TORONTO – The notoriously slick 11-turn, 1.7836-mile street course at Toronto’s Exhibition Place lived up to its reputation in Friday’s practice session for the Honda Indy Toronto as several drivers had scrapes with the turn 11 wall.

By the time the two practice sessions were over, Team Penske’s Simon Pagenaud was the fastest driver of the day with a fast time of 59.8708 for a speed of 107.391 mph in the No. 22 Chevrolet. That was faster than rookie Felix Rosenqvist’s 59.9311 (107.283 mph) in the No. 10 Honda for Chip Ganassi Racing.

“It’s been a really good day,” Pagenaud said afterwards. “I think it comes from all the preparation ahead of time. I’m just very happy with the DXC Technology Chevy. I love this track. It’s just a lot of fun. It reminds me of Reims in France, and it’s just awesome. Just really like the rhythm.

“It’s fun. The car is really honestly really good. I just needed to put a good lap together, and it seems good on every tire in every condition. I’ve got to get the job done, and I’ll tell you what, man, this is so much fun. It’s just awesome. I told the team, it’s such a pleasure to drive this car; thanks for preparing it.”

Although Rosenqvist is a rookie in the NTT IndyCar Series, he won both Indy Lights races at Toronto in 2016. He has also finished fourth in two other street races this season, including St. Petersburg in March and Detroit in June.

“It felt actually like a really good prep being in Indy Lights here,” Rosenqvist said. “I think that shows that the program is really good, the Road to Indy. It’s a good way to get prepared for (the NTT) IndyCar (Series). Actually, it felt easier driving one of these cars than the Indy Lights car. Having such sophisticated dampers like we have today in IndyCar, it really helps going around a bumpy track like this.

“It was a good day. The NTT DATA Cessna car, it was the first week we’ve had Cessna with us this year. Obviously, a long-term partner with Chip Ganassi Racing, but it’s good to have them on board, and it was a good way to start out the day with finishes like that.”

Former Toronto winner Sebastien Bourdais was third at 59.9866 (107.184 mph) followed by Spencer Pigot’s Chevrolet at 1:00.0401 (107.088 mph) and defending Toronto winner Scott Dixon’s Honda at 1:00.1445 (106.903 mph).

Although there were several drivers that clipped the turn 11 wall and damaged their cars, none were serious. Alexander Rossi also clipped the wall in turn nine. He finished way down the time list in 14th at 1:00.8161 (105.722 mph).

“It was difficult this afternoon,” Rossi said. “For sure a couple mistakes for me, so I think that cost us a bit of time changes-wise and understanding the car. But yeah, I agree with Simon, it’s pretty crazy around here. It’s a lot of fun. You’re sideways a lot of the time, so it’s what people want to see in Indy car racing.”

SPARTA, Ky. – Daniel Suarez made sure the best was saved for last during Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series qualifying on Friday evening at Kentucky Speedway.

As the final car to attempt a lap, Suarez bumped Aric Almirola to secure the provisional Busch Pole Award, touring the 1.5-mile oval in 29.254 seconds (184.590 mph) with his No. 41 Haas Automation Ford Mustang.

Friday marked Suarez’s second-career Cup Series pole and his first of the season.

“My car has been very fast the entire day. I feel that we had probably the fastest car in the last practice and the fastest car in qualifying again,” Suarez noted. “I am very proud of my guys, everyone with Ford Performance and Stewart-Haas Racing, and everyone that makes this program go. We have been working very hard.

“I really want to win so bad. I haven’t been in victory lane for awhile,” added Suarez, who is seeking his first Cup Series victory. “The last time was in Brazil in a go-kart race. I am looking forward to bringing a trophy home for awhile and we have a very fast car so now it is up to me to make it happen tomorrow night.”

The starting grid and qualifying results will be confirmed following pre-race inspection on Saturday afternoon, as the Cup Series is on an impound schedule this weekend.

Any cars which fail tech on Saturday will have their time disallowed and be forced to start from the rear of the field.

