We used to have a saying on the national team way back in the day: "Adversity builds character." So whenever we were staying at a "roach motel," we'd holler: BUILDING CHARACTER! When we had to fly across the country with 2-3 layovers (to save money): BUILDING CHARACTER! Middle seat, back row, smoking section: BUILDING CHARACTER!

The problem is that we got to a point where we had character flowing out of our ears & eyeballs. There was no more space to hold character and frankly, we were also fresh out of patience, so we decided we didn't actually need any more character -- we just needed to educate the characters around us. Thankfully, eventually, we found a way.

- Sauerbrunn named new USWNT captain
- USWNT's Dahlkemper completes move to Man City
- Macario files FIFA switch to rep USWNT

I can't even imagine how many times in 2020, the current national team must have yelled, building character! or, perhaps, something more colorful. With the pandemic came the shut-down of leagues and, then, the shut-down of sports, the closure of fields, parks, gyms... all the things you need in your profession to help maintain your game. So the players did what any motivated athlete does... they figured out a way to make it work, safely. They went overseas to play, they played in an NWSL bubble, they picked up games and training where they could.

Thankfully, eventually, they found a way.

If you need any further proof on if they passed the test of adjusting and adapting to 2020, look no further than their game in the Netherlands on Nov. 27 last year. It was a replay of the 2019 World Cup final of 2019 and, it's worth noting, against a very good Dutch team that had many players in professional leagues who had continued to keep playing (more consistently than the US, that's for sure) in Europe after much of the continent brought sports back.

I thought the U.S. team would understandably look rusty and tire quickly, having very few players who were fit enough to last 90 minutes. Instead, we saw the USWNT run the Dutch off the pitch. And now, as 2021 greets us with a huge Faustian laugh (wait, that is not how it was scripted), the big question -- WHERE IS THE TEAM? in the continuum of growth given the challenges of 2020 -- has been answered.

The bigger question, in my opinion, leading into the Olympics in July is: how do you sprinkle in some youth into this veteran group? Or maybe you don't. But I would argue that it's the most important decision that coach Vlatko Andonovski has to weigh in these coming months.

Carli Lloyd turns 39 at the start of the Olympics. Megan Rapinoe and Becky Sauerbrunn will turn 36 right before the Olympics. But it is not their ages that matter, of course; it's always what accompanies the number in terms of the training environment and conditions they're in.

Carli Lloyd has missed much of 2020 from a playing perspective due to injury. Megan Rapinoe has also barely played in 2020 due to COVID-19 concerns, and as she said recently, "I was not ready for competitive games because I did not have a consistent training environment with teammates." She spoke of "needing a longer runway". And equally important, her body just needed a rest.

There is a reason why no Women's National Team has ever won the World Cup and then won the Olympics the very next year. It is super-tough turn. The players are exhausted. Maybe, dare I say, this Olympic delay allows for rest that actually makes the team better because two of their biggest superstars were allowed to physically & mentally recharge. Or, maybe not because the time off was too long. These next three months will tell us everything.

Can Lloyd and Rapinoe come back after such a long layoff with the same force and game-changing ability? With only 18 players on an Olympic roster (compared to 23 for a World Cup), it's hard to make the argument that you would take them at less than full fitness. And if you don't take them, which young players can fill the void? Are these younger players ready for the big stage? How does that affect the dynamic of this team? So many questions to be answered.

The great news is the fact there are some very talented young players who have the potential to break into that 18 player Olympic roster. Just to name a few...

- Catarina Macario, the Stanford superstar who moved from Brazil to the United States when she was 12 years old, was told on Jan. 13 that she is now eligible, as a U.S. citizen, to play for the United States of America.

This is a player who scored at will at Stanford (she led the nation in goals and assists in 2019), led them to a national title in 2017 and 2019, and was twice the Mac Hermann Trophy winner for best collegiate soccer player. She will not conclude her senior season at Stanford as she just signed with Olympique Lyonnais in France.

- Sophia Smith, also from Stanford University, was drafted as the top pick by the NWSL's Portland Thorns in 2020 and dominated the youth national teams. A broken ankle her freshman year at Stanford in 2018 slowed her career a beat, but Sophia made it known she was back and healthy after being named the 2019 College Cup MVP.

Also clearly in the mix of younger players still in college or fresh out ...

