the point went through traffic,
Posted: Sat Jul 09, 2016 10:00 am
AVONDALE, Ariz. . -- Kevin Harvick had a nice send-off with Richard Childress Racing, winning his penultimate race with the team at Phoenix International Raceway. Back at Phoenix four months later, he stamped his arrival at Stewart-Haas Racing by winning the second race with his new team -- doing it on the same weekend he celebrated his 13th wedding anniversary, no less. Yeah, Harvick kind of likes it here in the desert. Disappointed at the Daytona 500 after a last-lap crash, Harvick bounced back quickly by charging to the front and dominating the rest of the way Sunday to win consecutive races at PIR with different teams. "Man, this is awesome," Harvick said. Harvick won the fall race after Carl Edwards ran out of fuel at the white flag. He needed no help Sunday. Harvick had the fastest car in practice and kept it rolling in the race, charging to the front after starting 13th and pretty much staying there. He led 224 of 312 laps on the odd-shaped mile oval and pulled away on several late restarts for his fifth NASCAR Sprint Cup victory at PIR, passing Jimmie Johnson for the most at the track. Not bad for someone whos still trying to feel his way around with a new team and new crew chief Rodney Childers. "It took long enough," SHR co-owner Gene Haas joked. "This phenomenal. I think there was a lot of skepticism last year about what myself and Tony (Stewart) what we were up to, was there a lot of madness to this. Quite frankly, its a great team, theres a lot of synergy at the shop, people working together. I dont know what we did, but I think we put together a great organization." Daytona 500 winner Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished second, pole sitter Brad Keselowski was third and Penske Racing teammate Joey Logano fourth. Jeff Gordon rounded out the top five on a warm and partly cloudy day after downpours wiped out the final 32 laps of Saturdays Nationwide race, won by Kyle Busch Harvick won at Phoenix during the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship in the fall, giving him an outside shot at catching Johnson for the series title in his final season with Richard Childress Racing. He came up short, but the victory and a third-place finish in the standings gave him a bit of momentum heading into for his first season with Stewart-Haas. Harvick had a solid finish in his sights at Daytona last week before a last-lap crash dropped him to 13th. At Phoenix, Harvick just missed the final stage of knockout qualifying, nipped by 0.001 seconds, but had the fastest car in Saturday mornings final practice session. He had no trouble making his way through the field after the green flag dropped in the race, passing Keselowski on the apron, then Logano for the lead on lap 74. Harvick maintained the lead coming out of green-flag pit stops with just under 200 laps left and again with about 70 laps left. A series of cautions came out late in the race and Harvick easily pulled away each time to earn a quick win with SHR a nice capper to his anniversary weekend with wife DeLana. "Im just the lucky guy who gets to drive around the race track when they have dialed in like they did today," Harvick said. "We were able to put it altogether." Earnhardt had a whirlwind week after winning his second Daytona 500, needing his girlfriend to get him extra clothes while he went on a media tour. He had a solid follow-up, putting the distractions aside to qualify fifth. Earnhardt worked his way up in the opening third of the race, passing Logano and Keselowski to pull up behind Harvick. He dropped back a couple times and fought back to get Harvick within his sights again, but didnt have enough to track him down. "Ive got to congratulate Kevin. Those guys were two-tenths faster than everyone all weekend in practice. They were just phenomenal," Earnhardt said. "To be able to run with them all day was a big confidence builder for us." NASCARs new knockout qualifying system made its Sprint Cup debut at Phoenix and Keselowski came out on top, edging Logano for his fourth career pole. Not long after that, Keselowski found out he would be without his crew chief for the race; Paul Wolfe left the desert back to North Carolina for the birth of his first child. With team engineer Brian Wilson and its Nationwide Series competition director Greg Erwin at the helm, Keselowski ran near the front all day, but, like everyone else, didnt have the speed to keep up with Harvick. "They beat everybody before they came to the track today," Keselowski said. "Its a great combination. They were prepared for the