AUTO RACING

Wallace Jr. will take over Petty’s ride next season

Darrell Wallace Jr. will become the first black full-time driver at NASCAR’s top level since 1971 when he takes over Richard Petty’s iconic ride next season.

The 24-year-old Wallace, more commonly referred to by his nickname of “Bubba,” became the first black driver to race at NASCAR’s top level since 2006 when he replaced an injured Aric Almirola earlier this year. At the time, Petty recalled, he wasn’t sure he wanted Wallace.

“He was bad about wrecking, I thought, so we had to have a little talk with him, say, ‘You know, just go out and finish the races and stuff.’ ”

INDYCAR: Chip Ganassi Racing hired British driver Ed Jones to join its lineup next season.

The team is going from four cars to two, and Jones will be teamed with four-time series champion Scott Dixon. Jones will drive the No. 10 NTT Data Honda.

Jones was the rookie of the year in IndyCar for Dale Coyne Racing last season, and won the 2016 Indy Lights championship.

TENNIS

WTA FINALS: Caroline Wozniacki advanced to the semifinals in Singapore by beating top-ranked Simona Halep, 6-0, 6-2.

The former No. 1 from Denmark, who made only seven unforced errors in the match, took advantage of the slow court, using the time to set up her shots and cover more ground.

In the first set, Halep won only 10 of the 35 points played, and Wozniacki never faced a break point.

SOCCER

UNDER-17 WORLD CUP: Rhian Brewster scored his second straight hat trick to give England a 3-1 victory over Brazil at Kolkata, India, and line up a final against Spain.

Spain ended Mali’s hopes of back-to-back finals with a 3-1 win in the other semifinal, played in Navi Mumbai.

Saturday’s showdown between England and Spain will be a repeat of the Under-17 European Championship final in May, which Spain won in a penalty shootout.

ITALIAN LEAGUE: A passage from Anne Frank’s diary was read before Wednesday’s matches as part of a number of initiatives to condemn the acts of anti-Semitism earlier this week by Lazio fans and to keep alive memories of the Holocaust.

A minute of silence was also observed before each of the Serie A matches kicked off, while Lazio players walked out wearing white T-shirts printed with a photo of Anne Frank and the words “no to anti-Semitism” before their match at Bologna.

They also warmed up in the same shirts.

HORSE RACING

BREEDERS CUP: Defending champ Arrogate heads a field of 14 horses for the Nov. 4 Breeders’ Cup Classic, with the all-time leading money earner facing off against a horse that has beaten him twice in a row in the $6 million race that includes five runners trained by Bob Baffert.

The Classic won’t include Kentucky Derby winner Always Dreaming, Preakness winner Cloud Computing and Belmont winner Tapwrit.

LUGE

USA LUGE: The remaining two seeding races and national championships were called off because of warm weather, adding difficulty to the process of picking the sliders who will be eligible for spots on the team competing at the Pyeongchang Olympics.

The seeding races, which were to continue this weekend in Lake Placid, decide who opens the season on USA Luge’s World Cup team.