MECHANICSBURG, Pa. – The winner of the 57th annual Champion Racing Oil National Open at Williams Grove Speedway on Oct. 5 will pocket the biggest cash payday in the history of the track – $65,000.

Williams Grove Speedway officials made the announcement late Wednesday.

“Since 1939, for decades and decades, Williams Grove Speedway has represented the pinnacle of the sport of sprint car racing in the East,” said Williams Grove owner Kathy Hughes.

“Fans and drivers look to us and expect us to carry the torch high for the sport as the premier arena for sprint car racing in the east and taking this step just perpetuates and broadens our legacy as the leader in the industry on the East Coast,” Hughes said.

The $65,000 winner’s share of the 57th annual Champion Racing Oil National Open will be up for grabs as the World of Outlaws NOS Engery Drink Sprint Cars Series does battle with the Pennsylvania Posse at the two-day event, slated to take place Oct. 4-5.

The $65,000 winner’s share will be the biggest cash amount ever offered to win a sprint car race on the East Coast, much less at Williams Grove Speedway.

In addition to the boost in pay announced for the National Open, the speedway has also now posted an $8,000 paycheck to win the Sept. 27 National Open World of Outlaws tune up event.

As usual, the Champion Racing Oil National Open will be a multi-day event with two complete World of Outlaws shows staged on Oct. 4-5. Friday’s event will pay $10,000 to win.

The Williams Grove National Open first paid $25,000 to win in 2001 before jumping to $30,000 in 2002 and then to $50,000 in 2006.

The race paid $56,000 to winner Lance Dewease in 2018.

Save for two years when rains forced postponement, the World of Outlaws has sanctioned the National Open every year since 1989.

LEXINGTON, N.C. – On Saturday, A.J. Allmendinger and the No. 10 team will be fueled by Death Wish Coffee as they take to the track at Watkins Glen Int’l.

The World’s Strongest Coffee will serve as Allmendinger’s primary partner as he chases his first NASCAR win of the season and another victory at The Glen.

Death Wish Coffee is a new partner to Kaulig Racing and Allmendinger. Headquartered in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., Death Wish Coffee is no stranger to sponsorship at Watkins Glen, having previously served as a sponsor with Kaulig Racing’s alliance partner, Richard Childress Racing.

“Our partnership with Death Wish Coffee couldn’t be more perfect – and to have them on our No. 10 Chevrolet at their home track is even better,” team president Chris Rice said. “To top it off, we have A.J. Allmendinger behind the wheel, who is a previous Watkins Glen race winner.

“We’re ready to return to victory lane and properly welcome our new partner.”

ROSSBURG, Ohio – Carson Hocevar almost looked out of place as he traversed the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series garage area on Wednesday afternoon at Eldora Speedway.

After all, for a 16-year-old who grew up driving late models on pavement in the Midwestern United States, being tabbed to pilot a Truck Series entry for Jordan Anderson Racing – on the dirt at the half-mile Ohio oval, no less – was a bit of a surprise, both to Hocevar and to many fans in attendance.

It was thanks to a mutual sponsor of both Hocevar’s and Anderson’s that the deal for the Michigan teenager to run the seventh annual Eldora Dirt Derby this week was ultimately struck.

“This is a bit of a weird comeuppance,” admitted Hocevar. “If you had told me a few months ago, or even a few weeks ago, that I’d be making my (Truck Series) debut at Eldora, I would have laughed at you. But here we are.

“This was sort of a friend of a friend deal, with LTi Printing – they’re on the truck this week and have been trying to help me out as much as they can, and they’ve been helping Jordan out with his team pretty much since day one,” Hocevar added. “They got me in contact with him, and he had an available ride … so he called me up, and I’m thankful that I was one of the first ones he reached out to about this.”

While Hocevar has little in the way of dirt-racing experience – aside from a start indoors at the Tulsa Shootout this past winter – he certainly knows his way around the Eldora property, at the very least.

“It’s funny, because I’ve actually been here so many times,” Hocevar laughed. “You’d think I would know what it feels like. I used to run (at) the quarter-midget track out behind (turn) three, and I’d always come down here and watch the 4-Crown (Nationals) whenever I could, as well.

