TOLEDO, Ohio – He spent the summer stretch of races being hunted.

Now, second in points heading into the ARCA Menards Series season finale at Kansas Speedway, Michael Self is the hunter.

He’d much rather be out front. But if he has to come from behind, he’s confident he can do it at the 1.5-mile Kansas tri-oval. He should be comfortable there, afterall, he’s the 2017 winner of the race and finished third there last season.

Self led the series standings from May, when he took over the lead after finishing second to teammate Chandler Smith in the season’s sixth race at Toledo Speedway, through the 19th race of the season two weeks ago at Lucas Oil Raceway in suburban Indianapolis.

It was no coincidence that Self led the standings for so long. He and his Shannon Rursch-led team have excelled on each of the types of race tracks that make up the 20-race ARCA Menards Series schedule. Self collected wins at Five Flags Speedway and Salem Speedway, two paved short tracks, at Michigan Int’l Speedway, a two-mile intermediate superspeedway, and on the dirt at the Illinois State Fairgrounds.

Unfortunately for Self, there has been some misfortune along the way.

Accidents at Daytona and Nashville were accompanied by mechanical woes at Pocono and the second Salem race. And there were two post-race technical infractions that resulted in points penalties that cost him 75 points early in the season.

But none of that matters now. Just 15 points behind his Venturini Motorsports teammate Christian Eckes, Self heads to Kansas with one goal in mind: beating Eckes head to head.

The scenarios are numerous, but for Self it’s just that one goal.

“We have to be ahead of Christian if we are going to win the championship,” he said. “Nothing that happened prior to this race really matters. It’s all about what happens in this race. We’re going to do what we’ve done all season long and go out and try to win. I like the style of racing on the big tracks. We won earlier in the season at Michigan and had really good cars at Charlotte and Chicago. If we do that, we’ll have done all we can and we’ll see how it shakes out.”

David de Gea limped off with an injury in Spain's Euro 2020 qualifier against Sweden in Stockholm on Tuesday.

De Gea had been superb until Marcus Berg nodded home the opener from close range in the 51st minute. Shortly afterwards the 28-year-old keeper sat down on the pitch before being replaced by Kepa Arrizabalaga.

De Gea's club side Manchester United are set to meet leaders Liverpool in the Premier League on Sunday.

NFL officials erred when they called a second hands-to-the-face penalty against Detroit Lions defensive end Trey Flowers that set up the Green Bay Packers' game-winning field goal Monday night, NFL executive vice president Troy Vincent said Tuesday.

Vincent was asked about the penalties during a news conference at the league's fall meeting in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on Tuesday, a day after the Packers defeated the Lions 23-22.

Vincent said the two controversial hands-to-the face-penalties -- called against Flowers when he was rushing against the Packers' David Bakhtiari in the fourth quarter -- were a topic of discussion at a meeting with the competition committee on Tuesday.

"There was one that was clear that we support. And there was the other, when you look at it, when you review the play, not something that you want to see called in particular on the pass rush. One that you can support but the other one, clearly after you review it, you've seen some slo-mos, the foul wasn't there," he said.

Vincent said he plans to talk to Lions owner Martha Ford at the meeting, which ends on Wednesday, and also will reach out to Lions general manager Bob Quinn.

In his pool report, referee Clete Blakeman explained what the umpire who threw the flags, Jeff Rice, saw on the fouls.

"The umpire threw both of them. The last one was really the only one I've discussed with him," Blakeman said. "Basically, it's for illegal use of the hands, hands-to-the-face foul. To be a foul, we basically need some forceful contact that's prolonged to the head and neck area. ...

"So in his mind he had pinned him back, it was prolonged, and that's what created the foul."

Both of the penalties on Flowers came on third downs in the fourth quarter that would have ended drives, but instead granted the Packers 5 yards and automatic first downs. The Packers scored on both drives, on an Aaron Rodgers touchdown pass to Allen Lazard with 9:03 remaining and on Mason Crosby's game-winning 23-yard field goal with no time remaining.

"I actually changed the position of my hand, because it was to the chest initially," Flowers said after the game. "Which is right here. I was doing it all game. I didn't know that was a flag to the chest, so I could change it to [motioning somewhere else on his chest]. They called it again."

ESPN's Michael Rothstein contributed to this report.

