MOORESVILLE, N.C. – Officials from the CARS Tour have revealed the list of luminaries that will be on hand during the third edition of the Throwback 276 presented by Baker Distributing at Hickory Motor Speedway on Aug. 3.

Fans will have the opportunity meet with six motorsports legends during the on track fan fest autograph session, which begins at 6 p.m. They included Ernie Irvan, Dave Marcis, Brett Bodine, Dennis Setzer, Billy Hess and Tommy Houston.

In addition, the drivers from the super late model and late model stock divisions, will be on hand to sign autographs as well. Once the autograph session is complete, fans will be treated to stories from the past with the “Lookback with the Legends” sessions as the group reflects on the sports history with announcer Tony Stevens.

Irvan is a veteran of 313 NASCAR Cup Series starts with 15 series victories, including the 1991 Daytona 500. Irvan made four starts at Hickory Motor Speedway in his career, all in NASCAR Xfinity Series competition from 1991 to 1993.

Bodine, a member of the famous Bodine racing family, made 480 NASCAR Cup Series starts during his career. He earned one victory at North Wilkesboro Speedway in 1990. He also earned five NASCAR Xfinity Series victories in his career. He made seven starts at Hickory Motor Speedway in Xfinity Series competition.

Marcis competed in 883 NASCAR Cup Series starts, earning five victories during his lengthy career. The Wisconsin native, famous for his Goodyear hat and wingtip shoes, made eight starts at Hickory Motor Speedway during his career.

Setzer, a local native, raced in all three of NASCAR’s National divisions. He enjoyed success in the Xfinity Series, winning twice, and in the Truck Series, where he won 18 times. He won the track championship at Hickory in 1983 and 1993.

Originally from Miami, Fla., Hess is both driver and chassis builder. He won the 1980 Limited Sportsman track champion at New Asheville Speedway as a driver. He later became a chassis builder, building roughly 300 Hooters Pro Cup Series cars for drivers like Clay Rogers, Bobby Gill and Benny Gordon.

Houston, a native of Hickory, N.C., is a two-time track champion at Hickory Motor Speedway in 1975 and 1976. He later advanced to NASCAR, earning eight of his 24 NASCAR Xfinity Series victories at Hickory Motor Speedway.

STATESVILLE, N.C. — GMS Racing has announced that Jeff Stankiewicz will assume the crew chief duties for the No. 2 Chevy Accessories Chevrolet piloted by Sheldon Creed in the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series.

Stankiewicz, who replaces Doug Randolph as Creed’s crew chief, worked with Creed last year and the pairing captured the ARCA Racing Series championship together at MDM Motorsports.

Last season Creed won four races and earned 11 top-five finishes, 12 top-10 finishes and three poles with Stankiewicz atop the pit box en route to the ARCA championship. Stankiewicz was previously with GMS Racing from 2015 to 2017.

With three races remaining before the Truck Series playoffs begin, the driver and crew chief are hoping to revisit their previous success.

“I’m super excited to work with Jeff again,” Creed said. “We had a lot of success last year and always seemed to be on the same page. We got along great and I’m pumped to see what we can do the rest of the season together.”

“I’m happy to be back at GMS and back with Sheldon,” Stankiewicz said. “We won quite a few races and a championship together last year, so I’m hoping we can pick up right where we left off. We’ve got three more chances to get a win to put Sheldon into the playoffs, and from there we’ll keep building on what we’ve got.”

SOMERSET, Ky. — Officials with the Schaeffer’s Oil MARS Racing Series and Windy Hollow Speedway in Owensboro, Ky., have mutually agreed to cancel the event scheduled for Aug. 2.

After consideration regarding the possibility of a low car count, track promoter Jimmy Westerfield and series promoter Chris Tilley have mutually agreed that it wouldn’t be best to have the event in 2019.

“When Jimmy and I spoke we felt it best to cancel the event. There’s just not any Super Late Models in the Owensboro area anymore and we didn’t feel that it was fair to the race fans in that area if we couldn’t get enough cars to put on a good show,” said Tilley. “Jimmy and his crew are battling weather and other variables that several other promoters have faced this season and we wish him nothing but the best and we really look forward to the opportunity of working with them in the years to come.”

The next Schaeffer’s Oil MARS Racing Series event will be Aug. 3 at Brownstown (Ind.) Speedway, paying $10,000-to-win during the 15th annual Hall of Fame Classic.

PITTSBURGH -- The Pittsburgh Penguins and forward Zach Aston-Reese avoided arbitration on Monday, agreeing to a two-year deal that runs through the 2020-21 season.

The deal is worth $1 million annually. The two sides came together minutes before heading to arbitration.

"We were actually setting up for the meeting and kind of right before it started, right at nine o'clock, it got done," Aston-Reese said. "Right on time."

Aston-Reese, 24, posted career highs in goals (eight) and assists (nine) despite being limited to 43 games because of a hand injury. Aston-Reese -- who skated alongside Sidney Crosby on the top line but also put in work with the fourth line -- gives the Penguins more options as they try to bounce back from a first-round playoff sweep at the hands of the New York Islanders.

"Zach is a responsible player who plays a solid two-way game," general manager Jim Rutherford said. "He has a heavy style of play that is especially effective on the forecheck and penalty kill."

Aston-Reese admitted he was relieved to get a new contract ironed out before going through arbitration.

"It's a little bit awkward and I was just really happy to get the deal done before that meeting began," he said. "You hear stories of things like that and it's no coincidence that only what, 5% actually go through with the meeting. I was happy to avoid that."

