Kevin Durant will not play in Brooklyn's Friday night game in Oklahoma City as he continues to recover from right Achilles tendon surgery.

Durant played 42 minutes and led all scorers with 32 points in Brooklyn's double-overtime win in Atlanta on Wednesday.

He has played in 15 of the Nets' 20 games and leads the team in points (30.5), rebounds (7.5), assists (5.5), blocks (1.5) and steals (0.7) per game.

LA Clippers stars Kawhi Leonard and Paul George cleared health and safety protocols and are set to return Friday against the Orlando Magic.

Leonard and George rejoined the Clippers in Orlando after missing the first two games on this six-game road swing. The Clippers departed on the trip without their two stars, who were placed in the NBA's health and safety protocols on Monday.

The Clippers, though, will still be without starting point guard Patrick Beverley, who remains out due to right knee soreness.

The Clippers (14-5) lost in Atlanta on Tuesday before beating the Heat on Thursday night.

Leonard is averaging 25.9 points, 5.4 rebounds, 5.7 assists and 2.0 steals this season. George is enjoying a bounce-back season, averaging 23.9 points, 6.2 rebounds, 5.4 assists and 1.2 steals.

THE BALL BOY, too young to tie his sneakers, made quite the impression on Goran Dragic.

The kid was the son of a veteran player on Geoplin Slovan, an Adriatic League first-division club where Dragic began his professional career. The boy, 5 years old when he first met Dragic, always had a basketball in his hands and put up shots any time a basket was open. Occasionally, he entertained the crowd with halftime dribbling exhibitions at midcourt.

"It's really hard to predict how the future would go," Dragic says more than a decade-and-a-half later. "But the one thing I could say is as a young kid, he already had a passion for basketball."

Luka Doncic soon grew out of ball-boy responsibilities and halftime entertainment.

It didn't surprise Dragic when he later heard that EuroLeague powerhouse Real Madrid recruited Doncic to join its academy at the age of 13. He was dominating the junior levels and making headlines in their native Slovenia.

"Everybody started talking about him," Dragic says. "At that age, we figured out that he was probably something special."

Dragic had no doubt after sharing the backcourt with Doncic during the 2017 EuroBasket tournament, where they led Slovenia to the nation's first title. Dragic earned the tournament MVP, but he was certain that Doncic was destined for stardom after the then-18-year-old stood out against NBA players, displaying a deep skill set and an uncanny combination of competitive fire and calm under pressure.

"He's going to be the best player in Europe in a couple of years, trust me on that. In the NBA, too," Dragic declared after the championship game.

"Mark my words, he's going to be one of the best in the whole world."

Dragic has been proved right. After all, Doncic became the youngest MVP in EuroLeague history after leading Real Madrid to Liga ACB and EuroLeague titles the next season. His honors after two seasons with the Dallas Mavericks include Rookie of the Year and first-team All-NBA selections, becoming the first player to accomplish that in his second season since Hall of Fame inductee Tim Duncan. At 21, Doncic entered his third NBA season as the odds-on MVP favorite.

Dragic's expectations are far from the only ones that Doncic has wildly exceeded. Doncic somehow managed to be both the most hyped international prospect in basketball history and drastically underestimated as he arrived in the sport's premier stage.

"I thought he was going to need some more time to develop and to figure out the NBA style and NBA game," Dragic says. "I knew that in four or five years, he would be one of the best players in the league. But, yeah, he demonstrated that I was wrong about that.

"It happened a lot faster."

WHEN JOSH RICHARDSON returned to Miami after training on the West Coast, he couldn't wait to talk about one of his workout partners.

"Yo, I just met this kid," Richardson recalls telling his friends. "He's going to be the first pick in the draft."

It was the summer of 2016 and Richardson, who was entering his rookie season with the Miami Heat, was training at P3's facility in Santa Barbara, California, working out under the watchful eyes of biomechanical experts in the morning and playing in world-class pickup runs in the afternoon.

In Spain, the buzz around Doncic was similar to the hype generated by Zion Williamson at Duke, according to Salah Mejri, who played for Real Madrid then and the Mavs when Doncic arrived in the NBA.

