CONCORD, N.C. — Travis Braden isn’t the man many would have picked to be leading the ARCA Menards Series standings after five races.

However, that’s exactly the situation Braden finds himself in as the tour prepares for Sunday’s Sioux Chief PowerPEX 200 at Ohio’s Toledo Speedway.

Braden’s position at the top of the ARCA Menards Series standings has come thanks largely to his consistency on the race track. Though winless this year, he’s the only driver to finish inside the top-10 four times.

“It’s really important in ARCA, obviously,” Braden said.

His biggest rival at this point — Venturini Motorsports’ Michael Self — is second in the standings with two wins and three top-five finishes and top-10 results. However, Self has crashed in two races and finished near the tail of the field each time, leaving him 30 points shy of Braden early in the season.

Another of Braden’s rivals, Christian Eckes, won the most recent race at Fairgrounds Speedway Nashville. However, an illness forced Eckes to miss the ARCA event at Salem (Ind.) Speedway and he crashed out early in the race at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway.

“I think a lot of guys get a little overexcited and they cost themselves in these races,” Braden said. “That’s going to keep happening as the season goes on and we can capitalize.”

Bret Holmes and Joe Graf Jr. are also within reasonable striking distance of Braden, but none have been as consistent as the native of Wheeling, W.Va. He said that same consistency will be even more important when the series visits Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 23.

“When you go to a short track and you have a really bad day and you wreck, you’re going to finish not as bad as you do here (at Charlotte),” said the driver of the No. 27 Ford for RFMS Racing following the recent ARCA open test at Charlotte. “That points gap is huge. Last year it really killed us. We had a bad race at Daytona, like a 30th place, and honestly that killed us the whole year.

“We weren’t going to win the championship either way, but we might have been able to compete for a top five and that took us away from it.”

This year Braden avoided the same mayhem that bit him at Daytona Int’l Speedway, finishing eighth. He backed that up with a seventh-place run at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway. He said runs like that are what will help him stay near the top of the ARCA Menards Series standings.

“This year we had a good run at both superspeedways and we’ve had top 10s pretty much everywhere,” said Braden, who scored his lone ARCA win in his first series start in 2015. “We’ve been able to consistently keep those points building up and that’s going to matter throughout the season.

“Honestly, we’ve been struggling every race so far, but we’ve got a lot of promise showing. When that promise finally shines through I think it’s going to be great for us because we’re in such a good position in the points.”

The Boston Bruins are back to the Stanley Cup Final -- their first since 2013, though professional sports teams in Boston have hardly suffered since then -- knocking out the Carolina Hurricanes in a sweep.

Here's a recap of last night's action (check out replays of every playoff game on ESPN+) and what to watch for tonight, in today's edition of ESPN Stanley Cup Playoffs Daily:

Jump ahead: Last night's game | Three stars
Play of the night | Today's game | Social post of the day

About last night ...

Game 4: Boston Bruins 4, Carolina Hurricanes 0 (Bruins win the series 4-0)

Let's be honest: the Canes were telegraphing mental exhaustion over the past few days, and a Boston series win felt inevitable after the Bruins took Game 3 in Raleigh. In Game 4, Carolina just couldn't sustain any pressure. The Canes had only four shots in the second frame, including a 14-minute stretch without any, and then didn't register one for more than half of the third period.

Even without captain Zdeno Chara, the Bruins put up a solid defensive effort in one of their more complete performances of the postseason. It didn't help the Canes that Boston's top line is sizzling hot; the trio accounted for all four of the Bruins' goals. You can boil down Boston's domination in this series to two factors:

• Tuukka Rask (a 24-save shutout in Game 4) leveled up to an elite tier of performance, and that's now two straight series-clinching shutouts.

• The Canes' special teams were a liability; Boston's were awesome.

Three stars

1. Patrice Bergeron, C, Boston Bruins. Two goals and an assist from Bergeron paced the Bruins on Thursday. Over the past seven games, the top line is 11-0 in goals for versus goals against, with 77 percent of the high-danger shot attempts, according to Natural Stat Trick.

2. David Pastrnak, LW, Boston Bruins. Pastrnak added a goal and two assists. His one-timer, off a feed from Brad Marchand, was clinic.

