CONCORD, N.C. – A little rain and an extra 18-hour wait wasn’t enough to stop Garin Mash from picking up the first Bandolero Outlaws feature win of the summer on Tuesday afternoon at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Mash, who lined up fourth on the initial start of the 20-lap event before it was rained out Monday night, methodically worked his way through the pack and ultimately passed leader Connor Yonchuk coming to the white flag with an inside sweep in turns three and four.

From there, Mash held off a final-turn dive by Yonchuk and came back to the checkered flag in front by .355 seconds for his second career Bandolero Outlaws victory in Summer Shootout competition.

“I knew I had to hit my marks if we were going to win that one,” noted Mash. “We were trying to run him down there in lapped traffic … catch him, catch him, catch him, and we finally got him there with the white flag in sight to get the job done. I had a lot of confidence he wasn’t going to wreck us for it.”

Mash, who finished second in points to eventual champion Justin Gareis last summer at Charlotte, is gunning for a title this time around and hopes his opening act victory sends a message to the field.

“Everybody ranked me like 10th coming into this … and I don’t know if they all know or not, but I’m running for points and running for a championship this year,” said Mash. “I finished second last year in my second year of racing, so I hope this says something to some people and they fear us this time.”

Yonchuk took the point from outside polesitter Santiago Hill at halfway in the 20-lap feature and lamented washing up the track at the exit of turn two with a lap and a half remaining.

“In the last turn, when I tried diving under him, I shouldn’t have backed out,” Yonchuk admitted. “I figured he would have given me room, I just didn’t want to wreck my car, knowing that we have another race tonight. I just needed to back my corners up; we were way too free coming off the corners.

“I think I could have won the race or been pretty close, but this is a big confidence-builder, and I feel like I’ll have an even better shot tonight after learning from my mistakes in this one.”

Hill hung on to complete the podium, followed by Jadyn Daniels and Zac Fowler.

Title contender Carson Ramsey ran among the top three for the first half of the race, but dropped out with mechanical troubles after completing 13 laps and finished 16th in the 17-car field.

The finish:

Garin Mash, Connor Yonchuk, Santiago Hill, Jadyn Daniels, Zac Fowler, Parker Eatmon, Cameron Murray, Whitney Meggs, Skyler Chaney, Carter Russo, Logan Clark, Trevor Wester, Natasha Elder, Madison Miracle, Fran Pedano, Carson Ramsey, Sean Abell.

TOLEDO, Ohio – Everyone loves playing in front of the hometown crowd. It’s always a great feeling to perform in front of friends and family.

It didn’t seem like racing in front of the hometown crowd would be possible for Sam Mayer in 2019. The Franklin, Wis., native has been splitting his time between the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East and the ARCA Menards Series in 2019, and the ARCA stop at nearby Madison Int’l Speedway wasn’t on his schedule.

But a schedule change in the K&N Pro Series opened up an extra weekend for Mayer and his GMS Racing team, and they decided to fill it with Friday night’s Shore Lunch 200, giving Mayer his chance to race in front of the Wisconsin faithful.

“Getting the chance to race at home is really cool,” Mayer said. “Having all my family and friends come out to watch and support me is going to be really exciting and I hope we can pull out a win for all of them.”

At just 15 years old, Mayer is following in some heady footsteps. Franklin, a suburb of Milwaukee, has been part of a hotbed of big-time stock car racers that was home to drivers like NASCAR Cup Series champion Alan Kulwicki and NASCAR Truck Series champion Ted Musgrave. Kulwicki hailed from nearby Greenfield, while Musgrave, originally from Illinois, relocated to Wisconsin just as his stock car career was taking off. Although he hadn’t been born yet when either of those two drivers were making their mark in NASCAR’s upper levels, Mayer has an appreciation for their accomplishments and he’s doing his best to follow their path to success.

“Knowing the roots of those drivers and how they started is really inspiring,” he said. “My goal is to get to the top level and be successful in that and I feel like Drivers Edge, Chevrolet and GMS can help me get there.”

Despite his age, Mayer has a record of success. He’s won feature races at places like the legendary Hickory Motor Speedway in North Carolina and won the K&N Pro Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway earlier in the season. He was a part of Dale Earnhardt, Jr.’s late model program in 2018 and transitioned to GMS Racing’s program in 2019. He’s still affiliated with Earnhardt through the Driver’s Edge Development program, and his ride with GMS Racing puts him with an organization that won the ARCA Menards Series title with Grant Enfinger in 2015 and the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series championship in 2016.

