Viktor Byrtus aims to do well in his maiden and last World Juniors
By KNG ZHENG GUAN – Squash Mad Asian Correspondent

Viktor Byrtus has waited far too long to make his debut in the individual event of the WSF World Junior Squash Championships. Last year, Byrtus was at the forefront as the Czech Republic, not the most renowned country for squash, took the world by storm as they finished joint third at the World Junior Team Championships.

Along the way they took down Pakistan and then claimed a superb win over Malaysia in the quarter-finals before eventually falling short to a very dominant Egypt in the semi-finals.

It was just unfortunate that Byrtus didn’t compete in the individual event last year due to a lack of funds.

But the 18-year-old Byrtus is looking to make up for lost time this year in his first and also last world juniors.

He’s certainly seeded to do so, as the joint third-fourth seed to make up the top four seeds alongside Egyptian trio Mostafa Asal, Omar El Torkey and Moustafa Elsirty.

And he started well enough with an impressive 11-3 11-3, 11-5 win over Hong Kong’s Wong King Yeung in the second round.

“I’m happy with my performance to start and I’m also pleased to be the third-fourth seed alongside the Egyptians. But there are a lot of tough players out here and the matches from the third rounds onwards will be really good,” said Byrtus, who meets England’s Lewis Anderson next.

“For me a really big thing to play in the individual event for the first time. I wanted to play so badly last year but couldn’t because of the financial situation.

“None of us played in the individuals and we really just went all out for the team event. It turned out to be a great move because we took home a medal at the world juniors for the first time in the history of the Czech Republic.

“That was really special for us and in fact if we had a better draw, playing England instead of Egypt, we could have even made the final.

“It was a really good achievement for us because its tough to train a lot back home. We’re not that rich of a country to be able to fly out to different continents.

“But we’ve been the top two or three in Europe in junior level and we’ve always gotten a medal at the European junior teams for the last five or six years. In fact we are the only ones who can really push England or France in Europe.

“I was also runner-up at the European Junior Championships last year before winning gold earlier this year,” added the Ostrava-based Byrtus.

Meanwhile Byrtus who is currently ranked No. 206 in the world, also added that he’s hoping to step up on the Professional Squash Association (PSA) Tour as well after the completion of this world juniors.

“I’ve played some PSA tournaments for last three years but its tough to commit because of school and the regional events. I’m quite happy with my rankings now but it can definitely be better,” said Byrtus.

“For the next season though, I probably need to find a sponsor to maybe fly back here to Malaysia or maybe Australia to stay for a month and also to play in a few more tournaments.

“That would probably give me the experience that I currently lack,” he concluded.

But for now, Byrtus is just focused on ending his junior career on a high and to continue putting Czech Republic on the squash world map.

However, at the time of publishing, the Czech had fallen to the giant-killing run of England’s Lewis Anderson, who beat two seeds in a row and will today play India’s Veer Chotrani for a place in the last four.

Pictures courtesy of Regina Ho and #WSFWorldJuniors2019

England’s Lewis Anderson score back-to-back upsets to move into the last eight
By HOWARD HARDING, KNG ZHENG GUAN and ALEX WAN – Squash Mad International Correspondents

England claimed a surprise additional place in the men’s quarter-finals of the CIMB Foundation WSF World Junior Squash Championships in Malaysia today when unseeded Lewis Anderson pulled off two successive upsets in his debut appearance in the annual World Squash Federation event at the Bukit Jalil National Squash Centre in the country’s capital Kuala Lumpur.

After causing the shock exit of Czech Viktor Byrtus in the third round session in the morning – beating the 3/4 seed 11-9, 13-15, 11-4, 6-11, 11-6 – the 18-year-old from Warwickshire progressed to take out Egypt’s Karim Elbarbary, a 13/16 seed, 11-7, 11-7, 11-5 in the last 16 round.

“It was massive to beat Viktor in the third round,” said Anderson. “I looked at the draw, playing the third-fourth seed and somehow I just managed to push through for my biggest win yet.

“After that I went back to the hotel, got some food and I felt good and I backed myself to go against another tough opponent.

“When I came back on court, everything went smoothly and I played some of my best squash so I’m really happy to be in the top eight,” added the surprise quarter-finalist.