- Emily Fox of UNC, who just got drafted as the #1 NWSL pick by expansion team, Racing Louisville
- Jaeline Howell, a junior from Florida State, who helped lead her FSU team to a national title in 2018
- Naomi Girma, a junior at Stanford, who was recently voted US Soccer Young Player of the Year

It's a great problem to have if you are Coach Andonovski, but hard decisions await. Buckle up!

OWINGS MILLS, Md. -- A year after leading Lamar Jackson's MVP campaign with the mantra "Big Truss," running back Mark Ingram will be released by the Baltimore Ravens on Tuesday, league sources told ESPN's Adam Schefter.

Ingram, 31, was a healthy scratch for four of the Ravens' final five contests this season, including both playoff games. The Ravens will create $5 million in salary-cap room by releasing the 10-year veteran.

A Pro Bowl player in 2019, Ingram didn't have the same explosiveness this campaign, and he was slowly phased out of the Ravens' game plan, finishing with a career-low 72 carries. Baltimore ended up with the No. 1 rushing attack in the NFL by relying on rookie J.K. Dobbins and Gus Edwards.

Ingram said his goodbye to the Ravens via social media on Monday, calling the team "a first class organization."

Ingram posted on Twitter: "I love the real ones in flock nation that supported me and showed luv! My blood brothers, whats understood Ain gotta be explained. Best is still ahead, cant wait! Watch God work. #GodWins #BigTrussForever."

Thank you Mr.Bisciotti and the Ravens for being a first class organization. I love the real ones in flock nation that supported me and showed luv! My blood brothers, whats understood Ain gotta be explained. Best is still ahead, cant wait! Watch God work.#GodWins #BigTrussForever pic.twitter.com/Hx0GZrSIrz

— Mark Ingram II (@markingram21) January 19, 2021

Ingram, a first-round pick by the Saints in 2011, spent his first eight seasons in New Orleans and reached the Pro Bowl in 2014 and '17. He signed a three-year, $15 million deal with Baltimore in 2019, immediately injecting high energy and leadership into the locker room.

Ingram gained 1,018 yards and scored 10 touchdowns in his first season with the Ravens, championing Jackson's run for NFL MVP by exclaiming, "Big Truss!" in postgame news conferences. Teammates have explained that "Big Truss" means trust and faith, a phrase that says, "Got your back."

In 2020, Ingram lost his starting job midway through the season and continued to mentor Dobbins, the player who replaced him.

"Mark is an unbelievable guy -- a big brother to me," Dobbins said at the end of the regular season. "He still texts me every day. He's still happy for me every day. He actually helped me with the process, teaching me things to do to help me be mentally prepared, to stay locked in. He's just an amazing guy."

Ingram was scheduled to earn $5 million in 2021, the final year of his contract.

Pelicans guard Lonzo Ball could make his return to the lineup Tuesday night when New Orleans takes on the Utah Jazz in Salt Lake City.

Ball missed the past three games with soreness in both knees.

Pelicans coach Stan Van Gundy said Ball was a full-go for Monday's practice when the team did about 45 minutes of on-court work, and they'll see how he's feeling Tuesday before making a decision on letting him play. New Orleans officially listed Ball as questionable.

"I feel a lot better," Ball said. "Went through practice for the first time today and it felt good. Plan is definitely to play tomorrow."

There wasn't a specific time that Ball suffered any injury, but he said it was something he'd been playing through this season.

"It just got to a point where management came down and said take these next three games and get right and come back stronger," Ball said. "That's what I did, and I feel a lot better. I felt like we made the right decision as a whole."

Ball said the team has him on a new treatment program as well as a new weight program that are helping him get back in order. The new regimen includes more stretching, and Ball said he hopes the change is similar to the one he made in December 2019, when he changed up his weight program to help a nagging ankle injury and an adductor injury he suffered earlier in that season.

"When that got right, my game got better," Ball said. "Hopefully this year, getting my knees right, we can do the same thing."

In his absence, Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Kira Lewis Jr. have played major minutes next to Pelicans guard Eric Bledsoe, who missed a game last week because of a right eye irritation.

In three starts, Alexander-Walker averaged 19.7 points, 5.3 rebounds and 2.7 assists while shooting 59.0% from the field and 57.1% from deep. Lewis, the Pelicans' first-round draft pick, averaged 5.7 points and 2.3 assists while only committing one turnover in the past three games.

Ball said he saw both players "seizing the opportunity" given to them.

