CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Hendrick Motorsports has locked down the driver and sponsor of its No. 5 car with an extension of Great Clips for driver Kasey Kahne.The two-year agreement covers the 2017 and 2018 seasons and gives Kahne 10 races of sponsorship each year. Great Clips, which has been with Hendrick Motorsports since 2012, also will be a major associate sponsor of the No. 5 team each year.Kasey has been a member of the Great Clips family for over 13 years and is a great ambassador of our brand, said Terri Miller, senior vice president of marketing and communications for Great Clips.Kahne has been with Hendrick since 2012 and has five wins and three berths in the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship. He has not made the Chase the last two years, and is currently 17th in the standings. There had been speculation that Hendrick would replace him in the No. 5, but his contract and sponsorship keeps him with the organization at least through 2018.Great Clips has believed in me throughout my career, Kahne said. Theyre a big part of the No. 5 team, and we feel like members of their team, too.---SADLER BACK IN THE CHASETwelve years after participating in his first Chase for the championship, Elliott Sadler is back in the field.This time, though, its the inaugural Chase in the Xfinity Series.Sadler is one of the 12 drivers competing in the Chase for NASCARs second-tier series title. In 2004, he was among the 10-driver field that made the original Chase. He finished ninth in the standings that season.I dont know if thats good or bad, Sadler said, unsure if it gives him any sort of edge over 11 drivers who have no playoff experience.Its not like Im a seasoned quarterback that can read the defense better than a rookie quarterback coming in. I think thats when experience plays a part, he said. I think now its just about which teams can get their cars the fastest, what driver can get the best information and not make mistakes on the track. I feel like everybody thats a part of this Chase, all 12 guys, can do just as good a job as anybody else, no matter their age or where theyre from or how many years theyve raced.---PAGENAUD-PETIT LE MANSFresh off his IndyCar championship, Simon Pagenaud has already lined up another race.Pagenaud will join Action Express Racings points-leading No. 31 Corvette at Petit Le Mans on Oct. 1. Hell joint drivers Dane Cameron and Eric Curran on the team that holds a one-point lead in the standings over fellow Action Express teammates Christian Fittipaldi and Joao Barbosa. The Fittipaldi-Barbosa lineup will be bulked for Petit Le Mans with Filipe Albuquerque.Pagenaud was a regular competitor in sports car racing from 2008 until 2010, primarily participating in the American Le Mans Series. In three years, Pagenaud had eight wins.He then transitioned to IndyCar and earned his first title on Sunday driving for Team Penske.Also getting an additional driver for Petit Le Mans will be Wayne Taylor Racing, which added Max Angelelli to the lineup of brothers Ricky and Jordan Taylor. Ryan Hunter-Reay will join Marc Goossens and Ryan Dalziel on the Visit Florida Racing Corvette lineup.Ford Chip Ganassi Racing has added a pair of IndyCar stars to its two-car lineup. Four-time champion Scott Dixon will join three-time winners Richard Westbrook and Ryan Briscoe, who are second in the standings in the No. 67 Ford Chip Ganassi Racing Ford GT.Le Mans 24-Hour GTE Pro class winners Joey Hand and Dirk Mueller will co-drive with four-time IndyCar champion Sebastien Bourdais in the No. 66 Ford GT. NMD China . A knee to the thigh might have stung him the most, but his sixth straight double-double made up for the brief burst of pain. NMD Outlet . Louis Blues absence from top spot in the TSN. https://www.cheapnmdoutlet.com/ . The Cleveland Indians, Tampa Bay Rays, and Texas Rangers all won on Sunday meaning the Rangers will host the Rays in a play-in game on Monday. NMD Wholesale . Numbers Game examines the deal that sees Michael Del Zotto and Kevin Klein switch places. The Predators Get: D Michael Del Zotto. NMD For Sale . Clarke was injured while practicing on the Doha Golf Club range after the pro-am on Tuesday. The Northern Irishman arrived at the course on Wednesday hoping to start, but after hitting a few balls on the practice putting green Clarke advised officials he was not fit to play. LINCOLN, Neb. -- Nebraska is in the middle of a stretch of playing four of five games against teams it lost to last year.Call it the Big Red Redemption Tour.It feels like that to me, coach Mike Riley said.The 15th-ranked Cornhuskers (4-0, 1-0 Big Ten), who last week avenged a loss to Northwestern, will host an Illinois team on Saturday that beat them 14-13 in Champaign last season.The loss was among the most excruciating of several close ones in 2015. The Huskers squandered a 13-0 fourth-quarter lead, hurt themselves with questionable play calling, and lost on the extra point that followed Wes Lunts short touchdown pass to Geronimo Allison with 10 seconds to play.Lunts still the Illini quarterback , but Allison is now on the Green Bay Packers practice squad, and Lovie Smith is in his first season as head coach.Its a whole different team, whole different year, Nebraska linebacker Michael Rose-Ivey said. We cant think about last year. We look forward to playing this years version of Illinois and playing as this years version of the Nebraska Cornhuskers.Illinois (1-2) is playing its Big Ten opener and first road game. The Illini have lost 13 straight and 22 of their last 23 against Top 25 opponents.They had an open date last week, and Smith said the team spent the extra time evaluating all phases of the game. Illinois has had only six pass plays go for 20 yards or longer, fewest in the Big Ten, and has allowed a conference-worst 12 pass plays of 20 yards or longer.I think its pretty obvious on what we need to do better. Thats what we concentrated on, Smith said.Some things to watch as Nebraska goes for its eighth win in nine games:ANTHEM ATTENTIONRiley said Thursday he hasnt noticed his players being distracted by the national attention the program has received in the wake of three Nebraaska players kneeling during the anthem at Northwestern last week to protest police violence and racial injustice.ddddddddddddI would have to make it up if I thought I saw something that was different, Riley said. This team likes to play football. They like each other. This team has been through a lot together.RECEIVERS COACH RETURNSNebraska receivers coach Keith Williams will be back. He was suspended two weeks without pay in August and wasnt allowed to coach or attend the first four games after his arrest on suspicion of drunken driving in Lincoln. He had previous DUI convictions in 2004 and 2009. That was a hard, no-good situation, Riley said. I think weve been through the consequences of that, so were excited to have him back now, full-fledged into the practices, the games, and the whole part.TOUGH UP FRONTRiley said Illinois would present the toughest defensive line the Huskers have faced so far.DE Carroll Phillips leads the nation with an average of three tackles for loss, and hes first in the Big Ten with 1.33 sacks per game. DE Gimel President is third in the Big Ten with 1.7 TFLs per game.Illinois is tied for first in the nation in sacks with 4.33 per game and is third with 10.7 TFLs per game.AFTER THE BYEIllinois is coming off its only open date of the season. The Illini have lost 13 of their last 15 following a bye. Since 1985, when open dates became common, they have lost 24 of 37 after byes.200 IS MAGIC NUMBERNebraska is 7-0 under Riley when rushing for 200 yards or more, including 3-0 in 2016. Illinois allowed an average of 242 yards on the ground against its two FBS opponents.---Online:AP college football website: http://collegefootball.ap.org ' ' '