Anderson, the 2018 Dutch U19 Junior Open champion, will now face surprise opponent Veer Chotrani, the Asian Junior Under-19 champion who is a 9/12 seed in KL. The 17-year-old from Mumbai came from a game down to shock Switzerland’s 5/8 seed Yannick Wilhelmi 10-12, 11-6, 11-8, 11-3.

For Malaysia though, the results were pretty clear cut as the trio of boys in Duncan Lee, Danial Nurhaqiem and Amir Amirul all gave a good account of themselves but bowed out in the third round.

Yee Xian on the other put up a much improved display to first beat Switzerland’s Campbell Wells 11-6, 11-7, 12-10 in the third round, before returning hours later to see off American Nicholas Spizzirri 11-6, 11-6, 11-7.

It’s a fine showing by the Melakan who reached the top eight for the first time in his last world juniors and it earned him a showdown with top seed and world No. 29 Mostafa Asal of Egypt.

The two-time defending champion wasn’t troubled much as he first downed England’s Jared Carter and then swept past an exhausted To Wai Lok of Hong Kong in the last 16.

“It’s much better, much controlled performance today compared to my second round match,” said Yee Xian.

“I’m obviously very happy to make it this far. It’s my first time in the top eight as last year I only made the last 16 so it’s an improvement.

“Of course it will be tough against Mostafa. Just look at the rankings. He’s in the top 30 in the world while I’m not even top 300. But as the underdog, I’m just going out there to enjoy the game with no pressure at all.”

Fourth round action in the women’s event produced the quarter-final line-up predicted by the seedings.

Favourite Hania El Hammamy, the Egyptian who finished as runner-up both in 2017 and 2018, cruised into the last eight courtesy of an 11-2, 11-4, 11-6 win over Hong Kong’s Lee Sum Yuet.

The 18-year-old from Cairo, who is ranked 15 in the world, will now face Hong Kong’s 5-8 seed Chan Sin Yuk for a place in her fourth successive semi-final.

For the Malaysian girls, Aifa had temporary blip as she dropped a game before beating India’s Sanya Vats 11-7, 11-7, 10-12, 11-6 in the third round. She however recovered superbly, taking all of 16 minutes to blow past Hong Kong’s Kirstie Wong 11-2, 11-3, 11-2 in the fourth round.

Yiwen on the other hand first squeezed past teammate Noor Ainaa Amani Ampandi in the third round before stepping it up to beat Egypt’s 9-12 seed Sana Ibrahim 11-8, 8-11, 11-7, 11-7.

The KL girl, who will also make the top eight for the first time, goes on to meet another Egyptian, 3-4 seed Farida Mohamed, who edged past 15-year-old Aira Azman 12-10, 12-10, 11-8, next.

“Sana put me under a lot of pressure and that’s how I lost the second game. But I made the adjustments according to come back strongly in the third and fourth (games),” said Yiwen.

“It’s good to justify my seeding. It’s also my first quarter-final showing and I’m looking forward to taking on Farida, whom I last met in January during the British Junior Open. It would be nice to take her down on home ground.”

Other Malaysian girls on the day – Yee Xin Ying and Ooi Kah Yan – lost out in the third and fourth rounds respectively.

Quarter-final match s will be played at the all-glass court will be aired by Squash TV free of charge. The first match will take place at local time 1pm (GMT +7).

Men’s 3rd round:
[1] Mostafa Asal (EGY) bt Jared Carter (ENG) 11-9, 11-5, 11-4
To Wai Lok (HKG) bt Ayush Menon (USA) 4-11, 10-12, 11-8, 11-9, 11-8
[5/8] Siow Yee Xian (MAS) bt Campbell Wells (SUI) 11-6, 11-7, 12-10
Nicholas Spizzirri (USA) bt Dana Santry (USA) 11-8, 11-5, 11-8
Lewis Anderson (ENG) bt [3/4] Viktor Byrtus (CZE) 11-9, 13-15, 11-4, 6-11, 11-6
[13/16] Karim Elbarbary (EGY) bt Dillon Huang (USA) 11-4, 11-1, 11-5
[5/8] Yannick Wilhelmi (SUI) bt Yash Fadte (IND) 13-15, 11-5, 7-11, 13-11, 11-6
[9/12] Veer Chotrani (IND) bt Darosham Khan (CAN) 11-2, 11-3, 4-11, 11-8
[9/12] Ibrahim Mohamed (EGY) bt Amir Amirul (MAS) 11-9, 8-11, 11-7, 11-9
[5/8] Sam Todd (ENG) bt Danial Nurhaqiem (MAS) 12-10, 11-5, 11-7
Muhammad Farhan Hashmi (PAK) bt [13/16] Thomas Rosini (USA) 11-9, 11-7, 4-11, 11-8
[3/4] Moustafa El Sirty (EGY) bt Max Forster (ENG) 11-4, 11-4, 11-5
[9/12] James Flynn (CAN) bt Duncan Lee (MAS) 11-7, 11-2, 8-11, 11-2
[5/8] Yehia Elnawasany (EGY) bt Noor Zaman (PAK) 11-9, 11-7, 14-12
Ben Smith (ENG) bt [13/16] Haris Qasim (PAK) 8-11, 2-11, 11-2, 11-6, 11-7
[2] Omar El Torkey (EGY) bt Rahul Baitha (IND) 11-9, 11-2, 11-4

