DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – AFT Events has named Vance & Hines as the entitlement sponsor of the Vance & Hines So-Cal Half-Mile presented by Russ Brown Motorcycle Attorneys.

The event is making its return to the Southern California Fairgrounds in Perris, Calif., on Saturday, May 11.

A titan within the motorcycle customization industry, Vance & Hines is at the forefront of aftermarket motorcycle performance parts development and production. Since its inception, the California-based company has maintained a commanding presence in multiple forms of motorcycle racing.

“We are very excited to welcome Vance & Hines as the title sponsor of the So-Cal Half-Mile,” said Cameron Gray, COO of AFT Events. “Vance & Hines has always been a strong supporter and player within American Flat Track and we are honored that they have expanded that support into event sponsorship. We know the fans at the track will be excited to see an industry leader like Vance & Hines in the vendor area and participating in the day’s activities.”

This fifth round of American Flat Track racing occurs in the backyard of Vance & Hines’s Santa Fe Springs headquarters. The Factory Harley-Davidson team of Sammy Halbert and Jarod Vanderkooi will be proudly representing the brand as they mount their Vance & Hines-powered XG750Rs and take to the half-mile on Saturday.

Fans in the vendor area can visit the Vance & Hines display truck featuring its latest and most-popular products.

“From the beginning, when the folks at AFT put together their plan to take flat track racing to a whole new level, we knew that we wanted to be a part of this program,” said Terry Vance, Founder of Vance & Hines. “It only makes sense for us to continue to grow our involvement in the sport. There is no question that American Flat Track is the most exciting form of two-wheeled racing you can find today.”

OSWEGO, N.Y. – Early in the offseason, longtime Oswego Speedway fan Craig Soper decided to take the plunge and purchase a pair of former Buske Racing Supermodifieds with plans in place for a two car 350 Supermodified team.

Just two weeks away from the track’s 69th Season Opener, that plan is still in motion and two race cars have been readied for action.

Early in the process, Barry Kingsley and Greg O’Connor were tabbed as Soper’s drivers, but a recent last minute change has been made allowing Small Block Super veteran Mike Bruce an opportunity in one of the rides.

“Craig called me recently and asked if I was interested in driving one of his 350 Supermodifieds this season,” Bruce said. “Greg (O’Connor) was just stepping away from the seat to focus on the Small Block car. I was happy to get that opportunity and decided to go for it.”

O’Connor, who had recently purchased two crate motors to field his Small Block program, was attempting to sell his Morrison SBS motor. Last year’s Small Block Super engines are currently legal in Oswego’s 350 Super class, so Bruce decided to approach Greg with an offer.

“With Craig supplying me a great car, I needed to supply the engine,” mentioned Bruce. “I was able to work a deal with Greg O’Connor for his freshly built Morrison. It’s all happened pretty fast. Craig called me last Thursday night and I picked everything up over the weekend.”

Now Bruce, who was not even remotely sure what his plans would like for 2019, intends to be at the track with the Lakeside Property Services ride for May 25th’s Season Opener and as much as he possibly can beyond that.

“Ideally we will run every show possible and I am going to thrash to make the Opener,” Bruce added. “Craig has been a big supporter of Oswego over the years. He has sponsored cars and attends every fundraiser for every team. He’s all about making as many races as possible and I’m happy to be a part of that with him.”

Oswego fans know Bruce as a longtime regular in the Small Block class. Driver of the family No. 22, Bruce is always a solid runner. He has thirty top fives and six feature wins to his credit, one of which came in last year’s $1,500 to win Mr. Pathfinder Bank SBS event. Mike has plenty of laps around Oswego and is looking forward to the change this season.

“I have honestly been a fan of the 350 class since I first heard of the idea,” Bruce commented. “I think it’s going to be pretty sweet making the transition over from the Small Block class. I of course don’t want it to be at the expense of the SBS division, but am really looking forward to another full season at Oswego.”

