DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) has confirmed that the annual WeatherTech Night of Champions will take place Sunday night, Oct. 13.

The Chateau Élan Resort & Winery in Braselton, Ga., will once again host the event for the fourth consecutive year. The winners will be honored for their achievements in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship less than 24 hours after the season concludes at the Motul Petit Le Mans at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta.

The resort will also host the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge Awards – as it has since 2014 – on the evening of Friday, Oct. 11. That will take place just a few hours after the season closes with the FOX Factory 120 at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta.

The WeatherTech Night of Champions recognizes team, driver and manufacturer champions in all four IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship classes – Daytona Prototype international (DPi), LMP2, GT Le Mans (GTLM) and GT Daytona (GTD). Honoring the champions of the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup and WeatherTech Sprint Cup will also take place.

“The WeatherTech Night of Champions is annually one of the most important dates on our calendar,” said IMSA CEO Ed Bennett. “We had a great deal of positive feedback last year by holding the event on Sunday, and we are looking forward to another special event this October. This year’s championships appear to be going down to the last lap. This event will allow everyone the chance to see that raw emotion from the champions that have put so much time and effort into their title.”

Chateau Élan is minutes away from Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta, the site of the 10-hour Motul Petit Le Mans that will close out both the 2019 WeatherTech Championship and Michelin Endurance Cup season. The weekend also will include season finales for the Michelin Pilot Challenge, IMSA Prototype Challenge and Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA by Yokohama.

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Tony Kanaan scored his first Indy car victory 20 years ago this week, during the CART U.S. 500 at Michigan Int’l Speedway. We look back at that 1999 race in this week’s edition of Torn From The Headlines.

BROOKLYN, Mich. – Tony Kanaan took his first Indy car victory in a thrilling finish to the U.S. 500 presented by Toyota on July 25 at Michigan Int’l Speedway.

Kanaan edged out Juan Pablo Montoya by .032 seconds after a wild last lap saw Max Papis run out of fuel going down the backstretch and Kanaan barely survive Montoya’s final-gasp charge.

The Brazilian only led seven of the 250 laps, but he was out in front for the most important one, if only by a nose at the finish line.

“It’s mine, we finally did it!” exclaimed Kanaan. “Mom, I did it! I didn’t crash this time. Finally!”

The war of attrition was slowed just three times by caution, but only 11 drivers ultimately reached the checkered flag. However, the final 67 laps went uninterrupted and featured a mix of strategy that led to the exciting finish.

Papis led the field back to green for the final restart of the day and was the dominant driver for much of the final stint, keeping his Bobby Rahal-owned No. 7 out in front for 38 consecutive laps before ducking down pit road for his final round of service with 30 to go.

Thanks to an alternate strategy, Kanaan had been able to run nearly seven laps longer than the rest of his rivals, elevating him up to second behind Papis when the cycle worked itself out.

Inside of 25 to go, Kanaan began to close up on Papis’s rear wing in the race for the lead, but Papis pulled away as Kanaan tried to move in and left the Forsythe driver to deal with Chip Ganassi Racing teammates Montoya and Jimmy Vasser.

Drafting together, Vasser and Montoya were able to pass Michael Andretti, Dario Franchitti and Paul Tracy, and were closing in on Kanaan when Vasser had to pit for additional fuel due to a problem with his fuel rig discovered following his final pit stop.

That left Montoya alone in trying to chase Kanaan, but that battle for second ended up being the battle for the victory when Papis’ car began to sputter and slow coming off turn two on the final lap.

It was a moment that nearly left Kanaan in disbelief as he came back around to the checkered flag.

“I knew my luck had to turn around eventually, and it finally did in this one,” said a jubilant Kanaan in victory lane. “I lost my radio at lap number 10, so it was a long day to begin with, because we went a lap down. The car started to improve, though, and the track got better. The team did a great job and we never gave up.”

Montoya got a run on Kanaan coming to the start/finish line and ducked to the inside like an angry hornet, but came up just inches short of stealing the victory for team owner Chip Ganassi.

“When everything got so close at the end, I thought I had a chance,” Montoya lamented. “I was catching him really quickly. Every time we’d come into the pits, I’d be top three … and when we’d leave I’d be ninth or 10th. … I think Dario and Michael were the hardest to get by, but our car was strong all day.