“Now, it’s surreal to be here and actually have a car to race on the half-mile. I’m glad I have the opportunity, though,” he continued. “It’s not the first time I’m stepping foot in here, but in a way, it still feels like it is because I’ve never been here in this capacity.”

Hocevar has eight starts in the ARCA Menards Series this season with Michigan-based KBR Development, with four top-five and seven top-10 finishes to his credit, as well as one pole.

However, Thursday night will mark his first start in a NASCAR national series, meaning that the Chevrolet development driver will be going to school for much of the time leading up to the 150-lap feature.

“My learning curve here is going to be huge,” Hocevar said. “Luckily, I’ve had enough ARCA (Menards Series) experience now that I know how the Ilmor (spec) engines feel and how the heavier cars race. It’s just about learning the trucks, specifically, here at Eldora. The toughest thing is that these tires aren’t traditional dirt tires, so that’s something that I’ll have to figure out a bit as we go through the week.

“I went and tested a dirt modified to get ready for this, but those don’t drive anything like the trucks do, so it’s still going to be a brave new world for me. We’re just going to have to play it all by ear.”

As far as his goals for Eldora go, Hocevar doesn’t really have any. He just wants to enjoy the moment.

“This, for me, is all about having fun and seeing what we can get out of this deal,” Hocevar noted. “It’s not every day you get an opportunity like this, so I’m trying to soak it all in, learn as much as I can and trying to figure it all out in hopes that we can have a solid day and bring the truck home in one piece.

“If something good happens, it happens, but I just don’t want to do anything stupid. That’s my goal.”

ROSSBURG, Ohio – Chase Briscoe got the defense of his Eldora Dirt Derby victory from a year ago off to a hot start on Wednesday by posting the fastest time across two NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series practice sessions at Eldora Speedway.

Briscoe topped the first 50-minute session with the best lap of the day, touring the half-mile dirt oval in 19.257 seconds (93.473 mph) with his No. 27 DiaEdge Ford F-150 for ThorSport Racing.

The Mitchell, Ind., native garnered the pole position for the first of five 10-lap heat races on Thursday as a result of his practice speed.

This year’s heat-race lineups are being set by overall practice speeds, as opposed to a dedicated single-truck qualifying session as in years past, and Briscoe said that track position will be critical.

“Today was definitely a good day, and a productive day for us,” noted Briscoe. “I’m proud of everyone at ThorSport for bringing another really fast truck to this place, just like we had here a year ago. To put DiaEdge on the pole (for a heat race) in their first race in the sport is pretty special, as well. Hopefully that’s just the start of what’s to come for us as we get into the day tomorrow.

“I honestly thought I was going to be more rusty than I was, just because I haven’t run any dirt stuff all year,” he added. “I picked it back up pretty quickly, though, even though we parked it (and spun) about 20 minutes into the first session. In the second round, we didn’t start off where I felt like we needed to be, but we were pretty good at the end. We’ll see what tomorrow brings now.

“In the first heat, I do think it will be crucial to start on the front row … and luckily we have that luxury.”

The 15 fastest single-lap speeds of the day were all set during first practice, with the track having slowed significantly by the time the Truck Series returned for final practice following Super DIRTcar Series heats.

Briscoe’s ThorSport Racing teammate Matt Crafton was second-quick overall at 19.381 seconds (92.875 mph) in the No. 88 Menards Ford F-150, and he’ll lead the field to green for the second heat on Thursday.

Brett Moffitt, Stewart Friesen and Sheldon Creed completed the top five on the overall speed charts and will also start on the pole for their respective heat races.

Johnny Sauter, who has noted in the past that he “hates Eldora,” found some much-needed speed on the dirt during practice and landed sixth on the scoreboard. He’ll join Briscoe on the front row of the first heat.

Tyler Dippel, Todd Gilliland, Ben Rhodes and Kyle Strickler completed the top 10 in Wednesday practice.

Though there were multiple spins between the two 50-minute sessions, the only truck seriously damaged was that of Ross Chastain, who tagged the wall with his No. 45 and left his crew making repairs deep into the night on Wednesday.

Chastain is a three-time winner in Truck Series action this year and has already secured a playoff spot.

Friesen topped the charts in final practice at 19.886 seconds (90.516 mph), ahead of Briscoe, Moffitt, Gilliland and Crafton.

