The Ralph Sheheen Show Presented by Lucas Oil
Guest – Ray Evernham

Ralph Sheheen chats with 2018 NASCAR Hall of Fame Inductee and former NASCAR crew chief, Ray Evernham. After winning three NASCAR Cup Series championships with driver Jeff Gordon, Evernham went on to own his own NASCAR race team. Today, he consults for Hendrick Motorsports as well as restores and builds collector cars and race cars.

Catch this week’s full episode on SPEEDSPORT.com or download the podcast on SoundCloud, iTunes, Spotify or iHeart Radio.

Gareth Bale was not fit to travel with Real Madrid for their preseason friendly against Tottenham Hotspur in Munich, manager Zinedine Zidane has said.

Wales international Bale on Tuesday missed the Audi Cup match, which Spurs won 1-0, following the collapse of his proposed move to China.

British media reported Real's board refused to approve Bale's departure, with Jiangsu Suning wanting to acquire the 30-year-old on a free transfer.

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"He didn't travel because he wasn't fit," Zidane told reporters after the match at Allianz Arena.

"After speaking with the doctors, the best thing was for him to stay in Madrid. He stayed back and is training there. It was a joint decision between the player, medical staff and the coach."

Bale, who has won four Champions League titles since joining Madrid from Tottenham in 2013, appears to be out of favour at the Spanish club after Zidane said last week he was "very close to leaving."

With a little over a week of the close season transfer window remaining, Spurs have only signed two players -- one of them, Jack Clarke, immediately returning to the Championship side Leeds on loan.

Mauricio Pochettino, who has previously distanced himself from the club's underwhelming business, said his job title should be changed from manager to coach as he has no influence over transfers.

"I am not in charge and I know nothing about the situation of my players," the Argentine said.

"The club need to change my [job] title and description, no? My job now is to coach the team. It's not a question for me, it's a question for the club and maybe they need to change my title."

Atletico Madrid forward Joao Felix has been dubbed by many the "new Cristiano Ronaldo" and he told ESPN he wants to emulate his Portugal teammate.

Felix featured alongside Ronaldo as Portugal won the Nations League this summer, before sealing a €126 million move to Atletico.

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"Cristiano Ronaldo has won five Ballon d'Or trophies and this is the dream of every player," he said in an exclusive interview with ESPN. "Obviously I would like to be like Cristiano."

There was a lot of interest in Felix this summer but he decided to join Atletico due to their record of producing great strikers.

Sergio Aguero, Diego Forlan, Fernando Torres and Radamel Falcao have all enjoyed impressive spells in the Spanish capital and Felix said he wants to do the same.

"I saw the strikers that Atletico had and they were great players, great strikers," he added. "I want to be one more and this is why I choose to come here."

Felix has already impressed after scoring one goal and assisting two more in Atletico's 7-3 victory over rivals Real Madrid in the International Champions Cup.

Meanwhile, fellow summer signing Kieran Trippier has told ESPN he intends to conduct an interview in Spanish within the next two months.

"My priority is to speak Spanish," he said. "I want to be involved with the players and the coach to understand more.

"I've got a teacher in Madrid and it's five days a week for two hours a day so maybe in a month or two, we can have this interview speaking Spanish."

Trippier, 28, joined the Spanish club from Tottenham for around €25m and said he has always wanted to test himself abroad.

"There were a few clubs interested in me but when Atletico Madrid came in for me, it was a great experience to play out in Spain in La Liga," he added. "It's something that I've always wanted to do, to play abroad and I'm absolutely delighted to be here."

Atletico will play against the MLS All-Stars in Orlando on Wednesday in their final match of their U.S. preseason tour.

Mauricio Pochettino has distanced himself from Tottenham's lack of transfer activity, suggesting that his title may need to be changed from manager to head coach.

So far this summer, Tottenham have broken their transfer record to sign Tanguy Ndombele from Lyon, while they have also signed young winger Jack Clarke from Leeds United, where he will return on loan for the coming season.

Having gone the two previous transfer windows without a single signing, a frustrated Pochettino believes he should not be the one held responsible for the lack of arrivals at White Hart Lane.

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"I am not in charge and I know nothing about the situation of my players," Pochettino said after Tottenham's 1-0 win over Real Madrid in the Audi Cup.

