SINGAPORE -- Inter Milan manager Antonio Conte has said he wants to sign Romelu Lukaku from Manchester United.

The two clubs have held talks about the Belgium striker but a deal is yet to be agreed. Inter are willing to offer around £60 million with £15m in add-ons but United value the 26-year-old at between £80m and £90m.

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Conte also said Mauro Icardi and Radja Nainggolan will not be part of his "project" at the Serie A and suggested that he will play against United in Singapore on Saturday without a striker while the pursuit of Lukaku continues.

"Lukaku is a United player," Conte told a news conference at Singapore's National Stadium on Friday. "This is the reality.

"You know very well I like this player. In the past when I was Chelsea coach I tried to bring him to Chelsea. But I repeat, today Lukaku is a player of Man United. This is the reality and this is the truth.

"I think that in this moment, we are talking about player of another club. For this reason it's right I don't talk about Lukaku. I have great respect for United. As I said before for sure I consider this player. I like this player.

"I consider him an important player for us to improve. There is a market. We know our situation. We'll see what happens. Now Lukaku is United's player."

Speaking earlier in the day, United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said there was no update on Lukaku's situation but that the former Everton forward would not be available to face Inter because of injury.

Sources have told ESPN FC there are no meetings scheduled while the two clubs are in Singapore because Ed Woodward and chief negotiator Matt Judge are in London.

United are willing to sell Lukaku, who is keen to move to Italy, if they receive an acceptable offer. At a meeting in London last week, Inter were informed that a loan bid, or a bid involving players moving in the opposite direction, would not be considered.

It's the most complicated time of the year for MLS teams, with the weather steamy, the transfer window open and nothing yet secure when it comes to playoff places. This week the intrigue kicks up just a small notch more with a United vs. United showdown in Atlanta, a chance for another United to prove their postseason bona-fides versus Real Salt Lake and the latest installment in Matias Almeyda's man-marking revolution in San Jose.

United vs. United

There's drama in Atlanta following Gonzalo "Pity" Martinez's comments to an Argentine media outlet that he wasn't happy with United head coach Frank de Boer's decision to speak to the media about subbing off Martinez in a game against the Montreal Impact on June 29. The club says the air is "cleared," but there's a real concern that the 25-year-old just doesn't fit with the Dutchman's system.

Atlanta earned an important confidence-boosting 5-0 win over the Houston Dynamo on Wednesday without Martinez in the starting lineup. De Boer's decision to use Martinez as late substitute made sense with a hectic schedule, but it means that the player missed out on the mental boost from the goal party against Houston. Will De Boer turn back to Martinez against D.C. on Sunday (4 p.m. ET, ESPN)?

It seems like a lifetime ago, but these two teams opened the season against each other. DCU got the better of the champs on that day, ruining De Boer's MLS debut with a 2-0 win at Audi Field.

D.C. has its own issues with a creative Argentine player. Luciano Acosta was Robin to Wayne Rooney's Batman during a run to the playoffs in 2018, but his production has dropped off dramatically this season. The simplest explanation for the dip is that a failed move to Paris Saint-Germain during the offseason changed the alchemy in D.C. and put Acosta off his game.

There's no indication that Acosta is a problem child. He's not Martinez. There are no interviews on Argentine television. The problem for D.C. is that as long as he's not creating goals, it's all the same.

Minnesota playoff credentials to be tested in Utah

The longest active winning streak in Major League Soccer belongs to Minnesota United. One more win and the Loons will tie the longest winning run in the league this season of five, reached by both LAFC and Atlanta.

Does that mean they've turned the corner? Minnesota's three-year plan was always aimed at the first year playing in Allianz Field, and so far in 2019, the plan seems to be working. The additions of Darwin Quintero, Angelo Rodriguez and Jan Gregus in the past year not only filled up Minnesota's quota of Designated Players, it has brought a swagger to the club that was much needed.

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The Loons are utilizing depth, and to excellent effect at the moment as well. The hottest Loon is Mason Toye, a second-year forward with four goals in his past four games despite playing understudy to Rodriguez. A packed schedule and a run to the semifinals of the U.S. Open Cup forced head coach Adrian Heath to get creative with his personnel -- who duly responded.