weekend. To me, Randy Childers is like a rubber-stamp, carbon-copy of Paul Wolfe. Hes a great crew chief and it was just a matter of time before he found a combination that he excelled with." . Both times hes left empty. It was War Emblem in 2002. On Saturday, it was California Chromes turn to lose the Belmont after capturing the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness. . The third-seeded former Wimbledon runner-up Bartoli outlasted Russian Vera Dushevina 6-2, 6-7 (3-7), 6-4 in just over three hours on the green clay at Family Circle Tennis Center. . We now know, of course ,United suffered a calamitous run of form which included a home defeat to the eventual champions, Arsenal. "Betfred" Fred Dones gamble that his beloved Manchester United would prevail ended up costing the bookie a not-so very cool million bucks. Ferguson vented his spleen and, in no uncertain terms, let the bookie know, as the vernacular-laced Old Trafford statesman demanded there would be no repeat early payout on a United title.WINNIPEG - Michael Hutchinson enjoyed the view from his crease, rather than the bench, as the Winnipeg Jets battled the Boston Bruins on Friday.Winnipegs backup goalie got the start against the team that drafted him and only faced four shots in the first period, but later made some key saves on the way to the Jets 2-1 victory.Mathieu Perreault scored the winning goal with 23 seconds left in the second period, a tipped shot that was originally credited to Dustin Byfuglien.I get energy from watching the guys work so hard in the other zone. They really gave it to them, Hutchinson said of Winnipegs 16-4 shot advantage in the opening period.Its easy to stay in the game when youre just enjoying your team battle in the offensive zone.Hutchinson, who was drafted by Boston in 2008 (77th overall), made 30 saves in Winnipegs second-straight win (17-10-6).Evander Kane had Winnipegs other goal.Tuukka Rask made 25 saves for the Bruins (16-14-3) with Torey Krug scoring Bostons lone goal.Defenceman Jay Harrison, acquired by the Jets in a trade with Carolina on Thursday, introduced himself to fans with an assist in his first shift.Harrison made a pass from the point over to defenceman Grant Clitsome, whose straight-on blast hit Rask. Kane then zoomed in and flipped the loose puck into the net at 3:12 for his sixth goal of the season.Rask said he threw his blocker out on Kanes shot, but didnt get enough.Right now, I cant afford to make those mistakes the way weve been scoring goals, but it didnt decide a game or anything, he said.Boston tied the game 1-1 at 4:49 of the second period after Chris Kelly cut across the front of the net and sent a backhand shot at Hutchinson. Krug got the rebound and scored his sixth of the season.Byfugliens wrist shot from the point went through traffic, including four players just outside the crease, and was deflected by Perreault for the 2-1 lead at 19:37. . I saw (Byfuglien) had the puck. Then they started cheering and I turned back and I didnt even see the puck in the net, so no chance there, Rask said.The goal extended Perreaults point streak to six games with two goals and four assists, the teams longest this season.Mark Scheifele also assisted on the goal, giving him seven points in his last four games, including three goals.Boston then outshot the Jets 11-7 in the second period.The Bruins head coach Claude Julien said his players didnt have a good start, but that wasnt the reason for the loss.The biggest thing for me is that we passed up on so many shot opportunities and looked for the cute plays, he said. Thats not our team.Having the Jets score so late in the second didnt help either.We dont play through players and they keep the puck in the middle of the ice. They put it back in and then we dont box out and its in our net, Julien said.Those kind of mistakes. Were making costly mistakes.The teams each took a penalty within a minute of each other midway through the third period, but neither could find the back of the net during their advantage. Hutchinson made two good saves when Boston had the extra man.The Bruins pulled Rask with just under two minutes left, but Hutchinson withstood the attack.Harrison played 20:18 with his new team, even though he didnt arrive in Winnipeg in time for the morning skate.A lot of times, the more times you go over the boards, the easier it gets because you get into a nice routine and rhythm and theres less thinking and more playing, said Harrison, who has played more than 300 NHL games.The Jets end a four-game homestand Sunday against Philadelphia. Boston returns home to host Buffalo on Sunday. ' ' '