Men’s 4th round:
[1] Mostafa Asal (EGY) bt To Wai Lok (HKG) 11-5, 11-5, 11-4
[5/8] Siow Yee Xian (MAS) bt Nicholas Spizzirri (USA) 11-6, 11-6, 11-7
Lewis Anderson (ENG) bt [13/16] Karim Elbarbary (EGY) 11-7, 11-7, 11-5
[9/12] Veer Chotrani (IND) bt [5/8] Yannick Wilhelmi (SUI) 10-12, 11-6, 11-8, 11-3
[5/8] Sam Todd (ENG) bt [9/12] Ibrahim Mohamed (EGY) 11-8, 11-4, 4-11, 11-9
[3/4] Moustafa El Sirty (EGY) bt Muhammad Farhan Hashmi (PAK) 11-6, 11-5, 11-7
[5/8] Yehia Elnawasany (EGY) bt [9/12] James Flynn (CAN) 8-11, 11-9, 11-7, 4-11, 11-6
[2] Omar El Torkey (EGY) bt Ben Smith (ENG) 11-8, 11-9, 11-6

Women’s 3rd round:
[1] Hania El Hammamy (EGY) bt Yee Ying (MAS) 14-12, 11-5, 11-4
Lee Sum Yuet (HKG) bt Brianna Jefferson (CAN) 12-10, 11-7, 11-9
[5/8] Chan Sin Yuk (HKG) bt Yoshna Singh (IND) 11-3, 11-4, 11-4
[9/12] Alice Green (ENG) bt Lucia Bautista (COL) 11-1, 11-8, 11-6
[3/4] Farida Mohamed (EGY) bt Evie Coxon (ENG) 11-7, 15-13, 11-3
Aira Azman (MAS) bt [13/16] Olivia Robinson (USA) 11-5, 11-3, 11-5
[5/8] Chan Yiwen (MAS) bt Ainaa Ampandi (MAS) 11-8, 12-10, 11-6
[9/12] Sana Ibrahim (EGY) bt Malak Mostafa (EGY) 11-8, 13-15, 11-7, 11-9
[9/12] Ooi Kah Yan (MAS) bt Erica McGillicuddy (CAN) 11-8, 11-4, 11-4
[5/8] Elise Lazarus (ENG) bt Michaela Cepova (CZE) 11-5, 11-4, 11-8
Kirstie Po Yui Wong (HKG) bt Anika Jackson (NZL) 11-7, 11-5, 11-7
[3/4] Aifa Azman (MAS) bt Sanya Vats (IND) 11-7, 11-7, 10-12, 11-6
[9/12] Georgia Adderley (SCO) bt Aishwarya Khubchandani (IND) 8-11, 11-8, 11-6, 11-9
[5/8] Marina Stefanoni (USA) bt Serena Daniel (USA) 11-4, 11-5, 11-6
[13/16] Nour Khaled Aboulmakarim (EGY) bt Caroline Spahr (USA) 11-7, 11-4, 11-9
[2] Jana Shiha (EGY) bt Ambre Allinckx (SUI) 11-8, 11-1, 11-9

