DARLINGTON, S.C. – Cole Custer may not have been able to get past Denny Hamlin on the final restart of Saturday’s Sport Clips Haircuts/VFW 200, but he still walked out of Darlington Raceway with the trophy.

Custer was the beneficiary of a ride-height infraction on Denny Hamlin’s No. 18 Toyota Supra that disqualified the apparent winner at the 1.366-mile, egg-shaped oval from the final results.

Though Custer crossed the finish line .602 seconds behind Hamlin at the checkered flag, following the confirmation of technical inspection, it was the Ladera Ranch, Calif., native who received the spoils of victory at The Track Too Tough To Tame.

Hamlin had come from the last row of the grid – 37th, to be exact – and passed Ryan Blaney for the lead with 27 to go after a Friday practice crash sent him to a backup car and seemingly out of contention.

But Hamlin methodically worked his way through the field throughout the day, finally finding himself inside the top five with a shot when the final stage went green with 50 laps to go.

It took him around 20 of those laps for the speed in his car to show as the run drug on, but when the 30 to go benchmark ticked up on the scoreboard, Hamlin hit the jets and took off. He disposed of Custer to take second before driving inside Blaney on the approach to turn one on lap 121, quickly driving away.

However, a caution with 15 laps left closed the field back up and made for a scramble to the checkered flag, after Josh Williams spun exiting turn four, clipped Landon Cassill’s nose and tapped the inside wall.

That led to a final round of pit stops for fresh tires and a 10-lap shootout to the checkered flag, where Custer could stay with Hamlin by running the middle groove of the race track but could not get enough momentum to fully pull alongside the five-time Darlington Xfinity Series winner.

Hamlin’s disqualification erased that defeat, however, and elevated Custer to his sixth win of the year.

“It’s a wild ending, for sure. It’s one way to win it; it’s just not the way you want to win it,” said Custer, who carried a Buckshot Jones throwback scheme on his No. 00 Ford Mustang on Saturday. “It’s a strange feeling, definitely I wish I could have passed him, because him being low is not why he won that race. That’s the rules that we live by, though, and everyone plays by the same rulebook.

“You’ve seen several guys this year get bitten by it, so of course we’ll take this one,” he added. “We needed some additional momentum and some more playoff points and this certainly gave us that.”

Hamlin becomes the first Xfinity Series winner to have his victory stripped since Dale Jarrett, who was triumphant at Michigan Int’l Speedway in 1995 before an illegal carburetor was discovered in tech.

After coming in and going through what he thought was the customary winner’s press conference, the news filtered out and Hamlin quickly reacted to the disqualification on social media.

Car was a handling mess and had to put a boatload of rounds in RR to help it. This is the result. Damnit!! Nice job @ColeCuster

— Denny Hamlin (@dennyhamlin) August 31, 2019

Tyler Reddick, who originally finished third, rose to the runner-up position in the adjusted results.

Ryan Blaney, who led 50 laps down the stretch, Christopher Bell and Dale Earnhardt Jr. filled out the top five.

Joe Gibbs Racing has the option to appeal the disqualification, and must make the decision whether they will do so or not by Monday.

To view complete race results, advance to the next page.

DUQUOIN, Ill. – Ken Schrader became the oldest pole winner in the history of the ARCA Menards Series with his 22nd General Tire Pole Award in qualifying for Saturday’s Southern Illinois 100 on the Magic Mile at the DuQuoin State Fairgrounds.

Schrader’s lap of 33.621 seconds at 107.076 mph was three hundredths of a second quicker than Christian Eckes’ fastest lap.

“I told (crew chief) Donnie (Richeson) that the car felt pretty good when I went out for qualifying,” the 64-year-old Schrader said. “I said the new tires felt a lot better than those 20 lap tires we had on in practice. He told me “well they should feel better because those tires were from last year.”

Illinoisan Kelly Kovski was third fastest at 33.747 seconds and 106.676 mph. Carson Hocevar was fourth and Springfield winner Michael Self rounded out the top-five.

Will Kimmel, Riley Herbst, Bret Holmes, Ryan Unzicker and defending event winner Logan Seavey rounded out the top-10 in qualifying.

LINCOLN, Calif. – Fifteen months ago Steven Tiner and Kyle Hirst joined forces to open a racer-oriented shop in Chico, Calif.

The 2,100 square foot location, named Tiner Hirst Enterprises, resulted from more than three years of discussion between the sprint car drivers.