“It just wasn’t our day here today.”

Tracy nipped Andretti for the final podium spot, with Franchitti completing the top five finishers.

Papis limped to the finish line, but finished a heartbreaking seventh after leading 143 of the 250 laps.

“On the last stop, our dash had gone out, so we didn’t know where the fuel meter was,” noted Forsythe team manager Tim Cindric. “We made a calculation based on what the tank said, ran it lean towards the end, but obviously fell one lap short. We went down on the fuel (number), but we didn’t think it would be that tight … or we would have gone down more. You just hate to lose one like that.”

Drivers who failed to finish included Team Penske teammates Alex Barron and Al Unser Jr., as well as Scott Pruett, Bryan Herta, Greg Moore, Gil de Ferran and Helio Castroneves.

The finish:

Tony Kanaan, Juan Pablo Montoya, Paul Tracy, Michael Andretti, Dario Franchitti, Adrian Fernandez, Max Papis, Christian Fittipaldi, Jimmy Vasser, Patrick Carpentier, Dennis Vitolo, Richie Hearn, Al Unser Jr., Scott Pruett, Gualter Salles, P.J. Jones, Cristiano da Matta, Alex Barron, Roberto Moreno, Bryan Herta, Michel Jordain Jr., Mauricio Gugelmin, Greg Moore, Gil de Ferran, Helio Castroneves, Robby Gordon.

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Buffalo Sabres forward Evan Rodrigues has been awarded a one-year, $2 million contract following an arbitration hearing.

The independent arbitrator's ruling was announced by the Sabres on Thursday, two days after the hearing. The value of the contract represents a $1.35 million bump in pay over what Rodrigues made last season.

Rodrigues was a restricted free agent who set career highs with nine goals, 29 points and 74 games played in his fourth season with Buffalo. Overall, Rodrigues has 21 goals and 62 points in 154 NHL career games.

Rodrigues was an undrafted free agent before signing with Buffalo in April 2015 after completing his college career at Boston University, where he was a teammate of current Sabres captain Jack Eichel.

Arsenal players Mesut Ozil and Sead Kolasinac were left unharmed after being the targets of an attempted carjacking in London on Thursday, according to multiple reports in the UK.

Video posted on social media appears to show Kolasinac emerge from a stopped SUV and fend off an individual wearing a helmet, circling the vehicle before it drives out of the picture.

Speaking to outlets in the UK, a spokesman for the Metropolitan Police said: "It was reported that suspects on motorbikes had attempted to rob a man who was driving a car.

"The driver, along with his passenger, managed to get away unharmed and travelled to a restaurant in Golders Green, where they were spoken to by officers."

Arsenal told the BBC in a statement they have been in contact with the two players and that both are "fine."

No arrests have been made.

Los Angeles FC will try to get over last week's "Zlataning" when they face reigning champs Atlanta United on Friday night on ESPN, while Houston's magic man Mauro Manotas tries to continue Seattle's misery and D.C. United welcome back a rested Wayne Rooney when they meet Chicago.

Here's what to watch for in MLS Week 21.

The Hangover, Part III

Though Los Angeles FC have been wildly successful in their short MLS lifetime, there's still the nagging matter that they have yet to beat city rivals Los Angeles Galaxy. Last Friday, Zlatan Ibrahimovic backed up all the talk and put LAFC to the sword with a hat trick in a 3-2 win, giving Bob Bradley & Co. flashbacks to last season when LAFC squandered three-goal and two-goal leads against the Galaxy in their fixtures.

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Perhaps not talked about enough is the lasting damage that could come from last Friday's loss. The old saying from any coach is not to let one loss beat you twice, yet that's what happened last season to LAFC. A week after Ibrahimovic's superman debut brace, LAFC promptly went to Atlanta and got thumped 5-0. The 2-2 draw last July, in which LAFC held a 2-0 lead going into the final 10 minutes, was also followed up with more pain in the form of losses to the New York Red Bulls and Sporting Kansas City.