An away date in Utah on Saturday (10 p.m. ET, ESPN+) is the next test for the Minnesota project. For their part, Mike Petke's men are flying high off a 4-0 trouncing of the Philadelphia Union last weekend. Jefferson Savarino dominated that game, scoring two goals and setting up a third. Real Salt Lake isn't among the league's best, but it won't be an easy out for Minnesota.

In fact, RSL could bolster its own playoff credentials with second consecutive home win against a team in the playoff places.

Almeyda's Quakes set example for Dos Santos' Caps

When you start to really understand what Matias Almeyda's particular brand of soccer philosophy entails and what it requires from his players, it's impossible not to be impressed by what's happening in San Jose. The Earthquakes were an abject disaster for the first month of the season. Since then, they've been one of the league's best teams.

Vancouver has ... not been one of the league's best teams. That sets up Saturday's showdown at BC Place as a match between a team grasping for consistency under a new head coach and one looking to consolidate its place among the league's elite.

One of the more fascinating elements of the Quakes' rise is that the roster isn't stocked with stars; players such as Valeri "Vako" Qazaishvili, Magnus Eriksson, Cristian Espinoza and Jackson Yueill (to name just the midfield) don't jump off the page. But together, working as a unit in Almeyda's man-marking system, they're incredibly effective. The Quakes added a few names (most recently Carlos Fierro) since the Argentine coach's arrival, but he's working largely with the same group that finished dead last in 2018.

Almeyda's early success stands in opposition to the struggles of Marc Dos Santos in Vancouver. The Whitecaps completely overhauled their roster, saying goodbye to some key figures and bringing in 15 new players for 2019. The results have been poor, with the Caps now sitting where the Quakes once were: at the bottom of the Western Conference.

Dos Santos will get a chance to make it work no matter what 2019 delivers. Still, beating the upstart Quakes on Saturday (10 p.m. ET, ESPN+) would be a good way to send a message a turnaround is on the horizon.

Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh took a dig Thursday at former Ohio State coach Urban Meyer, who retired last season in the wake of a scandal involving domestic violence allegations against a former assistant.

"Urban Meyer's had a winning record. Really phenomenal record everywhere he's been," Harbaugh said on The Athletic's "The TK Show" podcast. "But also, controversy follows everywhere he's been."

Harbaugh, who will speak Friday during Big Ten media days, went 0-4 against Meyer. He says those who criticize his inability to win the big one, and especially to beat Ohio State, have a right to complain.

"You welcome the accountability," Harbaugh said. "All you can be judged on is your record -- what your record is overall, what your record is in your conference, and what your record is in head-to-head matchups with other teams that you play. I think you'll find that right now Ohio State is the only team that has a better record than us, has a better conference record than us, has the better overall head-to-head matchup with us.

"Yeah, we are -- we talk about the goals that we have. We have two: win multiple championships and run a first-class program. That's what we aspire to. We're learning and we take accountability and we learn from it. Hope springs eternal, and we're fired up for this season going forward. It's been good, and now we're gonna take it over the top."

Harbaugh has a 38-14 record since taking over at Michigan in 2015. He has brought Michigan into the national conversation but has fallen short of taking the Wolverines to the next level. To do that, he will need to beat Ohio State.

Ryan Day has taken over in Columbus following Meyer's resignation.

Meyer, 55, will have a role as an analyst on FOX's college football show in the fall. He was the Buckeyes' coach for seven seasons and won a national title in 2014, but last season began with a three-game suspension following an investigation into his handling of allegations of domestic abuse against former assistant Zach Smith. Meyer returned and finished the regular season, then announced his retirement Dec. 4. He coached his final game in the Rose Bowl on New Year's Day.

He also experienced success and controversy as head coach at Florida. He won two titles with the Gators but was criticized for the number of off-the-field incidents involving his players. Over six seasons, 31 of his players were arrested, some on serious charges.

The Buckeyes will play the Wolverines in Ann Arbor on Nov. 30.