“Being with GMS Racing gives me the opportunity to run really, really well week in and week out,” he said. “We’ve had so much success this year and I’m really looking forward to what we have for the rest of the year.”

United States defender/midfielder Tyler Adams has withdrawn from the Gold Cup with a groin injury, U.S. Soccer announced Tuesday.

FC Dallas defender Reggie Cannon has been tabbed to take his place on the roster.

-- When is the CONCACAF Gold Cup?
-- Full Gold Cup fixtures schedule

"Following further evaluation in New York City, the 20-year-old has been diagnosed with acute on chronic groin issues that will require a minimum of 6-8 weeks recovery period," U.S. Soccer said in a statement.

The announcement is a huge blow for U.S. manager Gregg Berhalter, who is feeling some heat following two poor performances in Gold Cup tune-up losses to Jamaica and Venezuela.

Adams was expected to take on a hybrid role in Berhalter's system, playing as a right-back, but stepping into central midfield when the U.S. is in possession. Yet the RB Leipzig man missed a six-week stretch from the beginning of April until mid-May due to an adductor injury, and though he returned for a pair of games at the end of the campaign, including Leipzig's 3-0 defeat to Bayern Munich in the DFB-Pokal final, he was deemed insufficiently recovered to participate in the Gold Cup.

Adams had been scheduled to arrive at the U.S. camp on June 11. Now Berhalter will have to cope without one of his most important players.

San Jose Earthquakes defender Nick Lima has filled the right-back/central midfield role in a few friendlies, but it remains to be seen if Berhalter will stick with the system when the U.S. opens the tournament against Guyana on June 18.

Meanwhile, Cannon, 21, has made two appearances with the U.S., but none under Berhalter.

He made his international debut in a 1-1 draw with Peru last October and followed that with another start against Italy a month later. Following his professional debut in 2017, Cannon has made 56 appearances for Dallas in all competitions, scoring one goal.

Alex Morgan scored a record-tying five goals as the United States opened its Women's World Cup campaign with a tournament-record 13-0 win over Thailand in Group F on Tuesday in Reims, France.

After the match, manager Jill Ellis defended her team's aggressive style of play even late in the match when result was beyond doubt.

"This is a world championship, so every team here has been fantastic to get to this point. And I think that to be respectful to opponents is to play hard against opponents. It's a tournament where goal differential is important," Ellis said.

"When you get a deluge of goals like that, it's a good feeling. It builds confidence."

The pre-tournament favorites and defending champions took it right to Thailand in the opening minutes, with a Morgan goal ruled out for offside inside of 10 minutes.

Minutes later, Morgan's second strike would stand up when she found space in between two Thai defenders and headed home a Kelley O'Hara cross to put the U.S. up 1-0.

Rose Lavelle doubled the lead for the Americans before the 20-minute mark, picking up the ball just inside the attacking third, dribbling to the top of the penalty area and smashing a swerving shot past Thailand keeper Sukanya Chor Charoenying.

A set piece led to the third goal for the U.S. just past 30 minutes, as Lindsey Horan hit her close-range shot into the roof of the net. Thailand was lucky to not concede another before the break, with Ellis' team continuing to dominate the match and keep their opponents under constant pressure.

"We really just came into this game and really wanted to showcase ourselves and what we've been preparing for and what we've been working on," Morgan said after the match. "I think we did that. Every goal matters in this tournament and that's what we were working on this game."

The U.S. picked up right where it left off in the first half after the break, scoring four goals in just over 10 minutes.

Sam Mewis, who started in midfield after Becky Sauerbrunn was held out for precautionary reasons with an injury, started things off in the 50th minute before Morgan, Lavelle and Mewis all added their second goals to make it 7-0.

Morgan scored her third and fourth as the match approached full-time, and Megan Rapinoe added another on the counter-attack in between to put the U.S. up 10-0.

"Obviously we have the utmost respect for everyone we play, but it's the World Cup," said team captain Rapinoe.

Substitute Mallory Pugh then scored to put the U.S. up 11-0 and Morgan added her fifth goal of the night to join compatriot Michelle Akers as the only two women to score five in a single match at the World Cup.

Veteran Carli Lloyd then added a 13th goal of the night for the U.S. to reach the final scoreline and give the Americans a record for both margin of victory and goals scored, surpassing Germany, who beat Argentina 11-0 in 2007.