Women’s 4th round:
[1] Hania El Hammamy (EGY) bt Lee Sum Yuet (HKG) 11-2, 11-4, 11-6
[5/8] Chan Sin Yuk (HKG) bt [9/12] Alice Green (ENG) 11-5, 11-6, 11-7
[3/4] Farida Mohamed (EGY) bt Aira Azman (MAS) 12-10, 12-10, 11-8
[5/8] Chan Yiwen (MAS) bt [9/12] Sana Ibrahim (EGY) 11-8, 8-11, 11-7, 11-7
[5/8] Elise Lazarus (ENG) bt [9/12] Ooi Kah Yan (MAS) 11-8, 11-8, 11-8
[3/4] Aifa Azman (MAS) bt Kirstie Po Yui Wong (HKG) 11-2, 11-3, 11-2
[5/8] Marina Stefanoni (USA) bt [9/12] Georgia Adderley (SCO) 11-4, 11-8, 11-2
[2] Jana Shiha (EGY) bt [13/16] Nour Khaled Aboulmakarim (EGY) 11-5, 11-8, 11-5

Pictures courtesy of #WSFWorldJuniors2019 and Regina Ho

ROSSBURG, Ohio – A pair of ThorSport Racing teammates will lead the field to green for the seventh annual Eldora Dirt Derby feature on Thursday night at Eldora Speedway.

By virtue of winning the first two 10-lap heat races at the half-mile dirt oval, Chase Briscoe and Matt Crafton – the victors of the last two Eldora Dirt Derbys – will share the front row for the 150-lapper.

Briscoe jumped to the lead from the pole in heat one and never looked back, escaping to victory by nearly two seconds over Johnny Sauter, Harrison Burton, Colt Gilliam and Jeffrey Abbey.

“I don’t know what we’ve got for tonight, to be honest,” said Briscoe, who also won his heat race a year ago before moving on to also win the feature. “We weren’t very good right there, I don’t think, even though we won the thing. The track is definitely a little bit different than it was last night. At the end of practice last night, we were really, really good, but now the track’s just getting slicker and slicker.

“It was more narrow than I thought it would be, but we have to get better if we’re going to win tonight.”

Likewise, Crafton dominated his heat from the pole in a caution-free rout. He led all 10 laps of the second heat and beat former big-block modified standout Tyler Dippel to the checkered flag.

Ross Chastain, Christian Eckes and Landon Huffman completed the top five in heat two.

Brett Moffitt wired heat three from the pole over Todd Gilliland, Carson Hocevar, Jake Griffin and Mike Marlar, while Stewart Friesen put on a similar performance in the fourth heat and held off a hard-charging Ben Rhodes down the stretch.

Justin Shipley, Austin Hill and Mark Smith completed the rest of the top five in heat four.

The fifth and final heat was decided by a slider-fest between Kyle Strickler and Sheldon Creed, with Strickler taking command off the initial start and ultimately leading all 10 laps for the victory.

Creed finished second, followed by Grant Enfinger, Gus Dean and Tim Ward.

Behind Briscoe and Crafton, Moffitt and Friesen will share the second row of the grid, with Strickler completing the top five ahead of Sauter, Dippel, Gilliland, Rhodes and Creed.

Enfinger, the regular-season points leader entering the night, will roll off from the 15th starting spot.

Kentucky winner Tyler Ankrum cruised to the 15-lap Last Chance Showdown victory, dominating by 6.898 seconds ahead of a fierce battle for second between fan-favorite Norm Benning and Georgia young gun Mason Massey.

Benning prevailed in the end and earned the 27th spot on the grid for the feature.

The 150-lap Eldora Dirt Derby is scheduled to begin just after 9 p.m., with live coverage on FOX Sports 1, the Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.

PRELIMINARY RESULTS: NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series; Eldora Speedway; Aug. 1, 2019

Heat One (10 laps, top five transfer): 1. Chase Briscoe, 2. Johnny Sauter, 3. Harrison Burton, 4. Colt Gilliam, 5. Jeffrey Abbey / 6. Austin Wayne Self, 7. Jennifer Jo Cobb.

Heat Two (10 laps, top five transfer): 1. Matt Crafton, 2. Tyler Dippel, 3. Ross Chastain, 4. Christian Eckes, 5. Landon Huffman / 6. Tyler Ankrum, 7. Darwin Peters Jr.

Heat Three (10 laps, top five transfer): 1. Brett Moffitt, 2. Todd Gilliland, 3. Carson Hocevar, 4. Jake Griffin, 5. Mike Marlar / 6. Devin Dodson.

Heat Four (10 laps, top five transfer): 1. Stewart Friesen, 2. Ben Rhodes, 3. Justin Shipley, 4. Austin Hill, 5. Mark Smith / 6. Norm Benning.