Hall of Fame coach C. Vivian Stringer, who left the Rutgers program in February for an unspecified health-related issue, has returned to the Scarlet Knights and "looks great," athletic director Pat Hobbs said Thursday.

The 71-year-old Stringer, who left with two weeks remaining in the regular season, originally said she'd return for the postseason. However, she stayed on leave, on advice from doctors, while assistant Tim Eatman served as acting coach for the Big Ten and NCAA tournaments.

"She's back," Hobbs told NJ Advance Media on Thursday. "She looks great. ... There's no one more looking forward to walking into the RWJBarnabas Health Athletic Performance Center than C. Vivian Stringer.''

Stringer, who will earn $875,000, will be entering her 25th season at Rutgers and 49th overall as a coach. She has a career mark of 1,018-410 in 48 seasons, making her the sixth-winningest coach in women's basketball, and is 498-275 at Rutgers. She picked up win No. 1,000 on Nov. 13, becoming just the fifth Division I women's coach -- and first African-American coach -- to achieve the milestone, and sixth overall.

"It's a good time for her to transition back in,'' Hobbs said. "She's raring to go.''

Her contract runs through the 2020-21 season.

She is the only women's coach to take three different schools to the Final Four: Cheyney State in 1982, Iowa in 1993, and Rutgers in 2000 and '07. Her teams have appeared in 26 of the 36 NCAA tournaments and made 10 regional finals.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

The Houston Astros are not happy about scheduling that has them making a quick turnaround ahead of Friday night's home game against the Texas Rangers.

The Astros played the final game of their series against the Los Angeles Angels on Thursday night. The team was estimated to arrive back in Houston about 5:15 a.m. CT -- only 14 hours prior to first pitch for Friday's game.

"To censor myself, it's BS. I don't think one person is happy about the night game travel," Astros outfielder Josh Reddick told the Houston Chronicle. "I think it's a complete misjudgment on how they make a schedule. It's absurd, really.

"Look at us, we don't do that to anyone. We don't ever give them a [getaway day] night game unless it's Sunday Night Baseball on ESPN. It makes no sense. It really makes no sense. A lot of guys aren't happy about it, myself included. It's going to be a long day, but this is what we get paid to do. We suck it up and hopefully take it as a little spark to fire us up."

The Astros lead the AL West by 5.5 games over the Oakland Athletics after Thursday's 6-2 win over the Angels. The Rangers are 10 games back in third.

Astros manager A.J. Hinch said Justin Verlander flew back to Houston early ahead of his scheduled start against the Rangers on Friday.

"It'll be brutal," Hinch said of the quick turnaround. "It's one of those things that I hope they address in the next CBA ...

"It's on our schedule. We're going to play, and we need to win. We're going to play our normal guys [Friday], and I'll address any sort of rest over the weekend."

The past two years of Hall of Fame votes demonstrated that the mindset of the electorate has shifted to a bigger, more inclusive Hall that will reward recent players with the same generosity previous generations created in building a plaque gallery overstuffed with players from the 1920s and 1930s.

Actually, that isn't a fair comparison. With the election of six players last year and six more who will be inducted in Cooperstown on Sunday, the bar for election remains well above the standards that the Veterans Committee established in the late '60s and early '70s. That was when Frankie Frisch managed to elect many dubious candidates from his era, many of them former teammates of his on the Giants and Cardinals.

This year's group of six includes four extremely well-qualified players, including two who made it on their first ballot. Two of our six are icons for their franchises, and another was so beloved that his uniform number was retired while he was still an active player for another team. There are no catchers from the 1800s or commissioners who turned a blind eye to steroids. These are six players, all of whom began their careers in 1980 or later. Here's why each of these can be called a Hall of Famer.

Mariano Rivera

The first player selected as a unanimous choice to the Hall of Fame needs no introduction. He's the greatest closer of all time, and it's not even a debate -- and that's before considering that he might be the most valuable postseason pitcher of all time, as he went 8-1 with a 0.70 ERA and 42 saves in 96 appearances and 141 innings in the playoffs, helping the Yankees win five World Series.

