CROSSVILLE, Tenn. – Saturday night at 411 Motor Speedway was a landmark night for 27-year-old Jesse Lowe, as the Tennessee racer tasted victory for the 100th time in his career.

The milestone accomplishment came aboard his Xtreme Pressure Washing No. 5j Gondolas Pizza and Steakhouse/ CVR Race Car Crate Late Model.

The victory was also the 18th of Lowe’s 2019 campaign.

“When the year started, 18 wins seemed like a tall order, but I knew that if I could reach that number, that I’d also achieve my 100th win. On Saturday night I was thankfully able to achieve that goal,” Lowe shared. “To do it with my dad and my family there with me meant the world to me. It was also really cool to get the win in front of such a packed house that was there to see the World of Outlaws.

“So many great folks have helped me along the way to help me get to this point, and this win is for each-and-every one of them.”

Lowe made the short trip to 411 Motor Speedway on Saturday evening, where he was piloting his Gondola Pizza and Steakhouse No. 5j crate late model entry.

Qualifying second-fastest in time trials behind Trevor Sise, Jesse earned the second starting position for the A-main. Tracking down Sise by the seventh lap, Lowe took control of the lead two laps later and dominated the remaining distance of the 25-lap feature.

Saturday night’s win earned Lowe a $1,500 payday.

Zach Sise, Jensen Ford, Chip Brindle, and Bradley Lewelling completed the top five finishers.

RICHMOND, Va. — Following more than two years of development from concept to reality, NASCAR’s Next Gen car hit the track for the first time this week during a two-day test at Richmond Raceway.

The much-anticipated car, which is slated to debut at the 2021 Daytona 500, will honor stock car racing’s roots, with bodies that resemble their street versions while incorporating new vehicle technology and innovation.

“This is an important milestone for the Next Gen car and the future of stock car racing,” said John Probst, NASCAR Senior Vice President of Innovation and Racing Development. “There are so many new systems on the car from the front to the back that our main goal with this test was to log laps and put miles on them.

“The test has met – and even exceeded – our expectations, and we are well on our way to developing the final iteration of the car.”

Austin Dillon was behind the wheel of the car, which was assembled by Richard Childress Racing in collaboration with NASCAR.

“I really enjoyed driving the car,” Dillon said. “I like the way that it looks, you can see the finished product down the road. The OEMs can make the body look really good, like a street car that you see on the road today. When it comes together and they all get their cars on the track, we’re going to have something to work with that also looks really good.”

The car is one of two prototypes currently built. The other was assembled by NASCAR and was tested in the wind tunnel for the first time on Oct. 1. That car is scheduled to make its second trip to the wind tunnel later this week.

Another on-track test is anticipated before the year concludes.

“We have a very comprehensive test plan,” Probst said. “We will be doing extensive wind tunnel testing to ensure liftoff speeds are appropriate before moving to larger tracks. As we move into 2020, we will begin testing on intermediate tracks, superspeedways and road courses.”

While many components on the current versions of the car will remain, some major elements – including each OEMs body design – are still in development.

ENSENADA, Mexico — Early entries for November’s 52nd SCORE Baja 1000, the ‘Granddaddy of All Desert Races’, have come from 18 states and seven countries.

The final round of the four-race SCORE World Desert Championship will start and finish in the heart of Baja California, Mexico, with race-week festivities and the race held Nov. 19-24.

The SCORE Baja 1000 is the most iconic, oldest, prestigious, toughest and longest continuously-held desert race in the world.

The race will be televised on a delayed basis as a one-hour special on ABC TV’s World of X Games programming.

Over 250 vehicles are expected at the start line with racers from over 30 U.S. states and as many as 20 countries anticipated.

Included in the first 43 official entries of the more than 250 anticipated for this year’s renewal of the world’s most iconic desert race are racers from 18 U.S. States and seven countries.

U.S. States represented in the field of competitors to date are from Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Idaho, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, Virginia and Washington.

Besides the United States and host Mexico, countries represented to date in the total entry field are from Canada, Italy, Japan, Norway and Spain.

Long-time SCORE sponsor BFGoodrich Tires has posted a $40,000 contingency bonus for the overall four-wheel winner to help commemorate the renewal of the legendary event.

This year’s SCORE Baja 1000 will be a loop race of 799.1 miles in the northern state of Mexico’s majestic Baja California peninsula.

It will start for the 45th time and finish for the 26th time in Ensenada and the race is annually the finale of the four-race SCORE World Desert Championship, which has been held exclusively for the past four years in Baja California.

The trio of Justin Morgan, Mark Samuels and Justin Jones is the defending champion team of the SCORE Baja 1000.

PITTSBURGH -- The Pittsburgh Penguins placed forward Alex Galchenyuk on injured reserve after he aggravated an undisclosed injury that limited him during the preseason.

Galchenyuk joins center Evgeni Malkin and forwards Bryan Rust and Nick Bjugstad on IR for the Penguins, who are off to a 1-2-0 start. Galchenyuk, acquired in an offseason trade with Arizona, has two assists in three games.