WASHINGTON -- Down 3-0 to the Washington Nationals in the NL Championship Series, the St. Louis Cardinals are again moving their lineup around.

In Tuesday night's Game 4, Tommy Edman will play third base and hit leadoff for the first time this postseason, and Harrison Bader will replace Dexter Fowler in center field, pushing Fowler to the bench for the first time this postseason.

While Bader often starts against left-handers, pushing Fowler to right field, Jose Martinez will instead draw another start in right. Fowler is hitting .061 in the playoffs (2-for-33) and is 0-for-10 in the NLCS with six strikeouts.

The full St. Louis lineup against Nationals starter Patrick Corbin: Edman, 3B; Martinez, RF; Paul Goldschmidt, 1B; Marcell Ozuna, LF; Yadier Molina, C; Paul DeJong, SS; Bader, CF; Kolten Wong, 2B; Dakota Hudson, P.

Wong is the only left-hander in the lineup, which isn't a surprise given Corbin is holding lefties to a .190 batting average in the regular season.

Corbin will look to give the Nationals their fourth straight dominant outing by a starter. In Game 1, Anibal Sanchez took a no-hitter into the eighth inning. In Game 2, Max Scherzer took a no-hitter into the seventh. In Game 3, Stephen Strasburg fanned 12 without issuing a walk. The Cardinals are hitting just .121 in the series. Their two runs through the first three games are tied for the fewest ever in a best-of-seven series, matching the two runs the Los Angeles Dodgers scored against the Baltimore Orioles in the 1966 World Series. The Orioles shut out the Dodgers in Game 4 in that series to complete a sweep.

"We know how good we are when we're playing our game," Wong said after the Game 3 defeat on Monday. "We're a little flustered right now, I guess, just trying to figure out how to get there. Once we get it going, we steamroll."

Still, history isn't on the Cardinals' side. Of the 37 teams that were down 3-0 in a series, 29 were swept. Only one rallied to win the series: the 2004 Boston Red Sox against the New York Yankees in the AL Championship Series.

Yankees manager Aaron Boone told reporters before today's Game 3 of the ALCS that, if this were the regular season, Giancarlo Stanton's right quad strain would warrant an IL stint. Stanton is out of today's lineup, but, Boone says, he will again be available off the bench and remains day to day.

PALMETTO, Fla. – Almost three dozen drivers representing a dozen nations are on the entry list for the two-day Chris Griffis Memorial Open Test on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Grand Prix course Oct. 19-20.

Griffis played major roles within Indy Lights championship-winning teams at Panther Racing and Schmidt Peterson Motorsports before passing away suddenly and unexpectedly in September 2011.

The on-track agenda will comprise three 45-minute sessions each day for Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires, the Indy Pro 2000 Championship Presented by Cooper Tires and the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship. In addition, drivers on Friday will have an opportunity to gain some more valuable insights into the complete educational experience offered by the unique driver development program with scheduled visits to NTT IndyCar Series team Ed Carpenter Racing, renowned driver performance center PitFit Training and Dallara, which supplies chassis for both IndyCar and Indy Lights.

The final stop will include a demonstration of Dallara’s state-of-the-art full-motion simulator by Oliver Askew, who won this year’s Indy Lights championship and a scholarship valued at $1.1 million to graduate to IndyCar, the pinnacle of open-wheel racing in the United States, in 2020.

After winning its second successive Indy Lights crown, Andretti Autosport will field four turbocharged AER-powered Dallara IL-15 cars at the test. Returning driver Robert Megennis will lead the team after winning one race during his rookie campaign.

He will be joined by rookies Rasmus Lindh and Singaporean Danial Frost, who finished second and fifth, respectively, in this year’s Indy Pro 2000 title-chase, and Egor Orudzhev. Orudzhev moved up through the open-wheel ranks in Europe, placing third in the 2016 Formula V8 3.5 series, before competing in the FIA World Endurance Championship for the past few years.

Belardi Auto Racing, past winners in both the Indy Lights Driver and Team Championships, will field a single-car entry for a driver yet to be announced.