Hirst is a third generation racer following his grandfather, Joe Hill, and father, Rick Hirst into the world of open wheel racing. He first raced a quarter midget when he was 4 at Prairie City, but quickly moved on after a half season because passing on the outside was not allowed. A nearby dirt track raced outlaw karts and Hirst had found his training ground.

Discovering Red Bluff and Cycleland, Hirst continued racing outlaw karts until turning 16, a point at which strapping into a sprint car was done for the first time.  He recalls his debut was at Chico in a 410 and hitting an infield tire in hot laps.  That moment is credited with causing his father’s hair to start turning gray.

Now 31, Hirst figures he had around 80-100 outlaw kart wins and approximately 100 sprint car wins. He only ran for a track title once as a rookie and thinks he finished third in points, earning the rookie of the year award.

His first win came as a 17-year-old at Santa Maria and since has won four NARC titles plus he has collected the championship for the first two years of the Sprint Car Challenge Tour.  Hirst has the current point lead in the SCCT series with two race remaining.

With the new business being a little more than five months old, Hirst, wife Amy and daughter Emma had their lives turned upside down when the disastrous Camp Fire destroyed most of their hometown of Paradise. On Nov. 8, 2018 at approximately 6:30 a.m. the Camp Fire started and became the deadliest in California history with at least 51 fatalities from Paradise and destroyed the majority of structures in the city.

The Hirst family was out of their home for nine months, just returning to Paradise in August.  They stayed in the shop at first, then with a brother in Placerville, before being able to rent a place in Chico, conveniently owned by a co-worker of Amy.

A house on one side of the Hirst home as well as his were not burned, but all others in the neighborhood were destroyed.  He did lose his shop just 10 feet from their home but suffered no damage to their house, a vivid example of how wildfires defy any explanation of their behavior.

“If we can get through this we can do anything,” Hirst noted.

When they were able to return to their home with a  six-month-old son, Klayton, it meant they rushed out of Paradise a family of three and returned as a family of four.

Hirst thanks everyone who supported them during the nine months away from their home, including  the racing community and overseas support from New Zealand when he raced there in the winter.

Steven Tiner has a similar background as Hirst, lifelong involvement in racing and learning the skills along the way to fabricate and fix race car parts. Tiner is a fourth generation driver, coming from an extended family of racing relatives and is married to Paige.

His great-grandfather was Johnny Tiner, his grandfather was Johnny Tiner Jr., and his father Rich Tiner, a two time Marysville champion, formed the first three generations of drivers.  Steven first raced an outlaw kart in the box stock but after an eight-race career that ended due to financial issues.  Instead, Tiner learned how to build and work on race cars until age 16 when he strapped into his Uncle Rod’s sprint car.

His uncle Randy won many races around Northern California while Rod became well known as a car owner, collecting multiple Trophy Cup championships, as well as being someone who could work his magic on a sprint car.

After a few years racing Rod’s car, Tiner moved east, first to Missouri and then Benton, Ark. This was when Hooker Hood’s daughter put him in touch with the late Shorty Chambliss, a car owner who provided Ricky Stenhouse Jr. with his first ride.  Tim Crawley hired Tiner to work on his cars, which was done during the week and Tiner raced a Chambliss car on the weekend.

Tiner also worked for Danny Lasoski during this period of Midwestern living before returning to California in 2008 to work at BR Motorsports.  When on the road with Lasoski he got into buying and selling used parts, cleaning and fixing as needed to provide a quality used product.  His time at BR Motorsports led to meeting Bob Wyman, someone who Tiner credits with being very supportive and a big influence in his life.

Tiner also worked for Wright Process, which does stainless welding in the food industry and prepared the sprint cars owned by the company.  His racing career was not as busy as Hirst but he figures he has 30+ wins with one title at Placerville and two at Hanford, one coming in a shortened season at Kings Speedway.

Tiner’s years of learning the nuts and bolts of building and working on sprint cars led to the car he races occasionally now, one that he designed and built, including the sheet metal. He became friends with Hirst and that eventually led to the next phase in racing for both of them.

Three years of talking about opening a shop led to a June 1, 2018 opening of Tiner Hirst Enterprises, close to Silver Dollar Speedway. There they provide such things as used and new parts, rear end repair, plumbing engines, building bodies, frame repair  and new and repaired wings.

Tiner always raced on a tight budget and sees the benefit or turning used parts into usable items and repairing a wing at a fraction of the cost of a new one.  Hirst races more than Tiner but both have a significantly reduced schedule as the business comes first.

Their driver development program provides a car for Coalinga driver, Ben Worth, which is a ride identical to the house car driven mostly by Hirst.

