South African twins Dan and Jean-Luc du Preez have signed permanent deals with Sale Sharks, having initially agreed to join the Premiership side on loan.

The 23-year-old back-rowers have been released from contracts with Cell-C Sharks in their home country.

They will join older brother Robert, 25, at Sale for 2019-20, with all three having been capped by the Springboks.

"The twins joining on a permanent basis really completes the jigsaw in our pack," said Sale boss Steve Diamond.

Jean-Luc - who has 13 international caps - and fly-half Robert both spent time on loan at Sale last season, though Dan - who has played four Tests - will be joining the club for the first time.

"I've heard some really good things about the club from Rob and Jean-Luc and can't wait to link up with Sale in the winter and play some rugby in the Gallagher Premiership with my brothers," Dan said.

They will start at the club on 1 August, with fellow South African signing Coenie Oosthuizen joining later in the year as he is required by the Cell-C Sharks for their Currie Cup campaign.

ROSSBURG, Ohio — Despite a two-month wait thanks to a rain postponement, Donny Schatz completed a sweep of the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series portion of #LetsRaceTwo at Eldora Speedway on Wednesday night.

Schatz grabbed the top spot on lap eight of the 30-lap feature, courtesy of an inside sweep around rival Brad Sweet, then dominated the remaining 23 laps for his fifth Outlaw victory of the season.

The 10-time and defending series champion had been notably absent from the winner’s circle for much of the season, but now has wins in back-to-back weeks going into the prestigious Kings Royal weekend.

Wednesday night’s score marked the 288th Outlaw win of Schatz’s storied career, as well as his sixth victory in his last nine series appearances at the half-mile Ohio dirt track.

“My guys threw a couple ideas at me before the feature that they thought might work, and I knew tonight was the night to try things, because we want to be spot on for the rest of the week,” said Schatz, who won the first half of #LetsRaceTwo back in May. “We tried something, and there were some things that worked really well … but at the same time I couldn’t quite keep up with the track at times. We made it work, though.

“We were good on the bottom, but even at the end, as the groove moved around we could get through the middle and the top when we needed to in traffic,” he added. “Hats off to my team, because they made this happen. It’s pretty cool. I didn’t think the weather would let us get it in, but we did!”

Though DIRTvision Fast Pass Dash winner Carson Macedo led the field to green, it was Sweet taking command in the initial start, racing to the lead from the outside pole as Schatz challenged Macedo for runner-up honors in the early going.

It took Schatz five and a half laps to dispatch Macedo and move into second, but once he did he hunted Sweet down in a hurry. Barely a lap later, he was alongside the NAPA No. 49 for the race lead, and by the time the field raced off turn two the Toco Warranty No. 15 was in front to stay.

As Schatz worked traffic effortlessly, David Gravel found himself closing on Sweet for second. His charge was further aided by a caution at the halfway point, when Kerry Madsen slowed to a stop in turn four.

Gravel actually lost a spot to Logan Schuchart on the ensuing restart, but methodically worked his way back forward amid a pair of restarts in the second half before finally getting back to Schuchart with three laps left as the Shark Racing driver got hung up in the waning laps of the race.

After finally passing Schuchart on lap 28, Gravel ended his night with a runner-up finish, despite the stress of having to change an engine in his No. 41 after the DIRTvision Fast Pass Dash earlier in the night.

“It was chaotic all night,” admitted Gravel. “Tyler, Patrick and Phillip thrashed on it all night long. We broke a steering gear at the beginning of the night, changed that, and then changed the motor before the main. For not getting to fine-tune on it very much all night, we had a damn good car there in the A.”

Schuchart completed the podium after his back-and-forth battle with Gravel in the closing stages. He was followed across the finish line by Sweet, who faded to fourth, and Ohio native Greg Wilson.

Rico Abreu, Kraig Kinser, Brent Marks, Brian Brown and Macedo capped off the top 10.

Tyler Courtney won the USAC sprint car feature.

To view complete race results, advance to the next page.

ROSSBURG, Ohio — Tyler Courtney became the fourth driver to win three consecutive USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car Series features at Eldora Speedway Wednesday night in what was the 200th race for the series at the historic half-mile track.

