Brad Keselowski Charges to Victory in Richmond Nationwide Race

by FanHouse NewswireRICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Brad Keselowski raced to his second straight NASCAR Nationwide Series victory, shrugging off a NASCAR penalty earlier this week, dominating all night and then rallying from fourth in a green-white-checker finish Friday at Richmond International Raceway.

Keselowski began rebuilding his series points lead, cut to 10 points after he won at Talladega last week and then failed post-race inspection and was docked 50 points. The victory gave Keselowski a 59-point advantage over Kevin Harvick.

It basically restored the lead Keselowski had after winning last weekend at Talladega, only to see 50 points deducted from his total after NASCAR slapped fines and points deductions on the team upon finding an unauthorized spring and shock absorber on his car after the Alabama race.

Keselowski, an eight-time winner in his Nationwide career, was on pace to lead the last 192 laps, but pitted as the leader under caution with five laps to go, handing Kyle Busch the lead.

But Keselowski reasserted his dominance by powering through the field on new tires to pass Busch and teammate Justin Allgaier, who had also stayed out, to win by 0.261 seconds.

“We made the right moves today,” Keselowski said. “We had the car to beat.”

Brad Keselowski Charges to Victory in Richmond Nationwide Race originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Fri, 30 Apr 2010 23:07:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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Kobe, Lakers Relieved to Escape Young Thunder’s Onslaught

Filed under: Lakers, NBA Playoffs, Thunder

OKLAHOMA CITY — In a corridor deep in the bowels of the Ford Center, a tired Kobe Bryant, the NBA player of the last decade, embraced the guy who could end up being the player of this decade. OK, so maybe second behind LeBron James.

“Oh, man, we’re glad to be done with you guys,” Bryant said to Kevin Durant after Friday night’s game. “Jesus Christ.”

Were Bryant’s Lakers ever glad to escape Durant’s Thunder, a young team as athletic as lightning. It looked as if the series was bound for a seventh game in Los Angeles when Bryant misfired on a 13-foot jumper from the right side as the clock clicked toward all zeroes.

But there came forward Pau Gasol riding a white horse. He tipped in Bryant’s miss with half a second remaining, and the Lakers escaped with a 95-94 win to take the West first-round series 4-2.

“I’m glad we won’t see those young [bleepers] any more,” Bryant, exiting the arena, said when asked by FanHouse about his relief.

But the Lakers will see them plenty in the future, Kobe?

“But not this year,” said Bryant, who scored a game-high 32 points as the Lakers advanced to face Utah in a West semifinal that begins Sunday.

 

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Cliff Lee Dazzles in Delayed Seattle Debut

Filed under: Mariners, Rangers

SEATTLE — The last time we saw Cliff Lee in action, he was almost single-handedly keeping the Phillies afloat in the 2010 postseason

The left-hander started five games, went 4-0 — including getting the only two Philadelphia wins in the World Series against the Yankees — and put together a 1.56 ERA.

Since then there has been a trade to Seattle, a February foot surgery, a March five-game suspension (later rescinded) and six weeks lost to an abdominal strain in his left side.

It would come as no surprise the, to find that Lee should be off his game when he finally debuted for the Mariners Friday in Safeco Field.

Just one thing. He wasn’t off, not even a little. The Rangers have given him more trouble than any other American League team over the years, but on this night, Cliff Lee was again at the top of his form, picking up when he’d left off last October.

 

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Ryan Briscoe Snatches Top IndyCar Starting Spot at Kansas

by FanHouse NewswireKANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP)-A shift to the ovals meant a shift in power in the IndyCar Series.

One of the last drivers of the day, Australian Ryan Briscoe was the fastest qualifier at Kansas Speedway on Friday, ending Will Power’s bid for a record-tying fourth consecutive pole.

Power has been the driver to beat on the IndyCar Series this season, winning two of four races, earning three consecutive poles.

Watching from across the garage, Ryan Briscoe was stewing, waiting for his chance to snatch the spotlight away from his Team Penske teammate.

The Australian took away at least some of the sting with the fastest qualifying speed — a four-lap average of 212.145 mph and will start on the front row Saturday with defending champion Scott Dixon in the 300-mile race on the 1 1/2 -mile oval.

Defending series champion Dario Franchitti will start on the second row with Hideki Mutoh, who moved up after Dan Wheldon’s time was disallowed for driving under the white line. Heavy rain and hail washed out the early practice session and pushed back the second, leaving drivers an hour of prep time before qualifying.

Ryan Briscoe Snatches Top IndyCar Starting Spot at Kansas originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Fri, 30 Apr 2010 21:02:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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Kyle Busch Wins Pole at Richmond

by FanHouse NewswireRICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Kyle Busch won the pole for Saturday night’s NASCAR race at Richmond International Raceway with a fast lap at 127.077 mph.

The Joe Gibbs Racing driver turned the lap as the 19th of 47 cars attempting to qualify, easily beating David Reutimann(126.618) for the top spot.

The pole, just the sixth Busch has earned in 196 starts in NASCAR’s premier series, gave him his choice of pit stalls as he defends his victory in this race a year ago.

“It’s nice to sit on the pole every once in a while,” Busch said of his first pole position since March 2009 in Las Vegas. “I only get the opportunity maybe once a year.”

Busch, who swept both races here a year ago, also won the pole for Friday night’s Nationwide Series race on the 0.75-mile oval, giving him a good start to the weekend.

