ROSSBURG, Ohio – Carson Hocevar almost looked out of place as he traversed the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series garage area on Wednesday afternoon at Eldora Speedway.

After all, for a 16-year-old who grew up driving late models on pavement in the Midwestern United States, being tabbed to pilot a Truck Series entry for Jordan Anderson Racing – on the dirt at the half-mile Ohio oval, no less – was a bit of a surprise, both to Hocevar and to many fans in attendance.

It was thanks to a mutual sponsor of both Hocevar’s and Anderson’s that the deal for the Michigan teenager to run the seventh annual Eldora Dirt Derby this week was ultimately struck.

“This is a bit of a weird comeuppance,” admitted Hocevar. “If you had told me a few months ago, or even a few weeks ago, that I’d be making my (Truck Series) debut at Eldora, I would have laughed at you. But here we are.

“This was sort of a friend of a friend deal, with LTi Printing – they’re on the truck this week and have been trying to help me out as much as they can, and they’ve been helping Jordan out with his team pretty much since day one,” Hocevar added. “They got me in contact with him, and he had an available ride … so he called me up, and I’m thankful that I was one of the first ones he reached out to about this.”

While Hocevar has little in the way of dirt-racing experience – aside from a start indoors at the Tulsa Shootout this past winter – he certainly knows his way around the Eldora property, at the very least.

“It’s funny, because I’ve actually been here so many times,” Hocevar laughed. “You’d think I would know what it feels like. I used to run (at) the quarter-midget track out behind (turn) three, and I’d always come down here and watch the 4-Crown (Nationals) whenever I could, as well.

“Now, it’s surreal to be here and actually have a car to race on the half-mile. I’m glad I have the opportunity, though,” he continued. “It’s not the first time I’m stepping foot in here, but in a way, it still feels like it is because I’ve never been here in this capacity.”

Hocevar has eight starts in the ARCA Menards Series this season with Michigan-based KBR Development, with four top-five and seven top-10 finishes to his credit, as well as one pole.

However, Thursday night will mark his first start in a NASCAR national series, meaning that the Chevrolet development driver will be going to school for much of the time leading up to the 150-lap feature.

“My learning curve here is going to be huge,” Hocevar said. “Luckily, I’ve had enough ARCA (Menards Series) experience now that I know how the Ilmor (spec) engines feel and how the heavier cars race. It’s just about learning the trucks, specifically, here at Eldora. The toughest thing is that these tires aren’t traditional dirt tires, so that’s something that I’ll have to figure out a bit as we go through the week.

“I went and tested a dirt modified to get ready for this, but those don’t drive anything like the trucks do, so it’s still going to be a brave new world for me. We’re just going to have to play it all by ear.”

As far as his goals for Eldora go, Hocevar doesn’t really have any. He just wants to enjoy the moment.

“This, for me, is all about having fun and seeing what we can get out of this deal,” Hocevar noted. “It’s not every day you get an opportunity like this, so I’m trying to soak it all in, learn as much as I can and trying to figure it all out in hopes that we can have a solid day and bring the truck home in one piece.

“If something good happens, it happens, but I just don’t want to do anything stupid. That’s my goal.”

ROSSBURG, Ohio – Chase Briscoe got the defense of his Eldora Dirt Derby victory from a year ago off to a hot start on Wednesday by posting the fastest time across two NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series practice sessions at Eldora Speedway.

Briscoe topped the first 50-minute session with the best lap of the day, touring the half-mile dirt oval in 19.257 seconds (93.473 mph) with his No. 27 DiaEdge Ford F-150 for ThorSport Racing.

The Mitchell, Ind., native garnered the pole position for the first of five 10-lap heat races on Thursday as a result of his practice speed.

This year’s heat-race lineups are being set by overall practice speeds, as opposed to a dedicated single-truck qualifying session as in years past, and Briscoe said that track position will be critical.

“Today was definitely a good day, and a productive day for us,” noted Briscoe. “I’m proud of everyone at ThorSport for bringing another really fast truck to this place, just like we had here a year ago. To put DiaEdge on the pole (for a heat race) in their first race in the sport is pretty special, as well. Hopefully that’s just the start of what’s to come for us as we get into the day tomorrow.

“I honestly thought I was going to be more rusty than I was, just because I haven’t run any dirt stuff all year,” he added. “I picked it back up pretty quickly, though, even though we parked it (and spun) about 20 minutes into the first session. In the second round, we didn’t start off where I felt like we needed to be, but we were pretty good at the end. We’ll see what tomorrow brings now.

“In the first heat, I do think it will be crucial to start on the front row … and luckily we have that luxury.”