Heat Five (10 laps, top five transfer): 1. Kyle Strickler, 2. Sheldon Creed, 3. Grant Enfinger, 4. Gus Dean, 5. Tim Ward / 6. Mason Massey IV.

Last Chance Showdown (15 laps, top two transfer): 1. Tyler Ankrum, 2. Norm Benning / 3. Mason Massey, 4. Jennifer Jo Cobb, 5. Darwin Peters Jr., 6. Devin Dodson, 7. Austin Wayne Self.

ROSSBURG, Ohio – Thursday’s Super DIRTcar Series All-Star Invitational at Eldora Speedway may have been thinner on top talent than in years past, but it was in no way short on star power in victory lane.

Home-state favorite Dave Blaney, a past World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series and USAC Silver Crown Series titlist and former NASCAR regular, dominated the night at the half-mile Ohio dirt track.

Blaney led all 20 laps of the non-points event from the outside pole, surging past pacesetter and Heinke-Baldwin Racing teammate Jimmy Phelps on the initial start and never looking back en route to victory.

The Hartford, Ohio native pulled away on two separate restarts – one at lap two after a Jeremiah Shingledecker spin and another at lap nine after the Chris Grbac machine slowed – and beat Phelps to the checkered flag by two seconds in the end with his No. 10h modified.

Though he had won sprint car races in the mid-1990s at Eldora, Thursday night’s rout marked Blaney’s first big-block modified victory of any kind at the Tony Stewart-owned facility.

“It’s cool to win any time at this place; it doesn’t matter what you’re driving,” Blaney said in victory lane. “We had some good days way back in the 90s in the sprint car, but it’s fun to come race here in the modified and fun to come and win one in front of my home fans here tonight.

“We had a good car all race long and proved it down the stretch.”

Phelps had nothing for his teammate and settled for second, with Josh Hohenforst completing the podium. Ryan Godown finished fourth and Chris Hile was fifth.

Demetrios Drellos, Danny Johnson, Matt Farnham, Ryan Watt and Rick Regalski made up the balance of the top 10.

Eight-time Super DIRTcar Series champion Brett Hearn had an engine expire in hot laps and did not start the Thursday feature.

The finish:

Dave Blaney, Jimmy Phelps, Josh Hohenforst, Ryan Godown, Chris Hile, Demetrios Drellos, Danny Johnson, Matt Farnham, Ryan Watt, Rick Regalski, Jack Lehner, Paul St. Sauveur, Marcus Dinkins, Chris Grbac, Rusty Smith, Jeremiah Shingledecker, Brett Hearn.

ROSSBURG, Ohio – While Stewart Friesen was celebrating in victory lane Thursday night at Eldora Speedway, tempers were flaring further down pit road at the half-mile dirt track.

Tyler Dippel and Ben Rhodes ended up in a heated exchange after a late-race skirmish during the seventh annual Eldora Dirt Derby, which left Rhodes with a poor result while Dippel came home eighth.

Rhodes and Dippel were racing for position on the final restart when Dippel tried to put a slide job on Rhodes, washing up into the No. 99 Havoline Ford F-150 and sending Rhodes into the outside wall.

In the aftermath of that contact, Rhodes backslid to 14th in the final rundown, but Dippel wasn’t done yet. He chased Rhodes down during the cool-down lap and rammed into the back of Rhodes’ truck twice coming into the pit lane, causing a spark that led to even more post-race fireworks.

Before Dippel could fully climb from his truck, Rhodes was on the scene and tried to drag Dippel out of the driver’s side window, with the two briefly trading blows before being separated by their crews and NASCAR officials.

After collecting their thoughts, neither Rhodes nor Dippel was willing to see eye to eye with the other.

“It wasn’t just (Dippel), in fairness, it was multiple folks,” said a frustrated Rhodes. “It’s just sad, because no one races with any respect anymore. I didn’t touch a soul all night, unless they were wrecking around me, and I had to somehow touch them to get away from the wreck … but other than that I didn’t touch anyone all race long. I raced everyone the way I wanted to be raced.

“We’re racing for a championship, and there’s guys that just come in here and will clean you out,” Rhodes added. “The 2 (Sheldon Creed) didn’t even try to make the corner; he just put me straight into the fence and hit me so hard that my inside mirror was pointed straight up at the sky … and the 02 (Dippel) did the same exact thing. It put us from fighting for sixth back to wherever we finished.