Aric Almirola qualified second and, pending his car passing inspection, will join Suarez on the front row for Saturday night’s Quaker State 400 presented by Wal-Mart.

Almirola posted a time of 29.380 seconds (183.799 mph) with his No. 10 Ford Mustang, a tenth and a quarter off of Suarez’s pole-winning time at the end of the day.

Brad Keselowski timed in third-quick, giving Ford a sweep of the top three grid positions, followed by the Chevrolet Camaro of Kurt Busch and another Ford in Kevin Harvick.

Daniel Hemric, Clint Bowyer, Martin Truex Jr., Austin Dillon and Kyle Busch rounded out the top 10 on the speed charts.

Defending Cup Series champion Joey Logano rolls off 11th, while seven-time titlist Jimmie Johnson starts 13th on Saturday night.

To view the complete starting grid, advance to the next page.

WOODSTOCK, Ga. – The United Sprint Car Series events July 12-13, at Travelers Rest Speedway and Dixie Speedway, respectively, have been postponed due to weather.

The USCS Sprint Cars will make their annual July stop at Carolina Speedway on Friday, July 19 next weekend, then travel 90 minutes south to Travelers Rest Speedway on July 20th for the rescheduled event at that facility.

The 11th annual Randy Helton Memorial Race at Dixie Speedway during the Dixie Sprint Car Nationals will be made up on Aug. 3.

Manchester United have hardened their stance on Paul Pogba by intimating privately that they value the midfielder at more than £150 million, sources have told ESPN FC.

The France international has suggested he would like to find a "new challenge" this summer amid interest from Real Madrid and Juventus.

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Manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said on Wednesday United will not be bullied into selling Pogba after a series of public statements from his agent, Mino Raiola.

The World Cup winner, 26, has three years left on his contract and sources have told ESPN FC that United believe he is worth in excess of £150m in line with the spike in the transfer market following Neymar's £198m move from Barcelona to Paris Saint-Germain in 2017.

Pogba arrived in a then world record £89.3m deal from Juventus in 2016. After travelling to Perth as part of United's preseason tour squad, Pogba is set to play in the first game of the summer against Perth Glory on Saturday.

Perth Glory are suffering from a lack of numbers for the friendly and may be forced to field two 15-year-olds, one the son of coach Tony Popovic.

Meanwhile, sources have told ESPN FC that United have distanced themselves from a move for Mario Lemina. The midfielder is set to leave Southampton this summer.

Some of the biggest moves in this summer's transfer market are taking a long time to come to fruition, and part of the reason for that is the size of the contracts involved. Which players are the most overpaid? Which player's deal is the hardest to move? Here are 10 of the most bloated contracts -- some even unmovable -- in terms of weekly wages in football today.

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10.) Diego Costa

The "angriest man in football" has never come across as someone afraid to assert his worth. Or at least what he thinks he's worth. Still, eyebrows were apparently raised last season when Costa -- who had scored just three league goals at that point since returning to Atletico Madrid from Chelsea -- asked for a pay raise. That raise was not granted, and you can see why: He's already on something like £140,000-a-week, which for an aging striker who can't stay fit and isn't scoring goals... is quite a lot. Surprisingly, he was this summer linked with a move back to the Premier League with Everton.

9.) Oscar

In some respects, you can't blame a player for taking the money when a team from the Chinese Super League comes calling. Footballers' careers are short and it's hard to turn that sort of money down. The problem comes when you elect to return to a higher standard of football -- which, when you move there in the prime of your career, is an urge that will come to many. Take Oscar, for example: he moved to Shanghai SIPG nearly three years ago, but he's still just 27. Yet if he wants to come back to Europe, or South America, who's going to match wages said to be around the £400,000-a-week mark?

8.) Danny Drinkwater

Such is the financial insanity of football. Danny Drinkwater's wages of £100,000-a-week actually aren't too exorbitant in relative terms. The problem comes in what sort of value he might have provided for that money, the answer to which is: not much. None at all, really, when you consider that since his £35 million transfer from Leicester City in January 2018, Drinkwater has made just 12 league appearances for the Blues, last season only playing a total of 30 minutes, which came in the Community Shield. In that sense, Drinkwater's contract definitely qualifies as "bloated."