Though LAFC couldn't reverse their fate against the Galaxy, they can stop the hangover and use Atlanta United as their personal Alka-Seltzer when the two sides meet on Friday (10 p.m. ET, ESPN). Three points in front of the home fans against a quality opponent would go a long way toward erasing their Zlatan nightmares for the moment, but it certainly won't be easy.

It's been a rocky debut MLS season for Atlanta playmaker Pity Martinez but something clicked last week when he came off the bench to score and add an assist in a 2-0 win over DC United. It might have been enough to earn a spot back in coach Frank de Boer's starting XI and Martinez was always one to shine in big games at River Plate. Atlanta fans will certainly hope that last week wasn't a false dawn.

Houston's Manotas magic show

The Houston Dynamo may have the league's lowest team payroll but that doesn't mean they are lacking for quality. For an example, look no further than Mauro Manotas, who has been one of the league's most consistent performers, with 10 goals in 2017 and 19 goals in 2018. Yet it really wasn't until this week when most folks outside of Houston's Beltway 8 took notice of the Colombian, thanks in large part to his golazo against Toronto FC.

At age 24, Manotas is poised to be one of Major League Soccer's better bits of business whenever he gets sold. Rumored to have a $7 million price tag, Manotas has heavy interest from Liga MX side Cruz Azul but after last week's "wondergoal," the chances are good that the price has gone up.

Manotas' next act comes at home on Saturday against the Seattle Sounders (8 p.m. ET, ESPN+), who would like nothing better than to get over last Sunday's 2-1 home loss to rivals Portland. Considering that seven of Manotas' eight goals this season have come at home, Seattle's defense will have to be the ones to pull a rabbit out of a hat.

The rewards of a rested Rooney

An interesting thing happened last week in the nation's capital when D.C. United boss Ben Olsen elected to give Wayne Rooney a rest, allowing the superstar striker to sit out last Sunday's visit to Atlanta and recover from minor injuries while at home in his native England.

Resting star players is nothing new when a team is involved in multiple competitions but with D.C. United only involved in MLS play, the decision raised an eyebrow or two. But this is a smart move by Olsen, as the summer heat and a build-up of minor injuries have likely exacted a toll on the 33-year-old.

Rooney has shown in the last year that he's not in MLS just for the paycheck so a more rested, healthy and appreciative Rooney will only help. D.C. United head to the Windy City on Saturday to face the Chicago Fire (8 p.m ET, ESPN+), who have won just one league match out of their last 11.

Miralem Pjanic is going to see a lot of the ball this season.

In Maurizio Sarri's early training sessions as Juventus coach, Pjanic has taken on a central role, sitting at the base of midfield in practice matches and spraying passes to his teammates in the same metronomic fashion as Jorginho under Sarri at Napoli and Chelsea. Sarri used his introductory press conference to declare that he wants the Bosnian international to touch the ball "150 times per game."

With free signings Aaron Ramsey and Adrien Rabiot joining Pjanic, Blaise Matuidi, Emre Can, Rodrigo Bentancur and Sami Khedira at Juventus Stadium, the Italian champions now boast one of the most well-stocked midfields in the European game. And it's Pjanic, more than anyone, who will be the conduit for Sarri's new approach.

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"Sarri is like the new Arrigo Sacchi. One of the biggest characteristics of Sacchi's style -- and now Sarri's style -- is the use of the ball," says Filippo Conticello, who reports on Juventus for La Gazzetta dello Sport. "Play the ball, touch the ball, improve your technical skills. In the [Massimiliano] Allegri period, the most important word was 'run.' Now the only thing that has to run is the ball."

As a partisan of expansive, attack-minded football, Sarri has often been compared to Sacchi, whose iconoclastic rejection of Italian football's catenaccio (read: defensive) traditions turned AC Milan into the best side in Europe and one of the most influential teams in the history of the game. Like Sarri, Sacchi faced scepticism following his appointment as Milan coach in 1987, having never played football professionally or previously coached in Serie A. He won the scudetto in his first season, ending Milan's nine-year wait for the title, and would guide the club to successive European Cup triumphs in 1989 and 1990.

Sarri has no domestic title drought to worry about, with Juventus having won Serie A for the past eight years running, but the challenge facing him is to do for Juve what Sacchi did for Milan: turn his team into the best side in Europe and do it by playing football that puts the fans right on the edge of their seats.