Beyond the Oswego Speedway, Bruce would like to venture to the New England area on some off weeks, especially towards the end of the year. He has also promoted several Small Block Super events at the Evans Mills Speedway, and has even considered a plan to bring Oswego’s newest division there as well.

“I definitely have my eyes on traveling with the car more so after Oswego is over. Really as much as possible,” mentioned Bruce. “I may try to do a show or exhibition at Evans Mills with the 350’s and the Small Blocks like we’ve done in the past. Maybe that can help promote the class a bit. We’ll see how that goes.”

To this point, Oswego already has a dozen or so 350 Supermodifieds pre-registered, which is not too shabby for its inaugural season. Of those twelve names, several current and former SBS competitors are in the mix such as Bruce, his teammate Barry Kingsley, last year’s track champ Anthony Losurdo, Dalton Doyle, Chris Proud, and more.

“It’s nice to see a lot of us Small Block guys get the chance in a Super,” Bruce said. “It’s good to have a group of cars with ideally the same rule package working together to continue building a successful class. We have a good start.”

As for Bruce’s Small Block car, he intends to have that on the track within the first few weeks of the season as well. It might not be him behind the wheel though. After all, he does have a younger brother with extensive experience at the Oswego Kartway. Has it come time for him to move up?

“The limited is actually in the hauler right now, and that is going to be put on the back burner for a little bit so I can finish the 350,” Bruce explained. “My intentions are to order a crate and finish it up. Hopefully we can see that car hit the track a few weeks into the season with another Bruce at the wheel. I went from nothing to balls deep in race cars and chaos. This is the latest I’ve ever got started for a season, but we’re excited to get going.”

While Kingsley will be driving the other Lakeside Property Services car as a Joe Paeno tribute No. 06, Bruce is set to drive the No. 72 which features a tribute scheme to the late Bobby Hollenbeck, a longtime Supermodified fan and dedicated supporter of the Oswego Speedway.

“The tribute scheme is cool to honor people we’ve all considered great friends, and people who were such big fans of Oswego Speedway,” offered Bruce. “It’s something different Craig thought of and I look forward to hopefully putting the car into victory lane. We want to get competitive first obviously, but that’s the big goal. I just love to race.”

Bruce and Lakeside Property Services Racing are ready to open their season in Oswego’s Memorial Weekend special set for Saturday, May 25. The program will feature a 35-lap special for the 350 Supermodifieds, which will be the division’s inaugural Saturday event at Oswego.

TORONTO -- Family, friends and many of hockey's most luminous names bid farewell to Red Kelly at the NHL great's funeral Friday.

The eight-time Stanley Cup champion played 20 seasons with the Detroit Red Wings and Toronto Maple Leafs. He died at 91 on May 2, exactly 52 years after the Maple Leafs won the Stanley Cup 1967, the last Toronto team to take the title.

Honorary pallbearers at the funeral included Frank Mahovlich, Darryl Sittler, Lanny McDonald, Bob Baun, Dick Duff, Ron Ellis, Dave Keon, Eddie Shack and Jim Gregory.

Also at the funeral were Maple Leafs president Brendan Shanahan, general manager Kyle Dubas, Detroit GM Steve Yzerman, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and former Toronto captain Wendel Clark.

Leonard Patrick Kelly started his hockey career as a defenseman but switched to center after his trade to Toronto. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1969.

Kelly is survived by Andra, his wife of 60 years, four children and eight grandchildren.

Lancashire 304 for 4 (Jennings 96, Vilas 70*) beat Middlesex 284 (Harris 117, Simpson 74, Mahmood 4-38) by 20 runs

There is, in case you missed it, quite a kerfuffle at present about the sudden availability of a genuinely quick new-ball bowler, a man with the potential to add a new level of pizzazz to England's World Cup attack. But not even in his wildest dreams could Jofra Archer hope to hoover up 25 wickets at 18.88 in his first nine matches of the tournament, to propel his team into the semi-finals.