His story is a remarkable testament to the unpredictable path of a baseball career. He had Tommy John surgery in the minors. The Yankees left him unprotected in the 1993 expansion draft and once nearly traded him for Felix Fermin. He became a reliever only after struggling in his initial stint in the majors as a starter. He learned the cutter early in his major league career and built his Hall of Fame résumé with that singular pitch that left a trail of broken bats and weak infield pop flies.

In his 18 seasons as a reliever, Rivera had an ERA over 3.00 just once -- an unsightly 3.15 mark in 2007. He remained forever humble and admired throughout the game. Who could dislike Mariano Rivera? He finished with 652 saves -- 51 more than Trevor Hoffman, the No. 2 guy on the list. After that, nobody else has 500. Closers come and go and burn out quickly. Rivera was so good that even in his final season, at age 43, he had 44 saves and a 2.11 ERA. He could probably still close for many teams today if he had kept pitching.

One Mariano Rivera stat to know: His adjusted ERA+ of 205 ranks first all time -- 105% better than league average. No. 2 on the list is Clayton Kershaw at 158, and No. 3 is Pedro Martinez at 154. OK, Rivera was a reliever and didn't pitch as many innings as the starters below him on the list. Another advanced metric called Win Probability Added considers the specific game situation of a pitcher's results, and Rivera ranks fifth, behind only Roger Clemens, Lefty Grove, Greg Maddux and Warren Spahn.

Roy Halladay

The late Halladay, who died in a plane he was piloting in November 2017, was a long-limbed tactician who threw a variety of sinking fastballs, splitters, cutters and curveballs with precise location and magical movement. He won just 203 games, low for a Hall of Fame starter, but his extraordinary peak value -- in the 10 seasons from 2002 to 2011 with the Blue Jays and Phillies, he went 170-75 with a 2.97 ERA, two Cy Young Awards and two runner-up finishes -- made him a first-ballot selection.

Does he make it with 85% of the vote if not for his untimely death? Maybe not on the first ballot, but his 65.4 career WAR -- his career ended rather abruptly due to shoulder problems in 2012 and 2013 -- is still solid for a Hall of Fame starter. Halladay threw hard enough, but it was his pinpoint command that made him so good. In that 10-year run of domination, he averaged just 1.5 walks per nine innings. He led his league five times in strikeout-to-walk ratio and was one of the last of a dying breed: the starter who could complete a game. He led his league seven times in complete games and four times in innings pitched. He was the pitcher other pitchers wanted to be.

Halladay had two shining moments: His perfect game for the Phillies on May 29, 2010, and his no-hitter in the Division Series against the Reds later that season in his first career playoff start, in which he gave up just one walk while throwing 104 pitches. Phillies catcher Carlos Ruiz summed up Halladay's stuff that night like this: "Oh, my god."

Those who played alongside him will remember him for his legendary workouts. "Roy Halladay is the ultimate competitor," teammate Chase Utley said when Halladay retired in 2013. "He is by far the hardest worker that I've ever seen and treated every game as if it were his last. It was no coincidence why he was the best pitcher of his era."

One Roy Halladay stat to know: He threw nine complete games each season from 2008 to 2010 and eight in 2011. Last season, no team threw more than five. Halladay won his second Cy Young Award in this decade, yet his era almost feels like another time.

Mike Mussina

He won 270 games. He has more career WAR than Bob Gibson and Tom Glavine and Carl Hubbell and Jim Palmer and Juan Marichal. He was excellent in the postseason, with a 3.42 ERA over 139.2 innings. Yet when Mussina first hit the Hall of Fame ballot in 2014, he received just 20% of the vote. It took some time, but voters finally came around and rewarded Mussina's long run of consistent performance on his sixth try.

The argument against Mussina was always "he was never the best." Well, most Hall of Famers were never the best. Mussina never won a Cy Young Award, but he was very good for 18 seasons with the Orioles and Yankees and could have kept pitching if he had wanted to win 300 games -- he won 20 in his final season. He ranked in the top 10 in his league in pitching WAR in 11 seasons and in the top five in seven (including first in 2001).