"I am only coaching them and trying to get the best from them. Sell, buy players, sign contract, not sign contract -- I think it is not in my hands, it's in the club's hands and [chairman] Daniel Levy.

"Maybe the club need to change my title and description. My job now is to coach the team. Of course I am the boss deciding the strategy to play, training, in my area, but in another area I don't know. Today, I feel like I am the coach."

The Argentine previously saw his job title changed from head coach to manager in 2016 after signing a new contract with the club.

The north London side have also struggled to shift unwanted players this summer. Georges-Kevin Nkoudou and Danny Rose were among those left out of the club's tour of Asia "to explore prospective opportunities with other clubs" but both are still on Tottenham's books.

When asked about Rose's future with the club, Pochettino again insisted it had nothing to do with him.

"I think it's not in my hands," Pochettino added. "Only I describe the situation of what happens and I think it's important for the players and people to know that I am going to be, like I told you before, that I will be happy with the squad that the club are going to provide to me.

"Of course we will give our best. My mood is always the same and my emotional balance is always similar. I am emotional, but I am a person like everyone that thinks a lot.

"Only I describe the situation to make clear that if you have some questions that I am not the person that is going to answer what you want."

The Toe Poke Daily is here every day to bring you all the weirdest stories, quirkiest viral content and top trolling that the internet has to offer, all in one place.

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It's that time of year again, with the Orlando City Stadium set to play host to the glitzy 2019 MLS All-Star game on Wednesday evening.

This year's guest opponents are Atletico Madrid, who will take on the best that MLS has to offer hoping to emulate the narrow victory that Juventus managed to pull off in last season's fixture.

To mark the occasion, we thought we'd piece together two fantasy XIs, one consisting of Premier League all-stars and one from the "Rest of Europe" and pit them against each other.

You may assume that the PL XI would be dominated by Man City and Liverpool players, but we've intentionally included names from an array of clubs to mix things up a bit.

Premier League

David De Gea (Manchester United) - Lightning reactions and incredible agility, all honed by having to play behind Phil Jones for the last eight years.

Hector Bellerin (Arsenal) - Assuming he's back and fully fit, Bellerin is one of the most mobile full-backs in the world.

Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool) - A Champions League winner and a rock solid, calm and assured presence in any back four.

Aymeric Laporte (Manchester City) - One of the most improved defenders in the Premier League, a goal threat from set pieces and an instrumental part of Man City's title charge.

Andrew Robertson (Liverpool) - The Flying Scotsman is the scourge of opposing right-backs the world over. Also delivers a mean cross from just about anywhere on the left flank.

N'Golo Kante (Chelsea) - Played in his natural defensive midfield position, there are none better in the world.

Paul Pogba (Manchester United) - Certainly has his critics, but on his day Pogba is capable of turning the tide of a match on his own. You don't win World Cups by accident.

Raheem Sterling (Manchester City) - Contributed 25 goals to the Man City cause last season while firmly staking his claim as one of Pep Guardiola's go-to men.

Mohamed Salah (Liverpool) - The hardworking, free-scoring Egyptian has amassed 71 goals in 104 appearances since joining Liverpool in June 2017.

Harry Kane (Tottenham) - Tottenham and England's Mr. Reliable. Nothing too flashy, just a steady, unrelenting stream of goals.

Sergio Aguero (Manchester City) - Just the 231 goals and four Premier League titles in 338 appearances for Man City should be just enough to book Aguero a slot in the XI.

Rest of Europe

Jan Oblak (Atletico Madrid) - Who better to tend the net than the goalkeeper who has conceded the fewest amount of goals and kept the most amount of clean sheets in La Liga for the fourth season running?

Joshua Kimmich (Bayern Munich) - The versatile young defender has quickly been recognised as Bayern's spiritual successor to Philipp Lahm -- and compliments don't come much bigger than that.

Gerard Pique (Barcelona) - Stalwart of the Barcelona defence for many years, the Catalan centre-half knows what it takes to win at the highest level.

Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid) - Another member of the "been there, seen it, done it" club, Ramos has the trophy-laden CV to prove it.

David Alaba (Bayern Munich) - Still only 27 years old despite seemingly having been around for ages, Alaba remains one of the best, most sought-after left-backs in the world.