Though Massimiliano Allegri, Sarri's predecessor, kept Juve at the top of the tree in Italy, winning five successive titles after succeeding Antonio Conte in 2014, his brand of football wasn't particularly exciting. Regarded with suspicion by some Juve fans due to his history with Napoli, the scruffy, chain-smoking Sarri is not a perfect fit for the Turin giants -- a "tracksuit coach" at a "three-piece-suit club" -- but as an exponent of attractive, winning football, he has few peers in the modern game. Sacchi approved, when asked, saying Juve's decision to appoint Sarri reflected a new commitment to "beautiful football, spectacle and emotions."

The move to a more proactive style of football also reflects an acknowledgement that if Juve are to lift the Champions League for the first time since 1996, they must be capable of going out and imposing their game upon opponents. It's one thing to be eliminated by the likes of Real Madrid, Barcelona and Bayern Munich, all of whom have dashed Juve's hopes of winning the tournament in recent years, but to lose to such a comparatively under-resourced opponent as Ajax last season, and being outperformed in both legs, was considered an indignity.

"Juventus preferred to win in a conservative way and Allegri was the perfect guy to keep it like that," says Conticello. "Now they are changing their mindset and wanting to dominate. Because they understand the only way to win in Europe is to play better: like Ajax last year."

Sacchi had three outstanding Dutch players at his disposal when he set out to conquer Europe with Milan: Ruud Gullit, Frank Rijkaard and Marco van Basten. Sarri must make do with only one, but Juve's €75 million capture of Matthijs de Ligt from Ajax has the potential to become one of the most transformative transfers in the recent history of European football.

Juventus have long been a popular destination for the world's top players, but in recent years they've struggled to compete with Europe's true super clubs (Barcelona, Real Madrid, the English giants) for the sport's most celebrated names. Even three or four years ago, Juve would not have been able to sign a player like De Ligt, but Cristiano Ronaldo's stunning move from Madrid last year changed the landscape. The strapping centre-back turned down both Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain to join Juve and if he can help bring Champions League success to the club, more of the game's most coveted players could be tempted to follow his lead.

"De Ligt was being pursued by the biggest clubs in Europe, so for Juve to land a player so young and so talented sends a really strong message," former Juventus midfielder Mohamed Sissoko told ESPN. "Players no longer hesitate for a second before signing for Juve."

As Sarri and his players work to give Juventus a new identity on the pitch, the club continues to polish the brand at a marketing level. Already the only leading Italian team to own their own stadium, Juve unveiled a sleek new visual identity in January 2017 when the club's existing crest was replaced with a stylish "J" logo. Whether it's the J-Museum, the J-Hotel or J-Medical, the club's state-of-the-art health facility, there's a smooth uniformity to Juve's identity.

Though not universally popular, the club's new home shirt is similarly outward-looking, with Juve ditching their traditional black and white stripes for a half-black, half-white ensemble reportedly designed to appeal to fans in the United States who more readily associate monochrome stripes with sports umpires.

The club isn't there yet. When Forbes released its annual list of the 50 most valuable teams in world sport earlier this week, Juve once again failed to make the cut. Real Madrid, Barcelona, Manchester United and Bayern could all be found inside the top 20, but everything is now in place on and off the pitch for Juve to close the gap.

Sarri, who watched De Ligt score an own goal in Wednesday's 1-1 International Champions Cup draw with Inter Milan -- all games are live in the U.S. on ESPN+ -- will need to rotate his squad much more than he did at Napoli and Chelsea if he is to succeed in leading Juve to glory on multiple fronts. Domestically, his strongest challenges are expected to come from his former club, Napoli, and from Inter, who are assembling an ambitious squad to compete under their new coach, Conte. Juve will inevitably start the campaign as favourites to retain the scudetto, but this season they are setting their sights a little higher.

"To be honest, barring a catastrophe, Serie A is Juve's," says Sissoko, who made over 100 appearances for the club between 2008 and 2011.

"The principal objective is the Champions League. And with the coach they've hired and the players they've signed, they're not messing around."

So surprising was Jack Leach's contribution at Lord's that even his own father didn't turn up to watch.