"When he played guys his age, he was killing them!" Mejri says. "We always checked his numbers."

But Richardson had never heard of the young Slovenian who was in the same weight room one morning. Doncic was fresh off his first full season with Real Madrid's top team and his agent, Bill Duffy, who also represents Richardson, suggested that both players train at the facility.

"No way," Richardson recalls thinking when someone told him that the broad-shouldered, 6-foot-6 guy was a 16-year-old kid. After watching Doncic display a smooth shooting stroke, precise footwork and rare handle for a player his size, Richardson was impressed.

Doncic wowed Richardson during pickup ball, hitting some step-back jumpers, flicking some pretty passes and setting the pace in a game that included established pros.

"He's got it. He's got it," Richardson recalls thinking to himself.

"I still think he should have been [the first pick]," adds Richardson, who is now Doncic's backcourt partner after a trade in the offseason.

"I knew that in four or five years, he would be one of the best players in the league. But, yeah, he demonstrated that I was wrong about that. It happened a lot faster."

Heat guard Goran Dragic

Doncic went third overall in the 2018 NBA draft, when the Mavs made a deal with the Atlanta Hawks to move up two spots. Dallas always considered Doncic the best prospect in the class -- "far and away," president of basketball operations Donnie Nelson says -- and the team's Europe-based scouts had been closely tracking Doncic since he joined Real Madrid's junior program.

Nelson first scouted him in person during Doncic's third professional game as a 15-year-old. He would time trips to Europe to see Real Madrid play lower-level teams, understanding that Doncic wouldn't play much against elite rivals at that age.

"Every time I would go see him, it was just another validation of how unique and special he is," says Nelson, who has long had an affinity for European prospects, dating to when he facilitated the arrival of Sarunas Marciulionis from Lithuania in 1989 to play for the Golden State Warriors team coached by his dad, Don.

Nelson was the first member of the Mavs' organization to identify a German wunderkind named Dirk Nowitzki as a lottery target and was convinced long before Doncic declared for the draft that the Slovenian teen could be a worthy successor.

"He was really hyping the kid up, which Donnie really never does," says Mike Procopio, the Mavs' former director of player development.

"Donnie Nelson was spot on this the whole time," Duffy says.

"I had this feeling and thought that [Doncic] could play point guard, that he was like a cross between Magic and Bird. That's the first thing I saw. He's a triple-double machine. I saw that, and then Donnie saw that. I just remember him saying, 'He's a point guard. He's like Magic.'

"You're damn right he is."

Nelson unsuccessfully lobbied for Dallas to draft Greece's Giannis Antetokounmpo in 2014, but he completely sold owner Mark Cuban in 2018. Doncic was the target as the Mavs tanked during the 2017-18 season. Commissioner Adam Silver fined Cuban $600,000 for "public statements detrimental to the NBA" after the billionaire blurted out on a podcast midway through the season that he told the team's veterans that "losing is our best option."

When Dallas, which had the third-best odds to win the lottery after a 24-58 season, ended up with the No. 5 pick, Nelson was crushed. "I was honestly devastated," Nelson says.

Doncic was never considered the consensus best player in a draft that saw Deandre Ayton go No. 1 to the Phoenix Suns and Marvin Bagley III go No. 2 to the Sacramento Kings. Some questioned whether Doncic had "maxed out," as Duffy put it, wondering if a player who was so polished could improve.

"I was glad every time he lost a foot race or didn't look very athletic, to be honest with you," Nelson says, cracking up with laughter. "I was cheering for him to screw up in the European championships [days before the draft].

"I just wanted him to drop!"

PLENTY OF PEOPLE around the NBA doubted whether Doncic, who had grown to a shade taller than 6-foot-7 and more than 230 pounds, could play point guard in the NBA. One talent evaluator for a team picking a little later in that lottery compared him to Hedo Turkoglu, a skilled forward with playmaking ability -- a good player but far from a superstar.

Mavs coach Rick Carlisle admits that even he considered Doncic's NBA position to be "unclear" when he studied his European film. He knew Doncic had the savvy and vision to be a primary ball handler, but he wasn't sure a player that size could play point guard against the world's premier athletes.