Exclusive Autosport recently announced plans to join the Indy Lights series in 2020 and while plans are progressing smoothly, the Canadian-owned organization will concentrate its efforts this week on a trio of Indy Pro 2000 cars. Similarly, HMD Motorsports, which fielded a two-car program in 2019, will not participate in the Indianapolis test as it focuses on an expansion into USF2000 with two new young drivers. Both organizations, along with Juncos Racing, which continued its successful form with Rinus VeeKay in 2019, will have an opportunity for track time in the next series test at Sebring, Fla., in December.

Ricardo Juncos’ 2018 championship-winning team, based within a few hundred yards of Indianapolis Motor Speedway instead will oversee three Indy Pro 2000 cars this week for Parker Locke, Matt Round-Garrido and Phillippe Denes all of whom ran partial campaigns in 2019.

Defending champion team RP Motorsport USA has entered three drivers for the two-day test, with Russian Artem Petrov, who contested the final handful of races this year, driving both days and USF2000 champion Braden Eves and USF2000 grad Manuel Sulaiman sharing duties in a second Tatuus PM-18.

Eves also will spend one day with Exclusive Autosport, while Sulaiman will return to DEForce Racing for one day after gaining two USF2000 podium finishes with the Houston-based team in 2019.

Rookies Kellen Ritter, who contested a few USF2000 races in 2018, and open-wheel veteran Raoul Hyman, who is set to gain his first experience of competition in the U.S., will drive both days for Exclusive Autosport.

DEForce veterans Kory Enders and Mexico’s Moises de la Vara will seek to build upon their promising end to the 2019 season, while series veteran Parker Thompson is also due to drive both days with the team.

Jacob Abel will remain with his family run outfit, with the 14-car entry list completed by Pabst Racing, which is looking to augment its successful USF2000 program after securing back-to-back-to-back Team Championships. New Zealander Hunter McElrea and Colin Kaminsky will step up with the Wisconsin-based team after claiming four wins, eight poles and 19 podium finishes between them in 2019.

Pabst also will field two USF2000 cars at the Chris Griffis test for returning driver Yuven Sundaramoorthy and 15-year-old Rick Bouthoorn, who is set to make the step up from karting.

Perennial USF2000 front-runner Cape Motorsports will field a Tatuus USF-17 for Reece Gold, also 15, who is looking to build on a promising rookie campaign, while Indianapolis-based Jay Howard Driver Development has entered three cars for Denmark’s Christian Rasmussen, who finished an impressive third in the 2019 title-chase, winning three times, plus regular teammate Christian Bogle and Wyatt Brichacek, who made a strong debut earlier this month at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.

DEForce Racing will bring two cars for the Brazilian pair of Eduardo Barrichello, who finished the season strongly with his first front row qualifying effort, and Kiko Porto, who currently lies second in the F4 U.S. Championship with three wins to his name.

Miller Vinatieri Motorsports will add SCCA Formula F racer Max Kaeser to its roster alongside fellow teenager Jack William Miller, while HMD Motorsports is set to make its USF2000 debut with Sweden’s Viktor Andersson, whose father, Matthias, contested a half-dozen Indy Lights races in the 1990s, and regular midget and sprint car racer T.J. Thompson, whose day job is as a mechanic with IndyCar team Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing.

The 16-car entry will be completed by Kyle Dupell and Nolan Siegel, who will remain with Newman Wachs Racing, and highly rated Floridian rookie Jonathan Kotyk with Legacy Autosport. Kotyk, a Team USA Scholarship winner in 2017, capped an impressive FRP F1600 Championship Series-winning season last weekend at VIRginia International Raceway where he added a second successive SCCA Formula F National Championship title to his resume.

STATESVILLE, N.C. – Jeb Burton will make his second start with Niece Motorsports in the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series at Martinsville Speedway on Oct. 26.

“I’m excited to get back behind the wheel of one of these Niece Motorsports Chevrolets again,” said Burton.  “Martinsville is certainly a very special track to me, and a place that I have a lot of experience, so I’m confident that we can turn that into a strong result.”

Burton’s debut with Niece Motorsports came earlier this season at Kentucky Speedway, behind the wheel of the No. 44 Alsco/State Water Heaters Chevrolet Silverado.  In his 54th Truck Series start, Burton was able to earn his 20th top-10 in the series after starting 28th and finishing ninth.