"We all knew what Nickeil was capable of. We know he's a pure scorer, and that's what he showcased out there," Ball said. "We all knew what Kira was as well, being a rookie but still coming in and keeping the pace of the offense up and not turning the ball over and doing the things we know he can do.

"I'm just proud of those guys. They put a lot of work in every day. A lot of hard practices, and we can see it paying off."

Guard Victor Oladipo exuded optimism about the Houston Rockets after his franchise debut, presenting quite a contrast to James Harden's final comments as a member of the franchise.

"I know that better days are ahead for the Houston Rockets, and I'm looking forward to being a part of those special days," Oladipo said after his 32-point, nine-assist performance in a 125-120 loss to the Chicago Bulls on Monday.

It was the second-highest-scoring debut in franchise history, behind only Harden's 37-point performance in the 2012-13 season opener.

Oladipo, a two-time All-Star for the Indiana Pacers whose career was interrupted by a ruptured quadriceps tendon suffered in January 2019, was acquired by the Rockets in last week's four-team blockbuster trade that sent Harden to the Brooklyn Nets. Harden was aware that a deal was likely near when he declared that the Rockets "just aren't good enough" and could not be "fixed" in what amounted to a farewell speech after a lopsided loss to the Los Angeles Lakers, his last game in a Rockets uniform.

Oladipo practiced with the Rockets for the first time Sunday and played out of position at point guard against the Bulls because John Wall missed his third consecutive game with a sore knee. Oladipo had four of his seven turnovers in the first quarter, which ended with the Rockets trailing by 12 points.

"It started off a little bit shaky, which is natural, but you could see what we can be with him on the floor," Rockets coach Stephen Silas said. "We can see that he can be a primary scorer, he can make plays for others, he can really get after it on the defensive end. So we're excited about him and the prospects of what he can do and what he can be."

Oladipo starred the rest of the game, scoring 29 points on 12-of-19 shooting and dishing out all nine of his assists in the final three quarters. Seven of Oladipo's assists were to center Christian Wood (30 points, 11-of-16 shooting), as they displayed the potential of forming a prolific pick-and-roll partnership.

Oladipo, who is in the final season of his contract, stressed the need for patience as the Rockets form chemistry on the fly. However, he repeatedly emphasized how excited he was about Houston's potential despite the Rockets' 4-8 record.

"We're not trying to be a good team. We're trying to be a great team," Oladipo said. "We have the ability to do so. We have the personnel to do so and the coach. Now it's all about doing it and buying into every day, every possession, and playing every game like it's our last. That's this team's mentality.

"We have to continue to get better, obviously, the chemistry continue to grow, the defense get better. But the mentality can never change and the approach can never change. That's what we're all about, man. We're going to go out there to play with that chip, that brick, that whatever it is on our back, whatever is the biggest thing you can carry on your back, and go out there and compete for one another. If we do that, I truly believe we can be a very good team."

Veteran left-hander Jon Lester and the Washington Nationals are in agreement on a one-year deal, pending a physical, sources familiar with the contract told ESPN.

Lester rejoins Dave Martinez, the current Nationals manager and former Cubs bench coach when they won the 2016 World Series for their first title in 108 years. Martinez has now added two players from his time with the Cubs; left fielder Kyle Schwarber was signed as a free agent last week.

While no longer an ace of a staff, Lester brings a great postseason résumé with him to Washington and can fit nicely behind Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg and Patrick Corbin in the rotation.

Toward the end of a successful six-year run with the Cubs, Lester's numbers began to go south. But every time he was counted out, he showed he could adjust and produce.

That includes in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, when he started out hot, then took about a five-game dip, before fixing his mechanics. He finished with a deceptive 5.16 ERA. Three of his final four starts produced a 1.06 ERA, though he never got a chance to pitch in the postseason, as the Cubs were swept in two games by the Miami Marlins.

Overall, the 37-year-old left-hander was 3-3 in 61 innings and 12 starts for the Cubs last season, registering 42 strikeouts and 17 walks. He earned a prorated $5,555,556 from his scheduled $15 million salary.

Lester is in the final stages of his career and is old school in the sense that pitcher wins still matter to him. He has 193 career victories, but the times when he has really shined in his career have come in October, during which he has produced a 2.51 career postseason ERA.

Two hundred wins and a chance at another title while cementing his Hall of Fame credentials are what's on Lester's mind as he begins the final phase of his career. He won't do it with velocity or pure stuff, but he hasn't forgotten how to pitch.