"There's just a perception that players that are big and strong just aren't going to be able to do it, because how could they possibly be quick enough," Carlisle says. "But one of the things that you find out about Luka when you see him day to day is that he's not only strong, but he's quick and powerful and fast -- and deceptively so in all those areas."

It took about a day or two of watching Doncic play pickup ball at the Mavs' practice facility in the fall before his rookie season for Carlisle to be convinced.

"He was playing the point and he was seeing everything, he was making amazing passes look so simple," Carlisle says. "He was impacting every part of the game. He was getting a lot of rebounds. He was finding people on time, on target. It was clear that he could play point guard, let's put it that way."

There was one problem: That position was already manned by Dennis Smith Jr., the previous year's lottery pick and an All-Rookie selection the Mavs had proclaimed to be a foundation piece. Doncic began his NBA career officially listed as a forward and sharing facilitating duties with Smith, although Smith got a larger share of playmaking assignments because he struggled playing off the ball.

"I was glad every time he lost a foot race or didn't look very athletic, to be honest with you. I was cheering for him to screw up in the European championships. I just wanted him to drop!"

Mavericks president Donnie Nelson

Doncic made his first start at point guard six weeks into the season, when Smith missed a game due to injury, and recorded 15 points and eight assists in a home win over the Boston Celtics. Doncic then averaged 19.9 points, 6.9 rebounds and 6.8 assists during an 11-game stretch in December, when an injury sidelined Smith for all but one outing.

The Mavs soon came to the conclusion that they needed to move on from Smith to maximize Doncic's potential, which Nelson acknowledged he anticipated even before Doncic's arrival. Smith ended up being part of the package Dallas sent to the New York Knicks in the Kristaps Porzingis trade at the end of January 2019.

"In the first year, we were trying to figure things out," Nelson says. "How quickly do we put [Doncic] in that position? Things really opened up once we made that New York trade. ...

"He was born to be a quarterback."

DONCIC RAN AWAY with 2019 Rookie of the Year honors but made such a leap in his second season that he was a Most Improved Player finalist, averaging 28.8 points, 9.4 rebounds and 8.8 assists per game. The only players to stuff box scores with statistics that matched or exceeded Doncic's in those categories over the course of a season: Hall of Famer Oscar Robertson (four times) and Russell Westbrook during his MVP season in 2016-17.

Doncic was more productive during the playoffs (31.0 points, 9.8 rebounds, 8.7 assists), when the Mavs pushed the Clippers to six games despite losing Porzingis to a knee injury midway through the series.

"Once that ball was given to him, you could tell that it sort of shifted -- everything ran through him," says Procopio, who left the Mavs after Doncic's rookie year. "You could really tell that he could be an MVP-type player."

That is the standard now for Doncic, who turns 22 on Feb. 28. He'd be the youngest MVP winner in NBA history if he earns the honor this season.

"It's good and bad," said Doncic, whose conditioning was heavily scrutinized in the early weeks of the season after he came back from the short offseason carrying a few extra pounds. "A lot of people expect a lot from me. You have a lot of pressure, but on the other hand, people know I can do it."

Those high expectations also create a sense of urgency not typical for a team building around such a young superstar.

Dallas expedited its rebuilding process during Doncic's rookie season. The biggest step was acquiring a potential co-star in Porzingis. The Mavs also traded Harrison Barnes, the team's leading scorer the previous season, before that year's deadline in a move motivated by creating salary-cap flexibility. Dallas had planned to swing for another superstar next summer, a strategy that hit a roadblock when players scheduled to become free agents agreed to extensions with their current teams.

The Mavs have remained aggressive in pursuing complementary pieces around Doncic, such as the offseason trade of premier shooter Seth Curry for a stopper in Richardson, a move made because Dallas felt upgrading its defense was the only way to contend.

Despite the Mavs' rocky 8-10 start, the hype around Doncic has only gained momentum.

Any lingering doubts since his arrival as the most accomplished European teen in NBA history have been replaced by a sense of anticipation only a handful of players can command. And it happened much faster than many predicted.