“It’s just bad racing. I don’t know how to fix that, because no one seems to show any respect.”

For his part, Dippel refused to back down or apologize for how hard he raced in the final laps.

“It was a green-white-checkered; it was time to go,” Dippel said. “That’s all it was. (Rhodes) came up after me before I could even get out of the truck, and that’s probably the only way he could do anything, because he probably only weighs 140 pounds soaking wet.

“I don’t know. He’s a (expletive). He complains about everyone, every week,” continued Dippel. “It’s probably going to be cool to see someone like him miss the playoffs in really good equipment. Other than that, my guys worked hard on our truck and we just didn’t have what we needed tonight.”

Thursday night’s misfortune continued a stunning season of bad luck for Rhodes, who left Eldora in a must-win situation heading to Michigan Int’l Speedway in order to make the Truck Series postseason.

“I hate this for my guys. They’ve worked their butts off all year long,” Rhodes said. “Daytona we got wrecked, here we got wrecked, our engine blew at Chicago, we had a transmission issue at Texas. … I could go on and on about things out of our control that are taking us out of the playoffs this year.

“It’s sad for me, because I know how much Duke and Rhonda Thorson put into this series and how much they believe in all the people on this team,” he noted. “It’s been building for a few years and it’s just gotten worse and worse and the cup is running over now.

“I don’t know what else to say. I got cleaned out.”

ROSSBURG, Ohio – The question heading into the final stage of Thursday night’s seventh annual Eldora Dirt Derby was whether tires or track position would be the key to unlocking victory lane.

Stewart Friesen answered that question in convincing fashion, staying out at the end of the second stage and taking a lead he wouldn’t relinquish en route to his first NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series win.

Friesen was out front for the final 57 laps after making the decisive strategy call, turning back every advance that the rest of the field could muster and holding off Sheldon Creed on a two-lap sprint to the checkered flag.

The win erased a long series of heartaches for Friesen, the likable Canadian who set the Truck Series record of six runner-up finishes without a victory before finally triumphing in his 63rd start.

“Man, I don’t even know what to say,” said Friesen. “Thank you to everyone, all the race fans and sponsors who stuck with us for all this time. Today is the day. This is the week. Right here is the moment. This was meant to be. We needed to get it done here, on the dirt, at Eldora … and we did.

“What a special event this is,” he added. “We came here four years ago just wanting to have fun, but this was the goal and tonight, we finally checked that box at last.”

Though Friesen was the dominant truck when it counted, for most of the night it appeared that NASCAR Xfinity Series regular Chase Briscoe was poised to become the first repeat winner of the Dirt Derby.

Briscoe led the first 93 laps in succession, won the first two stages and had a truck so dominant that no one could really get close to his ThorSport Racing-prepared No. 27 DiaEdge Ford F-150.

However, Briscoe ducked to pit road during the second stage break, hoping to replicate the same call and late-race charge that he used to wrest victory away from Logan Seavey a year ago at Eldora.

Unfortunately for Briscoe, he couldn’t capture lightning in a bottle twice.

Mired back in 12th when the final stage went green, the Mitchell, Ind., native saw his race unravel. He was caught in an accordion-style melee when Ross Chastain spun in front of the field from fourth, getting damage to the front and rear of his truck, and then got pinned down low on several restarts.

Briscoe finally began making some moves late in the going, marching up to eighth with 33 laps left on the bottom and fighting up to as high as third with 19 laps left, but another caution put the pressure on – and Briscoe finally cracked on the next restart.

When the green lights clicked on with 12 to go, Briscoe was caught on the bottom and shuffled back to fifth, then overdrove the entry into turn one with 10 laps left and was finished off by Ben Rhodes.

That knocked Briscoe out of contention, while Friesen stayed true out front and Grant Enfinger was elevated onto the front row for what turned into a green-white-checkered finish.

Enfinger slid back quickly on the bottom, while Creed found a hole on the outside and forced his way up to second in a half lap, though the Californian could get no further after the white flag was displayed.

That left Creed .728 seconds shy of victory, while Friesen celebrated with the iconic Golden Shovel.

Grant Enfinger, reigning World of Outlaws Late Model Series champion Mike Marlar and Todd Gilliland completed the top five, while Briscoe fought back from the tail of the lead lap to finish seventh.

The race was marred by a 14-truck pileup in turn one on the 64th lap, though only Austin Hill was officially eliminated due to damage sustained in the accident.