Sergio Busquets (Barcelona) - Seasoned master of the midfield dark arts. Nobody does what Busquets does better than he does.

Luka Modric (Real Madrid) - It's always nice to have a Ballon d'Or winner pulling strings in the engine room.

Neymar (PSG) - Injury problems may have knocked him off the boil of late, but the Brazilian is still a flamboyant force to be reckoned with.

Lionel Messi (Barcelona) - It'd be slightly remiss of us to leave the best player on the face of the planet out of the team, wouldn't it?

Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus) - Ronaldo's entirely inevitable inclusion here brings the total number of Ballon d'Ors in the team up to an impressively hefty 11.

Kylian Mbappe (PSG) - A nailed-on superstar in the making, Mbappe already has the acceleration, skill and goal-scoring technique to terrify even the most experienced defenders.

But which team would win?

We have no idea, but we certainly want to be in stands watching on if the game ever takes place!

Australia have traded off the breakup of the fast bowling "big three" by selling Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood the idea that spreading the workload among more pacemen will extend their careers, with the captain Tim Paine declaring his team have been "way too reliant" on them.

James Pattinson is guaranteed to play in the opening Ashes Test at Edgbaston and Peter Siddle is also strongly in contention, meaning Starc looks certain to miss out as he continues his transition from ODI lines and lengths to the demands of Test matches, while Hazlewood is also 50/50. Only Cummins is safe in the team of the three bowlers who dominated England in Australia in 2017-18.

Paine admitted that Starc, Hazlewood and Cummins needed to be convinced of the merits of not simply choosing them to play together on the basis they are the three senior bowlers, all with lofty and thus lucrative positions on the Cricket Australia contract list. Added to the unhappy recent history of Australia struggling to adapt to English conditions, Paine said that the team needed to be more selective in how they used the three men who have effectively been joint spearheads of the attack since 2015.

"We've spoken about it to the bowlers. As JL [the coach Justin Langer] said, we're going to pick the team we think is going to win each Test match given the conditions we get when we arrive at those venues and the bowlers are across that," Paine said. "I think that's a great thing for our team - to have a really strong mix of fast bowlers who can all play in different conditions. But as we've said to the fast bowlers, it's actually a great thing for them as well because we can now prolong their careers for a few years.

"The last two or three years, we've been way too reliant on Cummins, Starc and Hazlewood - they've played a lot of Tests and subsequently picked up lots of niggly injuries along the way. It's a positive for all those guys. Another one is Peter Siddle, he can get another 12 months of Test cricket if we keep picking guys for the conditions. That's the way we've sold it to them. It's a great thing for the team but it's also a great thing for them individually."

While Cummins and Hazlewood have both spoken supportively in public of the move, nothing has been heard yet from Starc, who has been working assiduously to move from World Cup to Ashes mode. Should Australia utilise their bowling resources more broadly and effectively, the outcome will be critical not only to the Ashes, but how the team fares in the inaugural Test World Championship over the next two years. Paine added that Starc and Pattinson were seen as similarly hostile, attacking options, with holding bowlers required in support.

"At the moment we probably are looking at them in a similar role and we want to make sure we get that combination right and the bowlers we pick are complementing each other," he said. "If conditions are right for both of those two, we think to play together they certainly will. It's not something we've said 'we're only playing him [or] we're only playing him'. We're just making sure we get the right combination and have all bases covered."

The brown-tinged Edgbaston pitch was something of a surprise to Paine at first glance, but he reasoned that it would still provide assistance to seamers, aided by the overhead conditions that will intersperse rain with cloud cover for the majority of the Test match if forecasts prove accurate. To that end, Paine suggested that Australia's months of work on combating the moving ball with the bat would pay dividends.

"The pitch looked a bit different. I must admit I was expecting a bit of a green top - it's certainly a different colour than I expected but there is a thick covering of grass on it," Paine said. "Given there's been a lot of rain, and the overcast here, I think the Dukes ball is going to swing around and it looks like, if anything, there might be a bit more pace in it than I was expecting, which again might suit us.