"At any time," Carlisle says, "you can see something you've never seen before.

"I played with Bird. For three years straight, I watched, and that was the feeling when you watched him every single night. Magic Johnson was the same kind of player. Really, LeBron James is the same kind of player, too. These guys can do anything on a basketball court."

Free-agent first baseman Daniel Murphy is retiring from the sport, he announced Friday.

"This is a beautiful game, and I really just feel humbled and blessed that it let me jump on the ride for a little bit," Murphy told SNY. "It's beautiful. It can teach you about so many things. And all I can say is, thank you."

Murphy, 35, was a three-time All Star and a .296 career hitter with the New York Mets, Washington Nationals, Chicago Cubs and Colorado Rockies. He reached the World Series with the Mets in 2015, when he was MVP of the National League Championship Series, and was the NL MVP runner-up in 2016, his first year in Washington.

He never really flourished in his two seasons at hitter-friendly Coors Field after signing a $24 million deal in December 2018 and was replaced at first base last season by Josh Fuentes. Murphy hit .269 with 16 home runs and 94 RBIs in 172 games with the Rockies, dealing with a finger injury in his first season in Denver.

Murphy became a free agent after his $6 million mutual option for 2021 was declined by the Rockies, but he told SNY that he felt like he was going to retire by the end of last season.

He also told SNY about feeling terrified ahead of his first big league game and how those nerves "never really went away."

"I don't think we get less scared. I think the more we do it, we get braver," Murphy said. "So I don't think I got less afraid in my career. I think the more times you do it you're like, 'OK, you are nervous, and they are good. You want to perform well. And it's tough, but you're brave enough to do it. You did it yesterday, you'll do it today.'"

ESPN's Buster Olney and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

DETROIT -- The Tigers finalized a one-year, $2 million contract with catcher Wilson Ramos on Friday.

Ramos played 45 games last season with the New York Mets, hitting .239 with five home runs and 15 RBIs. He was an All-Star in 2016 for the Washington Nationals and in 2018 with the Tampa Bay Rays.

The 33-year-old Ramos could give Detroit a boost after its catchers struggled last year. Jake Rogers hit .125 in 35 games, and Grayson Greiner batted .118 in 18 games. Austin Romine hit .238 but agreed to a deal with the Chicago Cubs recently.

"Adding a reliable veteran catcher was one of our priorities this offseason, and we know that Wilson will be a great fit for that role," general manager Al Avila said. "He's still producing on the field at a high level after 11 years in the big leagues, and we feel his presence in the clubhouse will be a major positive both for our young catchers and pitching staff."

The Tigers are trying to rebuild around pitching prospects like Casey Mize and Tarik Skubal.

"I'm excited to join this team during such an exciting time," Ramos said. "Whether it's playing in a lineup with Miguel Cabrera or working with a really talented group of young pitchers, this was an opportunity that I was excited to take on."

Until the shortened 2020 season, Ramos had hit double-digit home runs for seven straight years. He made about $4.43 million in 2020, prorated from his salary of $10.25 million.

The Tigers also designated infielder Sergio Alcantara for assignment.

Billy Vunipola says time away from home and a socially-distanced training camp is worthwhile in order to experience England's evolving style first-hand.

Players cannot mix indoors and only go home twice during the six-week event.

"I would rather be here. This team is moving in different ways and I want to be moving in the same way," he said.

Coach Eddie Jones has spoken about England adding to the effective but unspectacular style that won them the Autumn Nations Cup at the end of last year, with uncapped pair Harry Randall and Paolo Odogwu eye-catching selections in his squad.

Prop Joe Marler, who has three young children, won't be involved in England's campaign after opting to stay home and "do right by my family in these crazy times".

Vunipola, 28, is the one Saracens player in the squad to have played rugby since the Autumn Nations Cup.

Relegated to the Championship because of breaches of the top-flight's salary cap, Saracens have been restricted to a single friendly - a defeat against Ealing Trailfinders - so far in a season hampered by the pandemic.

