KENT, Wash. – In the process of trying to grab his first career NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series victory, Scott Palmer is learning what it takes to put together a win.

That means an aggressive mindset, consistency in a multitude of conditions and combining it all when it counts. Thanks to a recent surge and shift in approach, the Top Fuel veteran may be closer than ever.

He advanced to his second career final round earlier this month, has moved back into the top 10 in a loaded class and appears to be making considerable strides at the right time.

Heading into his sponsor’s race, the 32nd annual Magic Dry Organic Absorbent NHRA Northwest Nationals, Aug. 2-4 at Pacific Raceways, Palmer is eager to grab a victory, and having it come to close out the famed NHRA Western Swing would qualify as perfect timing.

“We’ve been working towards running harder on race day and our whole mindset is we’re trying to win a race,” Palmer said. “To win a race, you have to win some rounds, so that thinking is only going to help you. Our goals are different this year and we’re trying to get more aggressive in the summertime conditions. We plan on taking that shot to win. It’s trying to be more aggressive in the heat. It took a while, but we had to stick with it.

“We want to win a race, not be conservative.”

Antron Brown (Top Fuel), Ron Capps (Funny Car) and Tanner Gray (Pro Stock) were last year’s winners of the Seattle event, which marks the 16th of 24 races on the NHRA slate.

Palmer can sense the Mello Yello Countdown to the Championship around the corner, but his chief concern is a victory, not the points standings. If his team puts together a run like they did in Epping, where he only lost to the red-hot points leader Steve Torrence in the final round, the points will take care of themselves.

A third straight playoff appearance is up for grabs, but Palmer, who has gone from 12th to ninth in the past two races, believes his team is plenty capable of winning a race.

“We’re going to this race with that same mentality, and that’s to try to win the race,” Palmer said. “We’re ready to go. Everything in our trailer has been checked and all you can ask for is an opportunity to win a race. I feel like we have a car that can do that, and that’s pretty impressive.

“Even if you come close, you’re going to win rounds and that’s going to put you in the Countdown.”

A victory in Seattle would be meaningful for Palmer, who campaigns the 11,000-horsepower Magic Dry Organic Absorbent dragster. Palmer continues to be incredibly grateful for the opportunity to race full-time with Tommy Thompson, and it is races like the one in Seattle that bring it to light even more.

He’ll compete against the likes of Brown, who has three straight wins at the facility; Brittany Force, Doug Kalitta and Clay Millican at Pacific Raceways, but Palmer treasures these moments.

“It’s still cool every time we go to a race like this,” Palmer said. “Tommy and myself are friends, and it’s only been three years since he started helping us. You go back four years ago and there was not even a slim chance we were going to win many rounds, let alone a race. Now we’re representing a title sponsor at a race.

“I never in my life thought this would happen and I want to make the best of it. It’s been a perfect fit and I want to be in that final in Seattle.”

ST. LOUIS -- The Stanley Cup champion St. Louis Blues hired Marc Savard as an assistant coach Wednesday.

The 42-year-old Savard spent 13 years playing in the NHL, splitting time among the Rangers, Flames, Thrashers and Bruins. The two-time All-Star was part of Boston's 2011 Stanley Cup title team.

Since his retirement, Savard has been part of broadcasts for Hockey Night in Canada and on Maple Leafs pre- and postgame shows. He also has been coaching a junior hockey club in Ontario.

Blues coach Craig Berube called Savard a "tremendous player" and an "elite offensive mind."

NEW YORK -- Liverpool defender Nathaniel Clyne is facing six months on the sidelines after suffering an ACL injury in the 3-2 defeat to Borussia Dortmund.

The 28-year-old sustained the setback during the closing moments of the pre-season friendly at Notre Dame Stadium, but the diagnosis took a while to confirm due to the swelling around his knee.

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The assessment from Liverpool's medical team is that it is the least severe ACL injury the full-back could have picked up given how clean the damage is, hence the reduced recovery period.

Clyne, who is out of contract at the end of the season, flew home from the U.S. tour late on Sunday from Boston.

Meanwhile, Liverpool are continuing to monitor Yasser Larouci's injury closely. The left-back, who had to be stretchered off in the team's loss to Sevilla at Fenway Park, has suffered heavy bruising in his femur bone. The club are optimistic the 18-year-old will only be ruled out for weeks rather than months.