It has been a busy 15 months for Tiner Hirst Enterprises but the high level of work ethic shown by these two men have their efforts off to a good start.

WEST HAVEN, Vt. – Tim LaDuc being in victory lane at Devil’s Bowl Speedway is usually no surprise.

The surprise came in the circumstances: Mired in the toughest season of his career, the Orwell, Vt., driver was eligible to compete in the Casella Waste Systems Ron Casey Memorial Shootout for non-winners, dominating the 20-lap race to open the Interstate All Battery Center Vermont 200 Weekend.

The race was part of a full five-division card of action on Saturday that also saw Johnny Bruno, Scott FitzGerald, Shawn Moquin and Evan Roberts earn wins.

The Ron Casey Memorial had another longtime Pepsi Sportsman Modified campaigner – Vince Quenneville – on the pole position, but a mechanical failure on the pace lap put Quenneville in the pits and moved visiting racer Jon Miller to the top spot.  Miller led the first four laps, but LaDuc got by him and sailed off to the 53rd feature win of his Devil’s Bowl career.  After destroying his primary car three weeks ago, LaDuc dedicated his win to a group of friends and volunteers who helped him piece together a new (used) chassis.

Marty Kelly III matched his career-best finish in second place, and rookie Joey Roberts had an impressive drive from 12th to third.  Ron Proctor and Brian Whittemore rounded out the top five finishers.

Sixteen-year-old Johnny Bruno won the 25-lap “Win & You’re In!” feature for the O’Reilly Auto Parts Limited Sportsman division, fending off a committed outside-lane drive by Matt Bilodeau.  Austin Chaves had his best effort of the season by leading the first 10 laps, but a restart bunched the field up and allowed Bruno to charge past into the lead.

Bilodeau chased Bruno down and the duo waged a see-saw battle in the final eight laps.  Bruno beat Bilodeau by a car length to win and earn a guaranteed starting spot in Sunday’s Vermont 200, but deferred the opportunity to Bilodeau, who will race.  Chaves held on for third place with Anthony Ryan fourth and Marty Hutchins fifth.

Super Stock point leader Scott FitzGerald won his fifth race of the season in a 30-lap special feature and unofficially clinched the championship with two races remaining.  FitzGerald and Chris Murray battled for the lead before Murray took over with 10 laps left, but Murray had a flat tire on lap 25 and had to pit.  After the restart, FitzGerald scooted away with the lead and sealed the win.

Curtis Condon had his best run of the year in the runner-up position and Murray – who was driving a car borrowed from Josh Bussino after problems with his own ride in hot laps – recovered for third place.  Bill Duprey and Garrett Given completed the top five.

Shawn Moquin continued the trend of borrowed cars performing well by winning the 20-lap Mini Stock feature in a car loaned to him by Chris Conroy; Moquin’s car was badly damaged in a crash last week.  Rookie David Sartwell-Cornell scored his fifth consecutive top-two finish in second place.  P.J. Bleau was third ahead of Jake Barrows and Craig Kirby.

Evan Roberts continued his impressive rookie season with his eighth Friend Construction 500cc Mini Sprint victory.  The Fletcher, Vt., 13-year-old won both 12-lap halves of the scored two-segment race for a perfect low total score of two points.  Twin brothers Shawn McPhee and John McPhee Jr. finished second and third overall, respectively; Shawn McPhee placed third and second in the segments for five points, and John McPhee Jr. was seventh and third for 10 points.  Kamden Duffy and Cody O’Brien, each with 10 points, rounded out the overall top five.

Barcelona have given up their pursuit of Paris Saint-Germain forward Neymar but will make a renewed effort to sign the Brazilian superstar next summer, sources have told ESPN FC.

Sources close to the Ligue 1 champions also confirmed on Saturday that the deal is off and that Neymar will be staying in Paris.

Following weeks of negotiations with Paris Saint-Germain, Barca have been unable to strike a deal to bring Neymar back to Camp Nou.

However, sources at Barca have told ESPN FC that they don't view this as the end of the saga. The club have not ruled out returning with another offer next summer for a player they consider to be a "strategic" signing -- someone who brings the club as much on the pitch as he does off it.

- When does the transfer window close?
- Transfer grades: Tracking every big club's deals
- All major completed transfer deals

The hierarchy at the club has appreciated the part played by Neymar during the negotiations with PSG, according to sources, with Barcelona saying he had expressed a desire to come back and exerted pressure on the French club to let him go.

