ORLANDO, Fla. — The seventh round of the Monster Energy AMA Supercross, an FIM World Championship held its first open-air race of the season inside Camping World Stadium.

Race fans, seated in restricted-attendance pod-style seating, braved morning rains to witness Red Bull KTM’s Cooper Webb take his second 450SX class victory of the season ahead of Team Honda HRC’s Ken Roczen.

Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Zach Osborne held on for a hard-fought third place. The Eastern Regional 250SX class delivered drama early in the night, but in the main event it was Team Honda HRC’s Jett Lawrence with a wire-to-wire win.

Osborne grabbed the holeshot and had the speed to keep the pack behind him in the 450SX class event but a big mistake in the whoops allowed three riders to get by as he recovered. Muc-Off Honda’s Justin Brayton took over the point position with Roczen right on his rear tire.

Roczen was coming off a three-win streak, but that only motivated Webb more; the KTM rider sat close in third. Just over three minutes into the 20-minute plus one lap race, Webb positioned himself to pass both riders in a single corner.

Like that, Webb had the lead with Roczen using the moment to get around Brayton even as he lost a spot to Webb.

Opening-round winner Troy Lee Designs / Red Bull / GASGAS Factory Racing’s Justin Barcia was soon past Brayton also, and the three riders rounded the track nearly in formation just slightly out of range for any of them to make a pass attempt.

With just over five minutes left on the race clock Barcia had an incredible save in the whoops. He was thrown from his bike but managed to stay in touch long enough to jump back on without hitting the ground. Osborne took advantage of the mistake to take third spot – in the same section where he’d lost the race lead – and held it to the end despite a constant push from Barcia.

Defending champion Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Eli Tomac had a tough night after a mid-pack start and rounding the first lap in 11th place. Tomac made steady progress forward and reached fifth by the checkered flag.

In Eastern Regional 250SX class, racing it was Jett Lawrence’s night from the drop of the main event gate. After scoring the holeshot it was his race to lose with points leader Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha’s Colt Nichols right behind him.

As the two pulled away from third place rider Monster Energy Star Racing Yamaha’s Christian Craig, the gap between the top two riders stretched and closed. Lawrence handily got through lappers, never allowing them to slow him enough for Nichols to get within striking distance.

The big drama of the 250SX class had come earlier in the night. Christian Craig crashed hard in 250SX Class Heat 2 while leading; Craig was pitched and slow to get up, evaluating his right hand. He returned for the Last Chance Qualifier with the injury taped up. He rode conservatively for the LCQ win and a spot on the main event gate. Craig gutted it out through the pain in the main event for third, losing only two points on his teammate as the regional series goes into a 10-week break before the final two rounds to determine the champion.

PUNTA GORDA, Fla. — Troy DeCaire would not be denied a second consecutive Southern Sprint Car Shootout Series victory of the season Saturday night despite the loss of power steering in the closing laps of his victory at 417 Southern Speedway.

When the green flag dropped DeCaire wasted no time charging to the front from his outside row two starting position.By the time he crossed the start finish line to complete the first lap, he had firmly established himself as the race leader.

He would go on to lead the 40-lap event wire-to-wire despite two late race double-file restarts that allowed L.J. Grimm a brief opportunity to challenge DeCaire.

DeCaire won by 1.371 seconds over runner-up Grimm.

“I don’t know if a power steering line was leaking or something, it’s all over the car,” DeCaire explained. “Maybe I’m just old and got tired. I’m not really sure. I was struggling. I was getting a lot of wrap in the steering wheel. When I saw that yellow with three or four to go, I wasn’t happy to see that. You worry when you slow down because something might happen and it might lock up. But the car was really good and I never touched the wing. I can’t remember when the last time I done that.”

Following DeCaire was Grimm, Scotty Adema, Joey “The Ace” Aguilar, and Mike Tharp rounding out the top five.

With DeCaire’s win, he now finds himself undefeated in 2021 with three winged pavement sprint car victories.

The finish:

Troy DeCaire, L.J. Grimm, Scott Adema, Joey Aguilar, Mike Tharp, Ryan Adema, Travis Bliemeister, Gary Wiggins, Nick Andrade.

SAN TAN VALLEY, Ariz. — Jake O’Neill doubled his pleasure Saturday night at Arizona Speedway, winning his second IMCA modified feature in as many days during the three-day Superstition Shootout.

Driving the No. 0 modified, O’Neill claimed the main event ahead of Tanner Black.

Casey Arneson, Kellen Chadwick and Tim Ward rounded out the top five.

Bo Partain visited victory lane twice on the night, winning both the Northern SportMod feature and the stock car main event.