"There's no doubt when the ball moves it's difficult for even the very best of batsmen. It's about being really clear on what you're actually trying to achieve and the plan you've got as a batter. And it's having the courage to walk out into the middle, under pressure in a Test match, and stick to that or execute it. We haven't been reinventing the wheel on batting, we've just been trying to be really clear in exactly how we want to play and now it's about sticking to that under pressure."

At least some of that pressure will be in the form of concerted booing from English crowds, something that the England batsman Joe Denly did not exactly discourage on Tuesday. However Paine said that after plenty of thought, the Australians would do their best to channel the noise and energy radiating off the crowd into a positive force, no matter what is hurled from the Eric Hollies Stand and elsewhere.

"We know what's coming, it's part and parcel. We need to be strong enough to handle it." Tim Paine on how the English fans will react to Australia's players

"We've touched on it, of course we've touched on it. We know what to expect here in England and we're looking to embrace it," Paine said. "We think it's part of international cricket in England and it's something if we embrace you can have great memories. We're talking about it that way, trying to use it as energy and use it in a positive manner. We know what's coming, it's part and parcel. We need to be strong enough to handle it.

"We've spoken about that, backing each other up and being a really tight group which is no different to anywhere else but here it can be more important on long tours. Regardless of where it is, obviously we want to get off to a good start in the Ashes. It's really important that you get some momentum early in a big series like this. We haven't spoken about whether Edgbaston is a fortress for them, because that's irrelevant. It's about being clear on what we want to do, both individually and as a team.

"If we can be really clear, come out and execute well, it doesn't matter if we play at Edgbaston or on the moon, we think our best cricket is good enough."

One cricketer conspicuous by his absence from the pre-series noise has been Nathan Lyon, who spoke brutishly of "ending a few careers" before the previous Ashes series, even as he backed it up by dominating England with his off breaks. "Gazza's probably the best spin bowler in the world and he's proven that now over a long period of time," Paine said.

"No doubt he has flown under the radar a little bit, probably because he didn't play much in the World Cup. I'm sure he's being spoken about quite a lot in their change room and they'll be coming up with plans on how to try and counter Nathan. As we've seen the last three or four years in any conditions, he's a real handful and he's going to be a huge asset for us in this series."

Earning Greg Chappell's praise and being in the same dressing room as his batting idol Sachin Tendulkar are two of Venugopal Rao's fondest memories as an India cricketer. On Tuesday, the 37-year old middle-order batsman called time on a two-decade long career, which effectively ended in 2017.

Over the last two years, while he has continued playing corporate cricket for MRF, retirement has been a constant thought. He took a final call during his World Cup assignment as a commentator for a regional sports channel. A formal announcement came through the Andhra Cricket Association, the team he represented for a majority of 121 first-class matches that brought 7081 runs at an average of 40.93, with 17 centuries and 30 half-centuries.

For now, he has no T20 offers in the pipeline. He is looking forward to his future in Telugu commentary and perhaps some coaching too "if something comes up".

"In the early 1990s, they used to laugh whenever someone from Andhra desired to play for India. To be one of only two cricketers from the region (MSK Prasad being the other) to play for the country proved that you can achieve your goal," Venugopal told ESPNcricinfo. "To come from a fishing village near Visakhapatnam, where my father worked for a modest salary of INR 7000 to support five children, and play was a big thing. All credit to my parents."

It is nearly fourteen years to the day when Venugopal made his India debut. Tendulkar was still recovering from a tennis elbow, Sourav Ganguly had been suspended for an over-rate offence, VVS Laxman was not an automatic pick and MS Dhoni was asked to open the batting. India needed a middle-order batsman and Venugopal was one of two debutants alongside Suresh Raina.

"Playing Muttiah Muralitharan on debut was an unforgettable experience," he said. "As batsmen, we grew up playing spin, but I felt nothing quite prepared you to face him. He was an exceptional bowler. I have fond memories of that game [even though India lost]."

"To come from a fishing village near Visakhapatnam, where my father worked for a modest salary of INR 7000 to support five children, and play was a big thing"

In the season that preceded his debut, Venugopal announced himself by smashing a career-best 228 not out in a chase of 501 for South Zone against England Lions in the Duleep Trophy. It was the fifth-highest chase in first-class history at the time, against a competent attack featuring Simon Jones, Sajid Mahmood and James Tredwell, all of whom went on to play for England. Yet, Venugopal believes it was a practice match that turned out to be the difference between an India cap and being on the fringes.

