust during the free-agent process, citing how anyone these days in the media can just push out false rumors.

"Just because a lot of things are made up in today's world of NBA," Leonard said. "It is always important for me to have a mutual understanding and it be transparent if it is good or bad. I feel that builds a good relationship.

"Once we had our meeting, I felt like they were true to their word. Nothing really got out. It was a great decision."

The momentous afternoon for the franchise started with Leonard and George walking in and sitting next to Ballmer, Rivers and president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank inside a basketball gym at Green Meadows. Clippers employees and students from the center attended the packed news conference.

"We're here to celebrate not only the Clippers brand, but it feels more like a movement," said Rivers, who recently spent time in San Diego with Leonard, getting to know him. "[But] this is more about what is coming."

The Clippers had been planning for a day like this for a couple of seasons now, trading away their leading scorer and rebounder two years in a row (Blake Griffin, then Tobias Harris) to accumulate the assets and flexibility needed to acquire two stars. They paid a heavy price, though. To land George, the Clippers had to part with prized point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, forward Danilo Gallinari and five first-round picks -- their own in 2022, '24 and '26, along with Miami's in 2021 and '23 -- and gave Oklahoma City the right to swap first-round picks in 2023 and '25.

For Jerry West, the Clippers' renowned consultant who watched the news conference from the front row, the price to get two dynamic two-way stars was worth it.

"Sometimes you get Christmas presents in the middle of the year," West said. "And that's what we got."

The Clippers have long played in the shadow of the Lakers in Los Angeles. Leonard said he doesn't care if all the attention continues to go toward the Staples Center tenant with more banners and trophies.

"As far as the last few years, the Clippers have been better," Leonard said. "But it's the media, they're going to get the attention, they're the Los Angeles Lakers. They've been winning championships for a long time.

"Even if we do win, who knows how the coverage will change over. I just want to win. I do things that make myself and my teammates happy. Whatever is our goal in mind, that is going to be my focus and drive to make us happy. If we go to the championship and win and get no coverage, I'm happy with that."

After the Clippers played a hype video that detailed Leonard's and George's paths from high school to the pros, Leonard said he was ready to start playing for the Clippers right away.

It didn't take George long to cite a Clippers motto.

"We're going to make it happen," George said. "LA our way."

PITTSBURGH -- Pirates reliever Keone Kela has returned from a two-game suspension for an unspecified violation of his contract and was cagey when asked about what led to the ban.

Yahoo Sports reported that Kela was suspended due to an altercation with Hector Morales, the team's director of cultural readiness and peak performance coach. Asked specifically about that report, Kela said he "wouldn't say it's not true" but also "wouldn't say it's a fact."

Kela also said that "nothing happened" and said "no explanations" were provided by the Pirates for his suspension. He said he was looking forward to returning to the mound.

Before serving his suspension, Kela had been on the injured list since May 6 with right shoulder inflammation. He's pitched in 14 games this season and has a 4.63 ERA.

Pirates manager Clint Hurdle declined to comment on the reason for Kela's suspension and said he considers the matter closed.

To make room for Kela on the roster, the Pirates moved catcher Francisco Cervelli (concussion) to the 60-day injured list and placed right-hander Clay Holmes on the 10-day injured list with right triceps inflammation prior to Wednesday's game against St. Louis.

Confusion reigned in the Red Sox-Rays game Wednesday when a series of defensive changes prompted Boston manager Alex Cora to protest the game, due to the placement of subs into Tampa Bay's lineup after the designated hitter was removed.

The eighth-inning lineup switch appeared to leave the umpires bewildered in St. Petersburg, Florida. They stopped the game for almost 15 minutes as they huddled on the mound, staring at their lineup cards.

"It was a total mess," Cora said.

In the top of the eighth inning, Rays reliever Adam Kolarek replaced starter Charlie Morton and retired pinch hitter Sam Travis on a pop fly. The left-hander then shifted to first base when Rays manager Kevin Cash brought in reliever Chaz Roe, who induced a fly ball from Mookie Betts.