Thailand, ranked No. 34 in the world, was clearly outmatched even though the team has shown progress on the world stage. Making its World Cup debut in 2015 four years ago, Thailand finished third in its group but earned its first win, a 3-2 victory over Ivory Coast.

- When is the FIFA Women's World Cup?
- Full Women's World Cup fixtures schedule

At the final whistle, Lloyd and Christian Press were seen consoling the Thailand goalkeeper. Morgan put her arm around an opponent, who was wiping away tears on the pitch moments after the final whistle.

"They were disappointed of course, they intended to make an impression in this first match and they were disappointed," coach Nuengruethai Srathongvian said through a translator. "Yes, they are all athletes and they will be resilient. We've got two more games to play and we need to bounce back."

The group-leading U.S., who had a 39-2 shot advantage to improve to 6-0-2 in World Cup openers, next faces Chile before playing Sweden in its last match before the knockout rounds begin.

Sweden, who defeated Chile 2-0 earlier on Tuesday in Rennes, ousted the U.S. in the teams last meeting in the quarterfinals of the 2016 Olympics in Brazil.

Information from the Associated Press was used in this story.

REIMS, France -- The last team off the field four years ago in Canada, when it hung around amid the confetti to celebrate its third world championship, the United States was the last contender to take the field in the 2019 Women's World Cup.

The Americans looked like a team that was tired of waiting.

Paced by a record-matching performance from Alex Morgan, whose five goals equaled Michelle Akers for the most by an American in a World Cup, the U.S. women routed Thailand 13-0 on Tuesday. The final tally set a record for the most prolific offensive performance in tournament history.

Playing in front of a sold-out crowd at the Stade Auguste-Delaune that sounded and looked as if it were watching a game in Portland, Oregon, or New York, rather than the north of France, the United States took the game to Thailand from the opening whistle.

• Morgan nets five in U.S. women's record rout of Thailand

• Midfield key to U.S. women's success

• U.S. forward Tobin Heath would nutmeg you in a hot second

In addition to Morgan's five goals, Rose Lavelle and Samantha Mewis each scored twice, and Lindsey Horan, Carli Lloyd, Mallory Pugh and Megan Rapinoe added single goals.

By the end, the U.S. women weren't competing against an overmatched Thailand as much as against what France did to electrify this nation last Friday in the tournament's opening game. First and last, those were the command performances. It's hard to argue the United States didn't one-up the hosts.

Alex Morgan makes the stage hers

Earlier in the week, a French journalist asked Morgan how she felt about being the most popular non-French women's player in France. As beloved as the home team is, she might have won over even a few of the locals Tuesday.

Morgan has talked openly about the disappointment she felt with her own performance in the 2016 Rio Olympics, but she nearly matched the entire U.S. goal output in that tournament with her quintet of goals against Thailand. Better still, some of her best moves on the night came with the ball at her feet trying to set up teammates. She was fully integrated into an attack operating at something close to its peak. That isn't a coincidence.

"To tie Michelle Akers record is obviously incredible," Morgan said. "But even more than that I think that this was such a great team performance for us. We were able to execute on so many chances that we had and we showed just how diverse our attack really is. And we know that every goal counts in the group stages, and that's why we had to keep going."

How many goals is too many goals?

The U.S. women had the game comfortably in hand a few minutes into the second half, when Mewis made it 4-0. The game was long since settled by the time Mewis and Lavelle scored within two minutes of each other to make it 7-0 with more than 30 minutes to play.

Still, on and on the United States came, wave after wave creating chances and goals until the U.S. women had topped the 11-0 record win Germany put on Argentina in the 2007 World Cup.

But to put blame on the United States ignores two obvious points. First, the Americans didn't make the rules under which the number of goals scored is part of deciding the outcome of the tournament. Goal differential counts. The U.S. women want to win their group. Unlike just about any other sport, they have a vested interest in running up the score.

And second, it isn't the United States' fault it can't clear its bench. It is allowed three subs. It used three subs.

"If this is 10-0 in a men's World Cup, are we getting the same questions?" U.S. coach Jill Ellis asked at repeated queries about the score. "I think a World Cup, it is about competing, it is about peaking, it is about priming your players ready for the next game."

But beyond that, why is it the obligation of the U.S. team to act in the interest of a creating a picture of a falsely level playing field. Why shouldn't FIFA or the Asian Confederation get blamed for not doing more to promote the women's game in places where it lags behind?

Are we really going to blame players for celebrating a goal, in many cases in their first World Cup, instead of looking at the underlying reasons for the disparity in the first place?