Saqib Mahmood has done just that for Lancashire in the Royal London Cup. In spite of a startlingly heroic fightback led by James Harris, whose maiden List A hundred included a sixth-wicket stand of 197 with John Simpson that carried a spirited chase deep into the penultimate over, the ferocity of Mahmood's new-ball burst was an intervention that could not be patched over in the final analysis.

It was, nevertheless, the most improbable sporting thriller since … well, the midweek Champions League fixtures. Somehow, Middlesex clawed their way back from oblivion at 24 for 5 in the tenth over, as a batting line-up that had been denuded by injury and international call-up - with Paul Stirling, Dawid Malan and Eoin Morgan all missing from their first-choice XI - instead found itself relying on a makeshift No.6 whose previous highest List A was a paltry 32.

Harris arrived in the middle with his side in freefall and Mahmood enjoying the ultimate Master-and-Apprentice learning experience alongside the ageless Lord of Lord's, Jimmy Anderson, who produced yet another Pavilion End masterclass, and even topped and tailed his day with a pair of direct-hit run-outs.

Screaming to the crease with the biomechanical purity of Brett Lee, allied to a splayed-limb final flourish that evoked Waqar Younis in his pomp, Mahmood blew away Sam Robson and Stevie Eskinazi - the latter to a rabbit-in-the-headlines hook that spiralled to square leg - before producing an off-stump snorter that a batsman with the class and form of Ross Taylor could only nibble to the keeper.

The game was a goner - and long before half-time this time - so Harris decided to trust both his eye and his partner, and enjoy the rare opportunity to set out his stall for the bulk of a 50-over innings.

For a full 30 overs, he thrived - bossing the change bowlers, not least the legspinner Matt Parkinson, on a pitch that Lancashire's own batsmen had already demonstrated was full of runs. Without ever exerting themselves, Lancashire had themselves eased to a total of 304 for 4, with Keaton Jennings' 159-run stand with Stephen Croft providing the backbone before Dane Vilas' 70 not out from 67 had applied some late urgency.

However, it seemed for a long while that Lancashire would regret not getting more of a wriggle on against a Middlesex attack lacking the senior statesmen, Steven Finn and Tim Murtagh, and which at times seemed to be relying on a combination of bluff and guts to stay in touch. No-one had epitomised that better than the medium-pacer George Scott, whose early diving catch at midwicket to remove Liam Livingstone was the outstanding fielding moment of the day, and whose looping leg-stump yorker somehow wriggled into Jennings' timbers to extract him for 96 and complete a notable maiden List A wicket.

But Harris simply kept his composure, and once Mahmood and Anderson had been withdrawn after six overs each, he correctly ascertained that by batting through the overs, the runs would have to come on a pitch as true as Lord's. He brought up a superb century from 90 balls, with nine fours and two sixes in consecutive overs off Matt Parkinson and Graham Onions, and the increasing frequency of Lancashire's brains trust gatherings was a clear indication of their mounting doubts.

But then, in the 41st over, everything changed again. Swinging across the line to Parkinson, Harris let his back foot twitch fatally as his toe strayed out of the crease, and then two balls later, calamity struck, as the new man, Scott, slapped an inside-out drive to mid-off, and sold Simpson a dummy as Anderson's dead eye pinged down the stumps at the far end.

Though Scott made amends as best he could, with Toby Roland-Jones also digging deep in an eighth-wicket stand of 45, Mahmood would not be denied. Back he came at the death, finding his yorkers at will to strangle the scoring rate, before earning a somewhat fortuitous fourth wicket, as Scott was pinned on the knee-roll by an inswinger, albeit outside the line.

With the situation getting frantic, Nathan Sowter ran himself out with a suicidal single to the keeper, before Roland-Jones picked out deep midwicket one ball later to end Middlesex's spirited campaign. It's been 31 years and counting since they last won a List A title - but there has been much to admire in their white-ball endeavours this year.