Speaking on Friday, PSG's sporting director Leonardo said the club were still open to selling the Brazilian if Barca made an acceptable offer, but that none had arrived. Now with 48 hours to go until the window shuts, that is looking improbable.

Despite PSG's apparent openness to sell, sources at Barca claim that a deal this summer became impossible when faced with the Ligue 1 side's reluctance to reduce their asking price for the forward, who they signed for €222 million from the Catalans in 2017.

Barca have been working on the viability of doing a deal for two months but they cannot put the club's financial health at risk. Matching PSG's demands would signify a huge initial outlay in addition to another huge salary on the books.

ESPN FC first revealed on June 17 that Barca believed it would be possible to sign both Antoine Griezmann and Neymar. Therefore, once they bought the French forward from Atletico Madrid for €120m in July, they began to work on a deal for Neymar.

"It's difficult but complicated," a club source told ESPN FC at the time, but the Spanish champions have been unable to get PSG to budge.

Barca made three offers in the end, with all of them rejected. The first bid included Philippe Coutinho, Ivan Rakitic and cash between the value of €80m and €100m. PSG were keen on Coutinho being included, so his loan move to Bayern Munich set the talks back.

Barca later returned with an offer to take Neymar on loan this season with an option to sign him next summer which was also declined.

The third and final offer was based on a figure of €170m, with Rakitic and Jean Clair Todibo plus the loan of Ousmane Dembele included to bring the money part of the transfer down to around €130m.

However, none of the three players were keen on being included in the deal.

Real Madrid and Juventus have also been linked with Neymar throughout the summer, but Leonardo said on Friday that Barcelona were the only side who PSG had held talks with.

ESPN FC's Julien Laurens contributed to this story.

Pound-for-pound king Vasiliy Lomachenko moved a step closer to becoming the undisputed lightweight world champion with an action-packed unanimous decision victory against Luke Campbell on Saturday at the O2 Arena in London.

Lomachenko defended his two 135-pound belts and added a vacant one to his collection as he won a lopsided, but hard fought battle with England's Campbell on ESPN+ in a fight between Olympic gold medal winners before a wild sold-out crowd of 18,000-plus.

Lomachenko, who knocked Campbell down in the one-sided 11th round and nearly stopped him, won 119-108, 119-108 and 118-109. ESPN scored the fight 117-110 for Lomachenko, a dazzling performer now with another significant victory on his resume.

"Loma is up there with Muhammad Ali, Marvin Hagler, Sugar Ray Leonard, Floyd Mayweather, Oscar De La Hoya, Manny Pacquiao. He belongs with those fighters," Top Rank promoter Bob Arum, who promoted each of those legends, said of the two-time Olympic gold medalist many consider the greatest amateur of all time and now the class of professional boxing.

Lomachenko now needs only the fourth belt to become the undisputed champion and is expected to get the opportunity in his next fight in the first part of 2020 against the winner of a fight between world titlist Richard Commey and mandatory challenger Teofimo Lopez Jr., who likely will meet on Dec. 14 in New York on ESPN.

First, Lomachenko, 31, of Ukraine, who has also won world titles at featherweight and junior lightweight, had to deal with Campbell, a fellow southpaw with a height and reach advantage. But Lomachenko dismissed Campbell, the second Brit in a row he has defeated after destroying Anthony Crolla, a former world titleholder, by easy fourth-round knockout in April in Los Angeles.

"Maybe it's a lucky place for me. I like it," Lomachenko said of London, the city where he won his Olympic gold medal in 2012. "Of course, I'm happy. In U.K., fans are the best fans in the world. Thank you. I appreciate it. Of course, I want to fight (for the fourth belt). Of course, I want to fight with (Commey-Lopez winner). I want to fight with Teofimo Lopez but I do not think he will win this fight (against Commey)."

Campbell was classy despite the disappointment of losing his second opportunity to win a world title.

"He just beat me so he's very good," Campbell said. "He's a special fighter and we all knew he was a special fighter. This is boxing and we train to win. Obviously, I'm disappointed in myself for not getting the victory. Tonight was Lomachenko's night, and my time will come."

Shane McGuigan, Campbell's trainer, also gave it up to Lomachenko.

"It's hard to prepare for him. Luke did himself proud tonight. He boxed a once in a lifetime fighter," McGuigan said.

The fight began at a measured pace with Lomachenko and Campbell trying to see what the other had. Campbell landed a nice left hand to the head in the closing seconds of the first round, but he would struggle to win rounds thereafter.