Owen Farrell, Maro Itoje, Jamie George and Elliot Daly sat out the fixture, with only Vunipola playing.

"I'm 20 kilos heavier than all of them!" he told BBC Sport when asked why he needed to play to maintain his match sharpness.

"You can never replicate a game in terms of the contacts, getting off the floor, getting into position.

"I need that game to get my eye in. It's not something I have to have but it's something I feel better having under my belt.

"Other teams aren't getting many games. Everyone is making a big song and dance about us not having game-time, but we are probably not far off everyone else."

England will be based at a hotel in Teddington which has been kitted out to comply with the tournament's strict anti-Covid protocols.

Team meetings take place outside in open-sided marquees, with players provided with thermal gloves, snoods and blankets to protect them against the cold.

Players can use an outdoor games area, which includes a giant chess set, table tennis, fire pits and a coffee machine, while maintaining 2m social distancing rules.

However Vunipola revealed that players have been mostly socialising virtually, playing console games together online.

"I have heard a lot of shouting and grunts of frustration, so I know a lot of them are gaming together," he said.

"When you are all linked up and you are talking to three or four lads and everyone is doing it, you are staying in the mix."

CONCORD, N.C. — It’s been more than a year since Sarah Cornett-Ching last climbed behind the wheel of a race car.

The 29-year-old driver who hails from Penticton, B.C., revealed Thursday she’ll be returning to racing behind the wheel of a pro late model in the Carolinas this season. Cornett-Ching will be the owner and driver of the car, which will carry sponsorship from House of Raeford Farms.

“It’s been too long. I’m really excited over the partnership,” said Cornett-Ching, who has relocated from her native Canada to Rose Hill, N.C., and opened her own sign shop. “It’s kind of cool to be able to partner up with someone in your hometown. People with the same work ethic and they go to the same grocery stores that you do, so it’s been really, really cool.”

Cornett-Ching has plenty of experience behind the wheel of a race car. She ran the full ARCA Menards Series schedule in 2015 and ran a partial schedule of ARCA and NASCAR K&N Pro Series events the following year before she was sidelined after suffering a concussion in a crash during an ARCA event at Kentucky Speedway in 2016.

She’s done a little bit of late model racing in the years since but hasn’t raced full time in any particular series since her 2015 ARCA program.

“There was never a plan to quit racing,” said Cornett-Ching, who has six top-10 finishes in 28 ARCA starts. “It just wouldn’t work out for whatever reason at the time. I’ve always been very self-sufficient. When I wanted to race, I worked as a welder and I made the money to race. So I just went back to that sort of mentality and went to work and tried to make things happen.

“Now, thankfully, things are coming back together and I think that everything always falls into place at the right time.”

She admitted that when she last stopped racing, she felt frustrated because she felt she was performing better than she ever has, but the opportunities simply dried up. She said she wouldn’t turn down an opportunity to go race ARCA or higher, but the funding and equipment needed to be right.

“It was frustrating to not be able to continue, but I think that everything happens for a reason and now I’m more prepared than ever,” Cornett-Ching said. “I want to be competitive in whatever I do. If the funding is there to go and compete at that level, then I would never turn down an opportunity.

“Today, this is where we feel like where we can go and run well and tomorrow it may be another series in that direction.”

Cornett-Ching described the relationship with House of Raeford Farms, which is based in the same town she now calls home, as more of a business-to-business partnership than a traditional sponsorship. House of Raeford Farms is a family-owned business that offers its own line of chicken products in the Southeast.

More recently, the company has begun offering pre-order chicken sales in cities around the region in an effort to offer families more affordable chicken products. Cornett-Ching explained that the COVID-19 pandemic led to the creation of the program, which allows families to order bulk chicken products such as chicken breasts, chicken thighs and wings, in advance at an affordable price.

Additional details regarding chicken pre-orders and pickup locations can be found by visiting www.houseofraeford.store.

“It’s a lot more of a partnership than a sponsorship, sort of like a business-to-business deal, working through my sign shop and what they’ve got going on at House of Raeford,” Cornett-Ching said. “It’s a handshake deal, neighbors and friends and we’re all going to go together to the race track and have a really fun time.