Right-hander Tyler Chatwood has agreed to a one-year, $3 million deal with the Toronto Blue Jays, a source told ESPN on Monday.

The deal is pending a physical.

Chatwood never reached his full potential as a member of the Chicago Cubs after a disastrous first season with them in 2018. He had massive control problems that pushed him to the bullpen in 2019 before he found his way back to the rotation in 2020. At times, his stuff was as dominant as ever, but in other moments, he would lose that control and then potentially overcompensate, which would lead to high hit totals.

Chatwood, who turns 31 in December, finished 2-2 with a 5.30 ERA and 25 strikeouts in five starts for Chicago last season. He is 51-57 with a 4.40 ERA over nine seasons with the Los Angeles Angels (2011), Colorado Rockies (2012-14, 2016-17) and Cubs (2018-20).

Chatwood has always shown more potential than actual production, but it's not like he's over the hill. He can spin the ball with the best of them and is certainly worthy as a comeback candidate after producing a 5.30 ERA in 2020, when he also had elbow problems and didn't pitch in the final weeks of the season.

Healthy now, Chatwood could be a valuable change-of-scenery pitcher with some upside -- though he has to prove he can consistently get outs.

Chatwood's agreement with the Blue Jays was first reported by MLB Network.

New York Mets general manager Jared Porter sent explicit, unsolicited texts and images to a female reporter in 2016, culminating with a picture of an erect, naked penis, according to a copy of the text history obtained by ESPN.

The woman, a foreign correspondent who had moved to the United States to cover Major League Baseball, said at one point she ignored more than 60 messages from Porter before he sent the final lewd photo. The text relationship started casually before Porter, then the Chicago Cubs director of professional scouting, began complimenting her appearance, inviting her to meet him in various cities and asking why she was ignoring him. And the texts show she had stopped responding to Porter after he sent a photo of pants featuring a bulge in the groin area.

Porter continued texting her anyway, sending dozens of messages despite the lack of a response. On Aug. 11, 2016, a day after asking her to meet him at a hotel in Los Angeles, Porter sent the woman 17 pictures. The first 15 photos were of the hotel and its restaurants. The 16th was the same as an earlier photo of the bulge in the pants. The 17th was of a bare penis.

Reached by ESPN on Monday evening, Porter acknowledged texting with the woman. He initially said he had not sent any pictures of himself. When told the exchanges show he had sent selfies and other pictures, he said that "the more explicit ones are not of me. Those are like, kinda like joke-stock images."

After asking whether ESPN was planning to run a story, he asked for more time before later declining further comment.

In December 2017, ESPN obtained the messages after being alerted to their existence by a baseball source. ESPN reached out to the woman, interviewed her and was prepared to report about the allegations but did not do so after the woman concluded her career would be harmed if the story came out. ESPN has periodically kept in touch with the woman - who since has left journalism - and, in recent days, she decided to come forward only on the condition of anonymity because she fears backlash in her home country.

"My number one motivation is I want to prevent this from happening to someone else," she told ESPN through an interpreter. "Obviously he's in a much greater position of power. I want to prevent that from happening again. The other thing is I never really got the notion that he was truly sorry.

"I know in the U.S. there is a women's empowerment movement. But in [my home country], it's still far behind," the woman said. "Women get dragged through the mud if your name is associated with any type of sexual scandal. Women are the ones who get fingers pointed at them. I don't want to go through the victimization process again. I don't want other people to blame me."

Porter, 41, was hired as Mets GM on Dec. 13 to help lead new owner Steve Cohen's front office. He apologized to the woman in 2016 by text after she saw the naked picture and texted that his messages were "extremely inappropriate, very offensive, and getting out of line."

In a statement to ESPN Monday night, Mets president Sandy Alderson said: "I have spoken directly with Jared Porter regarding events that took place in 2016 of which we were made aware tonight for the first time. Jared has acknowledged to me his serious error in judgment, has taken responsibility for his conduct, has expressed remorse and has previously apologized for his actions. The Mets take these matters seriously, expect professional and ethical behavior from all of our employees, and certainly do not condone the conduct described in your story. We will follow up as we review the facts regarding this serious issue."

Three other people interviewed by ESPN said they saw or were told of the texts at the time. The messages provide a portrait of a rising executive, a reporter working with a limited grasp of the English language and American customs, and how seemingly friendly banter ended in a lewd, unsolicited photo.