The finish:

Jake O’Neill, Tanner Black, Casey Arneson, Kellen Chadwick, Tim Ward, Cody Laney, Ethan Dotson, Collen Winebarger, Brandon Schmitt, Tripp Gaylord, Lance Mari, Riley Simmons, Grey Ferrando, Bobby Hogge IV, Bob Moore, Paul Stone, Bricen James, Chaz Baca, Braxton Yeager, Mike Wedelstadt, Zachary Madrid, Kollin Hibdon, Greg Gustus, Jeff Hunter.

SOMERSET, Ky. — Officials with the Valvoline Iron-Man Late Model Northern Series have announced the addition of the Beckley USA 100 at the Robert Mooney-promoted Beckley Motorsports Park in Mount Hope, W.Va., on July 4 to the Northern Tour schedule.

The event will pay $20,000-to-win and $800-to-start. It also boosts a purse in excess of $55,000 for the one-day show. Zack Dohm captured last year’s Beckley USA 100 event in thrilling fashion over Tyler Erb, Ryan Montgomery, Henry Hornsby III and Tanner English.

More information on this event will be released in the coming months.

Additionally, the Valvoline Iron-Man Late Model Series has removed the following dates from the schedule: May 14, May 15 and Sept. 25 all at Skyline Speedway in Stewart, Ohio. With the track sale not being completed, officials have announced those dates will be removed.

The series plans to add an event in Ohio on Sunday May 30 to the schedule at a later date.

CONCORD, N.C. – A trip to Volusia Speedway Park for the 50th DIRTcar Nationals wasn’t initially on Devin Moran’s itinerary.

His new gator-wide smile signified his joy of that change.

Moran, 26, of Dresden, Ohio, claimed his first DIRTcar Nationals Big Gator championship on Saturday after an impressive display of consistency through the five rounds of Late Model races. If it wasn’t for a broken driveshaft on Wednesday, he could’ve finished on the podium in each event – he had finishes of third, second, 31st, first (his first Volusia win) and second.

“It’s pretty cool,” Moran said about claiming his first Big Gator title. “It’s pretty unexpected, to be honest. At the start of the week, we weren’t even planning on coming down here. Then to run top three even night, except for that one DNF, which I think we had a shot to win, it just gives us a lot of confidence… To start out the year the way we have, it’s been a lot of fun and like I said, it gives us a lot of confidence.”

If it wasn’t for Florida-residents Terry and Marry Ann Wright – who have been friends with Moran’s car owner for a while – Moran and his team would’ve skipped the prestigious event. They’ve been trying to get the team to come down for a couple of years and this year helped make it affordable for them, Moran said.

“I’m glad they did because it definitely paid off,” he added.

Bobby Pierce was his closest competitor in the championship hunt going into the final race – before Saturday’s event was canceled due to rain. He entered the night only nine points behind Moran and was on track to cut into that lead after setting Slick Woody’s Quick Time and starting on the outside pole of the Feature.

However, as fate would have it, he suffered a motor issue and the team was unable to get a new one in before the Feature started. Pierce hoped in Reid Millard’s car for the Feature but pulled in early and was unable to finish, unofficially handing the Big Gator championship to Moran who finished second that night. He earned his first golden gator trophy the night before.

Defending Big Gator champion and three-time defending World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model Series champion Brandon Sheppard finished second in over Big Gator points.

“Like I said, it’s so unexpected,” Moran said. “First of all, with us not coming and then winning the whole week. It sucks with what happened with Bobby that he had to change motors and couldn’t… It’s a bummer that he couldn’t race. But we had a really consistent fast car all week. It’s a special thing to take home this gator with as unexpected as it was.”

Qatar have released a statement to say that a misunderstanding led to Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al Thani not bumping fists with female officials at the Club World Cup.

Bayern Munich beat Tigres 1-0 in the final and after the game officials were presented with medals for their participation.

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A video subsequently went viral which appeared to show the Sheikh fist bumping with a male official but not the female ones.

"During the awards ceremony at the final game of the FIFA Club World Cup 2020, there was a minor misunderstanding as medals were handed to the match officials," the statement said.

"To limit the risk of spreading the COVID-19 virus, there were strict protocols in place and everyone involved in the tournament was strongly advised to avoid physical contact.

"In this instance, the misunderstanding arose from the perception that three of the match officials did not want to conduct the customary 'fist bump' with His Excellency Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al Thani, which was of course their right.

"When seen in its entirety, it is clear from the footage that this was a simple misunderstanding and there was no intention to offend. The decision to engage in any form of physical contact remains a personal preference for all players, coaches and referees, and is respected by all involved in the organising committee for this tournament and next year's FIFA World Cup."

With several top clubs in Europe looking to strengthen the heart of their defence, RB Leipzig centre-back Dayot Upamecano was the one that many wanted.