Pastrnak scores on the PP. 1-0 Boston. pic.twitter.com/Eue09mGBad

- Tucker Boynton (@Tucker_TnL) May 17, 2019

3. Tuukka Rask, G, Boston Bruins. Once the Bruins scored their second goal, it felt all but certain they would win. There was no way the Canes were scoring three goals on Rask after how sharp he has been this series.

Play of the night

The passing that led to this crucial @nhlbruins goal: *chef's kiss* #StanleyCup

It's the #ShotOfTheNight presented by @JagermeisterUSA. pic.twitter.com/RuyC4WH0WO

- #StanleyCup on NBC (@NHLonNBCSports) May 17, 2019

The Bruins' top line was guilty of trying to be a little too cute -- and making one too many passes -- on a few chances in the first period. It finally worked out for them with this gorgeous second-period goal.

Dud of the night

After Game 3, Carolina defenseman Dougie Hamilton admitted that the Canes' power play hadn't been good "for some time." They didn't have enough time to fix it for Game 4.

Carolina went just 1-for-14 on the man advantage in this series (7.1 percent) and finished the postseason 5-for-52 (9.6 percent).

(The Bruins, meanwhile, were 7-for-15 in the series, converting at nearly a 43 percent rate.)

On the schedule

San Jose Sharks at St. Louis Blues, Game 4, 8 p.m. ET (Sharks lead the series 2-1)

Was the botched no-call on the game-winning overtime goal in Game 3 a cruel way for the St. Louis Blues to lose? Yes. Is it going to change? No. The Blues need a mental reset; they can't lament what's already done. Players told reporters in the off day that they wouldn't wallow, but that's easier said than done.

St. Louis may be without defenseman Vince Dunn, who is day-to-day with an upper-body injury (he's been having a breakout season, and plays point on the power play). A positive for San Jose? Erik Karlsson finally broke his goalless streak, scoring his first goal in more than five months -- a span of 31 games without one.

Social post of the day

It's all about respect.

Sound on for this remarkable moment in the handshake line between Zdeno Chara and Rod Brind'Amour. #StanleyCup pic.twitter.com/qWP6ABk9sJ

- #StanleyCup on NBC (@NHLonNBCSports) May 17, 2019

There are few things in sports more pure than the playoff handshake line.

Quotable

"I'm proud of, obviously, what we've done; I'm proud that we've gotten ourselves relevant again." -- Carolina captain Justin Williams

MANCHESTER, England -- Pep Guardiola joked that Manchester City cannot afford Antoine Griezmann after ruling out a move for the France international.

Griezmann informed Atletico Madrid on Tuesday that he wants to leave the club after five seasons with sources confirming to ESPN FC that Barcelona are hopeful of signing him.

Sources have told ESPN FC that City are set to bring in three or four new faces during the summer but Guardiola has ruled out any move for the 2018 World Cup winner.

"For the people of Barcelona, I say don't worry guys. Manchester City is not going to buy Antoine Griezmann, we cannot afford him," the Catalan told a news conference ahead of the FA Cup final against Watford (11:55 a.m. ET, ESPN+).

"For the people of Barcelona don't worry. We are not interested in Griezmann."

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has ordered his Manchester United players to report for preseason training as early as July 1 after being dismayed by fitness levels following his arrival as Jose Mourinho's successor, sources have told ESPN FC.

With the bulk of United's squad facing an extended summer break due to only a small number being likely to be involved in the Copa America, Solskjaer has set the early return date in order to ensure they are fit enough to compete for the top four next season.

Eric Bailly, meanwhile, will miss Ivory Coast's African Nations Cup campaign with a knee injury.

Sources told ESPN FC that Solskjaer and assistant Mike Phelan were struck by the unsatisfactory fitness of the majority of the players when they were given interim control of the team in December.

The squad were then subjected to a tougher fitness regime that coincided with the upturn in results that saw United win 10 of Solskjaer's first 11 games in charge.

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However, concerns that they would suffer a reaction to the increased demands proved well-founded, with United's results nose-diving during the final weeks as the club failed to qualify for the Champions League.

"The players weren't fit enough when Ole arrived," a source told ESPN FC. "They worked really hard to change that in December and January but they hit the wall in the end, and that was probably inevitable."