The woman met Porter in an elevator at Yankee Stadium on June 26, 2016. She said they talked briefly - the only time they ever spoke, she told ESPN - about international baseball prospects and exchanged business cards.

Porter began texting her the afternoon they met and, before the day was over, had asked her three times to get a drink. The woman said she agreed to meet Porter because she thought he was volunteering himself as a source and expected they would discuss baseball. Porter asked in a text if she had a boyfriend; the woman said that at the time, she believed he was simply being friendly, as she did not think someone she barely knew would be so forward. That night, after she said she couldn't meet with him but would the next day, Porter sent an unsolicited selfie.

"Like?" he asked.

She did not respond.

"If I had a better understanding - not just of the language, but the culture - I definitely would've realized sooner what was going on," the woman told ESPN.

Porter texted again the next day, according to the messages, and attempts by both to set up a meeting fell through. On July 19, 2016, he reached out to her again, inquiring as to her whereabouts and asking: "Why aren't we hanging out??" Porter asked whether the woman remembered what he looked like and said: "You're so pretty. Do you have a boyfriend yet?" He sent a selfie and said: "It can be me!"

The woman responded with text shorthand indicating laughter and added: "let's meet." Porter asked her for a picture. In her home country, the woman told ESPN, "it's very common for friends of the opposite sex to send each other photos. I didn't think much of it."

After she sent a selfie, Porter responded: "You're gorgeous. Want more of me?"

She said yes, explaining to ESPN: "I thought it would be awkward to say no. I didn't think of where it would progress."

Porter sent three pictures, including the first of several that would show a man lying on a bed with a bulge in his pants. The woman said she initially was confused.

"Like?" Porter wrote.

She laughed again and texted yes, though she told ESPN that she didn't realize the intention of the photo taken on the bed. "You are not married?" she asked.

Once she recognized the sexual nature of the bed picture, she resolved to cut off communication, she said.

Porter would send 62 unanswered texts - including seven photos - between July 19 and Aug. 10, the day before a final flurry from Los Angeles that included the nude photo.

His first unanswered text, on July 19, said he was not married. He followed up:

"Which picture do you like the most?"

"Want to see more....?"

"?"

"?"

About five hours later: "Helllloooooo beautiful."

About 90 minutes after that: "Is it too much for you?"

About two hours later: "Where did you go?"

Almost three hours later, at 2:03 a.m.: "I'm bored."

The pattern of unsolicited messages without response continued for weeks as the two separately crisscrossed the country watching baseball in different venues, with Porter sending photos from hotels. The day after the woman stopped returning his texts, Porter wrote: "Mad at me?" Later that day, he sent three more pictures. The first was of a World Series ring he had won during his 12 years with the Boston Red Sox, where he had risen from intern to pro scouting director and won three championships. The other two were bed pictures of a man's clothed groin, to which he added a message: "Am I annoying you?"

Porter sent seven more messages that day, including one that said the Cubs had made a trade and another that said: "You're hard to get."

At 2:44 a.m. the next day, Porter texted: "I want to see you." Seven hours later, he wrote: "Do you want to see me?" Three hours after that, he said: "I'm sorry." At 10:59 p.m.: "I thought we could have some fun."

On July 23, his fourth consecutive day of texting without a response, Porter wrote: ":-( I'm a nice guy you know." Later that day, he said: "Was it the pictures that made you mad?" That night, he sent another selfie.

Porter continued to text the woman sporadically, asking on Aug. 8: "Are you ok?" The next day, both were at Wrigley Field. "I think I just saw you," Porter wrote. "You're so beautiful."

The woman told ESPN she felt panicky and hid from him.

A day later, Porter texted: "I'll be in LA this weekend at the best hotel in America, can you meet me there?" The day after that, Aug. 11, Porter sent the woman a message at 5:35 p.m. that said: "You're missing out." He followed with the 17 pictures, including the one of the naked penis.

About two hours after sending the photos, Porter sent more messages, the first five of which read:

"?"

"Are you there?"

"?"

"Mad at me?"

":-("

The woman said she did not know how to respond.

"Being alone in a different country made it tougher," she told ESPN. "I didn't know who to trust and rely on."

She had shown the sexually explicit image to a player from her home country and an interpreter, who helped craft the response she sent to Porter: "This is extremely inappropriate, very offensive, and getting out of line. Could you please stop sending offensive photos or msg."

Porter responded in a series of messages: "Oh I'm sorry."

"I will stop."