Liverpool wrap up their stateside swing with a match on Wednesday against Sporting CP at Yankee Stadium.

Barcelona have announced record revenue for the sixth season running with the club closing their accounts for the 2018-19 season with a recorded income of €990 million ($1.1 billion).

It's the second season running in which the Spanish champions have broken the billion-dollar mark. They became the first sports team to ever pass the milestone last year when they brought in €914m ($1.019 billion).

However, the club's spending was also up, with expenses hitting €973m ($1.085 billion). A pre-tax operating profit of €17m ($19m) is down on the €20m ($22m) they posted last season.

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"The club has achieved its highest revenue ever and it's important to highlight that the income is €30m more than the budgeted figure of €960m," Barcelona said in a statement.

"It is in line with the club's strategic plan to generate an annual turnover of €1,000m by 2021."

Barca's revenue continues to rise due to a number of factors. An improved television deal domestically and a run to the Champions League semifinal -- they hadn't progressed beyond the last eight since 2015 -- enabled them to bring in more through broadcasting rights.

Marketing and advertising keeps on growing, too. Last season was the second year of a four-year, €220 million deal with shirt sponsors Rakuten, while the club also signed a new three-year sponsorship agreement with Turkish electronics company Beko worth around €57 million.

However, a large chunk of the club's income has become increasingly reliant on sales. Their earnings in 2017-18 were massively boosted by Neymar's world record €222m move to Paris Saint-Germain, while the latest numbers include the sales of the likes of Paulinho, Yerry Mina and Lucas Digne for more than €100m.

Deloitte's Money League, though, does not factor in player sales and Barca only placed second behind Real Madrid in revenue in the 2017-18 season.

Madrid, who had just won their third successive Champions League crown, topped Deloitte's table with €750.9m, while Barcelona, excluding outgoing players, brought in €690.4m, ahead of Manchester United (€666m) in third.

But while Barca continue to post record revenue, the fact they're now heavily dependent on player sales means they do not have unlimited funds in the transfer market. They have managed to spend a total of €195m on Frenkie de Jong and Antoine Griezmann this summer, although president Josep Maria Bartomeu confirmed a €35m loan was needed to complete the Griezmann deal.

They will continue to have to look to sell smartly as the wage bill and player amortisation costs continue to rise, accounting for over half of their revenue.

Detailed figures are not yet available for the 2018-19 season, but the previous season -- a year in which Lionel Messi renewed his contract -- saw wages up a staggering €151m to €529m, including all of the club's sports teams, while player "amortisation and impairment" rose €52m.

Gloucestershire 354 (Smith 83, Higgins 76, Dent 58; Leach 6-79) and 184 (Barnard 3-17, Parnell 3-37) beat Worcestershire 293 (Whiteley 88, D'Oliveira 68, Higgins 3-52) and 232 (Ferguson 63, Higgins 4-64) by 13 runs

They will be waltzing in Montpellier Gardens tonight. Even the public reading of Sense and Sensibility will have to be postponed. There may even be a knees-up at the Bowls Club and raucous chanting in the Pittville Pump Room. Until the 2019 Cheltenham Festival this classiest of English towns was, with the exception of its racecourse, not comfortable with mayhem Then Gareth Roderick's six took care of Leicestershire last week and this evening David Payne's bouncer to Adam Finch, Worcestershire's last man, was deflected via edge or glove to second slip where the substitute fielder, George Hankins, scooped up the catch.

Gloucestershire had won by 13 runs. At once Payne set off a manic lap of honour in which he was pursued by team-mates including George Bracey, the substitute wicketkeeper, who had taken four fine catches during the day. Also sprinting like a madman escaping the asylum was Ryan Higgins whose four wickets had brought his total in the match to seven in addition to his 112 runs. And there was Ethan Bamber, who was loaned to Gloucestershire for the festival and, given his thespian connections, knows a fine stage when he sees it. Two weeks repertory in Cheltenham probably suited him fine. Bamber's dismissal of Ben Cox, caught by Higgins at mid-on for 42, began a collapse which saw Worcestershire lose their last six wickets for 61 runs and finish three good hits short of their target, which was 246.