Heat races for the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series will hit the track at 7 p.m. ET on Thursday.

ROSSBURG, Ohio – Erick Rudolph has taken home a lot of hardware this season, but Wednesday night he earned arguably the biggest win of his career at one of the country’s most famous dirt tracks.

Rudolph scored the victory in the 100-lap Super DIRTcar Series feature at Ohio’s Eldora Speedway, passing points leader and perennial powerhouse Matt Sheppard on lap 75 and driving away from the competition.

From there, the Ransomville, N.Y. driver paced the final 26 circuits around the half-mile dirt oval for his seventh-career Super DIRTcar Series win, third series win of the season and first at Eldora.

Wednesday night’s triumph was worth $10,000 to the driver of the No. 25 BBL Racing modified.

“It feels so good to finally put one together here at Eldora,” said Rudolph in victory lane after his 15th overall win of the year. “We’ve never had any luck here; I think we’ve blown up the last three times I’ve been here, so to finally be able to finish a race here and get the job done really means a lot.

“Early, I really wasn’t that great and was just kind of hanging in there, but at the end my car came to life,” Rudolph added. “I was doing whatever it took to get there, but this run we’ve been on is about a lot of little things all coming together to make our cars fast. The engine department is up near 100 percent and I feel like I’m doing what I need to do behind the wheel as good as I ever have.

“It’s all a guessing game … and along the lines you get good at guessing. We guessed right tonight.”

While Rudolph was the class of the field when it counted, the early stars of the night were polesitter Rex King Jr. and Sheppard, who combined to lead the first 74 laps on the night.

King jetted out to the lead on the initial start and turned back all comers for the first 30 laps, but a caution for the stalled car of Chris Grbac set up a restart just before the one-third benchmark that gave Sheppard a chance to pounce.

When racing resumed on the 31st round, that’s exactly what the seven-time series champion and 67-time race winner did, charging around the outside of King to take command in his familiar No. 9s.

‘Super Matt’ showed the way through the halfway point, driving out to a two-second margin while behind him, Rudolph navigated his way into second and slowly but surely began eating into his deficit.

With 43 to go, as Sheppard began to get snagged in heavier traffic, Rudolph found traction on the bottom and his car came to life. Suddenly, a two-second gap was reduced to mere tenths of a second as Rudolph began to bring the fight to Sheppard for the race lead.

A caution the next time around, for the slowing car of Rusty Smith, gave Sheppard a brief respite. He held serve when green-flag conditions returned with 36 laps left, but his time out front was numbered.

Digging on the bottom of the track, Rudolph found his way back to Sheppard’s bumper, forcing his way around the inside berm on lap 75 to take command for good and relegate Sheppard backward.

After making the winning pass, not even a caution with eight to go could keep Rudolph out of victory lane. He weathered the storm brought on by the stalled car of Chris Hile on the frontstretch and powered away from his closest pursuers on the final restart, driving home to victory.

Billy Decker battled with Mat Williamson in the closing laps, ultimately taking the runner-up spot and earning a guaranteed spot in the Super DIRT Week feature at Oswego (N.Y.) Speedway as a result.

Behind that duo, Sheppard faded to fourth, with King holding on to the final position in the top five.

Sixth through 10th were Larry Wight, Ryan Godown, Stewart Friesen, Danny Johnson and Mike Mahaney.

The Super DIRTcar Series returns to Eldora on Thursday night for the All-Star Invitational, a non-points event held alongside the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series’ Eldora Dirt Derby main event.

The finish:

Erick Rudolph, Billy Decker, Mat Williamson, Matt Sheppard, Rex King Jr., Larry Wight, Ryan Godown, Stewart Friesen, Danny Johnson, Mike Mahaney, Dave Blaney, Jeremiah Shingledecker, Matt Farnham, Brett Hearn, Demetrios Drellos, Jimmy Phelps, Peter Britten, Ryan Watt, Will Thomas, Jack Lehner, Josh Hohenforst, Rick Regalski, Rusty Smith, Marcus Dinkins, Chris Hile, Paul St. Sauveur, Chris Grbac, Kyle Coffey, Mike Marlar.

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Despite his side beating the MLS All-Stars 3-0 on Wednesday night, Diego Simeone said the Major League Soccer outfit "could have hurt" his Atletico Madrid.

