LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Former Churchill Downs track president Steve Sexton, who guided the home of the Kentucky Derby through its most ambitious renovation project, died in Texas after a brief illness. He was 57.Churchill Downs parent company, Churchill Downs Inc., confirmed Sextons death Monday. Sexton was the 12th president in the tracks history, overseeing operations at the countrys most famous horse track from 2002 to 2009.Steve led Churchill Downs during key years of change for both the institution and the Kentucky Derby, said Bill Carstanjen, president and CEO of the Louisville-based parent company. Along with his deep experience in horse racing and race track management, Steve brought enthusiasm and boundless energy to everything he touched at Churchill Downs.Sexton guided Churchill Downs through a more than $120 million project that renovated the venerable tracks clubhouse and grandstand. The multi-year construction was completed just before the 2005 Derby. The track has undergone a series of upgrades since.Sextons predecessor as Churchill track president, Alex Waldrop, credited Sexton with getting the project done on time and on budget. Though the famed Twin Spires still loom over the most famous stretch of soil in horse racing, the renovation delivered a facelift to the old track and brought sports fans modern amenities.It has stood the test of time, and its been a major boon to the Kentucky Derby, to Churchills business and to the community of Louisville, said Waldrop, now president and CEO of the National Thoroughbred Racing Association.During his time at Churchill, Sexton also served as an executive vice president with the tracks parent company.Earlier in his career, Sexton was an executive at Santa Anita Park, Canterbury Downs, Golden Gate Fields, Thistledown, Lone Star Park and Arlington International Racecourse, according to media reports. 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CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Carolina Panthers coach Ron Rivera feels disrespected that the NFL schedule makers didnt allow the defending NFC Champions to open at home.He called it a pain in the ass to spend the entire offseason reliving the 24-10 Super Bowl 50 loss to Denver so the league could schedule a rematch at Denver to kick off the season.Forget the fact that youre the defending NFC champs and you deserve to open up at home in front of your home crowd on opening week, Rivera said on Friday, eight days after a 21-20 loss to the Broncos. Were going to make you guys relive it for five more months. Thats how I felt.So for the next five months Ive got to put up with it, deal with it, answer the questions and relive it constantly over and over and over. Honestly, it became a pain in the ass.The subject came up when Rivera was asked if there would be a moment before Sundays home opener against the San Francisco 49ers to honor last season in which Carolina had an NFL-best 15-1 record during the regular season and won the NFC Championship.That led to Rivera getting on his self-proclaimed soapbox about having to open at Denver.I struggled with that, Rivera said. I really did from Day 1. There are so many things they could have done to honor us and honor our team, our fans and our city thhat I thought this would have been a great opportunity to show it.ddddddddddddI feel like we were robbed of that. We had to wait a whole week to do it. You can tell, Im disappointed it didnt work out that way.Rivera said he will bring his grievance up at the annual league meetings, but he didnt sound optimistic that would do any good.But the scheduling is a whole different group of people, Rivera said. Theres not much we can do about it.Rivera didnt find any solace in the league giving Carolina 10 days to prepare for a San Francisco team coming off a Monday night game.He immediately pointed to Carolinas late-season Monday night game at Washington followed by a Saturday game against Atlanta. He also reference having to play at Seattle a week after playing at Oakland.The Panthers plan to spend the week practicing in California to avoid consecutive cross-country flights.I mean ... we asked for certain things to help us out, Rivera said. We didnt get any of it. Im disappointed. Lets be honest. Ive got a group of men in there that do the things that we ask the last five years, its been a battle to get to where we are ... sometimes I feel disrespected. ' ' '