CALGARY, Alberta -- The Calgary Flames have a tentative agreement for a new arena to replace the Saddledome.

The city, NHL team and the Calgary Stampede have agreed in principle to terms. The Stampede, a rodeo exhibition, owns the land.

The deal was to be presented to the City Council on Monday and then put to a vote. Calgary citizens would then have a week to voice their opinion before a council vote next week to ratify the deal.

The Saddledome is almost 36 years old. The cost of the event center is $550 million to $600 million. It is to have a seating capacity of about 20,000 for sports and would be the heart of a larger, revitalized commercial and residential district.

Manchester United have promoted Nicky Butt to the new position of head of first team development, reporting directly to manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, the club announced on Monday.

The ex-England midfielder, who played 387 games for United, has moved up from Head of Academy to help "create a seamless journey for young players stepping up to the next level."

"Manchester United is in my DNA and this is a very proud moment for me as I take on this new role," the 44-year-old Butt told the club's website. "I am passionate about nurturing, developing and coaching the talent we have here to become top players at this club."

United, who finished a disappointing sixth in the Premier League last season, have promoted Nick Cox to Head of Academy.

Executive vice chairman Ed Woodward added: "These changes will further enhance the excellent work and results we have seen over many decades in our Academy system and enable us to continue our proud traditions of producing world-class players capable of playing and excelling in the first team."

Meanwhile, Nick Cox will take over Butt's former role as the Head of Academy and will manage the coaching programme and operational services like sports science, education and analysis.

Megan Rapinoe said that, far from a distraction to overcome, criticism and controversy during the Women's World Cup played an important part in propelling the United States to the title.

In an interview with ESPN FC, Rapinoe said players rallied together after President Donald Trump tweeted during the tournament that the U.S. captain should win before talking about visiting the White House. Those tweets followed the release of a months-old video in which Rapinoe said she wouldn't accept an invitation to the White House if the U.S. were to win the World Cup.

"If anything, it united everyone around us and united the team around itself," Rapinoe told ESPN FC. "And it was emboldening in a way."

She added that she didn't spend much time following the reaction to the controversy in the moment. She also said that the U.S. already possessed ample motivation to win its fourth World Cup title. But coming the same week as a much-anticipated quarterfinal in Paris against host France, a co-favorite among oddsmakers to win the tournament, she contended that the episode brought players together as they began a stretch in which they played three top European opponents in the run-in to lifting the trophy.

"It was one of those things that kind of came at this funny moment," Rapinoe said. "I think it was more of a unifying thing than any sort of distraction."

Teammate Ali Krieger made a public show of support at the time with a tweet criticizing the president, but the game against France on June 28 was the first public appearance for most players since the president's tweets intensified the controversy two days earlier.

Playing a much more defensive style than at any other point in the tournament, the U.S. protected its early lead and withstood a barrage of French attacks in a 2-1 win. Rapinoe suggested it was a collective effort worthy of admiration from even Jose Mourinho -- the men's coach famous for winning major titles with a pragmatic, often defensive approach -- who she saw in the stands that day. It was not, in her estimation, the performance of a distracted team.

"We knew exactly what we wanted to do and what we were going to do to win," Rapinoe said. "We were sort of all on board in that moment, like, 'OK, this going to be more of a defensive game. We're going to counterattack.' ... And if you're going to beat us, you're going to have to break down a very organized, committed, disciplined team, which is really hard to do."

Cristiano Ronaldo won't face criminal charges after a woman accused him of raping her at his Palms Casino Resort penthouse suite in 2009.

Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson said he reviewed a new police investigation and determined that Kathryn Mayorga's claim can't be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.

"Therefore, no charges will be forthcoming," Wolfson said in a statement.

@LasVegasDA Declines to Prosecute 10-year-old Sexual Assault Allegation Against Cristiano Ronaldo. @ClarkCountyNV pic.twitter.com/XXdc8D9Plk

— Clark County DA (@LasVegasDA) July 22, 2019

Ronaldo's attorney, Peter Christiansen, was traveling Monday and not immediately available to comment. Christiansen has said Ronaldo and Mayorga had consensual sex in 2009. He denied it was rape.

Attorneys for Mayorga, a former model and schoolteacher, did not immediately respond to telephone, text and email messages.

The Associated Press generally does not name people who say they are victims of sexual assault. Mayorga gave consent through her lawyers to make her name public.

She has a lawsuit pending against Ronaldo in U.S. court in Las Vegas that accused Ronaldo or those working for him of conspiracy, defamation, breach of contract and coercion and fraud. She says they allowed terms of a confidential financial settlement with Mayorga to become public.

Mayorga's attorney, Leslie Mark Stovall, has acknowledged that Mayorga received $375,000 to quiet her following the encounter. He maintained that agreement was made under pressure from "fixers" trying to protect Ronaldo's reputation.

The lawsuit seeks to void the agreement and collect at least $200,000 more from Ronaldo.

Ronaldo, who plays in Italy for the Turin-based soccer club Juventus, is one of the most recognizable and highly paid players in sports.

Mayorga underwent a medical exam to collect DNA evidence shortly after she says Ronaldo assaulted her in June 2009. She spoke again with police for the new investigation, and authorities this year obtained a sample of Ronaldo's DNA through Italian authorities.

Police said the initial investigation was closed in 2009 because Mayorga only identified her attacker as a European soccer player, not by name, and did not say where she claims the rape took place.

The investigation was reopened in last year at the request of her attorneys, shortly before they sued Ronaldo.