"When he brought in the lefty and we saw what was going to happen, when he put him at first I asked [crew chief] Angel [Hernandez] about it and he gave me an answer," Cora said. "I'm like, 'OK, this is about to get interesting.' And it did."

Cora said the Rays kept the DH when they made the substitution.

"They had a pitcher at first base. They had a pitcher on the mound. And they still had the DH," he said. "Hard to explain. ... There's a lot. Illegal substitutions. But we'll see what happens."

After the protest was made and the game resumed, Kolarek got a first-pitch grounder from Rafael Devers.

Hernandez said in the pool report that Cash never specified where Kolarek would hit when moved to first base.

"In case the manager fails or refuses to make the decision, the plate umpire is authorized to decide the necessary batting order," Hernandez said. "The umpire's decision is final."

An unhappy Cora again talked with the umpires after the third out, which delayed the start of the bottom of the eighth.

Despite the long delay, Cash doesn't believe anything wrong took place.

"There appeared to be some confusion, but I'm confident we got it right at the end of the day," Cash said. "Obviously, it's not customary what took place."

The Red Sox lost 3-2, falling back into third place in the AL East behind the first-place Yankees and Rays.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

With a year to go until Tokyo 2020, athletes reveal which other sports they’ll be keeping an eye on next summer

There’s just one year to go until the world’s top sports stars battle for Olympic glory in Tokyo.

An expected 11,090 athletes will compete across all sports, with 339 gold medals up for grabs at the Games taking place from July 24 to August 9 next year.

READ MORE: Tokyo 2020 Olympic medals unveiled with one year to go

Track athletes Dina Asher-Smith, Karsten Warholm, Andre De Grasse, Laura Muir and Omar McLeod will hope to be among those going for gold, but when they’re not competing, which other sports would they be keen to watch?

Ahead of racing at the Müller Anniversary Games in London, they shared their top sports to enjoy as spectators and also which other athletics events they like to keep an eye on.

Triple European sprint champion, Dina Asher-Smith

Olympic event
“Probably women’s gymnastics. I think it’s really beautiful and amazing. Their strength and coordination is something – I aspire to be that flexible and coordinated. It’s really cool.”

Athletics event
“I actually really like watching the hurdles. It’s really entertaining. I always say I’d love to do hurdles one day but I’m way too clumsy so I don’t think it would go too well!”

World and European 400m hurdles champion, Karsten Warholm

Olympic event
“I’m mostly in my own bubble but if I was to watch something, I would probably say golf or cycling.”

Athletics event
“It’s probably boring but I like to watch the 400m because I like to run that as well. I feel like you need to be fast at the 400m as well to run good hurdles. I find that very interesting to watch because I tend to learn from those guys.”

Olympic and world 110m hurdles champion, Omar McLeod

Olympic event
“I love gymnastics – me and Simone Biles are really good friends. And tennis. Tennis is my favourite sport so I love to watch that.”

Athletics event
“I’m a hurdler but I love sprinting, that’s one of my strengths also. Hopefully when I’m done with hurdles I’ll be able to switch over to full-time sprinting.”

European 1500m champion, Laura Muir

Olympic event
“I didn’t manage to see anything when I was in Rio but I like diving and gymnastics.”

Athletics event
“I love everything! I just love watching athletics.”

Triple Olympic sprint medallist, Andre De Grasse

Athletics event
“I love watching the hurdles, men’s and women’s. That’s probably one of my favourite events to watch when I’m not competing.

“Then probably the long jump – that’s really exciting for me to watch, to see how far they can jump. I haven’t long jumped in so long, since like high school. Could I jump seven metres? Hopefully, maybe!”

WALL, N.J. – A nearly seven-decade tradition of racing in Northeastern New Jersey will come to an end next season.

Wall Stadium Speedway track ownership announced Wednesday that the historic third-mile facility will cease operations at the end of 2020, as Pulte Homes prepares plans to build nearly 350 homes on the site of the track.