Liverpool, Manchester United and Bayern Munich were all heavily linked with a move for the 22-year-old, who recently made his full senior debut for France. And it was the reigning European champions who won out, announcing on Sunday that a deal is in place to sign Upamecano on a five-year contract this summer and they will reportedly pay a release clause worth €42.5 million ($51m).

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The move is yet another example of Bundesliga giants Bayern recruiting one of their main domestic rivals' key players. However, having just won the FIFA Club World Cup to become the holders of six trophies all at once, Upamecano will come into a team that hardly needs improving. One thing is for certain, though: he has the tools to succeed at the highest level. Here's our scouting report.

Where has he come from?

Upamecano is a product of the Valenciennes academy but, mainly thanks to consistent outstanding performances for France at youth level, he never even got the opportunity to make his debut for the first team before he was on the radar of Europe's top clubs.

After a particularly impressive Under-17 European Championship in the summer of 2015 -- he was the top defender at the tournament by a long way -- he joined FC Salzburg for €2.2m. Despite being courted by more prominent clubs, he wisely opted hone his skills in Austria as he felt it offered him a better pathway to senior football.

After arriving in Austria as a 16-year-old, he was loaned out to FC Liefering, Salzburg's development team, and spent most of his debut season playing in the second division before adding two league appearances for the senior side towards the end of the campaign.

After half a season with the FC Salzburg first team, he then moved to fellow Red Bull-owned club Leipzig for a fee in excess of €10m in January 2017. Having already been well accustomed to the Red Bull way of playing football, the Frenchman immediately found himself at home, despite the obvious jump in competitive level in the German Bundesliga, and wasted no time in grabbing a starting spot for his new side.

Position

Though his reputation as one of the most sought-after players in Europe was built on the basis of 100+ league appearances as a centre-back, the youngster is also capable -- although perhaps not entirely comfortable -- of deputising as a defensive midfielder and did so on a few occasions for FC Salzburg.

Technically and tactically, he should also deal quite well with standing in as a right full-back (being right-footed obviously makes him less suitable as a left-back, though it doesn't mean he couldn't rise to that challenge as well.)

Recently, Upamecano has been fielded as the left-sided centre-back in partnership with Ibrahima Konate (who is one year younger and almost equally impressive), in Julian Nagelsmann's back four. He occasionally started in the middle of a back three last season.

Strengths

Unsurprisingly it's the attributes that made Upamecano stand out as a youth player that have also cemented his status among Europe's elite young defenders: he's exceptionally quick and powerful.

This season he recorded the third quickest sprint speed in the Bundesliga (35.34 km/h), but unlike most other centre-backs he's not only fast once he gets going, he's also agile and quick on the turn (often the Achilles' heel of even those defenders playing at the highest level.)

Upamecano's fine physical attributes don't stop with pace, though; he comes out on top from an impressive 70% of his aerial battles, plus he's efficiently assertive in one-vs.-one challenges defensively. The Frenchman has also become more comfortable with the ball at his feet: whereas he was previously prone to occasional sloppiness when under pressure, he's now confident enough to pick out midfielders in central positions, often by finding narrow gaps between the oncoming opponents.

His ability to bring the ball out of defence was in evidence during the 3-3 draw at Bayern last December, while the occasional aimless lumping of the ball forward -- especially when being closed down -- is becoming an increasingly rare occurrence in his game.

Weaknesses

The fact that Upamecano was on pretty much every shortlist in Europe is not just testament to his steady improvement, but it also shows how he keeps weeding out personal errors and tactical shortcomings from his game.

However, as witnessed in the 5-0 hammering at the hands of Manchester United at Old Trafford in October, there's still room for improvement in terms of reading the game. The way he let Mason Greenwood in on his blind side for the opener and how he went for the ball instead of dropping deep, which lead to Marcus Rashford nicking the ball in front of him for 3-0, shows that he's still not the finished article.

At times Upamecano can also appear too focused on the ball when crosses are put in, at the expense of having a clear picture of players' movement around him.

How he'll fit in

The footballing education he has had from RB Leipzig stands Upamecano in good stead to suit the demands of playing in the same league at Bayern.

His pace is ideal for a team favouring high pressure with the centre-backs not being worried about leaving room behind them. But he's also got the quality on the ball and the distribution skills to build from the back in a possession-oriented side too.

Bayern Munich may be champions of Germany, Europe and the world, but Upamecano should prove to be an immediate quality reinforcement.

Pakistan won the toss and chose to bowl vs South Africa

In a series where the chasing team has had the advantage against a wet ball, Pakistan opted to field first in the finale. South Africa had won the previous two tosses and did the same, and though they did not win the first match, it was clear that the side fielding second struggled to control the ball in the moisture caused by heavy fog. Pakistan won that match by three runs but lost the second, where South Africa completed a relatively straightforward chase.