The 15 fastest single-lap speeds of the day were all set during first practice, with the track having slowed significantly by the time the Truck Series returned for final practice following Super DIRTcar Series heats.

Briscoe’s ThorSport Racing teammate Matt Crafton was second-quick overall at 19.381 seconds (92.875 mph) in the No. 88 Menards Ford F-150, and he’ll lead the field to green for the second heat on Thursday.

Brett Moffitt, Stewart Friesen and Sheldon Creed completed the top five on the overall speed charts and will also start on the pole for their respective heat races.

Johnny Sauter, who has noted in the past that he “hates Eldora,” found some much-needed speed on the dirt during practice and landed sixth on the scoreboard. He’ll join Briscoe on the front row of the first heat.

Tyler Dippel, Todd Gilliland, Ben Rhodes and Kyle Strickler completed the top 10 in Wednesday practice.

Though there were multiple spins between the two 50-minute sessions, the only truck seriously damaged was that of Ross Chastain, who tagged the wall with his No. 45 and left his crew making repairs deep into the night on Wednesday.

Chastain is a three-time winner in Truck Series action this year and has already secured a playoff spot.

Friesen topped the charts in final practice at 19.886 seconds (90.516 mph), ahead of Briscoe, Moffitt, Gilliland and Crafton.

Heat races for the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series will hit the track at 7 p.m. ET on Thursday.

ROSSBURG, Ohio – Erick Rudolph has taken home a lot of hardware this season, but Wednesday night he earned arguably the biggest win of his career at one of the country’s most famous dirt tracks.

Rudolph scored the victory in the 100-lap Super DIRTcar Series feature at Ohio’s Eldora Speedway, passing points leader and perennial powerhouse Matt Sheppard on lap 75 and driving away from the competition.

From there, the Ransomville, N.Y. driver paced the final 26 circuits around the half-mile dirt oval for his seventh-career Super DIRTcar Series win, third series win of the season and first at Eldora.

Wednesday night’s triumph was worth $10,000 to the driver of the No. 25 BBL Racing modified.

“It feels so good to finally put one together here at Eldora,” said Rudolph in victory lane after his 15th overall win of the year. “We’ve never had any luck here; I think we’ve blown up the last three times I’ve been here, so to finally be able to finish a race here and get the job done really means a lot.

“Early, I really wasn’t that great and was just kind of hanging in there, but at the end my car came to life,” Rudolph added. “I was doing whatever it took to get there, but this run we’ve been on is about a lot of little things all coming together to make our cars fast. The engine department is up near 100 percent and I feel like I’m doing what I need to do behind the wheel as good as I ever have.

“It’s all a guessing game … and along the lines you get good at guessing. We guessed right tonight.”

While Rudolph was the class of the field when it counted, the early stars of the night were polesitter Rex King Jr. and Sheppard, who combined to lead the first 74 laps on the night.

King jetted out to the lead on the initial start and turned back all comers for the first 30 laps, but a caution for the stalled car of Chris Grbac set up a restart just before the one-third benchmark that gave Sheppard a chance to pounce.

When racing resumed on the 31st round, that’s exactly what the seven-time series champion and 67-time race winner did, charging around the outside of King to take command in his familiar No. 9s.

‘Super Matt’ showed the way through the halfway point, driving out to a two-second margin while behind him, Rudolph navigated his way into second and slowly but surely began eating into his deficit.

With 43 to go, as Sheppard began to get snagged in heavier traffic, Rudolph found traction on the bottom and his car came to life. Suddenly, a two-second gap was reduced to mere tenths of a second as Rudolph began to bring the fight to Sheppard for the race lead.

A caution the next time around, for the slowing car of Rusty Smith, gave Sheppard a brief respite. He held serve when green-flag conditions returned with 36 laps left, but his time out front was numbered.

Digging on the bottom of the track, Rudolph found his way back to Sheppard’s bumper, forcing his way around the inside berm on lap 75 to take command for good and relegate Sheppard backward.

After making the winning pass, not even a caution with eight to go could keep Rudolph out of victory lane. He weathered the storm brought on by the stalled car of Chris Hile on the frontstretch and powered away from his closest pursuers on the final restart, driving home to victory.

Billy Decker battled with Mat Williamson in the closing laps, ultimately taking the runner-up spot and earning a guaranteed spot in the Super DIRT Week feature at Oswego (N.Y.) Speedway as a result.

Behind that duo, Sheppard faded to fourth, with King holding on to the final position in the top five.

Sixth through 10th were Larry Wight, Ryan Godown, Stewart Friesen, Danny Johnson and Mike Mahaney.