Pittsburgh forward Patric Hornqvist sat out practice on Wednesday. Hornqvist left a 4-1 loss to Winnipeg on Tuesday night after getting hit by a shot off the stick of teammate Kris Letang.

The Penguins recalled forward Adam Johnson from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League.

Pittsburgh wraps up a season-opening four-game homestand on Thursday night against Anaheim.

HUMBLE, Texas – When Cole Hammer was younger, he drilled two golf holes, about 12 feet apart, into the hardwood floor of his bedroom so that he could practice his putting into the night. The rug that was laid over it runs about a 10 on the Stimpmeter. The putters and balls scattered about make Hammer’s room look like a mini-PGA Tour Superstore.

These days, it’s Hammer’s dad, Gregg, who gets the most use out of the one-of-a-kind practice area, as the 19-year-old Cole is away at college, currently a star sophomore at the University of Texas. But this week, it’s back at Cole’s disposal.

The Longhorns stud, who first made headlines as a 15-year-old prodigy playing in the 2015 U.S. Open at Chambers Bay, is making his first non-major PGA Tour start this week at the Houston Open, which is being played about a half-hour from the Hammer family’s home in the River Oaks community, just west of downtown.

“The fact that it’s in Houston, my hometown, makes it extra special,” said Hammer, who will sleep in his own bed this week, just feet from that putting setup. “This is the first PGA Tour event I ever came and watched and to have kind of my first [Tour] start being here where I’ve grown up – I’ve played this course quite a bit – is really cool.”

Hammer remembers attending tournaments at the Golf Club of Houston long before he received a sponsor invite to play in one. One year, he scored a parking pass in the players’ lot and spent the whole day getting autographs, including the signature of his favorite player, Rory McIlroy. He recalls a 3-wood that Lee Westwood hit on the third hole, still calling it “the purest golf shot I’ve ever seen hit in my life.”

Of course, living close by, Hammer also got to play the course many times. He and his family were members for a year while he was in high school as their home course, River Oaks, was being renovated. And for several years, beginning when Hammer was 11 years old, he and current Texas teammate Mason Nome would play the course with their dads in the weeks before the pros arrived.

“It was fun for us to come out and see a PGA Tour setup with stands,” Hammer said. “We were probably playing like the ladies tees out here and looking back at the back tees thinking, ‘Man, how do they hit the ball so far?’ But that was really special time for me. … To kind of look back on that tomorrow when I'm standing on the first tee will be something I'll remember for a while.”

But make no mistake, this experience isn’t all sentimental for Hammer.

“I’m trying to win the tournament,” Hammer exclaimed Tuesday.

He’s seen former peers Matthew Wolff and Collin Morikawa win this summer on Tour, and it was just in June, at the NCAA Championship, when Hammer drilled Wolff in a semifinal match. Gregg Hammer said that the success of those guys has created “unreasonable” expectations for young stars such as his son, but that doesn’t mean that Cole can’t meet them, even as quickly as this week.

For much of his short golf career, Hammer has played up a level – or three. A major championship as a high-schooler. Top amateur events as a junior. The Walker Cup before his sophomore year of college.

“He has gotten a comfort level with being in those positions,” Gregg Hammer said.

Hammer is coming off finishes of T-9 at Olympia Fields and T-42 at the Nike Collegiate to kick off his fall with the Longhorns. He’ll miss this weekend’s Big 12 Match Play, also in Houston, but for good reason. He’s ready to win himself a Tour event.

“It's cool to see these guys play well, and obviously I've played with them a bunch and I've had some success against them,” Hammer said. “Sure, it gives me confidence, but it's not confidence that I haven't had before.

"I’ve always known that the top amateurs have a great chance against these guys.”

And with that, it’s officially Hammer Time in Houston.

HUMBLE, Texas – In recent years, the Houston Open has been thrown one curveball after another – natural disasters, loss of a title sponsor, a costly date change.

But the longtime PGA Tour stop seems on the verge of hitting a home run.

Perhaps it’s fitting that the tournament, a regular in the Tour rota since 1946, is now being run by the Astros Golf Foundation, which is investing about $30 million into a new home for the event.

Memorial Park, a municipal course located in the western shadows of downtown Houston, is expected to host the Houston Open beginning next fall, replacing the Golf Club of Houston, which will host the event for the last time this week, and generating excitement for a tournament currently in a transition period.

“It’s a win-win-win-win,” said Jim Crane, owner of the Houston Astros, during a January city council meeting in which voters unanimously approved the project.

The $13.5 million first phase includes a course redesign by renowned architect Tom Doak, new maintenance and practice facilities, the latter with a two-level, 84-bay driving range, and a First Tee complex with four-hole course. The second phase will be a complete clubhouse rebuild that figures to cost about $17 million.

The course, founded in 1912, is set to reopen to the public on Nov. 4 and should continue to offer affordable tee times. (Before the redesign, golfers could play for under $40 on weekends.)

Now, the new-look layout, which annually saw upwards of 60,000 rounds a year, will challenge the world’s best while still being friendly to the average player.

What Doak did with this previously flat, flood-prone land was remarkable. He effectively added elevation and improved drainage into the Buffalo Bayou, which runs through the park. (How effective? Tropical Storm Imelda dropped nine inches on Memorial Park last month; the next day, the greens and fairways were being mowed.)