Lancashire, meanwhile, march on to face Hampshire in the semi-final on Sunday, and with a world-class strike bowler bubbling up in their ranks, they may yet believe that today's hard-fought win was but a dress rehearsal for their own overdue return to trophy-winning ways at Lord's.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.

Afghanistan 269 for 3 (Rahmat 113, Hashmatullah 59*, Shahzad 55) beat Scotland 325 for 7 (MacLeod 100, Coetzer 73) by two runs (DLS method)

Just over a year ago in Zimbabwe, Scotland's pursuit of a World Cup berth ended in heartbreak after a flash rain storm curtailed their tense chase against West Indies at Harare, resulting in the Saltires being on the short end of the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern calculation by five runs.

On Friday in Edinburgh, one of the two sides that benefited from the intervention of the weather last year in Harare - Afghanistan - wound up on the right side once again as a crucial boundary from Hashmatullah Shahidi to begin the 45th over while rain intensified at the Grange helped them stay ahead on DLS to secure a two-run win over the hosts. The result is another 1-0 series win for Afghanistan in Edinburgh, repeating the same margin from their two-match series in 2016.

For Afghanistan it was sweet revenge after the defeat they suffered to Scotland last year at the Qualifier. On that occasion, Calum MacLeod struck a magnificent 157 not out against the vaunted spin triumvirate of Rashid Khan, Mohammad Nabi and Mujeeb Ur Rahman.

MacLeod repeated the three-figure feat again at the Grange, making an even 100 for his eighth ODI ton and third in his last eight matches. Scotland's No. 3 helped plunder 99 off the last 10 overs aided by a blistering cameo from George Munsey in which the left-handed pillaged 21 off new captain Gulbadin Naib in the 42nd with a pair of fours and sixes.

It spoiled Naib's figures after he had been a lone figure helping to somewhat stem the flow of runs in the absence of Rashid, Nabi and Mujeeb, making Afghanistan's ability to squeeze out a win without their three aces all the more remarkable. The allrounder ended a 76-run opening stand getting Matthew Cross for 32 prodding an edge to Mohammad Shahzad just after the drinks break. He then lured his opposite number Kyle Coetzer into slapping a return catch at thigh height for 79, then bowled Richie Berrington for 33 off 20 missing a slog in the 40th.

At 296 for 4 after 47, Hamid Hassan did brilliantly at the death to help limit the damage. In his first ODI for nearly three years, Hamid took two wickets in the 49th, teaming with Najibullah Zadran for a sharp pair of takes at deep square leg to claim both MacLeod and the ominous Craig Wallace two balls later for 20. After a fruitless four-over opening spell of 0 for 9 in which he hustled Coetzer and Cross off a newly shortened run-up, it was a just reward for Hamid on his comeback, after grinding through injuries and rehabilitation, and helped ensure Scotland added just 29 in the last three overs on an exceptionally flat pitch.

The death bowling made all the difference on a ground where Scotland made 371 last year, albeit with the boundary ropes dragged a bit further in. Whereas Scotland were circumspect in reaching 38 for 0 in their Powerplay after opting to bat first, Afghanistan were far more aggressive in their first ten behind Shahzad, Hazratullah Zazai and Rahmat Shah to reach 58 for 1. It took a sensational catch running back from mid-off by Coetzer to remove Zazai, otherwise wickets never looked likely while Shahzad and Rahmat were together in a 93-run stand.

Shahzad raised his fifty off 61 balls with a four slashed past the wicketkeeper. Despite Afghanistan being well ahead of the game, he continued taking risks to up the ante until he fell flicking Alasdair Evans to Wallace at deep square leg for 55.

Man of the Match Rahmat was a rock at the other end though, repeating his own heroics from Afghanistan's last visit to the Grange in 2016 when he scored his maiden ODI ton. The classy right-hander, who fell agonisingly short by two runs of what would have been Afghanistan's maiden Test ton in March against Ireland, would not be denied of his fourth one-day century, bringing up the landmark off 107 balls in the 38th over.