Both sides expect conditions to be more spinner-friendly than they have been so far, with South Africa swapping out medium-pacer Glenton Stuurman for left-arm spinner Bjorn Fortuin in the only change they've made to their team. Jon-Jon Smuts and Tabraiz Shamsi are the other two spin options.

Pakistan have shuffled the batting order and introduced Asif Ali into the middle-order while leaving out both Iftikhar Ahmed and Khushdil Shah while bolstering the bowling with the inclusion of debutant legspinner Zahid Mahmood. They also brought in Hasan Ali in place of Haris Rauf.

While Pakistan have already won the Test series and are seeking a second trophy at home this season, South Africa have not won a T20 series since March 2019, when they beat Sri Lanka at home. Since then, they have lost to England twice and Australia and drawn a series in India, where one match was rained off.

Pakistan: 1 Babar Azam (capt), 2 Mohammad Rizwan (wk), 3 Haider Ali 4 Hussain Talat, 5 Asif Ali, 6 Faheem Ashraf, 7 Mohammad Nawaz, 8 Usman Qadir, 9 Hasan Ali, 10 Shaheen Shah Afridi, 11 Zahid Mahmood

South Africa:: 1 Janneman Malan, 2 Reeza Hendricks, 3 Jon-Jon Smuts, 4 Pite van Bilkon, 5 Heinrich Klaasen (capt &wk), 6 David Miller, 7 Dwaine Pretorius, 8 Andile Phehlukwayo, 9 Bjorn Fortuin, 10 Lutho Sipamla 11 Tabraiz Shamsi

Having played 76 largely successful Tests, R Ashwin is now at a stage of his career where every achievement takes him to a milestone. During the second day's play in Chennai, he took his 29th five-for, going level at the seventh position overall with Glenn McGrath. It was fitting that during a conversation around a DRS review caught on the stump mic, Ashwin showed McGrath-like memory of his wickets, telling Virat Kohli to go for the review because he had got the batsman out in a similar fashion after a DRS review in the Mohali Test back in 2016. This time, though, the bounce in the Chennai pitch had the ball sailing over, but McGrath would be proud of the memory displayed by Ashwin.

When Ashwin did get the said batsman, Ben Stokes, eventually, he brought up two more milestones: the 200th wicket of a left-hand batsman (he is already ahead of any bowler on that count) and his 266th wicket in India, taking him past Harbhajan Singh's 265. He is only behind Anil Kumble now. For a man who remembers wickets and numbers well, he didn't know of this one. At any rate it is special because when Ashwin was trying to make a career for himself as a batsman, Harbhajan had that memorable 2000-01 Australia series, leaving the youngster in awe. The grand finale of that series came at the same ground.

"When I watched the 2000-01 series, when Bhajju pa played, I didn't even imagine I would go on to become an offspinner for my country," Ashwin said. "I was still a batsman for my state. Trying to accelerate a cricket towards batting and playing for my country. I wasn't even sure I would go on to become a player for the Indian team. Lot of my team-mates from that age, from that generation, used to make fun of me because in my action I used to try to bowl like Bhajju pa. From there on to come on and go past him has to be incredibly special. I didn't know of it. Now that I know of it, I am incredibly happy. Sorry, Bhajju Pa."

For the wickets of the left-hand batsmen, Ashwin credits his use of the crease and the seam position. This was a classic Ashwin wicket against a left-hand batsman: drifting in, dipping, creating a gap between where Stokes expected it to land and where it did, and then turning past the outside edge to knock back the off stump. However, it could also be argued this was still a full ball and Stokes should really have covered this.

Those arguments aside, Ashwin getting excellent batsmen bowled past the outside edge is a highlight reel on its own. His twin dismissals of Alastair Cook in Birmingham will top any list and were unequivocal classics. Then add to this offbreak the threat of his change of angles and parallel seam to give the ball every chance to go straight on and trap a batsman lbw.

"I can't really remember how it all started," Ashwin said. "Obviously the ball turning away from the left-hander is one very big advantage when it comes to offspinners. Likewise left-arm orthodox spinners enjoy bowling to right-hand batsmen. To me over the years, left-hand batsmen have tended to receive a lot of bowling from round the stumps. One thing I have learned and got better at is varying the seam position, the point where I use the crease, going wide on the box or as close as possible. Also change over the stumps. That is one angle I have used effectively recently."

This five-for also took Ashwin past James Anderson to No. 4 on the list of most five-wicket hauls at home. And it came at a place that is closest home, just a middle-distance from him actual home. "It's wonderful to have a crowd back," Ashwin said. "The Indian fans must have been waiting to get back, especially when cricket is one of the bigger sports here. Playing in front of my home crowd is always special for me. And to get five wickets here is something I would always cherish. In front of the crowd is even better."