"I really apologize." "Please let me know if you ever need anything work wise."

The next day, he texted again: "I'm sorry." A day later, he shared a photo from Dodger Stadium. It was the last message, the woman said, that Porter sent.

She considered alerting the Cubs but said she was concerned about possible repercussions. That summer, she said, she had developed a serious sleeping problem and was wracked with anxiety about whether she had made the wrong decision in coming to the U.S. Eventually, the woman said, she told her bosses, who referred her to a lawyer and connected her with a Cubs employee from her home country.

The woman and the employee met during the 2016 postseason in Chicago. The woman did not want to identify the employee publicly because she feared retribution. The employee, she said, told her Porter wanted to apologize in person. She said she did not want to see him. The employee, she said, encouraged her to use the situation to her advantage. She said he pressed her numerous times on whether she planned to file a lawsuit against Porter.

In an interview Monday, the employee confirmed he knows Porter and the woman and that he had discussed the situation with both. When asked by ESPN if he told the woman to use the situation to her advantage, the employee said: "I was just listening to both. I didn't want to ruin anything. I didn't want to be on one side."

Following the Cubs' victory over the Cleveland Indians for their first championship in 108 years, Porter left the organization to join the Arizona Diamondbacks as an assistant general manager.

The woman said she remained in touch with the Cubs employee and saw him at spring training in 2017, when she said she was still considering filing a lawsuit. The employee became angry, she said, and they haven't spoken since. The employee denied getting angry, adding that "whenever I was talking to her, I was basically listening to her."

The woman declined to pursue legal action and told ESPN she has no plans to do so.

The Cubs released a statement to ESPN late Monday, saying "This story came to our attention tonight and we are not aware of this incident ever being reported to the organization."

"Had we been notified, we would have taken swift action as the alleged behavior is in violation of our code of conduct," the team said. "While these two individuals are no longer with the organization, we take issues of sexual harassment seriously and plan to investigate the matter."

Over the course of the 2017 season, the woman said, she turned down opportunities to travel to Arizona to cover the Diamondbacks because she was afraid of running into Porter. She said she did not see him again until the postseason, when he was standing near the batting cage at the Diamondbacks' stadium. She said she immediately left the area and hid.

"While I was hiding, I was frustrated," she told ESPN in 2017. "Why do I have to hide?"

Porter's rise in baseball continued. His name was frequently mentioned when GM jobs opened. He interviewed for the Los Angeles Angels' job this winter and was a finalist behind Perry Minasian. When the Mets sought a GM to work alongside - and perhaps potentially take over from - team president Sandy Alderson, Porter emerged as a finalist and beat out former colleague and Red Sox assistant GM Zack Scott, who later joined the Mets in the same role.

The woman, meanwhile, returned to her home country and left the journalism industry altogether. She now works in finance.

While she said the fallout of the texts from Porter wasn't the sole reason for leaving the industry, it caused her to think about her future - and how remaining around baseball long-term was simply untenable.

"It would be a lie to say similar occurrences hadn't happened to me in [my home country]," she said. "It's a male-dominated industry. But it was a tipping point for me. I started to ask myself, 'Why do I have to put myself through these situations to earn a living?'"

Times have changed since Scott Speed last competed in a Formula One race on July 22, 2007. The European Grand Prix was at the Nurburgring, Twitter was in its infancy and George W. Bush was president of the United States.

Only two years removed from winning the Red Bull Driver Search for America’s next F-1 hopeful, the Red Bull-backed Scuderia Toro Rosso team fired Speed after 28 races. Speed was the first American to compete full time in F-1 since Michael Andretti in 1993 and the first American since Andretti to lose his seat midseason.

During his tenure with Toro Rosso, however, Speed showed flashes of brilliance — like a stirring drive from 18th to ninth in the 2007 Monaco Grand Prix aboard a car that had no business fighting among the top 10.

In another example of       F-1’s cut-throat business, Speed lost his seat two months after his best race and only nine days after the Nurburgring. Toro Rosso replaced the American driver with an unproven, 20-year-old German named Sebastian Vettel.

The move left Andretti and Speed with an ironic thing in common: both drivers saw their seats taken by future world champions — Mika Hakkinen in Andretti’s case and Vettel in Speed’s.

In the 13-plus years since Speed’s axing, Alexander Rossi’s five-race stint with Manor in 2015 remains the only time an American has competed in Formula One. Speed — who turns 38 on Jan. 24 — is appropriately thankful for his time at the sport’s highest level.