United failed to win any of their final five league games as they finished five points adrift of fourth-placed Tottenham.

While Solskjaer is determined to overhaul his squad, with at least three new signings and emerging youngsters expected to replace those heading for the exit, he also believes his players must vastly improve their fitness.

United are due to play their first preseason game against Perth Glory in Australia on July 13, but the players will be exposed to a tougher regime when they return at the beginning of that month.

Meanwhile, the club will discover on Saturday whether they must begin their Europa League campaign on July 25 -- and face the prospect of six qualifying games before reaching the group stage -- after finishing sixth in the Premier League.

If Watford defeat Manchester City in the FA Cup final on Saturday, they will have to enter the competition at the second qualifying round stage.

That would play havoc with their preseason plans, with arrangements already in place to play Tottenham in Shanghai in the International Champions Cup on July 25.

Juventus have announced Massimiliano Allegri will leave his post as manager at the end of the season.

There have been a succession of meetings between Allegri and the Juve board in the past few days over the ex-AC Milan boss' future with the decision having been taken that he will step down following their last match of the season away to Sampdoria on May 26.

"Massimiliano Allegri will not be on the Juventus bench for the 2019-2020 season," the statement on Juventus' website read.

Allegri took charge of the Bianconeri in July 2014, after Antonio Conte resigned only days into preseason training. He was an unpopular choice among Juve fans at the time, given his past at AC Milan, whom he had led to the Serie A title in 2011 before being sacked midway through the 2013-14 campaign.

He managed to win most Juve supporters over, however, by guiding the Old Lady to five straight Serie A titles, and leading them to the 2015 and 2017 Champions League finals, which they lost to Barcelona and Real Madrid respectively. Allegri also won the Coppa Italia in his first four seasons in Turin -- after Juventus had gone 20 years without winning Italy's main domestic cup competition -- but saw his side eliminated by Atalanta in this season's quarterfinals.

Last summer's signing of Cristiano Ronaldo was seen as a key to Juve finally lifting the Champions League for the first time since 1996 but, despite making a remarkable recovery from a 2-0 first leg defeat to eliminate Atletico Madrid in the round of 16, they were eliminated by Ajax in the quarterfinals, losing at that stage for the second season running following last year's defeat to Real Madrid.

Allegri, 51, turned down a move to Real last summer in a bid to win the Champions League with Juve but, with the Spanish club now back in the hands of Zinedine Zidane, Allegri's future could lie in the Premier League, where he has previously been linked with Chelsea.

Allegri and club president Agnelli will explain the reasons behind the parting of ways at a news conference on Saturday.

Juve will pick up their eighth straight Scudetto following their final home game of the season at the Allianz Stadium against Atalanta on Sunday.

The winner of the 2019 men's World Cup will walk away with a monetary reward of US $4 million, with the runner up getting half the amount ($2 million), as the ICC, on Friday, announced details of the total prize money on offer for the 10-team tournament.

The total prize money of $10 million will be the same as it was in the 2015 World Cup, which was contested among 14 teams with Australia defeating New Zealand to take the trophy and the winner's cheque.

The prize purse for both the winners and the runners-up is an increase from 2015, when the winning team was awarded $3.75 million, while the runners-up were given $1.75 million. The prize-money pot for the 2015 World had seen an increase by 25%, from $8 million previously to $10 million.

In the 2019 edition, the two losing semi-finalists will get $800,000 each, also an increase compared to the 2015 edition, where losing semi-finalists were awarded $600,000. The winners of each league-stage match will receive $40,000 each, and teams whose campaigns end at the league stage will get $100,000 each.

The 2019 World Cup format is similar to the nine-team edition played in 1992, where each team plays the others in the round-robin phase, with the top four advancing to the semi-finals. The 46-day tournament will be played across 11 venues from 30 May to July 16.

The ICC also announced its panel of commentators for the World Cup, which starts from May 30. The 24-member panel features World Cup captains Graeme Smith, Nasser Hussain, Kumar Sangakkara, Wasim Akram, Brendon McCullum, Shaun Pollock, Mike Atherton, Sourav Ganguly and Michael Clarke. Clarke, who had led Australia to victory in 2015, will be making his ICC TV commentary debut. The panel also features other experienced commentators like Ian Bishop, Simon Doull, Michael Holding, Melanie Jones, Isa Guha and Alison Mitchell, as well as Sanjay Manjrekar and Harsha Bhogle.