But Payne and his mates were not alone. On the balcony of this great old pavilion, the coaches hugged and down below in the stands and bars supporters who really should have known better did little dances of delight. No doubt their health insurance will cover any mishaps. One player, though, remained motionless on his haunches for some time. Joe Leach, the Worcestershire captain, knows this result all but ends his team's chances of promotion. So there was stillness and movement. There was silence and noise. And to think that nine hours earlier the biggest event taking place on the College Ground was the watering of the hanging baskets.

Ah yes, the early morning. Let us rewind to the time before Gloucestershire had collected the 23 points which takes them up to joint-second in Division Two with Glamorgan. In the first 45 minutes of the day's play Gloucestershire's last two wickets had added a further 35 runs in 12 overs, five of which were sent down by the legspinner, Brett D'Oliveira in preference to Leach, his team's best bowler. Who, one asked, would Bamber have preferred to face? The decision seemed barely explicable at the time, and those runs, which seemed important then, were to look absolutely priceless seven or so hours later.

Anyway, Worcestershire needed 246 and one of the most vital innings in their season had the worst possible start when Daryl Mitchell nicked David Payne's first ball to Bracey. But Chris Dent, whose captaincy was masterly on this final day, had to rotate his attack carefully because Matt Taylor's side strain prevented him bowling. Perhaps realising this, Riki Wessels carried the attack to Gloucestershire, driving both new-ball bowlers for fours and clouting Payne over long on for six with a shot borrowed from short-form cricket. When Higgins came on, Wessels moved into overdrive, taking 17 runs off his first two overs and forcing Dent to bowl Tom Smith from the Chapel End just before lunch. A calming over, we thought - perhaps Dent did, too - but Wessels' attempt to cut the left-arm spinner's third delivery only nicked the ball to Bracey. Having made 42 off 44 balls Wessels ambled off to have lunch, perhaps reflecting, unduly harshly, that he had brought his downfall on himself.

"Down below in the stands and bars supporters who really should have known better did little dances of delight. No doubt their health insurance will cover any mishaps"

The afternoon's cricket contrived to be both tense and, in its way, rather tranquil. Higgins returned to his usual tight-fisted ways, conceding eight runs in seven overs and claiming the wickets of Ed Barnard and Ross Whiteley. That left Worcestershire on 100 for 4 but further decline was resisted by the gentle class of Ferguson and the obduracy of Cox during the twenty overs until tea. Ferguson cut both spinners and seamers alike when possible and reached his fifty after three hours' concentration a few balls before the break.

Ferguson, you see, does not do flash. Even in T20 cricket his shots have a trace of orthodox classicism about them. So imagine, if you will, the gentle grace with which he batted this afternoon at Cheltenham and the concern it aroused among home supporters sitting under the giant red and white gazebos which Gloucestershire had considerately erected for supporters seeking to avoid the heat. A silence settled on the ground and remained there for many overs. This was one of those days when the detailed plans of the coaches are bound tightly to the simple hopes of supporters.

Worcestershire took tea on 146 for 4 and one imagines that a few in the crowd enjoyed patum peperium. Cox and Ferguson added a further 36 runs after the resumption only for Bamber to make the breakthrough. Three overs later, Benny Howell took the vital wicket of Ferguson when a rather tired cut-cum-force off the back foot edged a catch to Bracey. Ten minutes later, D'Oliveira had gone too, caught by Hankins at slip off the underappreciated Howell. Worcestershire were 198 for 7. Can it be, asked the spectators, and tried to keep a tight grip on their wits.

Leach and Wayne Parnell added 31 runs and the balance of the game shifted. Worcestershire supporters, whose presence so enriched this game, began to nurture their own hopes. Then Higgins trimmed Parnell's off bail and knocked back Dillon Pennington's middle stump, all in the space of three balls. Finch came in and three overs later Payne rain in to bowl to him. Half an hour later there was a curious spike in sales of sal volatile in the Cheltenham chemists' shops.

Glamorgan and Gloucestershire now lead a group of six counties covered by 20 points. They will effectively be fighting over two promotion places when the Championship returns next month. Any readers with a clear idea of which of these fine teams will win promotion in September are encouraged to write in.