The Super DIRTcar Series returns to Eldora on Thursday night for the All-Star Invitational, a non-points event held alongside the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series’ Eldora Dirt Derby main event.

The finish:

Erick Rudolph, Billy Decker, Mat Williamson, Matt Sheppard, Rex King Jr., Larry Wight, Ryan Godown, Stewart Friesen, Danny Johnson, Mike Mahaney, Dave Blaney, Jeremiah Shingledecker, Matt Farnham, Brett Hearn, Demetrios Drellos, Jimmy Phelps, Peter Britten, Ryan Watt, Will Thomas, Jack Lehner, Josh Hohenforst, Rick Regalski, Rusty Smith, Marcus Dinkins, Chris Hile, Paul St. Sauveur, Chris Grbac, Kyle Coffey, Mike Marlar.

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Despite his side beating the MLS All-Stars 3-0 on Wednesday night, Diego Simeone said the Major League Soccer outfit "could have hurt" his Atletico Madrid.

The score line showed a convincing performance from the La Liga outfit, complete with goals from new signings Marcos Llorente and Joao Felix, as well as warhorse Diego Costa. But the All-Stars could have made it a far closer contest, with second-half substitutes Diego Rossi, Pity Martinez, Ezequiel Barco and Bastian Schweinsteiger all coming closer to breaching Los Rojiblancos' goal.

Speaking to the media at the post-match news conference from Exploria Stadium, Simeone spoke of the growth of MLS, resulting in an All-Star team that gave his team a closer game than the score suggested.

"In the second half, we saw a dynamic MLS team that could have hurt us," he said. "The league is growing each day.

- Garber defends pace of MLS expansion reveals
- Carlisle: Top moments from past MLS All-Star games

"There's investment in players first, and then in coaches. The league will continue to grow."

That recognition was acknowledged by All-Star and Orlando City manager James O'Connor, whose playing career spanned more than a decade with Stoke City, West Bromwich Albion, Burnley and Sheffield Wednesday.

O'Connor noted that MLS is not only home to "some of the best players in the world," there are also an increasing number of young players - both homegrown and imported - who are making a name for themselves, specifically naming Mark-Anthony Kaye, Paxton Pomykal and Ezequiel Barco as three who grabbed his attention during All-Star Week.

"[The All-Star Game is] a chance for some of the young players to test themselves against some of the best players in the world," he said. "I think for the like of Mark-Anthony, Mark-Anthony's playing against Joao Felix, who's [€126 million] ... and he did a great job, playing out of position.

"There's a lot of really good young talent in MLS now, and I think it's very exciting. It's probably the most exciting time for the league, when you look at the young players that are actually in the league and the quality of the young players. There's a load of optimism that's around the league, and it's a very exciting time for everyone."

Liverpool winger Harvey Elliott has "wholeheartedly" apologised for appearing to mock England captain and Tottenham striker Harry Kane in an offensive video which has circulated online.

The video, which was shared privately on Snapchat and includes an offensive caption, appears to show Elliott imitating Kane and using derogatory language towards the striker following the Champions League final on June 1, in which Liverpool defeated Kane's Spurs 2-0.

In a statement released on Wednesday, Elliott, 16, said: "I would just like to wholeheartedly apologise for any offence caused on the back of a video of me circulating on the internet.

"The video was taken whilst messing around with friends in a private environment and was not directed at any individual but I realise that my actions were both immature and senseless.

"I would like to stress that the contents of the video do not represent who I am as a person or how I've been brought up, and I truly am sorry."

Elliott, who has supported Liverpool since he was a boy and completed a move to the European champions last week from Fulham, had made his second appearance for the club in their preseason win over Lyon earlier on Thursday.

He is yet to sign a professional contract with Liverpool and is unable to do so until his 17th birthday, which is in April next year.

Elliott is the youngest player to ever play in the Premier League having broken the record in May 2019 aged 16 years and 30 days. He made his debut for Fulham in the Carabao Cup aged 15.

Sources have told ESPN that Paris Saint Germain, Real Madrid, Barcelona and Borussia Dortmund were all interested in signing the England youth international, prior to his move to Liverpool.

Manchester United are set to sign French prodigy Hannibal Mejbri, one of the country's biggest talents, sources have told ESPN FC.

The 16-year-old attacking midfielder is currently playing at Monaco but a disagreement between him and the club has seen Mejbri not play for their youth team for months.