It's understandable that Thai players looked stunned and embarrassed after the game, far from the joyous scenes after they beat Ivory Coast in the World Cup debut four years ago. It is unfortunate for them. But it's also competition. Both sides of it.

"Obviously we have the utmost respect for everyone we play," Rapinoe said. "But it's the World Cup, and that's part of it. That's part of growing the game and growing the pool."

Here is a breakdown of the U.S. women's total shot location (40), goal placements (13) and key numbers from the match:

• The Americans' 13 goals against Thailand were the most in a game in men's or women's World Cup history.

• The United States men's national team has scored 12 World Cup goals in the past 6,202 days.

• Alex Morgan is the just the second player in Women's World Cup history to score five goals in a single game. Michelle Akers was the first in 1991.

The kids are all right

The United States is the oldest team in this year's World Cup, thanks to a core of veterans already in their 30s (a group that will include Morgan by the time the World Cup ends). But it's also a team that featured six players making their World Cup debut in Tuesday's starting lineup.

None of them looked nervous. And the midfield looked positively precocious.

With Julie Ertz starting in the back line in place of Becky Sauerbrunn, the entire midfield of Horan, Lavelle and Mewis started in their first World Cup game. All helped fuel the U.S. attack, well before each got on the score sheet. With Horan looking a lot like former standout Lauren Holiday in the deep midfield, sending passes around the field like a quarterback, Mewis and Lavelle brought their own considerable attacking skills to bear.

"It gave us all a good feeling to know that we could contribute at this level," Mewis said. "I know that for all of us this has been a dream for so long. And to be able to contribute to the team out there and feel like we were doing something right felt really good."

It might also reveal something that after scoring a goal and drawing gasps of approval from many in the stands with some of her footwork, Lavelle wasn't ready to bask in the praise.

"I just think I didn't connect some of my passes," Lavelle said. "And I don't think I was as clean, technically, as I should be."

There is always next time. And there will be many next times for this group of midfielders.

The opener the U.S. women needed

The camera on the world feed found Hope Solo a few times, the former U.S. goalkeeper in the arena while working as an analyst for the BBC. Solo's recent criticism of U.S. coach Jill Ellis was the closest thing to a dark cloud over this team entering the opener. In making it all about the coach, Solo also boosted the idea that this was a team without its own identity, a team without the strong personalities to win anyway. Well, this looked like a team that the United States is going to enjoy watching -- and in many cases, getting to know in the coming weeks.

"I don't know if we need to really make a statement," Rapinoe said. "We're us -- I feel like it's always on our backs anyway. ... But yeah, we wanted to have a good performance and have a good feeling, obviously. We know the competition will be much stronger from here on out and hopefully once we get to the knockout stages."

The United States was always going to win this game, probably comfortably. But in making sure of success by playing so aggressively early -- in a tournament in which many top teams have struggled to squeeze out wins -- this U.S. team created breathing room for itself.

Ertz buys time for Sauerbrunn

Sauerbrunn, a veteran defender, was held out because of a minor quad injury, but team officials said before the game that she was at 95%, and the decision to sit her (she was in uniform and available) was precautionary. The U.S. women don't play again until Sunday, giving her five extra days to recover. Without saying as much, the message was essentially that someone who played every minute in the 2015 World Cup and 2016 Olympics could have played in a game in which the United States needed its defense.

And no, there wasn't a lot of defending for Ertz or anyone else to do. Yet in anchoring a back line that had more than 300 collective caps -- but only a fraction of them as defenders -- Ertz looked the part of veteran leader after coming on as a young sensation in 2015. And in acting as the go-between for instructions from the bench and shifting to a holding midfield role at times, allowing the U.S. women to play out of a 3-4-3 for stretches, she highlighted this team's versatility.

The U.S. women are better with Sauerbrunn. They're also better for knowing they have a darn good deputy.

All signs still point to a showdown with Sweden

It looked for much of the evening elsewhere as if Chile might copy fellow South American entry Argentina in springing a group-changing surprise. But where Argentina was able to hold on for a draw against Japan on Monday, Chile conceded two late goals after a weather delay and lost to Sweden in Group F.

That means the U.S. women and Sweden are still on track for a group finale that will settle who finishes first (and takes a road that could lead through Paris and a quarterfinal against France). And with the goal differential it built up Tuesday, the United States could enter the finale knowing a draw would be enough to top the group.

Sweden again goes first Sunday, playing Thailand in Nice. The U.S. women then play Chile in Paris.