But none of that bothered Dent's players as they went over to the marquee and drank a well-earned beer or two. They returned over the outfield they have adorned so nobly this fortnight and must now prepare for T20 games. But they will remember the matches against Leicestershire and Worcestershire for as long as they play cricket. Indeed, days like this are why they play the game.

And there was even a reminder that Cheltenham College is, after all, a school when a page torn from an exercise book drifted onto the pavilion balcony. It read as follows: "Senior School Punishment Ledger: Note to Graves (C) Upper Sixth: Write out 200 times: The County Championship is the greatest glory in English domestic cricket. We do not need The Hundred."

The paper blew away before anybody could grab it. But maybe everyone had seen enough.

Haddin XII 105 and 170 (Warner 58, Marsh 5-34, Pattinson 3-19) lead Hick XII 120 (Cummins 5-24, Siddle 4-31) and 35 for 2 by 120 runs

Clearer as Australia's Ashes squad has become over the past two days of rough and tumble cricket on a sporting pitch at Southampton, another conundrum has been raised about the composition of the team to be chosen from within it.

For most of the past three years, the joint inclusion of Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins has been the most straightforward element of Australian team selection, fitness permitting, of course. As three pacemen of varying heights, trajectories and bowling arms, they have often complemented each other perfectly - no more so than during the previous Ashes series in Australia in 2017-18.

England, however, poses a different conditional challenge, and on the evidence of this internal trial match and warm-up, a rather different balance may be more suited to surfaces that will offer grass to grip the Dukes ball and boundaries that will punish anything even slightly wayward.

In similar climes prepared for the Australian team in conjunction with Hampshire, albeit somewhat drier than the tourists may have wanted, the outstanding bowling displays were provided by James Pattinson, Pat Cummins, Peter Siddle and, last but not least, Mitchell Marsh.

Starc and Hazlewood, by contrast, looked sore after the World Cup and short of rhythm after injury respectively, with only a week remaining to find their best touch. Starc, having looked ginger at times on day one, batted but did not bowl on the second evening, nor was he seen on the field of play.

Even if Hazlewood and Starc do recall some of their best over the next seven days, the question remains open as to whether the Dukes ball and English grass will be more favourable to Siddle and Pattinson - apt to bowl in tandem for both Victoria and Australia - alongside Cummins and his sharp, bouncing trajectory.

This discussion will, doubtless, be difficult. Both Darren Lehmann and Rod Marsh, the selectors on duty during the 2015 Ashes, have both remarked in hindsight the difficulty of finding a way to include Siddle at the expense of one of Starc, Hazlewood or Mitchell Johnson four years ago, even though the Victorian's skills looked ideally suited to England. When he did belatedly play at The Oval, Siddle was key to an innings victory that felt all the more empty for arriving too late to impact the series.

At the same time, there is the matter of balancing prevailing conditions with overall records, and team chemistry. How, for instance, might a brooding Starc react to omission so soon after he had been the fulcrum of Australia's World Cup pace attack. Whatever the final call, it now looks essential that room must be found for Pattinson, who combined speed, bounce, movement and hostility with the sort of economy that will suffocate England even when wickets do not arrive so frequently. His match figures of 4 for 35 from 23 overs were highly convincing.

Other variables from day two included a low score for Marnus Labuschagne after a promising one the day before; a second brief stay for Kurtis Patterson, Joe Burns, Marcus Harris and Travis Head, handy contributions from Will Pucovski and Alex Carey, and a highly competent half-century from David Warner, by some distance the highest score of the match.

Warner's innings was compelling in how secure he looked, ending only with a miscued pull shot at Chris Tremain that was significant in itself - in a match where edges, lbws and bowleds have been frequent, Warner was the only batsman on either side to fall to catches in front of the wicket: his defence was that sound.

Marsh, thought to be in a race with Labuschagne for a single allrounder's spot, did his chances very little harm by bowling skilfully and briskly with the older ball, defeating Head on the crease from around the wicket and going on to clean up the tail with some panache. His bowling was also useful in 2015, leaving only questions about how he has progressed as a batsman.

In the final hour, Cameron Bancroft made a useful start to help the Hick XII build a platform for victory in pursuit of 156 to win. These were significant moments for Bancroft, who by a combination of his own contributions and also the failures of others may find himself nabbing one of the last remaining spots in the touring party that will be named on Friday.