Simon Leach has never seen his son play for England. While he is a passionate supporter of Jack's career, Simon has a fear of flying and this was Jack's first home Test.

And, even though he had a ticket for the second day at Lord's, he took a look at the weather forecast and reasoned it would be too hot to spend the day in the stands.

Had he known how the day would pan out, he would no doubt have wanted to be present. But with England expected to bat for most of the day and Jack's role in that batting performance expected to be peripheral, Simon's logic was understandable. Temperatures rose to the high 30s at Lord's on Thursday afternoon making conditions uncomfortable for players and spectators.

You can't blame Leach Sr for any apparent lack of faith in his son's batting. Leach Jr went into this match averaging 4.66 in the Championship season - he has scored 42 runs in 12 innings for Somerset this year - and having not made double-figures in his last 18 first-class innings. His final three before this Test produced just one run in total. Nobody expected him to top-score or threaten to win a place on the Lord's honours board.

"He was going to come today but he saw the weather forecast and said it was too hot," Jack Leach said afterwards. "He doesn't have Sky so I gave him my house key and he went over and he's literally been at mine watching the whole time. I don't think it would have been a good place for him to be today; he could have died. It was best he stayed at home in the cool. I'll catch up with him later."

Jack Leach was particularly satisfied with his innings as he received a significant blow while batting during the 2018 season. Having already lost his place in the England side having suffered a broken thumb the nets - Somerset teammate Dom Bess took his place in the England side, before Moeen Ali returned later in the summer - he sustained a fierce blow to the side of his head while batting against Surrey's Morne Morkel in his comeback game and was forced out for another two weeks.

"It banged me on the side of the head and my glass lens came popping out," he said. "It was concussion and I was out for a couple of weeks. And it came in my first game back after getting hit in the nets and breaking my thumb just before the Pakistan Test series.

"So, I had a couple of things with the bat. And it probably had a knock-on effect on my batting. It was a tough point. I work really hard on my batting but I've found it tough this year."

For that reason, he was especially pleased to have come through a spell of hostile bowling from Boyd Rankin. At one stage Rankin, like Morkel an usually tall, strong man, bowled round the wicket with a short-leg and leg slip in the hope that the short ball would unsettle Leach. But while Leach fenced at one delivery - Gary Wilson spilt the chance - he generally stayed in line and played the ball bravely and securely from in front of his face. Notably, he played the short ball better than Moeen.

"It was nice to face Boyd Rankin, someone who gets a lot of bounce, and feel comfortable with that," Leach said. "I guess that Morkel incident has had an impact but I'm starting to feel like that's alright. I've worked hard on it and, slowly, I feel a lot more comfortable. That was last year and I've just got 92 in a Test match."

At the start of Leach's innings, he intended simply to "soak up some balls and make it easier for the guys coming in behind." But somewhere along the way, "it went a little bit further than I would have thought it would." Very soon, he was in new territory struggling to prevent his glasses from steaming up in the warm weather and experiencing, for the first time, the reality of the "nervous 90s."

"They're definitely a thing," he said with a rueful smile. "I started thinking I was only two shots away [from a century]. I was telling myself not to think about it, but that made me think about it more. I'll learn from that it I get another chance. It was hot, as well, and I was tired. I had cramp in my forearm and quad.

"I need to get better at keeping my glasses clear. But I didn't think I'd be out there that long. I didn't see that happening."

Nobody did - including Simon. But Jack's fortitude has given England a chance in a game that might otherwise have already slipped away from them. And with the pitch showing some signs of wear, Leach's most decisive role in the game could still be in front of him.

"We believe we've a great chance," he said. "It's the first time Ireland have had this experience of probably being favourites to win the game. We've already talked in the dressing room about the game against India at Edgbaston last year where they were chasing 180 [actually 194] and came 30 [31] short. The boys believe this is a tougher wicket than that one so we'll have big belief.

"I'm looking forward to bowling. I didn't bowl well in the first innings. I felt nervous. It was the first time in front of a home crowd and a Lord's full house. I hold my hand up, I didn't get that right. But this innings has given me confidence and I'll take that confidence into my bowling. There's a bit of rough and the wicket's wearing so I feel like I'll have a part to play."