Like Halladay, Mussina was a pitcher's pitcher. He wasn't overpowering, but his knuckle-curve became his most famous weapon, and he located his fastball, slider and curveball with expert command. He was extremely durable, won seven Gold Gloves and received Cy Young votes in nine seasons.

One Mike Mussina stat to know: He ranks 23rd in WAR among pitchers -- all time. He is 13th among pitchers since World War II. He should have been an easy Hall of Fame choice.

Edgar Martinez

He hit .312 and won two batting titles. He had a .418 career on-base percentage, leading his league three times and topping .400 11 times, including nine seasons in a row. He slugged .515. He couldn't run, but because he was on base so often, he scored 100 runs five times. Few hitters were as respected by their peers. Why did it take this man 10 tries to get elected?

Sure, he spent most of his career as a designed hitter. But from 1995 to 2001, he averaged .329/.446/.574 with 28 home runs, 42 doubles and 110 RBIs with a 164 OPS+. Vladimir Guerrero never had one season with a 164 OPS+. Freddie Freeman has never had a 164. Neither has Jose Altuve or Robinson Cano or Nolan Arenado. David Ortiz, the other greatest DH ever, beat 164 just twice. Let's just say Edgar could hit a little bit.

Martinez played all of his 18 seasons with the Mariners and became the most beloved player in franchise history -- after they nearly ruined it by not giving him a regular chance in the majors until he was 27. Then again, maybe he was lucky they didn't release him after he hit .173 in the Northwest League in 1983. He had to overcome an eye condition called strabismus, which prevents eyes from aligning simultaneously, and he spent nearly two decades doing daily eye exercises. After winning his first batting title in 1992, he tore up his knee the following spring. The best was yet to come. His entire career was a miracle.

One Edgar Martinez stat to know: He's one of 21 players since 1900 with a career .300/.400/.500 batting line. Only seven others started their careers after World War II: Manny Ramirez, Frank Thomas, Chipper Jones, Larry Walker, Todd Helton, Joey Votto and Mike Trout.

Lee Smith

The gregarious, outgoing Smith was a man of two eras: When he came up in 1980, the closer -- or stopper -- was expected to pitch with runners on base and expected to pitch more than one inning at times. From 1982 to 1984, Smith averaged 107 innings per season -- nearly double what a closer might pitch today. In 1983, when he led the National League with 29 saves with the Cubs, he pitched at least two innings in 24 of his 66 appearances (and at least three innings seven times). Aroldis Chapman has pitched two innings 15 times in more than 500 career games -- and never three innings. By the end of his career, Smith was averaging less than an inning per game. In 1993, he pitched in 63 games and 58 innings -- and had 46 saves.

He retired in 1997 as the all-time saves leader with 478. He led his league four times. His career was difficult to judge, however. He had just one season with an ERA under 2.00 and just five under 3.00. He never had the peak level of dominance of contemporaries such as Dennis Eckersley, Dan Quisenberry or Bruce Sutter. He appeared in just four postseason games (and lost two of them). Hoffman and then Rivera soared past his saves total. But Smith lasted forever.

He first appeared on the BBWAA ballot in 2003 and received 42% of the vote. That's usually a sure path to election. But he never got there, peaking at 50% in 2012. On his 15th and final try, he remained stuck at 34%. He moved on to the Today's Game special committee vote. The panel of 16 put him in with unanimous support. How do you feel about it? That probably depends on how you feel about closers. Smith will have that No. 3 spot for a long time. The active leader in saves is Craig Kimbrel, and he's still 140 behind Smith.

One Lee Smith stat to know: Here's another example of how the closer role has changed: In his career, Smith inherited 510 runners. Even Rivera had just 367 inherited runners. Kimbrel has inherited just 77 runners in his career (and had two seasons with four and one with three). The job used to be a lot more difficult.

Harold Baines

And you thought Jack Morris was a controversial selection? While Smith gained a fair amount of support from the writers, Baines peaked at just 6%. His election by the Today's Game committee came as a shocking surprise.