Kyle Busch Wins Pole at Richmond originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Fri, 30 Apr 2010 20:47:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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Kyle Busch Wins Pole at Richmond

by FanHouse NewswireRICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Kyle Busch won the pole for Saturday night’s NASCAR race at Richmond International Raceway with a fast lap at 127.077 mph.

The Joe Gibbs Racing driver turned the lap as the 19th of 47 cars attempting to qualify, easily beating David Reutimann(126.618) for the top spot.

The pole, just the sixth Busch has earned in 196 starts in NASCAR’s premier series, gave him his choice of pit stalls as he defends his victory in this race a year ago.

“It’s nice to sit on the pole every once in a while,” Busch said of his first pole position since March 2009 in Las Vegas. “I only get the opportunity maybe once a year.”

Busch, who swept both races here a year ago, also won the pole for Friday night’s Nationwide Series race on the 0.75-mile oval, giving him a good start to the weekend.

Kyle Busch Wins Pole at Richmond originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Fri, 30 Apr 2010 20:47:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

 

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Jazz Eliminate Nuggets, Will Face Lakers In the Second Round

Filed under: Jazz, Nuggets, NBA Playoffs

The Nuggets were widely considered to be a legitimate contender to knock off the defending champion Lakers in this year’s playoff tournament. Thanks to the Utah Jazz, Denver will never get the chance.

The Jazz took down the Nuggets in Utah on Friday by a final score of 112-104, eliminating Denver in six games, and setting up a semi-final matchup against Los Angeles, which is set to begin Sunday afternoon at Staples Center.

Utah raced out to a double-digit lead in the second quarter, only to see the Nuggets close the gap to just two by halftime. Carmelo Anthony had little to do with it, however, and it was Joey Graham who sparked Denver with 18 points in that second period.

Graham finished with 21 points and 10 rebounds in just 25 minutes of action.

As is often the case when the Jazz are involved in a playoff game, there were plenty of fouls called and free throws attempted in this one.

 

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Jason Kidd Is a No-Show at Mavericks’ End-of-Season Meetings

Filed under: Mavericks, NBA Playoffs

The Mavericks went into the playoffs as the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference, but ended up being unceremoniously bounced from the postseason by the seven-seeded Spurs in six games. Some of that failure undoubtedly falls on the shoulders of the team’s starting point guard, Jason Kidd, who managed just eight points and seven assists per game in the series, on a dismal 30.4 percent shooting.

But Kidd apparently had no intention of discussing his or his team’s embarrassing first round defeat, as the 16-year veteran chose to skip out on his team’s end-of-season meetings on Friday.

Kidd’s head coach, Rick Carlisle, wasn’t exactly surprised.

 

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Montreal Has No Answer for Penguins Power Play in Game 1

Filed under: Canadiens, Penguins, NHL Playoffs

PITTSBURGH — What a difference a series makes. In the conference quarterfinals, the Montreal Canadiens penalty kill was almost perfect, and considering their opponent, the highest scoring team — and the No. 1 power play unit — in the NHL, it was probably better than perfect, as they held the Capitals to a paltry 1-for-33 in their upset win. On Friday, as they opened the conference semifinals in Pittsburgh, the Montreal penalty kill unit was torched by the Penguins with a perfect 4-for-4 performance on their way to a 6-3 win, taking an early 1-0 series lead.

Sergei Gonchar, Jordan Staal, Kris Letang and Alex Goligoski all scored on the man advantage for the Penguins, helping to chase Jaroslav Halak (the second time he’s been pulled this postseason) early in the third period in favor of Carey Price, after giving up five goals on just 20 shots. Craig Adams scored the other Pittsburgh goal against Halak, which was his second of the playoffs after scoring no goals during the regular season. Adams, claimed on waivers prior to last year’s trade deadline, has proven to be a huge postseason addition for the Penguins. Over the past two years he’s played 127 regular season games and scored just two goals. Over the same time period he’s played in 31 postseason games … and scored five goals. Bill Guerin added an empty-netter in the closing minute.

The story of the night was obviously Pittsburgh’s Power play. There was no aspect of the team that was under more intense scrutiny during the regular season as they were in the bottom third of the league for much of the season, converting on just 17 percent of their attempts. Given the talent it can throw out there on a given power play, it was certainly a disappointing group. In the playoffs, however, they’ve been nearly unstoppable with a 34 percent success rate through the first seven games, including Friday.

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Brad Keselowski Charges to Victory in Richmond Nationwide Race

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Brad Keselowski raced to his second straight NASCAR Nationwide Series victory, shrugging off a NASCAR penalty earlier this week, dominating all night and then rallying from fourth in a green-white-checker finish Friday at Richmond International Raceway.

Keselowski began rebuilding his series points lead, cut to 10 points after he won at Talladega last week and then failed post-race inspection and was docked 50 points. The victory gave Keselowski a 59-point advantage over Kevin Harvick.

It basically restored the lead Keselowski had after winning last weekend at Talladega, only to see 50 points deducted from his total after NASCAR slapped fines and points deductions on the team upon finding an unauthorized spring and shock absorber on his car after the Alabama race.

Keselowski, an eight-time winner in his Nationwide career, was on pace to lead the last 192 laps, but pitted as the leader under caution with five laps to go, handing Kyle Busch the lead.

But Keselowski reasserted his dominance by powering through the field on new tires to pass Busch and teammate Justin Allgaier, who had also stayed out, to win by 0.261 seconds.

“We made the right moves today,” Keselowski said. “We had the car to beat.”

 

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