Lomachenko began to establish his jab in the second round and also nailed Campbell with a left hand in the final seconds. In the third round, Lomachenko, poised as ever, began to pick up the pace and unleashed a hard straight left hand that caught Campbell cleanly and snapped his head back. Lomachenko fired off several jabs that landed also.

Lomachenko continued to land his jab, jumping in with it and snapping Campbell's head back in the fourth round as well as landing body punches, although Campbell stood his ground and fired back.

Lomachenko (14-1, 10 KOs), making his third title defense, had a strong fifth round. He was stalking forward and eventually nailed Campbell with a clean straight left hand late in the round. Campbell was clearly hurt and Lomachenko followed up with several powerful body shots that had him in trouble as the bell sounded.

The seventh round featured wild action with Campbell hurting Lomachenko with a left hand but his success was brief. Lomachenko came back strong to rock Campbell with a right hand and then sunk in a series of hard body shots.

Campbell (20-3, 16 KOs), 31, of England, was game and continued to give a huge effort but it was Lomachenko landing the cleaner, harder shots in the ninth round. They continued to go hard after each other in the final rounds with each man having his moments before Lomachenko authoritatively took over in the 11th round.

He pounded Campbell and dropped him to a knee with a brutal right hand to the body followed by a right to the head. Campbell got to his feet but was shaky. Lomachenko was all over him during the follow-up attack, lashing him with punches as Campbell went into survival mode. Overall, Lomachenko outlanded Campbell 44-17 in the 11th round.

Referee Victor Loughlin warned Lomachenko for a low blow in the 12th round but after the warning, Lomachenko again pounded Campbell with so many clean shots that he grabbed on hard to Lomachenko around the waist to keep from going down and wrestled Lomachenko to the mat in another huge Lomachenko round.

Although Campbell had been competitive round to round over the first half of the bout, Lomachenko took over in the second half of the fight.

According to CompuBox statistics, Lomachenko landed 211 of 527 punches (40 percent) and Campbell landed 131 of 420 (31 percent). Lomachenko, however, outlanded Campbell 140-73 from the seventh through 12th round, including the huge 11th and 12th rounds.

Campbell was getting his second shot at a lightweight world title. He challenged Jorge Linares for his belt in September 2017 in Inglewood, California, but got knocked down and lost a split decision in an overall competitive fight. Linares would go on to lose the title by 10th-round knockout to Lomachenko two fights later in May 2018.

Campbell won three fights in a row after losing to Linares to earn a mandatory shot at Mikey Garcia, but when Garcia vacated, Lomachenko was given the opportunity to face him for the vacant WBC title in addition to putting his WBO and WBA belts on the line.

Now Lomachenko has three of the four major belts and will aim to become the fifth man to win all of them in the four-belt era. He hopes to join cruiserweight and close friend Oleksandr Usyk (2018), who was ringside; junior welterweight Terrence Crawford (2017); and middleweights Jermain Taylor (2005) and Bernard Hopkins (2004).

Arum, the promoter of Commey-Lopez, plans to match the winner with Lomachenko.

"Obviously, we're looking to win the fourth belt to unify the title," Arum said. "But Loma and (manager) Egis (Klimas) have told they can't wait to come back to the U.K. to fight here again. The English fight fans are the best fans in the world.

"Luke Campbell didn't disgrace himself. He fought a hell of fight. He's a hell of a fighter. Big, big heart, and Luke will be back. (Lomachenko) will fight the best fighters at featherweight, (junior lightweight) or lightweight. Only the best. He's a special, special fighter."

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- Dan Ellington threw two touchdown passes and ran for a third score as 26-point underdog Georgia State upset Tennessee 38-30 on Saturday in one of the first stunners of the college football season.

Georgia State (1-0) beat a Power Five opponent for the first time since this Sun Belt Conference school launched its program in 2010. The Panthers' closest call before this had come in 2016, when they lost 23-17 to Wisconsin after leading in the fourth quarter.

Tennessee (0-1) suffered one of the more embarrassing setbacks in its history, the latest blow for a storied program attempting to bounce back from two straight losing seasons.

Georgia State was coming off a 2-10 season in which it had lost its last seven games. Only one of those seven losses was decided by less than two touchdowns and one of its two wins came against FCS opponent Kennesaw State.

But the Panthers outplayed and outworked Tennessee on Saturday to earn their first road win since 2017.

The hard times for Tennessee were evident from a look at the Neyland Stadium stands. Although the announced attendance was 85,503, thousands of fans apparently left at halftime and many others headed for shaded areas, leaving plenty of sections of the 102,455-seat facility virtually empty as Tennessee attempted its comeback.