“They’re very focused on supporting local businesses,” Cornett-Ching continued. “Being that I live here and had gone to them with some jobs and things like that, it was a natural partnership because who doesn’t love racing? Whenever you start talking about it their eyes light up. We were able to put together a little program here and go and have some fun.”

Despite being away from the race track for more than a year, Cornett-Ching believes she is as prepared as she has ever been to perform on the race track.

“I personally feel more prepared now for opportunities than I’ve ever been,” said Cornett-Ching. “Especially with the marketing side of things and the value I feel like I’ll be able to bring to House of Raeford with their initiatives with the community and everything they’re trying to do, especially during this pandemic.”

While she hasn’t settled on a particular schedule of events, Cornett-Ching said she expects to compete in multiple races with the Carolina Pro Late Model Series this year. She intends to open her season with the series at Dillon (S.C.) Motor Speedway on Feb. 20.

“Right now we’ve got a crate motor we can run in that series,” Cornett-Ching said. “As we go forward we want to be able to run mainly the East Coast races. When I say the Carolina Pro Late Models, we’re going to focus on the races on this side of the state. House of Raeford has locations in eastern North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Louisiana, so we may end up in another series down the line in those areas. I just can’t say today what that will be.

“We definitely just want to focus on bringing awareness to what House of Raeford is doing in this area.”

SUN PRAIRIE, Wis. – The USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget Series will return to Angell Park Speedway on Sept. 5 for the iconic Pepsi Midget Nationals.

A rain date, if needed, is available for the event on Monday, Sept. 6.

SLS Promotions and Hans Lein recently teamed up with the Sun Prairie Volunteer Fire Department to operate the third-mile dirt oval in Sun Prairie, Wis.

Lein was a longtime midget racer and midget car owner at Angell Park, and his love for the track runs deep. He grew up watching his father, 1971 Badger Midget champion Lars Lein, win regularly in the 1960s and ’70s prior to embarking on his own racing career.

“I’ve always loved Angell Park Speedway and am really excited for this opportunity,” Lein said. “We want to bring back the friendship and camaraderie that helped make the track what it was and show that to a new generation. When the gates are open, we want people to know they are welcome and that the track is the place to be on a Sunday night.”

SLS Promotions’ Larry Hillerud echoed those sentiments, himself a former midget driver with USAC and Badger at Angell Park from the 1970s through the 1990s.

Hillerud is thrilled to bring USAC midgets back to the track, with a group that includes himself, SLS’ Scott Boyd, Lein and Badger Midget Auto Racing Ass’n President Quinn McCabe.

“It’s one of those places that, wherever you go in the country, it’s still the best place you ever raced,” Hillerud said. “It was such a family atmosphere back then with big car counts.  To go up there on a Sunday night and run good in the main was like going to Indianapolis. It was quite a deal, but got lost for a few years, and the last three four years, they’ve been trying to get it going again.

“We had an opportunity to get involved in it, and I think all of us got that nostalgic feeling to make it the way it used to be,” Hillerud added. “We’re sure going to give it a try. We’ve got a lot of great people involved and I think it’s going to be a lot of fun.”

It’s been six years since the series last made a visit to Angell Park, a thriller won by Rico Abreu on the final corner on the last lap. The track has hosted 46 previous USAC National Midget events since Larry Rice’s victory in 1970.

Many of the brightest start in the history of the sport have won at Angell Park, including 16 USAC national champions in Abreu, Rice, Bryan Clauson, Kevin Olson, Brad Kuhn, Christopher Bell, Bobby Olivero, Jeff Gordon, Jerry Coons Jr., Josh Wise, Levi Jones, Pancho Carter, Rich Vogler, Stevie Reeves, Tom Bigelow and Tracy Hines.

Bryan Clauson owns the most USAC National Midget Series victories at Angell Park with six, while additional multi-time Angell Park winners include Kevin Olson with five, three-time winners Brad Kuhn and Christopher Bell, and double victors Larry Rice and Abreu.