Jud Larson was the first to do it in 1964-’65, followed by Bubby Jones in 1978-’79 and Jack Hewitt, who put together two sets of back-to-back-to-back victories in 1988 and 1990-91, already putting Courtney in exclusive company in his young career.

Not to mention, the victory was worth $10,000, as the Indianapolis, Ind., native became the 29th driver to join the 20-win club with the series and now stands just one win behind equaling 1967 champ Greg Weld for the next rung on the ladder.

“It seems like we win every race that doesn’t pay any money,” Courtney said. “It’s really cool to win $10,000. Thank you to Roger Slack, Tony Stewart and everybody here at Eldora for putting up the money. It’s really cool to win the 200thUSAC (Sprint Car) race here. For people who appreciate history, like myself, that’s pretty neat to put my name in the record book.”

Courtney started third and, for all intents and purposes, on this particular night, it was over by the end of the first lap. Kevin Thomas Jr. began the race from the pole and took a run for the lead, sliding side by side alongside outside front row starter Chase Stockon through turns one and two.

Courtney rode it high around the outside of Thomas exiting turn two, cut across and dove to the bottom to slide past Stockon entering turn three. Courtney glided up to the exit of turn four as Stockon mounted a charge underneath. Courtney, though, got the upper hand, and the momentum, to lead by a car length at the line.

As C.J. Leary, Brady Bacon and Chase Stockon battled for second, going three-wide at times, Courtney was in another zip code, building up his lead to a half-straight by lap six and a full-straightaway by the 10th lap.

Just before midway, Courtney began to navigate lapped traffic. There, his lead wasn’t exactly shrinking by any means, but it had stagnated at about a 4.8 second interval. When the caution fell with 14 laps remaining, on paper, it would initially appear to be a light at the end of the tunnel for the likes of Leary and Bacon who were trying to chase Courtney down in traffic.

In reality, with four lapped cars separating first and second, all it did was provide an open track for Courtney to run a qualifying simulation for much of the second half of the 30-lapper.

All four lapped cars hopped on the bottom heading to turn one on the lap-17 restart, allowing Leary and Bacon to roam free unhindered up top.

Courtney checked out once again, putting up a 2.5 second lead on the board within just three laps of the restart, never missing a beat.

With five laps to go, it was back to a full-straight lead for Courtney again.

Leary snapped away from Bacon to close the door on that battle for position, putting the top-three from first to third a half-lap apart from each other with four to go.

Courtney split the lapped cars of Jason McDougal and Matt Goodnight into turn one and put the right rear up on the rim to ride home to his third USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car victory of the year, and third on a half-mile track, 5.336 seconds ahead of Leary, Bacon, Stockon and Chris Windom.

Courtney, his team and his Clauson Marshall Newman Racing/NOS Energy Drink – Competition Suspension, Inc./Spike/Rider Chevy are in unison with Indiana Sprint Week starting on Thursday.

“When you put all the right things together, usually good things happen,” Courtney said. “We’ve got a really good team right now. Rizzy (Crew Chief Tyler Ransbottom)’s on his game right now. We kind of messed up a little bit in Knoxville, but he was determined to make right on that, and I think we did tonight. It’s nice to get a momentum boost going into Indiana Sprint Week here the next few nights. Hopefully we can keep going.”

Donny Schatz won the companion World of Outlaws feature.

To see full results, turn to the next page.

SOUTHLAKE, Texas – The Sportscar Vintage Racing Ass’n announced Thursday that NASCAR champion Bobby Labonte has entered the Vintage Race of Champions Charity Pro-Am presented by Chopard Watch.

The race will take place at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Aug. 3.

“Bobby has become a good friend to our sport,” said SVRA President and CEO Tony Parella. “He’s still an active race driver in the NASCAR Whelen Series, and, of course, has TV and various other commitments, so I am honored that he makes the time to race with us for charity. I like to believe it underscores just how quickly our VROC Charity Pro-Am series is ascending.”

Labonte is the first driver to win both the NASCAR Cup Series championship (2000), and the NASCAR Xfinity Series championship (1991). He backed up those accomplishments by winning the 2001 IROC Championship with two victories in the season’s four races. In a NASCAR Cup career that spanned 24 seasons, Labonte amassed 21 wins and 26 poles. In what is now the Xfinity Series, he scored 10 race wins and 10 poles.