Friesen, however, kept his truck clean – and his focus on the joy of the night after taking the checkered flag.

“This is what it’s all about,” he said. “This is why we kept fighting all this time. I’m so proud of this team.”

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Alex Meruelo's specialty as a businessman has been to resurrect struggling companies. His billion-dollar portfolio includes casinos, TV and radio stations, food services, real estate, hospitality, construction and engineering.

Meruelo's latest acquisition could be one of his most challenging: turning the Arizona Coyotes into consistent winners while making the franchise profitable.

"Hockey is a sport, but it's also a business," Meruelo said Thursday during his introductory news conference. "I've had a lot of experience building businesses and turning them around. For 40 years I've been doing this. I've had a lot of success and I have a great team."

Meruelo officially took over as Arizona's majority owner this week after completing the transaction with Andrew Barroway, who will still hold a minority stake in the team.

TORONTO -- While Toronto's Maple Leafs and Raptors gear up for next season, Scotiabank Arena is getting a multimillion-dollar face-lift.

Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment president and CEO Michael Friisdahl calls it a "reimagination" of the venue that opened in February 1999.

"We've got to keep getting better, we've got to keep improving the experience," Friisdahl said. "We won a championship -- we've won four championships in the last three years. That, if anything, motivates us to do even more."

Friisdahl, who took up his position at MLSE in December 2015, declined to put a price tag on the improvements other than to say it's "multi, multimillion dollars."

"Eventually when it's all said and done, you will notice that everything will have be touched in one way or another to improve the overall [fan] experience," he added.

MLSE is coming off a major high thanks to the Raptors' NBA championship in June. That followed titles by Toronto FC (MLS) and Raptors 905 (G League) in 2017 and the Marlies (American Hockey League) in 2018.

The Argos also won the Grey Cup in 2017, with MLSE chairman Larry Tanenbaum a part-owner. But MLSE didn't take over full ownership until just after the team won the CFL title.

Friisdahl said MLSE's investment is to ensure the arena is both a "gathering place" for fans but also a destination in the city, going hand-in-hand with the money that has gone into renovating nearby Union Station.

A pedestrian bridge is being built over Bay Street from CIBC Square, currently under construction. It will connect with a new second floor to the galleria on the north side of the arena, as well as the city's underground Path network.

The bridge should help ease the postgame flow of fans, some of whom dodge traffic to get to the other side on their way to a transit hub located to the east. Via the galleria, it also will allow daily access to the arena's Hot Stove Lounge and other special dining areas now just open during events.

The galleria improvements should be completed in the next 12 months, part of a larger plan that will take four to five years. The goal is to make the changes with the least amount of interruption to the facility.

On the west side of the arena, a new video board is going up at Jurassic Park. The new screen is 40% bigger.

Friisdahl notes proudly that the Raptors' playoff run sparked close to 60 Jurassic Parks across the country. "So it's really taken on a real life of its own with our fans," he said.

Hence the new, improved video screen. There also will be smaller video screens near the west entrance of the galleria, to help on nights with multiple games. Plus, the arena is getting new digital Scotiabank signage that can light up in different colors, replacing the temporary arena signs.

Across the street, Real Sports Bar & Grill is being gutted. Since its opening in 2010, the cavernous restaurant and bar has been a man cave on steroids. It's getting a makeover.

"We're going to step that up another notch ... There isn't a stitch that isn't being retouched in here," Friisdahl said.

Inside the arena, the Chairman's Suite -- a restaurant and premium bar/lounge area on the south side -- is being renovated. Outside, extra entrances for premium guests are being added to ease getting in.

While the arena footprint cannot be changed, Friisdahl said MLSE will spend the money needed to keep the building "best in class."

That includes using technology to further connect with fans. You can already order food and merchandise from your seat via the team apps, but Friisdahl said more in that vein is coming.

"We want to be able to communicate with our fans one-on-one as opposed to one-to-many," he said.

That will include being able to consult your app to determine concession areas and washrooms with the smallest lineups -- and to preorder food and drink to pick up en route to your seat.

"That also requires tuning up our infrastructure within the arena because that requires a different level of support. And that's part of the reimagination," said the MLSE boss.

Scotiabank Arena is one of the "top-10 busiest buildings in the world," according to Friisdahl. It staged a record number of events in 2018, with more than 110 live shows over and above NHL and NBA games.