The score line showed a convincing performance from the La Liga outfit, complete with goals from new signings Marcos Llorente and Joao Felix, as well as warhorse Diego Costa. But the All-Stars could have made it a far closer contest, with second-half substitutes Diego Rossi, Pity Martinez, Ezequiel Barco and Bastian Schweinsteiger all coming closer to breaching Los Rojiblancos' goal.

Speaking to the media at the post-match news conference from Exploria Stadium, Simeone spoke of the growth of MLS, resulting in an All-Star team that gave his team a closer game than the score suggested.

"In the second half, we saw a dynamic MLS team that could have hurt us," he said. "The league is growing each day.

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"There's investment in players first, and then in coaches. The league will continue to grow."

That recognition was acknowledged by All-Star and Orlando City manager James O'Connor, whose playing career spanned more than a decade with Stoke City, West Bromwich Albion, Burnley and Sheffield Wednesday.

O'Connor noted that MLS is not only home to "some of the best players in the world," there are also an increasing number of young players - both homegrown and imported - who are making a name for themselves, specifically naming Mark-Anthony Kaye, Paxton Pomykal and Ezequiel Barco as three who grabbed his attention during All-Star Week.

"[The All-Star Game is] a chance for some of the young players to test themselves against some of the best players in the world," he said. "I think for the like of Mark-Anthony, Mark-Anthony's playing against Joao Felix, who's [€126 million] ... and he did a great job, playing out of position.

"There's a lot of really good young talent in MLS now, and I think it's very exciting. It's probably the most exciting time for the league, when you look at the young players that are actually in the league and the quality of the young players. There's a load of optimism that's around the league, and it's a very exciting time for everyone."

Liverpool winger Harvey Elliott has "wholeheartedly" apologised for appearing to mock England captain and Tottenham striker Harry Kane in an offensive video which has circulated online.

The video, which was shared privately on Snapchat and includes an offensive caption, appears to show Elliott imitating Kane and using derogatory language towards the striker following the Champions League final on June 1, in which Liverpool defeated Kane's Spurs 2-0.

In a statement released on Wednesday, Elliott, 16, said: "I would just like to wholeheartedly apologise for any offence caused on the back of a video of me circulating on the internet.

"The video was taken whilst messing around with friends in a private environment and was not directed at any individual but I realise that my actions were both immature and senseless.

"I would like to stress that the contents of the video do not represent who I am as a person or how I've been brought up, and I truly am sorry."

Elliott, who has supported Liverpool since he was a boy and completed a move to the European champions last week from Fulham, had made his second appearance for the club in their preseason win over Lyon earlier on Thursday.

He is yet to sign a professional contract with Liverpool and is unable to do so until his 17th birthday, which is in April next year.

Elliott is the youngest player to ever play in the Premier League having broken the record in May 2019 aged 16 years and 30 days. He made his debut for Fulham in the Carabao Cup aged 15.

Sources have told ESPN that Paris Saint Germain, Real Madrid, Barcelona and Borussia Dortmund were all interested in signing the England youth international, prior to his move to Liverpool.

Manchester United are set to sign French prodigy Hannibal Mejbri, one of the country's biggest talents, sources have told ESPN FC.

The 16-year-old attacking midfielder is currently playing at Monaco but a disagreement between him and the club has seen Mejbri not play for their youth team for months.

The Principality club initially didn't want their prized youth to leave, but have decided to accept United's offer of €10 million, according to sources. The Old Trafford outfit beat out Manchester City, Arsenal and Juventus to the France U16 international, who left his grassroots club Boulogne Billancourt in the west suburbs of Paris for Monaco a year ago.

Mejbri, a gifted technical player with great vision and intelligence, is expected to fly to Manchester on Thursday for his medical.

Monaco reportedly paid €1m to the Mejbri family to secure Mejbri's signature in the summer of 2018.

Mejbri has been identified as the biggest talent of his generation since he was young and has gone through the INF Clairefontaine pre-academy like Kylian Mbappe and Thierry Henry before him.

According to ESPN FC sources, Manchester United had been monitoring Mejbri's issues with Monaco for months and were ready to make a deal happen this summer if the opportunity presented itself.

Mejbri and his father Lofti believe that United are the perfect club for him to continue his progression and to get closer to making his professional debut.