Toss Bangladesh chose to bowl v West Indies

Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza has decided to field first against West Indies in the tri-series final at Malahide. Mashrafe informed that Shakib Al Hasan, who suffered a back spasm during Bangladesh's last game against Ireland on May 15, will be missing the match.

Bangladesh have replaced Shakib with Mohammad Mithun while Mustafizur Rahman and Soumya Sarkar have also returned to the side after being rested from the previous game. Liton Das, Rubel Hossain and Abu Jayed, who took 5 for 58 in the last game, miss out.

West Indies have made one change to their pace attack, replacing Sheldon Cottrell with Shannon Gabriel.

Bangladesh: 1 Tamim Iqbal, 2 Soumya Sarkar, 3 Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), 4 Mohammad Mithun, 5 Mahmudullah, 6, Mossaddak Hussain, 7 Sabbir Rahman, 8 Mohammad Saifuddin, 9 Mehidy Hasan Miraz, 10 Mashrafe Mortaza (capt), 11 Mustafizur Rahman

West Indies: 1 Shai Hope (wk), 2 Sunil Ambris, 3 Darren Bravo, 4 Roston Chase, 5 Jonathan Carter, 6 Jason Holder (capt), 7 Fabian Allen, 8 Raymon Reifer, 9 Ashley Nurse, 10 Shannon Gabriel, 11 Kemar Roach

Toss England chose to bowl v Pakistan

England have won the toss and sent Pakistan in to bat for the fourth ODI at Trent Bridge.

Big runs are expected on this traditionally batting-friendly pitch, which looks like another belter. Play is set to begin under somewhat overcast skies with a chance of rain developing later on.

Mark Wood returns for England - who hold a 2-0 lead in the series - after his impressive performances in the Caribbean over the winter. He will form a formidable pace bowling partnership with Jofra Archer, who returns from a break, while Liam Plunkett and Chris Woakes are rested. Adil Rashid is also back after taking time off and James Vince will open in place of a resting Jonny Bairstow. Ben Stokes will move up the order to bat at No. 4 with Jos Buttler acting captain in place of Eoin Morgan following his suspension for England's slow over rate in the previous match.

Pakistan have made three changes, bringing in Mohammad Hasnain for Faheem Ashraf and Mohammad Hafeez for Haris Sohail. Shoaib Malik returns after missing the earlier matches to take personal leave in Pakistan.

England: 1 Jason Roy, 2 James Vince, 3 Joe Root, 4 Ben Stokes, 5 Jos Buttler (capt, wk), 6 Moeen Ali, 7 Joe Denly, 8 Adil Rashid, 9 Tom Curran, 10 Mark Wood, 11 Jofra Archer.

Pakistan: 1 Imam-ul-Haq, 2 Fakhar Zaman, 3 Babar Azam, 4 Mohammad Hafeez, 5 Sarfaraz Ahmed (capt/wk), 6 Shoaib Malik, 7 Asif Ali, 8 Imad Wasim, 9 Hasan Ali, 10 Junaid Khan, 11 Mohammad Hasnain.

A plan to involve modern cricketers in the working structure of the Pakistan Cricket Board seems to be have hit a snag. ESPNcricinfo understands one of the major reasons former players are reluctant to join the PCB is the organisation's inherent instability and the PCB's internal working culture.

Over the last two decades, the PCB has effectively been run as a one-man show, with the chairman enjoying executive power and calling all the shots. The structure and hierarchy within the PCB has been inconsistent, with general elections and changes of power in Pakistan's political setup meaning radical overhaul for the cricket board. Historically, the ruling party in Islamabad has nominated (effectively, appointed) a person at the helm, and all the power lies with that chairman, given the PCB's culture of allowing the executive almost absolute power.

The most recent episode that highlighted the uncertainty was the mutiny against newly appointed Managing Director Wasim Khan last month, which for a time cast serious doubts on the PCB functioning properly. The major bone of contention is the domestic cricketing structure, which has been revamped frequently for the past decade, but is resistant to the sort of change the current Prime Minister Imran Khan wants to see.