The Principality club initially didn't want their prized youth to leave, but have decided to accept United's offer of €10 million, according to sources. The Old Trafford outfit beat out Manchester City, Arsenal and Juventus to the France U16 international, who left his grassroots club Boulogne Billancourt in the west suburbs of Paris for Monaco a year ago.

Mejbri, a gifted technical player with great vision and intelligence, is expected to fly to Manchester on Thursday for his medical.

Monaco reportedly paid €1m to the Mejbri family to secure Mejbri's signature in the summer of 2018.

Mejbri has been identified as the biggest talent of his generation since he was young and has gone through the INF Clairefontaine pre-academy like Kylian Mbappe and Thierry Henry before him.

According to ESPN FC sources, Manchester United had been monitoring Mejbri's issues with Monaco for months and were ready to make a deal happen this summer if the opportunity presented itself.

Mejbri and his father Lofti believe that United are the perfect club for him to continue his progression and to get closer to making his professional debut.

ORLANDO, Fla. -- The 2019 edition of the MLS All-Star Game was one that won't go down as a night to remember for the home team. The All-Stars were humbled 3-0 against an Atletico Madrid side that seems well prepared for the upcoming La Liga season.

Even worse, the league's best didn't offer many reasons to get the capacity crowd of 25,547 fans at Exploria Stadium behind them. Yet for one pair of All-Stars in particular, there were still moments to savor.

Real Salt Lake goalkeeper Nick Rimando, now in his 20th professional season, was a commissioner's pick, making him an All-Star for the sixth time. San Jose Earthquakes forward Chris Wondolowski, who became the league's all-time leading goal scorer earlier this year, was named to his fifth All-Star squad.

Both are as competitive as they come, and have been stalwarts in the league for years. There's also no denying that they are approaching the tail ends of the careers. Rimando will retire at season's end. Wondolowski's future is more open-ended, although the end of his time as a professional can be espied from a distance. For them, these past four days went beyond the result, or debates about whether the format should revert to Eastern Conference vs. Western Conference. There is time to be shared and friendships to be formed or rekindled.

- Carlisle: MLS All-Star Game's most unforgettable moments
- Don Garber Q&A: MLS commissioner talks legacy, politics and more

For that reason, both Rimando and Wondolowski had the same goal coming into the week: Soak everything up, and don't miss a moment. Ultimately that goal was reached, even if the result isn't what either player wanted.

"I was surprised to come into this All-Star Game," Rimando said. "There are so many good goalkeepers in this league. It was special, of course, for them to pick me and honor me in my last year. I took everything in."

Wondolowski recalled his first All-Star experience in 2011 against Manchester United.

"That didn't go well either," he said about the 4-0 defeat.

Wondolowski acknowledged that back then he was eager, nervous and desperate to impress. This time was different.

"I wanted to enjoy it," he said. "It's an amazing week, but everything happens so quickly you forget the little things. I definitely took the approach where I wanted to talk to everyone, get to know the guys. I'm glad I did."

To be clear, there was no storybook ending on the field. Rimando was beaten in the 85th minute by Atletico's teenage prodigy Joao Felix and then again in stoppage time by Diego Costa. Wondolowski very nearly got on the end of a cross only for it to flash by.

But such is the respect the two players have accumulated during their careers that even a manager like Orlando City's James O'Connor -- who has managed in the league for just more than a year -- can acknowledge the depth of their contribution.

"It's a wonderful opportunity for guys coming toward the end," he said about Rimando and Wondolowski. "They're two absolutely incredible servants to the league, and I think both of them were very deserving of the call-up, and great to see them get the opportunity to play tonight. I think they've been trying to speak to a couple of the young guys and settle them down a little and share some of those experiences."

The two players took in the All-Star festivities in different ways. Rimando brought his family out from Utah, and his children were by his side in the locker room afterward. Wondolowski preferred to be the veritable mayor of the MLS All-Stars, seeking out every player in a bid to get to know them, lest the opportunity pass him by.

Tuesday's practice saw the Quakes forward partake in a small-sided game with the likes of Carlos Vela and Paxton Pomykal as teammates. The time away from the field provided the opportunity for longtime adversaries to become friends, although Wondolowski acknowledged that it takes some effort.

"Sometimes you end up in cliques or guys you know and you just end up sticking with those three or four guys," he said. "Whether it was a dinner or the Skills Challenge, I tried talking to different guys. I know for myself I'm different on the field than I am off the field. So you have Diego Chara, who is probably one of the nicest guys in the world and on the field he's one of the most intimidating. And you have guys like Carlos Vela and Wayne Rooney, who are just down to earth. You're wondering 'How? Why?' It's pretty cool to see the differences."

With the end drawing near for both Rimando and Wondolowski, those memories will be long lasting.