He is one of a handful of drivers to rack up victories in all of NASCAR’s top three series: Cup, Xfinity and Trucks. It was announced in May that Labonte will be inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in January. He is also a member of the Texas Motorsports Hall of Fame.

Labonte has extended his career since leaving NASCAR Cup racing in 2016, both as a driver and motorsports analyst. He is currently running his second season in the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series. Labonte is fresh from an appearance in the world-renowned Goodwood Festival of Speed earlier this month. He drove a vintage Joe Gibbs M&M Toyota Cup racer up the famous hill climb. He also serves as an analyst for FOX Sports 1 Race Hub and Race Day TV programs.

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway Brickyard Invitational VROC Charity Pro-Am will benefit the Morgan Adams Foundation. The foundation supports laboratory and clinical research in the area of pediatric cancer, with an emphasis on tumors on the brain, spine, and central nervous system. Morgan Adams was a five-year-old girl who lost her battle with brain cancer in 1997. The foundation has a history of working with vintage racers to support their cause.

The VROC Charity Pro-Am presented by Chopard Watch is a Saturday feature event at the Brickyard Invitational. The cars are 1963 to 1972 vintage Corvettes, Camaros, and Mustangs of SVRA “Group 6” A and B Production.  The professionals will be paired with amateur drivers. Amateurs will start the race and be required to drive a maximum of seven laps.

MOORESVILLE, N.C. – Wood Brothers Racing have revealed the No. 21 Ford Mustang that Paul Menard will drive during the Bojangles Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway on Sept. 1.

The car is inspired by the 1957 Ford Sunliner raced by the team’s late founder, Glenn Wood. The red-and-black paint scheme is patterned after the 1957 Sunliner that Glenn Wood raced in 1957 in his only Darlington appearance as a driver.

Wood, with relief from Fonty Flock, finished 17th in the Rebel 300 after blowing an engine.

Wood also raced the ’57 at Daytona in 1958 in the Convertible circuit’s final appearance on the beach-road course that preceded Daytona Int’l Speedway. He finished sixth in that race.

Wood, one of the top stars of the Convertible circuit, had his best season in 1957, winning four races and two poles and finishing in the top five in 23 of the 46 races that year.

For his 89-race Convertible career, Wood had five wins, 43 top-five and 62 top-10 finishes and nine poles.

He also raced the ’57 in the series now known as Monster Energy Cup, simply bolting on a top to make it legal for the elite division.

The original car had an interesting history. It started its life doing endurance testing at Ford’s proving grounds in the desert.

“They were going to scrap it once the endurance testing was over, but my Dad found out about it and called John Cowley, who ran Ford’s NASCAR effort back then,” said Eddie Wood, Glenn Wood’s son. “He gave the car to my Dad and they made a race car out of it.”

“They kept the red-and-black paint scheme that was on the car during the endurance tests.”

Wood said he, his family and the entire Motorcraft/Quick Lane team are thankful for the chance to honor his father, who died Jan. 18 of this year.

“You want to honor your dad the best way you can,” Eddie Wood said. “And for racers, the throwback weekend at Darlington provides the perfect opportunity to do that.”

Wood said his family and the race team considered honoring Wood at Darlington last year, but chose to recognize former driver Cale Yarborough on the 50th anniversary of his first Southern 500 triumph, which came aboard the Wood Brothers’ No. 21 Mercury. It also was the first Southern 500 win for the Woods.

“It would have been nice to do it last year, but it’s nice to do it now,” Wood said. “It’s really a special paint scheme, for sure.”

The Colorado Avalanche have signed restricted free agent J.T. Compher to a four-year contract -- avoiding an arbitration hearing.

According to The Athletic, the deal carries an annual average value of $3.5 million.

"J.T. has been one of our most versatile forwards over the past two years," Avalanche general manager Joe Sakic said in a statement. "He plays on our power play, kills penalties and has played up and down our lineup. He has scored some big goals late in games and we are counting on him to have an even more expanded role moving forward. We are excited to have him under contract for the next four seasons."

In his third season in the league, the 24-year-old Compher set career highs with 16 goals and 16 assists. He added four goals and two assists in 12 playoff games.

The Avalanche have had a busy offseason. They drafted defenseman Bowen Byram and added forwards Nazem Kadri, Andre Burakovsky, Joonas Donskoi and Pierre-Edouard Bellemare.