A new set-up in the PCB began with an intent to rope in Younis Khan as the country's Under-19 coach, but that fell through after the former captain and the PCB failed to reach an agreement. The PCB moved on and turned to other former players, but failed to attract them for various reasons. One former fast bowler turned down the offer over the scope of the role, while another ex-batsman batsman wasn't comfortable with the internal working culture in PCB.

"We want to bring a change by inducting players from the present era to work into the system," Wasim Khan told ESPNcricinfo. "Naturally, you want a new generation to take over and in the modern game we need people who are relevant, hungry and are committed to making a difference. It's a new era with a new Chairman and me as MD, and we have exciting plans for future and we won't be derailed in doing what's right for Pakistan cricket.

"We have created an ambitious strategy for the next five years. My philosophy is that the past should be a point of reference and not a point of residence. What has gone on before needs to remain there, we are now about taking the right people with us who want to buy into a new future. The status quo isn't acceptable. We have a lot of work to do, make no mistake, our systems and importantly the culture has to foster high values.

"We want to base the system on meritocracy and not on entitlement. If people can bring a real value in taking us forward then they will have a role to play in Pakistan cricket."

One of the significant problems in the system is the trust deficit between local players and the PCB management. It is one of the key reasons why the PCB has never able to pull players from the 90s to work within the PCB for any length of time; Waqar Younis was the exception, serving as head coach twice, but both times his departure proved ignominious. Former players from the 70 to 80s continue to occupy prominent positions within the setup, having comfortably surpassed regular retirement age. Haroon Rasheed (66), Shafiq Ahmed (70), Ali Zia (62), Mudassar Nazar (63), and Agha Zahid (66) all hold senior positions at the PCB, and had their contracts extended after the PCB failed to find any suitable replacement.

Pakistan's national coaching staff is foreign, with the exception of bowling coach Azhar Mahmood, as the PCB has failed to develop home grown coaches, forcing them to rely on foreigners. "We want to quash the perception about the over-reliance on foreigners and we want to bring in our own people on top," Wasim added . "But they have to work their way upward, and take over various segments in the PCB. After all, these recently retired players are assets for the country, and they have a future with Pakistan cricket even if they have retried from playing cricket.

"It's not just about selling the role but it's also a matter of availability. Younis is a good man and so there is a disappointment that it didn't work out. But it happens and we all need to move on. But we will continue with our mission; in this regard the role has been discussed with another individual but existing commitments have ruled him out.

In contrast to the previous set up, the present one revolves more around the Managing Director, a post created by Ehsan Mani to bring a competent figure to lead the cricket board. Unlike previous chairmen, Mani intends to dilute his executive powers in the system, and bring the PCB in line with modern corporate structure. Mani distributed his power to the MD to implement policies, while he holds the reviewing power to avoid conflict of interest.

Roger Federer has withdrawn from the Italian Open in Rome with an injury to his right leg, tournament organisers have confirmed.

Federer, who had been due to face Stefanos Tsitsipas in the quarterfinals, came through two matches Thursday at the rain-affected tournament, beating Joao Sousa in straight sets before being forced to a deciding set against Borna Coric later in the day.

It is that match against Coric that is believed to have caused Federer's injury, with him revealing after the 3-hour, 51-minute contest that he tweaked his leg after slipping on the wet baseline.

The withdrawal is the second of the day, with women's world No. 1 Naomi Osaka withdrawing from her quarterfinal with a hand injury.

"I am disappointed that I will not be able to compete today," Federer said of his withdrawal.

"I am not 100 percent physically, and after consultation with my team, it was determined that I not play. Rome has always been one of my favorite cities to visit, and I hope to be back next year."

With nine days to go until the French Open begins at Roland Garros, it remains to be seen whether Federer's injury is serious enough to throw his participation there into doubt.

The 20-time Grand Slam champion has not played at Roland Garros since reaching the quarterfinals in 2015, with this set to be his return to the clay courts in Paris 10 years after his sole French Open triumph.

With Federer out, Tsitsipas will advance to his third consecutive semifinal after winning in Estoril for his maiden clay-court title before finishing as runner-up to Novak Djokovic in Madrid.