Tra Barnett put Georgia State ahead for good 28-23 when he raced untouched around the right side with 8:56 remaining. Barnett ended up rushing for 95 yards on 21 carries.

Tennessee crossed midfield on its next possession before Jaylon Jones came in from Guarantano's blind side and sacked him, forcing a fumble that Georgia State's Jhi'Shawn Taylor recovered at the Vols' 39 with 7:10 left.

That led to the game-clinching touchdown by Ellington with 4:45 left.

Ellington faked a handoff and then made multiple moves to elude defenders before running into the left corner of the end zone for a 22-yard score that left Tennessee defensive backs Alontae Taylor and Shawn Shamburger lying on the field hurt as the Panthers celebrated in the end zone.

Brandon Wright made it 38-23 by kicking a 48-yard field goal with 2:37 left after a Guarantano interception. Guarantano ended up 26 of 40 for 311 yards with two touchdowns, including an 18-yarder to Jauan Jennings that capped the scoring with two seconds remaining.

A huge momentum swing early in the fourth quarter made it seem as though Tennessee would avoid the upset.

Georgia State led 21-20 and had the ball at Tennessee's 19-yard line when DeAndre Johnson sacked Ellington, forcing a fumble that LaTrell Bumphus recovered for the Vols.

On the next play, Guarantano found tight end Dominick Wood-Anderson wide open down the left sideline for a 54-yard gain. That completion set up a Brent Cimaglia 31-yard field goal that put Tennessee ahead 23-21 with 12:05 left.

That's the moment when the Panthers could have let the game get away from them. They instead regrouped and delivered the most memorable moment this program has ever produced.

Entering today, SEC teams had won 82 straight games as a favorite of 25 points or more. The last loss also came to a Sun Belt team: Mississippi State lost to South Alabama on Sept 3, 2016.

THE TAKEAWAY

Georgia State: Ellington's a senior quarterback who showed the kind of veteran moxie that's needed to produce this kind of upset. After completing just one of his first nine passes, Ellington ended up going 11 of 24 for 139 yards and two touchdowns. He also ran for 61 yards on 14 carries. Most importantly, he found a way to bounce back after committing the turnover early in the fourth quarter that helped Tennessee take the lead.

Tennessee: Vols coach Jeremy Pruitt had overhauled his coaching staff after going 5-7 in his debut season last year. Tennessee's paying $1.5 million this season to new offensive coordinator Jim Chaney and $1 million to new defensive coordinator Derrick Ansley. That new-look staff opened the season with an utterly unimaginable loss

UP NEXT

Georgia State hosts Football Championship Subdivision program Furman on Saturday.

Tennessee hosts Brigham Young on Saturday.

Information from ESPN Stats & Information and The Associated Press was used in this report.

LeBron James wants a little lettuce on his Taco Tuesday.

The Los Angeles Lakers superstar is looking to monetize his popular videos by filing to trademark the term "Taco Tuesday."

One of James' companies, LBJ Trademarks, submitted the necessary paperwork with the United States Patent and Trademark Office in August. The application states that the goods and services involved with the trademark involve "advertising and marketing services provided by means of indirect methods of marketing communications, namely, social media, search engine marketing, inquiry marketing, internet marketing, mobile marketing, blogging and other forms of passive, sharable or viral communications channels."

The company also lists "podcasting services" and "online entertainment services, namely, providing a website featuring non-downloadable videos, and social media posts in the field of sports, entertainment, current events and popular culture."

A source told ESPN's Brian Windhorst that James' team has no firm plans for the term but wants to keep all business opportunities open.

James isn't alone in requesting to trademark the term "Taco Tuesday." A search of the USPTO website yields 29 results, many of them no longer active. Other services listed by companies requesting the term are for electrical appliances, clothing and -- of course -- food.

In fact, the restaurant chain Taco John's -- which has a corporate office in Wyoming -- had a trademark on the term "Taco Tuesday" for restaurant services as far back as 1989.

Some guys get it straight. Others get punked. Regardless of how the news comes, big leaguers never forget the moment they got called up to The Show.

Even though expanded rosters are going the way of the mound visit -- starting next year, the limit drops from 40 to 28 players -- that doesn't change the fact that leveling up to the majors is pure awesomeness.

In honor of the final year of September call-ups as we now know them, we asked some of the game's brightest stars to share their stories.