At that stage, Afghanistan were 215 for 2, four ahead of the DLS par score as sunny skies quickly turned bleak. Offspinner Tom Sole had been bowling much of his spell with sunglasses on but took them off as the storm clouds drew closer. He struck in the 40th, getting Rahmat to chip loosely to Berrington at midwicket in the ring for a sharp low catch. It brought Scotland nearly even on DLS, but Afghanistan continued finding key boundaries when they needed them.

Scotland's bowlers struggled to finish off an over, conceding a four or a six on the final ball on six occasions, including a crucial moment in the 39th to Rahmat. Every time Scotland threatened to inch ahead on DLS, Hashmatullah and Asghar Afghan found the requisite four to ease the pressure.

Afghanistan were level with the DLS par score of 267 after 44.4 overs as the showers progressed into a full-fledged storm. Evans waited at the top of his mark while wicketkeeper Cross held up his arms at the umpires, but Kumar Dharmasena was unmoved. A wicket off the fifth ball would have put Scotland ahead on DLS by three runs. Instead, Afghan clipped an attempted yorker off his pads for two to put Afghanistan in front for good, as Dharmasena could ignore the elements no more and the players were taken off with no chance of play resuming before the 7.30 pm cutoff.

Afghanistan move on to Ireland next week, with two ODIs scheduled for May 19 and 21. Scotland have a week to regroup before welcoming Sri Lanka for two ODIs on May 18 and 21 at the Grange.

Shreyas Iyer has referred to Delhi Capitals' run to the IPL playoffs as a "dream season" and one he expects his team to build on next year. He also said he was "proud" of the way his team bounced back after a poor 2018 season with many of the players "showing initiative and taking responsibility'.

Capitals made it to the playoffs after a six-year gap and won a tight eliminator against Sunrisers Hyderabad before being outclassed by Chennai Super Kings in the second qualifier in Visakhapatnam. "It's been a dream season for us and it's just the start," Iyer told the host broadcaster after the match. "We've got a lot more to come next season and yes, we have gelled as a team and we've found the pace and now it's time to grow from here on.

"I am really proud the way [Capitals] played this season. The last season specially was really disappointing for us and the way we came out this year, everybody took that initiative and responsibility till this game."

The one grievance most of the Capitals' management had expressed throughout the season was regarding the low and slow nature of the pitch at the Feroz Shah Kotla, their home ground. Coach Ricky Ponting had said after the home defeat to Sunrisers Hyderabad that the pitch did not suit Capitals' style of play, whether it was the fast bowlers or the free-flowing batsmen. Capitals lost three out of their seven matches at home and Iyer also said it was an issue they needed to think about.

"It's something to think about, the home games especially we didn't win that many matches," Iyer said. "But can't really complain about the wickets. We have played a lot of our games on slow wickets, we've been practicing a lot, even the wickets we practice on in Delhi aren't that safe for the batsmen because they have uneven bounce."

Iyer felt that a poor Powerplay and lack of partnerships throughout their innings proved to be Capitals' undoing against Super Kings. Capitals lost openers Shikhar Dhawan and Prithvi Shaw in the first six overs, only managing to put 41 on the board in that period. While Super Kings only bettered that Powerplay total by one run, they didn't lose a wicket.

The highest partnership for the Capitals was the 22 added by Rishabh Pant and Sherfane Rutherford for the sixth wicket and while four of their top five batsmen got starts, none of them got a substantial score. By contrast, both Super Kings openers went on to to score fifties, virtually killing the chase with their 81-run stand.

"We also expected the same, coming from Delhi, if the wicket was slow, it would have really helped us because we play in that soil and the wicket played quite similar," Iyer said.

"We didn't get that many runs as we expected, we really had a disappointing start, lost two wickets in the Powerplay, it was really tough to continue after that. We know that they have amazing spin bowling in between, it's really difficult to control in that part. None of the batsmen took initiative to take the team through and there wasn't any partnership building up."