BEREA, Ohio -- Cleveland Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield has already shown that he isn't afraid to get after his star wide receivers.

Over the weekend, Mayfield briefly screamed at his receiving corps for not working their way back to him while he was scrambling.

Mayfield explained Wednesday that blowing up on them that way was about getting on the same page as the offense.

"Those guys know that's a big part of our offense. And they know that," said Mayfield, who can be a prolific playmaker through the air scrambling outside the pocket. "It's just the fact that if we get lazy and let things slide -- we need to be open to communicating right now.

"That's what the good teams do."

Among the big questions surrounding the upstart Browns this training camp has been how star wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. will gel with the second-year quarterback.

Mayfield noted that so far he and Beckham -- along with leading returning receiver Jarvis Landry -- have been able to talk through any missteps or miscues that have surfaced on the field as they continue to establish chemistry.

"Absolutely. And there's an appreciation from my end that [Beckham] has been able to come communicate and talk through things," Mayfield said. "Just being able to talk through things and see it from their perspective and mine is really good."

Coach Freddie Kitchens has said that he has no issue with Mayfield yelling at his receivers or any other player on the team.

"I expect my quarterback to get everybody on the same page," said Kitchens, a former quarterback at Alabama. "That's what I want."

Mayfield added that when he does get on teammates, he considers it paramount to address it with them later.

"I'm not going to be a jackass. I'm gonna talk through it," he said. "I'm gonna harp on it, then I'm going to talk to them. And like I said, we need to be on the same page."

NEW YORK -- Yankees general manager Brian Cashman stood firmly behind his organization's inactivity at Wednesday's trade deadline, saying that despite his best efforts, he had trouble finding fair offers with the potential trade partners he spoke to in recent weeks.

"We didn't get close to anything," Cashman said a couple hours after the deadline passed. "But we certainly knocked on all doors and had a lot of ideas and exchange of ideas with clubs in our effort to improve."

He didn't specify what the differences were on many of those offers, but he noted that teams' asking prices for pitchers they were shopping were much steeper than the return he was willing to give up.

"As a buyer, it has to hurt. I get that," Cashman said. "But I was not willing to do what was available and what was being presented. And clearly, my counterparts were unwilling to do what I was willing to do in my offers.

"Maybe my counterparts felt my offers were underwhelming, and certainly I felt their offers were overwhelming. We just never matched up."

Cashman reaffirmed that he spoke to every team but the Boston Red Sox, adding that he had multiple conversations with New York Mets GM Brodie Van Wagenen. It was Van Wagenen who authored one of the biggest early deadline deals, bringing starting pitcher Marcus Stroman to Queens from Toronto.

Stroman (with both Toronto and New York) and other Mets pitchers were thought to be possible pieces moved to the Yankees by the deadline.

As he tried to address his team's biggest need, starting pitching, Cashman ran into other road blocks. He said several pitchers who had been speculated about in the public sphere were, in actuality, unavailable. That also complicated matters, making it hard to find the types of deals his team was willing to pull off.

He pointed out that there were some pitchers whom the Yankees didn't value as highly as some other teams. Those pitchers also weren't options.

"The best play was we did nothing. And we did nothing for a very good reason because we felt everything that was in front of me was really not obtainable on the associated costs," Cashman said. "And that's with understanding that as a buyer, you have to step up and pay. But these were prices that were making things way out of reach -- way out of reach and way out of line."

Cashman said he was "disappointed" that he wasn't able to add to his team, but he takes comfort in knowing that the group the Yankees have assembled this season can be a World Series contender.

"The fallback is to look in that [locker] room and the players we have, and I feel really good about those guys and hope that the ones that we have that are coming off the [injured list] at some point come back and join the party and keep this thing rolling," Cashman said. "You fall back and look at the roster you have and feel like, 'This is a damn good roster,' and we can compete with anybody in the game."

That echoed similar statements uttered by other Yankees following Wednesday afternoon's 7-5 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks.

"Was just in there celebrating a win with those guys, and looking around the room and knowing that we've got everything we need to be a championship club," manager Aaron Boone said. "That doesn't change. I have total faith in Brian and their staff that they're going to always do what's best for this organization as far as whether that's short-term, long-term, all those things."

Boone's players also believe this Yankees roster has World Series potential.

"If someone comes in [from a trade], then one of our guys goes out," starter Masahiro Tanaka said through an interpreter. "So just go out and do what we need to do. That's kind of the bottom line for us.

"Of course we can [still] compete. It's baseball. You don't know what's going to happen, but I definitely think we can compete."