Aaron Judge, New York Yankees

I was in Rochester, New York. We were playing the Triple-A team from Minnesota. Just finished the game, out to eat at one of the best and only spots right there in Rochester by our hotel -- Dinosaur Bar-B-Que. My family and my girlfriend were in town, and our whole team was there, eating dinner at midnight. All of a sudden, our manager, Al Pedrique, comes up to the table and says, "Hey, you might want to speed your dinner up a little bit -- you gotta go play right field in New York tomorrow."

I looked around and I was like, "I know that, Skip, we're in Rochester, New York. Of course I'm playing right field tomorrow." He's like, "Nah, you're going to be playing right field at Yankee Stadium."

"I think that's the secret, to be honest -- you should probably stop sleeping." Aaron Judge

I was shocked. I was still waiting for my food. I was hungry. It really didn't hit me. My parents start going crazy. My mom's crying, everyone's happy. My next thought was, "Well, how are we getting there? What's the next move? We drivin'? We flyin'?"

Since my family was there, we packed up the rental car and all drove together through the night. I told my mom I would drive, but she was like, "No, you need to rest, so sleep in the back." I was like, "Mom, I just got called up I'm not gonna be sleeping back here in the back of the car." I barely fit back there. It was a tight squeeze. Legs up, knees up. We get in at 5 [a.m.], and then at 6 o'clock, someone pulled the fire alarm. So I had to get up, go out of the hotel, everyone's sitting outside. By the time I came back in, it was 7, and I was like, "I'm just gonna head to the stadium." No sleep, no rest. I think that helped me. Adrenaline kicked in, and we were ready to roll. Went 2-for-3 with a homer [in his first major league at-bat].

I think that's the secret, to be honest -- you should probably stop sleeping.

Xander Bogaerts, Boston Red Sox

I was in Triple-A at the hotel room in Pawtucket [Rhode Island]. It was late at night, and I was playing dominoes with a couple of my teammates. I got a call from our Triple-A manager. I was so not expecting it. I was going through a rough stretch. I was like, maybe 0-for-10 with seven strikeouts. I wasn't even looking for a call. It caught me by surprise. I had no idea.

I definitely thought they didn't want to win. I mean, I was a prospect coming up, and I was having a good season, but those last couple days, I wasn't playing well.

He told me someone was coming to pick me up to take me to the hotel in Boston because in the morning we were flying to San Francisco. There were a lot of emotions. I couldn't tell my mom because it wasn't official. But then I still ended up calling her. I had to tell my mom.

Christian Yelich, Milwaukee Brewers

I was in Tennessee in Double-A, and I got taken out in like the third inning, after a base hit. Got told I was getting called up. I got a pinch runner, so I kind of knew what was happening.

Why else would I be getting taken out of the game in the third inning? There's no other reason.

Jake Marisnick got hit by the next pitch. He got taken out of the game, and they told him he was getting called up, too. So we got to go together as buddies.

Dude, it was cool because it's a major experience, and me and him were like best friends at the time. Still are really good friends. We were roommates in Double-A with J.T. Realmuto. The three of us lived together. So it was cool. You get to experience that with one of your really close friends. There's nerves, and you don't know what you're doing at all because you've never been in the big leagues.

So you get to experience that with somebody who also has no idea what's going on or what to expect. The ups and downs, and everything that comes with being a rookie in the big leagues -- you get to experience it with a really close buddy. Very fortunate in that aspect. It's rare that two guys get called up at the same time, ever, let alone who are really good friends. So it was fortunate. We lived together in Miami that year. It was awesome.

Freddie Freeman, Atlanta Braves

I was in Triple-A, and we had an off-day before Sept. 1st call-ups. I was only 20, but I was like, "Man, I just hit .320 and I had 18 homers and 90 RBIs, so there's a chance." They called me in, and they were like, you've had a great season and we just want you to know how great you've done this year, and you're going to the Arizona Fall League. I was like, "I already know that." I was a little disappointed.

I was like, it's all right, I'll just go and finish out this year. Then they told me they wanted me to go to Atlanta first. Jason Heyward and I were living together. We lived together all through the minor leagues -- 2008 in Rome, 2009 in Myrtle Beach and Mississippi, and then 2010 he bought a townhome and he was like, "Why don't we live together?"

"It's everything. When you finally get that call, it doesn't matter what day it is, or where it is, or what happens -- it's the best moment there is." Freddie Freeman

But that year, he made the team out of spring training. So we would leave, and he would go to Atlanta, and I would go to Gwinnett. I was like, "Man I want to go that way." So I just had to sit there at his house while the big league team played the day before -- then I finally got to go on Sept. 1st.