Angell Park’s tradition of racing dates back to 1939, while the Pepsi Nationals’ origins go back to 1982, with the inaugural event won by Billy Engelhart.

The total payout and more details on the Pepsi Nationals will be announced at a later date.

CONCORD, N.C. — Jesse Love will return to Venturini Motorsports for a partial season in the ARCA Menards Series this year, racing in nine ARCA Menards Series events.

He’ll also compete in one ARCA Menards Series East race for a 10-race slate in total.

Love’s first outing of the season with Venturini Motorsports is scheduled for May 14 during the ARCA East event at Dover (Del.) Int’l Speedway.

The Sioux Chief Showdown portion of the ARCA Menards Series schedule begins May 22 at Toledo (Ohio) Speedway, marking Love’s first national ARCA appearance of the season.

Beyond Dover and Toledo, Love will also race at Elko Speedway on July 10, Berlin Raceway on July 17, Iowa Speedway on July 24, the Illinois State Fairgrounds on Aug. 22, the Milwaukee Mile on Aug. 29, the DuQuoin (Ill.) State Fairgrounds on Sept. 5, Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway on Sept. 16 and Salem (Ind.) Speedway on Oct. 2.

Love, 16, debuted with Venturini Motorsports last fall at Winchester (Ind.) Speedway. The Menlo Park, Calif., native started third and finished fourth at the high-banked half mile after running as high as second during the 200-lap event.

Love has four career ARCA Menards Series starts, with two top-five finishes and an average finish of 9.2. His first three national ARCA appearances came with Bill McAnally Racing.

Love is also the defending ARCA Menards Series West champion, taking the title last year with BMR on the strength of three wins, nine top-five and 10 top-10 finishes in 11 races.

He’ll pilot the No. 25 Mobil 1 Toyota Camry for Venturini Motorsports this season, with veteran Kevin Reed atop the pit box as his crew chief.

While he won’t be able to run all 10 of the Sioux Chief Showdown races, most of Love’s ARCA starts this season will come within the mini-series that has become a cornerstone of the ARCA Menards Series calendar each year.

“The Showdown is something that’s a pretty unique deal,” Love noted. “I think those who really know what they’re talking about in racing, the insiders that recognize what they’re looking at, know that ARCA’s Showdown championship and running well in it means a lot more than what it might appear to be in the eyes of the general public. It’s something that gives guys like myself, who aren’t old enough yet to run the full tour, something to really race for throughout the year in the races we get to run.

“To me, it’s a really big deal and I want to win as many of those races as we can,” Love added. “I’m really honored and excited to be back with Venturini Motorsports and I know that we’ll have a really strong team underneath us with the equipment to get the job done. I know if we do that, we’ll be in good shape.”

Reflecting on his Venturini debut last season, Love noted that had a few small breaks gone his way at Winchester, he felt he had an opportunity to win in his first outing under the guidance of team owner Billy Venturini.

“To go into my first race with the team and getting a top five out of it, that was a big deal, even though I really believe we probably should have run second in that race,” Love recalled. “The team was pretty good and it was a pretty good race, but there were things that I really dropped the ball on as a driver there that I think have motivated me and given me a lot of things to work on throughout the year. We were in a position to get to second and maybe make a run at the 18 (Ty Gibbs), and my restarts killed us.

“We’ve got a lot of things to work on for this year, but I really feel like I’ve smoothed my restarts out and gotten all of that a lot tighter,” Love added. “I feel like I’ve learned so much as a driver after working with the Venturini team and applying that to both organizations last year. I’m really eager to get back with them and build on what we started. I have really high expectations for myself and Kevin Reed. We’ve always worked really well together in the limited time that we’ve had so far. We’ve been in touch since the first time I tested with Venturini Motorsports.

“All in all, this is a really cool opportunity and there’s no reason that we shouldn’t be able to put ourselves in a winning situation every weekend.”

Considering he also plans to defend his ARCA West crown with Bill McAnally Racing this year, Love hopes that certain details will translate between the McAnally and Venturini teams, creating a higher potential for success.