7.) Philippe Coutinho

Everyone was so optimistic about Philippe Coutinho's move to Barcelona in January 2018, the hope being that he could be a replacement for Andres Iniesta. That has... not entirely gone to plan, and the word on the street is that Barca got buyer's remorse pretty quickly, and they would now very much like to rid themselves of Coutinho and his around £240,000-a-week wages. There are certainly bigger contracts in football, but this ranks up there with the worst of them on the expectations vs. delivery scale.

6.) Gonzalo Higuain

You have to feel pretty sorry for Gonzalo Higuain, really. It must be quite a blow to have been rejected by three teams in one season. First, Juventus, his parent club, loaned him out to Milan, who quickly decided he wasn't worth their time and shifted him on to Chelsea, who after a few months also declared they were not keen to retain the Argentine. Of course, sympathy might fade a little after a glance at his pay cheque; Higuain is apparently taking home something close to £300,000-a-week, a wage packet that -- along with his lack of goals -- isn't likely to have potential suitors queuing around the block.

5.) Paul Pogba

When the apocalypse comes, after some nuclear war has wiped out humanity as we know it and the world is rubble and ashes, whatever primitive lifeforms remain will still be arguing over whether Paul Pogba is a social media obsessed chancer or an unappreciated genius. At the time of writing, it seems that Pogba's relationship with Manchester United is only heading one way, and that it would be for the best if he left. But to where? Who will take on his wages, reported to be £290,000-a-week? Whether you think he's great or terrible, everyone can agree he's not a sure thing, and even in today's money-drenched game, if you're paying that sort of dough, you want a sure thing.

4.) Gareth Bale

The man who scored in two Champions League finals has plenty of cause to be annoyed by his treatment at Real Madrid. He seemingly can do no right, with rumours of his lack of integration in the dressing room and Spain in general apparently overshadowing all the good he has done at the Bernabeu. That said, perhaps the vast six-year, £350,000-a-week contract he signed in 2016 doesn't help his popularity, and is the biggest reason he's still at Real, a club seemingly keen to move him and his contract from the moment he signed it. The trouble is, who will take a player on such extraordinary money with a long and well-documented injury history? The answer at the moment seems to be: nobody.

3.) Neymar

You could say that on the list of problems with Neymar, the size of his contract is actually pretty far down. Not turning up for training and a laissez-faire attitude toward teamwork in general are probably bigger issues, but you can be pretty sure that plenty more teams would be queueing up to take him off PSG's hands if his remuneration were a little more reasonable. With a deal worth a reported £775,000-a-week, with which most clubs could pay a decent whole team, Barcelona seem the only club keen to liberate him from his Parisian prison, a prison that is presumably constructed entirely from stacks of cash.

2.) Mesut Ozil

Though they did escape falling into an Alexis Sanchez-shaped hole (see below), Arsenal did trip straight into another one. In fact, after they tripped, they dug a little more and covered themselves with dirt all the way to their noses in giving Mesut Ozil a contract worth around £350,000-a-week in 2018. The error was compounded by the subsequent dithering that saw Aaron Ramsey depart for nothing, Juventus giddily taking advantage while Arsenal were left with a player draining money from their coffers while offering little on the pitch. Fenerbahce were the latest club to reportedly investigate signing Ozil, before looking at the number of zeros on his pay slip and breaking into a cold sweat. Probably.

1.) Alexis Sanchez

Arsenal have received plenty of entirely justified criticism for their handling of contracts and transfer business in the last couple of years, but they certainly dodged a bullet when it came to Alexis Sanchez. Manchester United took a hefty punt on the Chile international, a punt that has sailed high and wide into the crowd, with Sanchez not nearly justifying his basic wage of £350,000-a-week, nevermind a reported appearance bonus of £70,000 and various other juicy clauses. In the real world, you wonder what performances would justify that sort of money, but even in the oddness of football, it's a colossally bloated and, by the looks of things this summer, an entirely unmovable contract.