I walk into the yard and Bobby Cox is there, and I see the lineup and I'm hitting sixth and playing first. I'm like, "Oh jeez." Instant heart to my stomach. Faced Mike Pelfrey and the Mets. I remember it like it was yesterday. It was so cool. It's what every kid dreams about. And my dad was there in the stands.

It's everything. When you finally get that call, it doesn't matter what day it is, or where it is, or what happens -- it's the best moment there is.

Cody Bellinger, Los Angeles Dodgers

I was in OKC. At 2:30 in the morning, my roommate Trevor Oaks came in to wake me up. [Then-farm director] Gabe Kapler had tried to get a hold of me five or six times, and I was asleep. I didn't hear it. I never hear my phone ring, even during the day. I have it on vibrate. So Gabe ended up calling my roommate, who actually answered his phone. So he had to come to my room and told me to call Kap.

He wouldn't have woken me up at 2:30 just to prank me like that, so I knew it was the real deal. Then Kap told me the news.

So I called my parents at 2:30 in the morning, then I had a flight that morning at 8 to San Francisco. I went and packed up one suitcase in my room, went to the stadium, packed up my bag there and stayed at the stadium until like 6, then got to the airport at like 6:30. I didn't sleep at all.

Shane Bieber, Cleveland Indians

It was last year. I had just thrown a rain-shortened no-hitter, and so I was pitching pretty well. I was working on developing a changeup, just like I have throughout my whole career, and I was working with Steve Karsay, our pitching coach in Columbus at the time. He was like, "Hey, come in early so I can show you some video." So I came in early. We were in Gwinnett, Georgia. It was kind of unusual, but I went in and we were watching some video of some right-handed changeups and comparing them to mine.

All of a sudden, our manager Chris Tremie walks in and goes, "Oh, Kars didn't tell you?" Kars goes, "Oh yeah. You didn't notice all these clips are in Minnesota?" I was like, "No." He goes, "Yeah, you're starting there on Thursday."

Looking back, every clip was another pitcher pitching in Minnesota's ballpark against Minnesota. So it was like a scouting report. It was cool. I was totally blindsided.

Right after that, it was go time. I hadn't been in major league spring training. I hadn't thrown a major league ball. They were a little different -- they're just now using major league balls in Triple-A. So Kars was like, "Hey, let's go play catch." Grabbed a couple major league balls and messed around with them. Then I left the next day.

Whit Merrifield, Kansas City Royals

We were in Tacoma [Washington]. It was Kids Day, so we had an 11 a.m. game. We had a tee time at 3 [p.m.] at Chambers Bay, so we're all just swinging at the first pitch. Just put the ball in play and get out of there.

We had just got done playing. I walked off 18 and got the call from our Triple-A manager. He just said, "Hey, they need you up there. You've got a 3 a.m. taxi to the airport." We were playing with two foursomes. Hunter Dozier was there. I was a little surprised. I had been playing, so I was hoping the call would come. But I was also 27 at the time and had been playing well for a while, so I wasn't sure if the call would ever come. So it was nice that it finally did come.

It was a cool moment. We celebrated, then got back to the hotel and celebrated a little more.

Franmil Reyes, Cleveland Indians

We were playing at Reno [Nevada]. We were wearing pink because of Mother's Day. I had a pretty good day. I gave my team the lead with a triple. Right after the game, I showered and got changed, and I was eating at one of the tables in the clubhouse. Lance Burkhart, the hitting coach, told me that Rod Barajas wanted to talk to me. I knew it was good news coming, so I threw away my food and walked into the office.

Barajas told me to sit in one of the chairs and he was like, "Hey, you're not playing tomorrow because you swung at two bad pitches." I was like, "Wow, this doesn't happen to no one. I'm not playing tomorrow just because of two pitches?" And he said, "No, because you're playing for the San Diego Padres tomorrow."

I couldn't believe it. First person I called was my mom. Then my wife. Had a pretty good time. I was flying the next day. When I got to San Diego, that's when I celebrated with my mom, my cousins and my best friend, Franchy Cordero.

Charlie Blackmon, Colorado Rockies

We had a day game in Colorado Springs, and me and like four or five guys got out of there real early after the day game. We drove up to the mountains and went trout fishing.

It was a really tough day -- I think I was the only one to catch a fish that day. Right as we were done, they called and told me to get my crap together and get back to town because I was getting called up. So I had to cut the fishing trip short.

But I was the only one who caught anything, and I got called up. So I had a great day, and everybody else had a terrible day.