Spielwiese » rs helps for sure, playing on arena ice

BROOKLYN, Mich. - The numbers keep climbing — and this time the rise was anything but gradual. Jeff Gordon set the track qualifying record at Michigan International Speedway on Friday with a speed of 206.558 mph, winning his 76th career pole in NASCARs Sprint Cup series. Gordon broke the previous mark of 204.557 by a remarkable margin — and that record was set just two months ago by Kevin Harvick. Speeds at MIS have been climbing ever since the two-mile oval was repaved before the 2012 season. When Marcos Ambrose reached 203.241 that year, it was the first time anyone won a pole at over 200 mph since Bill Elliott did it in 1987, before horsepower-sapping restrictor plates were introduced at Talladega and Daytona. Joey Logano broke Ambroses record last August, only for Harvick and Gordon to keep pushing it higher. "I dont know where to start," Gordon said. "You can point at the repaving of the racetrack. This track is smooth — has a tremendous amount of surface area where the tire can get a lot of grip to it. The next thing is the cars." Gordons run Friday was the seventh-fastest pole-winning speed in the history of NASCARs top series. NASCAR overhauled its qualifying process before this season, switching to a knockout format similar to Formula One and IndyCar. NASCAR now uses three rounds of qualifying at tracks 1 1/4 miles in length or larger. The entire field has 25 minutes to post their fastest single lap and the top 24 advance to the second round. The second segment lasts 10 minutes, and the fastest 12 advance to a final, 5-minute round. There have been 17 qualifying records set this season, so this is not simply an MIS phenomenon. "It has nothing to do with the racetrack picking up speed," said Logano, who qualified second behind Gordon. "It has (to do with) what weve been doing to the race cars to go faster. ... I believe its cooler out, too. So I think between those two things, thats why we went faster again, but the racetrack itself isnt picking up speed. The racetrack, if anything, is maintaining to getting slower. But its widening out, so its becoming a better race." It was Gordons second pole of the season. He also qualified first last week at Watkins Glen but finished 34th, giving up the series points lead to Dale Earnhardt Jr. Not everyone took advantage of the favourable conditions at MIS. Earnhardt and Johnson failed to advance out of the first round of qualifying. Earnhardt was 25th and Johnson 30th. Johnson, who won at Michigan in June, has finished out of the top 10 in the last five races — and 28th or lower in four of them. "Weve just had a vibration with our car, really a shake, a violent shake through the corner," Johnson said. "Weve been trying to get to the bottom of it. We made it better, and it certainly went faster, but just not enough. Well go back to the drawing board." Carl Edwards qualified third, followed by Brian Vickers and Brad Keselowski. "Its fast — thats the simplest way to describe it," Edwards said. "I wish you guys could ride in that car with me there. That is screaming." Wholesale Air Max 270 Australia . Teams one through twenty competing in Englands top flight are each fatally flawed. A wide-open, highly competitive and mistake-filled season has followed. Nike Air Max 270 Wholesale . On the day the club activated Casey Janssen from the 15-day disabled list, his return from a strained oblique that cost him the first six weeks of the regular season, it announced Sergio Santos would be placed on the disabled list on Monday with discomfort in his right forearm. http://www.cheapaustraliaairmax270.com/. The Mets made the announcement Sunday night. Parnell blew a save on opening day against Washington and the next day it was revealed he had partially torn right elbow ligament. Air Max 270 Clearance Australia . The win gives Canada its fifth title at the World Sledge Hockey Challenge. "Weve got to keep pushing," said Westlake, who led Canada with five goals in the tournament. "The second you let off the pedal, everyone catches up. Buy Nike Air Max 270 Australia . Dragic was a game-time decision because of a sore right ankle that had kept him out of Wednesdays loss at Utah, but played all but the last 10 seconds of the second half in the first 40-point game for a Phoenix player since Amare Stoudemires 44 on March 19, 2010.KAMLOOPS, B.C. -- Jeff Stoughton has dodged more than a few bullets at the Canadian mens curling championship but he was hit hard Monday night, falling 10-4 to Albertas Kevin Koe. Koes win set up a three-way tie for first at the Tim Hortons Brier, as John Morris of B.C. then beat Eddie MacKenzie of Prince Edward Island 