"Before the Sri Lanka tour, we had a conditioning camp followed by a match between the 30 probables. The seniors played against the second XI. I made a 90 against the seniors, whose bowling included Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan Singh and Irfan Pathan. That knock convinced [then India coach] Greg Chappell. After the game, he had a long chat with me and the next day, I was informed of my India selection for the Sri Lanka tour.

"I was very jittery, I always felt as a cricketer growing up, if someone from Tamil Nadu or Mumbai made 120 runs, I had to make 200 to be noticed," Venugopal said. "Ahead of my India debut, I was a little nervous. Many thoughts ran through my mind. Greg had just taken up as coach, and he told me 'Look, for me, where you come from doesn't matter. I know you are good enough to be here, and that is why you are here.' Those words gave me a lot of belief."

Venugopal was used as a floater between 2005 and 2006, but his career could not quite take off. He played the last of his 16 ODIs in the West Indies in 2006, with his highest of 61 not out coming against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi. He was also India's first ever super sub. Post his short India career, Venugopal battled injuries and inconsistency to play for Andhra and Gujarat in domestic cricket. He was also part of the IPL title-winning Deccan Chargers in 2009. His last IPL appearance was with Delhi Daredevils in 2014.

Sri Lanka captain Dimuth Karunaratne elected to bat first after winning the toss against Bangladesh in the third ODI at the R Premadasa Stadium. Having already clinched the series in the second game, Sri Lanka rested four of their regulars.

They brought in Shehan Jayasuriya, Dasun Shanaka, Wanindu Hasaranga and Kasun Rajitha for Isuru Udana, Nuwan Pradeep, Dhananjaya de Silva and Lahiru Thirimanne.

For Bangladesh, Mustafizur Rahman was sidelined due to a niggle he suffered during warm-up. Rubel Hossain replaced him. Mosaddek Hossain also missed out, giving his spot to Anamul Haque, who is playing his first ODI in 12 months.

Sri Lanka: 1 Dimuth Karunaratne (capt), 2 Kusal Perera, 3 Avishka Fernando, 4 Kusal Mendis, 5 Angelo Mathews, 6 Shehan Jayasuriya, 7 Dasun Shanaka, 8 Wanindu Hasaranga, 9 Akila Dananjaya, 10 Lahiru Kumara, 11 Kasun Rajitha

Bangladesh: 1 Tamim Iqbal (capt), 2 Anamul Haque, 3 Mohammad Mithun, 4 Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), 5 Mahmudullah, 6 Soumya Sarkar, 7 Sabbir Rahman, 8 Mehidy Hasan Miraz, 9 Taijul Islam, 10 Shafiul Islam, 11 Rubel Hossain

Ian Bell will play no part in Warwickshire's County Championship campaign for the first time since 2000, after being ruled out for the remainder of the 2019 season due to a tendon issue in his left knee.

Bell, who had been on the comeback from a foot injury sustained during the Pakistan Super League in February, reported the knee concern following Warwickshire's Second XI Championship game with Lancashire.

"It's extremely frustrating for us, and for Ian, that another injury has happened when he was extremely close to a First Team return," said Paul Farbrace, Sport Director at Warwickshire CCC.

"Over the last couple of weeks our medical team have been regularly assessing the condition of his left knee, and we have also been supported by sports injury specialists in London. However, the outcome of this has confirmed that Ian will need to have several injections, which rules him out of action for six to eight weeks and effectively ends his season.

"He will now have a three-week period of minimal activity before working closely with our medical and strength and conditioning teams to prepare him for the pre-season programme in 2020."

The injury means that Bell, 37, will be absent from Warwickshire's first-class statistics for the 2019 season, the first time in nearly 20 years that he has failed to play at least one first-class game. He made his debut for the club as a 17-year-old in 1999.

"Whilst we are naturally disappointed to lose a player of Ian's immense talent, one of the positives of 2019 has been the way in which our young, homegrown players have fought in recent weeks," added Farbrace.

"They will continue to be given the opportunity to develop and thrive as we continue our Vitality Blast campaign and fight to retain our place in Division One of the Specsavers County Championship."