He cleared out trees. He lengthened holes. He shortened holes. He widened fairways. He completely changed the second hole, bringing it over a ravine.

“This course is going to make the Tour players really think about how they approach every hole,” said Butch Harmon, who played the old Memorial Park during his 16-year stint as a teaching pro in Houston and saw the redesign for the first time Tuesday. “You just can’t bomb it on every hole there.”

Yet, with its many teeing grounds, the 7,300-plus-yard layout will also be playable for anyone. The most noticeable change Doak made was adding a fifth par-3 while keeping the other four par-3s under 200 yards - a recommendation made to him by Brooks Koepka, who has done some advising on the redesign through his friendship with Crane and AGF president Giles Kibbe.

As Koepka told Doak: “We’ll be heroes if we do that.”

“I think that’s something that makes it harder for a guy who is trying to break par but easier for a guy trying to break 90,” Doak added.

In a world where many pro events are contested on private or expensive courses, the addition of Memorial Park to the Tour equation in Houston is a breath of fresh air.

“One week out of the year the PGA Tour is going to play an amazing golf course that was actually built for them, built with them in mind, but with the different teeing areas, for the other 51 weeks out of the year, the citizens of Houston are going to be able to play a world-class golf course for a reasonable amount of money,” Harmon said.

“… The city is going to love it. Everybody’s going to want to play there.”

But will the Tour’s stars? This year’s Houston Open field marks the weakest non-opposite-field event in nearly five years, according to the Official World Golf Ranking, which rates the strength of field a 73. With just two top-50 players participating, Houston Open tournament director Colby Callaway blames the lack of star power on the event’s new spot on the schedule.

Instead of directly preceding the Masters in April, the tournament now falls right before the Tour’s lucrative Asian Swing.

“I’m learning that in the fall, players are interested in chasing the big money internationally and playing overseas,” Callaway told Golf.com earlier this week. “That’s not up to me to figure that out, but up to the Tour to help out because there are tournaments here who are saying, ‘What about us?’

“Hopefully we can force the Tour’s hand to move us.”

Harmon, who as the event’s new recruiter is tasked with luring the big names back to Houston, believes that will happen. Harmon said that Crane met with Tour commissioner Jay Monahan on Wednesday to discuss another date change, even if it means moving just a few weeks earlier in the fall.

That would be huge for the Houston Open, which in the past couple of years has also experienced a hurricane and tropical storm, as well as Shell pulling out after 25 years as title sponsor and the AGF taking over for the Houston Golf Association.

So again, will the stars want to come back? With the arrival of Memorial Park, located in a prime location near downtown, Harmon believes there’s little reason for them not to.

“In the past, there has been criticism of this course (Golf Club of Houston); some of the players like it, some of them don’t,” Harmon said. “I’m not sure there can be anything to complain about when we get to Memorial Park.”

If that happens, if the big names do return, if Memorial Park lures them in again, that would be the game-changing homer that the Houston Open needs.

Legendary goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar has attributed Manchester United's struggles to the disappearance of strong characters in the dressing room, and said the situation at Old Trafford is "a long way" from the club he left eight years ago.

Van der Sar spent the final six seasons of his decorated career with the Red Devils, winning four Premier League titles and playing in three Champions League finals with Sir Alex Ferguson's side. However, United have fallen on hard times since Ferguson's departure in 2013 and are in the midst of their worst-ever start to a Premier League campaign.

- ESPN Premier League fantasy: Sign up now!
- VAR in the Premier League: Ultimate guide
- When does the transfer window reopen?
- Premier League winter break: All you need to know

When asked to comment on the difficult times Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's team is facing, the former Netherlands international, who was a teammate of Solskjaer's at United, told ESPN FC in an exclusive interview: "Of course it's difficult. I left there eight years ago and it was a tremendous last six years of my career, winning four Premier League titles and playing in three Champions League finals.

"So it's a long way from the position where they are in now," van der Sar said. "And of course they have changed managers a couple times now and the real progress is not seen yet, only the thing that they bought in the summer. They bought younger, inexperienced players with a certain desire and hunger, and not like the big names they bought the last six, seven years."

Upon joining United from Fulham in the summer of 2005, the former Ajax and Juventus star walked into a dressing room full of established veteran leadership -- a makeup, he says, that is much unlike today's team.

"I think for ourselves, when I came in the dressing room we had Ryan Giggs, you had [Paul] Scholes, you had [Rio] Ferdinand, [Gary] Neville and even Roy Keane at that time. So I think there's always been strong characters. And I think for the last couple of years the strong characters have disappeared and [are] not making a difference anymore," van der Sar said.

Though despite the recent rocky times, van der Sar said he believes that United still have the power to attract top players capable of leading them back to glory.

"Of course, the name is there. And of course the following they have all over the world," he said.

"But for a player [...] you want to play at a certain level, you also want to have an idea that you can win trophies and they must take that opportunity also to improve the squad and make the world-class players they have, or the players that they're going to sign, that they feel welcome and that there's a good path to where they're going to go to."