10-4. Morris, Koe and Stoughton are all tied at 4-1 at the top of the standings. Koe grabbed a three in the third end and stole a crippling four in eight when Stoughton was forced into a low-percentage angle raise and his stone sailed past a crowded four-foot. Stoughton shook hands at that point. "We thought we had to give it a shot to score," he said. "It was one of those games, we were just a little bit light or a little heavy on some shots. . . we missed four in a row on the end where they stole three." Koes four in eight came despite a hog-line violation on third Pat Simmons final stone. "I think he said he thought he was coming out a bit light and went to add a little and you know just over the hog line," said Koe. A missed raise by Manitobas third that could have spilled Alberta stones out of the crowded four foot also put Manitoba further behind the eight ball. "They kind of missed the sweep on John Meads last shot and never moved stuff around and were chasing." Stoughton noted the kind of shots he has been forced to make by his team have brought down his percentages but he feels good about his game. "Its a reflection of lead, second and third before you," he said. "The less shots that are made in front of you, the tougher shots you are making. . ." "I felt a lot better today about the ice and the weight and throwing, so for me the confidence level went way up after this game." Newfoundland and Labradors Brad Gushue improved to 2-3 with a 9-7 win over James Grattan of New Brunswick, who won his first game in the earlier draw. Northern Ontario improved to 2-3 by beating still winless Jamie Murphy of Nova Scotia 9-6. Morris was happy about the way his team played. "Jimmy was feeling it, the ice was fantastic . . . That was probably our most solid game of the week so far," said Morris. Jim Cotter throws fourth stones for B.C. and he didnt miss much. P.E.I. shook after the final four in the ninth end. Earlier in the day, Koe won a game he never looks forward to playing. "This one, you dont get a lot of enjoyment out of," the Alberta skip said, after beating younger brother Jamie Koe from the Northwest Territories-Yukon 8-3 in eight ends. "Its never fun beating them because Im always cheering for them every year theyre here," he said.dddddddddddd "That being said, we needed a win." "Theyre obviously better," Jamie said of the encounters with his brother. "Were going to have to play our best and hope for some breaks but its a fair battle." Monday also saw Grattan score his first against Greg Balsdon of Ontario 9-6 in the afternoon. Balsdon now sits at 2-2. Grattan gave Stoughton a fight Sunday as well and said it felt good to get a monkey off his back with the win. "When we went to bed last night we felt pretty good about it," he said of the Manitoba game. "The team in the last two games has really shown up." He says getting used to the ice has been an issue. They lost their first game 13-5 and the second 10-1. "We come from an area of the world where the ice is fairly straight all the time . . Coming out here and all of a sudden youre taking the 12-foot to get to the lid and its a different ball game." Its also important to win games at the Brier if you want a reserved spot in the future. A new system is coming into place that will force the bottom finishers to compete for the right to return. Its being brought in to keep the field the same size with the addition of a Team Canada and new rinks from Nunavut and Yukon, instead of just one Territories team. MacKenzie was 3-2 after splitting the day with an afternoon win over Quebecs Jean-Michel Menard. MacKenzie has already matched his combined record at his first two Brier appearances for Prince Edward Island, in 2011 and 2013. "Its definitely better than 0-5 or 0-6 like we were the last couple of times," he said earlier in the day. "Id say being here the last three out of four years helps for sure, playing on arena ice a little more." Saskatchewans Steve Laycock sits just ahead of MacKenzie at 3-1, after beating Nova Scotia 5-3 in the afternoon. He didnt play Monday night. "We kind of figured 3-1 or 4-0 was where wed want to be after this stretch because we do have some of the favourites coming up," he said. Murphy, meanwhile, isnt too thrilled at the Canadian Curling Association for the changes coming in 2015 that could see Nova Scotia have to compete for the right to play in the Brier. "Were firm believers that messing with traditions such as the Brier doesnt seem like a smart decision," he said of the new system, popularly known as relegation, although it seems anything but popular. "Were obviously biased when we say that because were probably going to be in the relegation pool." ' ' '