“The majority of the sprawling tract, deemed grossly underutilized for decades, consists of giant parking lots that lie mostly dormant, other than the handful of days each year when the track is open for competition,” the owners told the Asbury Park Press.

The new developers have designs to build 348 residential units on the current track site, mostly in the form of two- and three-bedroom townhouses, according to the Asbury Park Press.

The project still has to go before the town zoning board. However, nearly 70 affordable housing units are included in the proposed agreement, a reported deal-maker.

The announcement of the Wall Stadium plan came on the same day the township scheduled a public hearing in regards to a recent affordable housing settlement.

“While the negotiations were long and detailed, the township has concluded that the outcome that was negotiated with (the Fair Share Housing Center, a nonprofit that strives to ensure towns adhere to affordable housing requirements) is deemed to be in the overall long term best interests of current and future residents of Wall Township when all alternatives are considered,” said Wall Township Administrator Jeff Bertrand.

Wall has hosted various forms of motorsport since 1950. NASCAR’s Whelen Modified Tour returned to the track this year, in a 150-lap event won by Woody Pitkat.

What is now the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series held one race at Wall, in 1958. The 300-lap affair saw Jim Reed take the checkered flag in a self-owned 1957 Chevrolet.

KENT, Wash. – In the process of trying to grab his first career NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series victory, Scott Palmer is learning what it takes to put together a win.

That means an aggressive mindset, consistency in a multitude of conditions and combining it all when it counts. Thanks to a recent surge and shift in approach, the Top Fuel veteran may be closer than ever.

He advanced to his second career final round earlier this month, has moved back into the top 10 in a loaded class and appears to be making considerable strides at the right time.

Heading into his sponsor’s race, the 32nd annual Magic Dry Organic Absorbent NHRA Northwest Nationals, Aug. 2-4 at Pacific Raceways, Palmer is eager to grab a victory, and having it come to close out the famed NHRA Western Swing would qualify as perfect timing.

“We’ve been working towards running harder on race day and our whole mindset is we’re trying to win a race,” Palmer said. “To win a race, you have to win some rounds, so that thinking is only going to help you. Our goals are different this year and we’re trying to get more aggressive in the summertime conditions. We plan on taking that shot to win. It’s trying to be more aggressive in the heat. It took a while, but we had to stick with it.

“We want to win a race, not be conservative.”

Antron Brown (Top Fuel), Ron Capps (Funny Car) and Tanner Gray (Pro Stock) were last year’s winners of the Seattle event, which marks the 16th of 24 races on the NHRA slate.

Palmer can sense the Mello Yello Countdown to the Championship around the corner, but his chief concern is a victory, not the points standings. If his team puts together a run like they did in Epping, where he only lost to the red-hot points leader Steve Torrence in the final round, the points will take care of themselves.

A third straight playoff appearance is up for grabs, but Palmer, who has gone from 12th to ninth in the past two races, believes his team is plenty capable of winning a race.

“We’re going to this race with that same mentality, and that’s to try to win the race,” Palmer said. “We’re ready to go. Everything in our trailer has been checked and all you can ask for is an opportunity to win a race. I feel like we have a car that can do that, and that’s pretty impressive.

“Even if you come close, you’re going to win rounds and that’s going to put you in the Countdown.”

A victory in Seattle would be meaningful for Palmer, who campaigns the 11,000-horsepower Magic Dry Organic Absorbent dragster. Palmer continues to be incredibly grateful for the opportunity to race full-time with Tommy Thompson, and it is races like the one in Seattle that bring it to light even more.

He’ll compete against the likes of Brown, who has three straight wins at the facility; Brittany Force, Doug Kalitta and Clay Millican at Pacific Raceways, but Palmer treasures these moments.

“It’s still cool every time we go to a race like this,” Palmer said. “Tommy and myself are friends, and it’s only been three years since he started helping us. You go back four years ago and there was not even a slim chance we were going to win many rounds, let alone a race. Now we’re representing a title sponsor at a race.

“I never in my life thought this would happen and I want to make the best of it. It’s been a perfect fit and I want to be in that final in Seattle.”