“It’s one of those deals where it’s more than just what’s in the car, but what’s in the team. Every team has their strengths and weaknesses, and every car is going to have its similarities or differences, some strengths and weaknesses. It’s just one of those deals where you just have to take everything as it comes and try to develop the organizations that you’re with the best that you can,” said Love. “I want to be a really big building block in Venturini’s development. I know that’s saying a lot, as a 16-year-old, but that’s something I take a lot of pride in, is developing the car and doing my best as a driver to make the teams I’m with the best that they can be.

“Every team has their strengths and weaknesses, and it’s just about taking the most out of all of the different situations and putting myself in the best circumstances possible week in and week out,” Love continued. “Hopefully, we can do that and be in position to have a lot of success this season.”

Baroda 160 for 3 (Devdhar 64, Kakade 53*, Markande 1-29) beat Punjab 135 for 8 (Mandeep 42*, Gurkeerat 39, Meriwala 3-28) by 25 runs

Lukman Meriwala rattled Punjab's top order with his left-arm seam and bounce as Baroda cruised to victory and set up a finals clash against Dinesh Karthik's Tamil Nadu on Sunday. Meriwala claimed 3 for 28 under lights extending his wickets tally in the tournament to 14 and making his case for an IPL contract ahead of the auction next month.

He began Baroda's defence of a total of 160 by storming right through Abhishek Sharma in a wicket-maiden and in his next over, he rushed the in-form Prabhsimran Singh into top-edging a hook to deep square leg. The left-arm fingerspinners, Bhargav Bhatt and Ninad Rathva, then choked Punjab further in the middle overs - despite the onset of dew - and Meriwala returned in the end to skittle Sandeep Sharma, close out the game and put a smile on his bowling coach Munaf Patel's face.

Punjab captain Mandeep Singh, who had hurt his left shoulder while diving near the boundary in the first half, came into bat only at No.6 and although he top-scored for them with an unbeaten 42 off 24 balls, the rapidly rising asking rate was too much to overcome.

It was veteran Kedar Devdhar and rookie Kartik Kakade who had laid the base for Baroda's victory with contrasting half-centuries.

Devdhar, Kakade prop up Baroda

After Baroda were sent in, Rathva, who had been bumped up to the top, eased himself in with a pair of fours off Sandeep in the first over. Stand-in captain Devdhar, too, got into his groove with a pulled six off left-arm seamer Arshdeep Singh.

However, Punjab regained some lost ground when Siddarth Kaul removed Rathva for a run-a-ball 15 and legspinner Mayank Markande followed it with the wicket of Baroda's previous match-winner Vishnu Solanki for a run-a-ball 12.

When Kakade joined Devdhar, Baroda were 57 for 2 in the ninth over. They went onto add 93 in 65 balls; the next-highest stand in the game was 32. Kakade, who had also been pushed up the order, stuck his first T20 fifty in his first innings. He was particularly strong against spin, muscling Markande against the spin over the leg side and launching left-arm fingerspinner Harpreet Brar over long-off. Kakade could've been dismissed on 18 in the 14th over had Anmolpreet Singh not misjudged a catch in the outfield.

Devdhar wasn't as fluent as Kakade against spin, but took Kaul for a brace of sixes in the slog overs.

Meriwala's moments

Left-arm seamers are usually attractive T20 options, but despite grabbing 16 wickets at an economy rate of 6.33 last season, Meriwala found no takers in the IPL 2020 auction. He boosted his chances for the upcoming auction by sending Sharma's off stump cartwheeling and bouncing out Prabhsimran. He also got the ball to skid and kick off the pitch against Anmolpreet, keeping him to 1 off 6 balls.

Punjab fade away

Anmolpreet laboured to 15 off 19 balls before holing out off Rathva. By the tenth over, the asking rate had shot past 10 and when Gurkeerat Singh carved a catch to sweeper cover in the 15th, it became 15.

Mandeep, who batted with a heavily strapped shoulder, cracked three fours and three sixes to give Punjab some late cheer before Meriwala and Atit Sheth closed the game out.

Baroda will take a shot at their third Syed Mushtaq Ali title when they run into TN, who had last won the tournament in the pre-IPL period in 2006-07.