The Virginia-native is no stranger to Martinsville, growing up racing late models Martinsville.  In addition, Burton has four Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series starts, and seven Truck Series starts at Martinsville.

In his seven Truck Series starts at the half-mile track, Burton has earned one pole, which came in 2013.  At a track where passing is tough and track position is paramount, Burton has qualified in the top-10 on four occasions. His best finish at the track is two third-place results, both coming in 2013.

The No. 44 Chevrolet will carry the Alsco, State Water Heaters and Puryear Tank Lines colors at Martinsville.

LEXINGTON, N.C. – Kaulig Racing is expanding to two full-time NASCAR Xfinity Series entries next year after signing Ross Chastain to drive the No. 10 Chevrolet.

Chastain will join Justin Haley, driver of the No. 11 Chevrolet, as a full-time driver at Kaulig Racing next year. Nutrien Ag Solutions will serve as the primary sponsor on the No. 10 entry for 23 races, including the full NASCAR Xfinity Series playoffs.

“Ross Chastain has it all – he’s competitive, he’s marketable, he’s all-around a great, blue-collar guy,” team owner Matt Kaulig said of his latest hire. “As a team, we couldn’t be more honored to land a driver like Ross. In just four races already this season, he’s not only helped advance our program, but he brought home this team’s very first win. Having him at Kaulig Racing next season, driving full-time, is a great gain for our organization.”

It was at Daytona Int’l Speedway this past July that Chastain provided Kaulig Racing its victory in the No. 16 Chevrolet.

Chastain started this year racing full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, splitting his time between JD Motorsports and Kaulig Racing. He then decided to pursue the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series title with Niece Motorsports.

This year in the Truck Series with Niece Motorsports Chastain has won three times and is currently sixth in the Truck Series playoffs.

“Two of the most important things in my life are agriculture and racing,” Chastain commented. “Nutrien Ag Solutions is the best sponsor I could have ever asked for as it pertains to my family’s long history of farming. Matt (Kaulig), Chris (Rice) and all of Kaulig Racing gave me the opportunity to race this year when I really wasn’t sure I would ever get another winning opportunity in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. And, we won. Now, next year, we get to try to win more races and also compete for the championship.”

Nutrien Ag Solutions, one of the world’s agriculture retail leaders, will extend its partnership with Chastain and Kaulig Racing into 2020. Throughout the 2019 season, Nutrien Ag Solutions served as the primary sponsor for both Chastain and Elliott Sadler.

“Nutrien Ag Solutions is thrilled to continue our partnership with Ross Chastain and Kaulig Racing,” said Brent Smith, Vice President of Marketing + Innovation for Nutrien Ag Solutions. “Ross is a talented driver on the track and a great ambassador for our brand on his farm in Florida. He connects and resonates well with our growers and employees across North America. We look forward to seeing him on the track, at the farm with our growers, and in Victory Lane during the 2020 NASCAR Xfinity Series season.”

The crew chief for Chastain’s team and the 23 selected Nutrien Ag Solutions events will be announced at a later date.

Jordan Spieth returns from his longest break during a calendar year hopeful that a fresh start will end his longest drought.

Spieth hasn't won since the 2017 Open Championship at Royal Birkdale, a span of 54 tournaments worldwide. He last played in August at the BMW Championship, where he failed to advance to the Tour Championship for the second straight year.

Spieth is at the CJ Cup in South Korea and plans to stay in Asia another week for the PGA Tour's first event in Japan.

''I certainly want to get back in the winner's circle,'' Spieth said. ''It's been a little while, and I would like to be more consistent this year, being able to tee it up on Sundays with chances to win more consistently, and that comes from better ball-striking.''

Spieth said he has spent time at home in Dallas working on his tee-to-green game. He is coming off one of his best years with the putter — and there have been some good ones — and believes once he gets the rest of his game in order, he'll have more chances.

He had only four top-10 finishes last year, often hurting himself with poor final rounds. The closest he finished to the winner was four shots behind in The Northern Trust, the first FedEx Cup playoff event.

''Each part of my game at different points in my career has been toward the top of the PGA Tour at different times, and sometimes at the same time,'' Spieth said. ''So I know that I'm capable of doing it. It's just a matter of the normal ups and downs of the game and addressing them, and quickly turning the downs to ups and then maintaining when those parts of the game are on top.''