“That whole part of my life is the part that I’m most proud of,” Speed said during a November interview with SPEED SPORT. “It’s hard to explain to people now, because I moved (from F-1-crazed Austria) to North Carolina and NASCAR country and the number of people there who can understand and appreciate what I did (in F-1) during my racing career, they’re few and far between. And, honestly, it’s not like I even care about that. I’ve always raced for my own sort of approval and for my own challenges, but that’s easily the most successful thing I’ve ever done and it’ll always be like that.

“I made the decision after that was all said and done, that I’m good with where I’m at as an open-wheel race car driver,” Speed continued. “Am I Lewis Hamilton? Definitely not, but I am one of the best in the world at this. The F-1 stuff and the success I had in Europe (two Formula Renault 2000 championships), that is the thing I’m most proud of. The second thing I’m proud of is that afterward, I didn’t stick in my comfort zone and go to IndyCar or DTM. I wasn’t scared to try something I wasn’t great at.”

Speed took his talents to NASCAR where the gear shift isn’t on the steering wheel, the paddock is called the garage and there’s no trophy for third place.

The Manteca, Calif., native experienced culture shock in his home country.

“NASCAR is super difficult to learn and it was way harder than I thought it would be,” Speed said. “I had to learn a whole new racing style and a completely different culture. There was just no common ground.”

Speed maintained a solid relationship with Red Bull, which in 2008 landed him rides in the ARCA Menards Series and the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. Speed nearly won the ARCA championship in his rookie season and he scored a Truck Series victory at Dover (Del.) Int’l Speedway in his sixth start.

Not bad for a NASCAR neophyte.

“In terms of experience, I went from Level 99 to Level 1. I was completely starting over,” Speed recalled. “You don’t get to spend your whole life doing one type of motor racing and then switch and be the best in the world at a different one. I wasn’t going to go in there and win a NASCAR title. My goal was to just get there, make it to the highest level and become competent at it.”

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TULSA, Okla. — Toyota Racing Development extended its reign over the Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals with its seventh straight victory as an engine manufacturer during Saturday night’s finale.

Kyle Larson led all 55 laps of the championship A Main to top the Super Bowl of Midget Racing for the second consecutive year, joining an exclusive club of eight drivers who have earned multiple Chili Bowl titles.

But Toyota’s march has rolled on inside the River Spirit Expo Center since 2015, the first year Rico Abreu hoisted the Golden Driller trophy at Tulsa Expo Raceway.

Abreu won the event in back-to-back years in 2015 and ’16, followed by a run of three in a row by Christopher Bell from 2017-’19. Larson’s pair of victories in 2020 and ’21 complete the set of seven.

“Everyone at Toyota Racing Development is extremely proud to have earned a seventh consecutive Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals title,” said Tyler Gibbs, general manager of Toyota Racing Develpoment. “We have been very fortunate to have teamed with so many talented, hard-working individuals over the past seven years. To have three different teams finish in the top three and seven different teams reach tonight’s A Main is proof of the great partners we have.”

Fourteen Toyota-powered drivers were in the field for this year’s Chili Bowl A Main, featuring drivers from seven different teams.

Kyle Larson Racing, CB Industries, Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports, RMS Racing, Dave Mac Motorsports, Hahn Racing and Joe B. Miller Motorsports were represented among the 24 feature starters, all utilizing TRD engines.

In addition to its Saturday night score, TRD engines swept all five Chili Bowl preliminary night wins, with Cannon McIntosh (Monday), Larson (Tuesday), Abreu (Wednesday), Bell (Thursday) and Justin Grant (Friday) each notching a weeknight victory.

Bell also won the Vacuworx Invitational Race of Champions Tuesday night, giving Toyota power plants seven wins in six nights during the annual midget racing extravaganza.

With its seventh Chili Bowl triumph, Toyota moved into a three-way tie for the most wins in history as an engine manufacturer at the historic event, joining Gaerte (’96-’01, ’03) and Esslinger (’08-’14), which also won seven in a row prior to Toyota’s current streak.

The 36th Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals will take place Jan. 10-15, 2022 inside the River Spirit Expo Center.