He was, of course, a very good hitter, with a .289/.356/.465 career line, 384 home runs, 2,866 hits and 1,628 RBIs. He ranks 34th on the all-time RBIs list, and you have to suspect that was a key stat that helped him get elected. He hit .324 in 31 postseason games. Tony La Russa, his manager with both the White Sox and A's, happened to be on the committee, and one of his main arguments was that Baines was a good hitter at 22 years old and still a good hitter at 40, when he hit .312 with 25 home runs and 103 RBIs and made the All-Star team. Few players have that kind of longevity, and longevity has usually been valued more in Hall of Fame voting than peak dominance.

Baines was never a big star. He finished ninth in one MVP vote and 10th in another, and bad knees forced him to DH duties fairly early in his career. His 38.7 career WAR pales in comparison to that of most modern Hall of Famers. How did he get in? It helps to have friends in high places: Besides La Russa, his White Sox owner, Jerry Reinsdorf, was also on the committee. Baines was a respected teammate, a quiet man who went about his business. He's in, and it's weird, and it's OK. Plus, he was so loved in Chicago that the White Sox retired his No. 3 when they traded him to the Rangers in 1989.

One Harold Baines stat to know: Baines ranked ninth in RBIs and sixth in hits in the 1980s. Showing up is half the battle.

GAS CITY, Ind. — Thursday night at Gas City I-69 Speedway Shane Cottle reminded everyone that it’s the leader at the checkered who gets the big check.

In a night of innumerable ups and downs for many drivers, Cottle used the low line to pass C.J. Leary on the last lap, win by inches and earn $5,000 in a 30-lap barn burner that opened the 32nd annual NOS Energy Drink Indiana Sprint Week featuring the USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car Championship

Cottle, 47, qualified by winning the B main, started 18th in the feature, only led on the last lap, and earned the race’s KSE Racing Products/B&W Auto Mart Hard-Charger award by improving his position more than any other driver in the 24-car field that was culled from 43 entries.

It was his first victory during Indiana Sprint Week in 72 attempts and it came in the Epperson Racing/Epperson Painting-PPG Maxim Claxton Chevy No. 2e. Cottle, who works in the flooring industry, also won the sprint car feature at Gas City on June 28 in a different car.

Leary, who won the most recent USAC Indiana Sprint Week event on the Gas City quarter-mile clay oval in 2017, led 29 of the 30 laps and finished second. His Reimbold-Underwood Motorsports/AME Electrical-Mesilla Valley Transportation Spike Foxco Chevy was just 0.002 seconds behind Cottle’s car when the pair took the checkered flag.

The finish was so close that the transponders, which are mounted at the rear of the cars, showed Leary first at the line, but the USAC rules go by when the cars’ front tires cross the line, and Cottle was deemed the winner in one of the closest finishes in USAC history.

“I could see him up there,” Cottle said. “When they’re out there in front of you, you just want to push the gas harder and harder, but you can’t. You just have to roll around there and keep the wheels under you. I messed up a couple times during the last six laps and I thought I gave it away.”

It was Cottle’s third career USAC sprint car victory. It’s safe to say Gas City is one of his favorite tracks, since all three have occurred at the Grant County oval that is an easy drive from either Indianapolis or Fort Wayne.

Chris Windom was the final podium finisher in the Goacher Racing/NOS Energy Drink-Parallax Power Supply-Jonathan Byrd’s DRC Claxton Mopar. Brady Bacon placed fourth in the Dynamics/Mean Green-Fatzheadz Eyewear-Tel-Star Triple X Hershey Chevy. Polesitter Kevin Thomas Jr. was fifth in Hayward Thomas Motorsports’ Speedtown Comfort-B&H Contractors DRC Speedway Chevy.

The winner of the 600cc non-wing micro-sprint feature, Devan Myers, started way back in the field just like Cottle did. He came from 19th in a 21-car field to win that 20-lap feature in the Vance and Hines No. 75 with polesitter Justin Harper right behind him at the checkered.

To see full results, turn to the next page.

ROSSBURG, Ohio — The flagman held the checkered flag tight, anxiously waiting to thrust it in the air and wave it over Eldora Speedway when the leader exited turn four.