SPEED SPORT’s LIVE From the Chili Bowl coverage is supported by MyRacePass, KICKER, Curb Records and Swann Communications! To find out more about each of our partners and to check out all of SPEED SPORT’s Chili Bowl coverage, visit our Chili Bowl Index Page! DON’T MISS SPEED SPORT’S LIVE From the Chili Bowl on Saturday, Jan. 16 at 6:30 p.m. ET on MAVTV and watch the Chili Bowl finale LIVE Saturday, Jan. 16 at 8:30 p.m. on MAVTV!

Arsenal's post-Christmas revival will really gather pace if Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's brace in this 3-0 win over Newcastle signals a return to form.

For 50 minutes or so, this appeared likely to be another evening spent in the shadow of his former self, bereft of confidence and lacking conviction when chances presented themselves.

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With just a quarter of an hour played, Bukayo Saka burst into the box and tried a shot across goal which Newcastle goalkeeper Karl Darlow touched away with his outstretched right foot. The ball came quickly to Aubameyang just beyond the far post around three yards out and he could only steer his shot off the far upright with the goal at his mercy. The speed with which the ball came to him, via a late deflection, offered small mitigation but it was a chance he should have converted and one he surely would have done had he been anywhere near his best of late.

Just before the interval, Aubameyang had another chance to cut in from the left and try his luck but the 31-year-old could only produce a tame effort off target. And so when Thomas Partey released Aubameyang five minutes after half-time for another run at Newcastle right-back Emil Krafth, the odds were against what happened next.

Suddenly, the old Aubameyang appeared. The one who helped Arteta and Arsenal thrive in 'Project Restart' and helped guide them to an FA Cup final success with goals against Manchester City and Chelsea.

The Gabon international burst forward with intent, shifted the ball onto his left foot, and in a flash fired a shot past Darlow. It was reward, not least for his perseverance.

"That's what he has done through his career and mentally you have to be really strong in order to do that," said Gunners boss Mikel Arteta. "He has come out of a difficult period. We have been missing his goals a lot. Today he has come back and scored two, and contributed to the team to win and this is exactly what we need. So I am really pleased for him."

It was only Aubameyang's second Premier League goal since Nov. 1 but one that eased frustrations on a night when Arsenal dominated the ball but struggled to translate that superiority to the scoreline.

Thomas Partey, making his first start since Dec. 6 following a thigh injury, looked utterly unflustered throughout, misplacing just three of his 58 passes all evening. Sterner tests are to come for Arsenal's £45 million summer signing but there were encouraging signs given the midfielder's lack of action due to injury since arriving from Atletico Madrid.

Meanwhile, youngsters Emile Smith Rowe and Saka continue to inject joy into the Gunners' play, taking advantage of some dreadful defending and to combine for Arsenal's second.

It felt apt that Smith Rowe continues to show signs of being able to take up a creative mantle once the preserve of Mesut Ozil, who is now in Turkey ahead of a move to Fenerbahce. Smith Rowe is said to have been one of several youngsters to look up to Ozil even during his spell in the wilderness but the quickest way for everyone to move on is for the 20-year-old to continue on like this.

"The manager tells me so much to play free, clear my mind, and be confident," Smith Rowe told Sky Sports. "If I make a mistake he tells me to carry on. I'm so happy to play for a manager like Mikel and to get these opportunities."

Cedric Soares, selected ahead of Hector Bellerin at right-back, capped a composed display with an assist for Aubameyang to tap home a second. It is the first time Aubameyang has scored more than once in a game since that FA Cup final -- he was denied the chance to pursue a hat trick after coming off with what Arteta described as a small "stomach issue" -- and since signing his new contract in September, there have been accusations in some quarters of a drop off in intensity from the Gabonese.

However, his tally of just eight goals for the season including the Community Shield is the product of a number of factors beyond a loss of confidence, not least the poor chance creation the Gunners suffered with during that spell before Christmas when they lost five out of seven games in all competitions.

Aubameyang has now scored in his last four games against Newcastle and Arteta's hope will be this is the beginning of a renaissance given the tougher opposition that lies in wait: potentially Southampton twice in four days before Manchester United, Wolves, Aston Villa, Leeds, Benfica and Manchester City.

But everyone has to start somewhere. Steve Bruce made eight changes to the team that lost 1-0 to Sheffield United but there was little discernible by way of a reaction and in the end, this was a nice confidence-builder for the home side, their fifth win in six games (including their FA Cup third-round win against Bruce's men nine days earlier).

This was also Arsenal's fifth consecutive clean sheet, the first time they have managed such a run in 12 years. Align that with a revived Aubameyang and Arteta may well be on to something.