The question of who that victor would be left the crowd of thousands in a knot throughout the 30-lap $10,000-to-win Jokers Wild feature Thursday night.

Brad Sweet led, but Donny Schatz — fresh off a win at Eldora from the night before – hung on to the NAPA Auto Parts No. 49 car’s bumper throughout the race. The two swapped positions lap after lap in the early circuits.

However, Sweet found the 16-time Eldora Speedway winner’s kryptonite — the high line up against the wall. If the walls of the half-mile track had eyes, Sweet made sure they were closed all race, leaving inches between the concrete barrier and his right rear tire most of the night.

Schatz wasn’t able to run the top groove like Sweet, having to move off it and stick to the bottom. That allowed Sweet to use the momentum of the high side to fend of challenges by the 10-time series champion and claim his 10th World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series win of the season — 44th Series win overall.

“We held off Donny,” Sweet said, after winning for the second time at the Ohio track. “That’s what it takes to win at Eldora. He threw everything he had at me. I saw him multiple times. I just wasn’t sure where to be on the race track there at the end. I felt pretty good on the top, but it’s such a fine line.”

The win was a rebound for Sweet and his Kasey Kahne Racing team after a fourth-place finish at the speedway Wednesday night.

He was second fastest in the first flight of Qualifying. Then went on to win his Drydene Heat race and the first of two DIRTVision Fast Pass Dash races. But every step Sweet made, Schatz was there following in his footsteps. The reigning champion went second fastest in the second flight of qualifying. He, too, won his Drydene Heat race and claimed the win in the second dash of the night.

That placed the two championship contenders on the front row together.

When the flagman thrusted the green flag in the air, Sweet passed the flag stand first, but Schatz launched underneath the Grass Valley, Calif.-native looking to take the lead on the first lap in turn one. Sweet had the momentum on the high side, though. He charged around the Toco Warranty No. 15 down the backstretch and moved to the bottom of the track in turns three and four.

Schatz did the opposite. He ran the high line through turns three and four, giving him a strong enough run down the front stretch to again dive underneath Sweet in turn one. This time, Schatz had the lead.

Sweet wasn’t about to let Schatz cruise to another Eldora win over him, though. He charged back around Schatz the next lap and began to put distance between the two.

“He makes it awful tough when he sets his pace and runs his lines,” Sweet said. “It makes it real hard to pass. I wanted to get ahead and set a pace.”

Ten laps into the feature, Logan Schuchart also made his way around Schatz by riding the high line. However, he got held up by a lapped car going into turn three and Schatz took the opportunity to pounce. The Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing driver made a massive drive to the bottom of the track through turns three and four, blowing by Schuchart and gaining about four car lengths on Sweet off the corner.

He carried the momentum through the next corner, getting underneath Sweet and edging him by a nose off turn two with 19 laps to go. Sweet, again, used the high side to propel his car back in front of Schatz down the backstretch, though.

Into turn three the duo both slid their cars sideways to the bottom of the track, almost making contact at the apex. With Sweet blocking Schatz’s lane, he charged off the corner to a comfortable lead and added to it from there.

Schatz then had to compete with Schuchart for second, eventually losing the position to the Drydene No. 1s car right before a caution with 11 laps to.

When the race resumed, Schuchart had a terrible restart, falling from second to fifth and stacking up the top line behind him. His mistake allowed Schatz an easy pass for second and another shot at Sweet.

While Sweet stayed high, Schatz was determined to make the low line work. He put together enough of a charge to get side-by-side with Sweet in turn one the next lap, but the run was still no match for Sweet’s mastery of the high line.

“We stayed with him there, he was ripping the top, I had to get off it,” Schatz said. “We thought we were going to be a shot at him there, but for some reason when I got to traffic, I couldn’t maneuver well or just kept making mistakes. You’ll have that. If you’re going to do it, I’d rather do it tonight than two nights from now.”

Sweet rode the cushion until the final corner when he moved down a lane to see how his car would do. He was satisfied as he drove by the waving checkered flag for the 10th time this year — the most wins he’s collected in a season, so far.

To see full results, turn to the next page.