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♦ SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2006
8A
wmscm
Point Standings
Jkt Green Flag
News and Notes
Busch Series closes in
on race date in Canada
Although the Nextel Cup Series
schedule was released last week, the
Busch Series schedule is still a month
away from being released. But it’s clear
ly taking shape.
When Norman Legault, race promot
er at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in
Montreal, announced it was not inviting
the CART Champ Car World Series back
next year, it meant NASCAR will be road
racing north of the border next year.
The government allows only two
races a year in the park on Notre Dame
Island. Formula One certainly isn’t leav
ing, so CART is the odd racing series
out
The Busch Series expanded to
Mexico City in 2005 and it was received
as an overwhelming success. That
immediately sparked interest in moving
the sport to Canada.
To make room for the expansion,
NASCAR either will move to 36 regular
season events or eliminate a current
race - most likely the poorly attended
race last month at Martinsville, Va.
Dodge Charger to get
new nose in 2007
The Dodge Charger finally will get a
new nose in 2007.
The manufacturer tried to get a revi
sion of its front bumper earlier this year,
but the changes constituted a change in
the template, NASCAR said. Dodge offi
cials said their current bumper doesn’t
provide enough downforce for the front
tires, especially in traffic.
The new nose is expected to have a
sleeker look, especially around the head
light wells.
The change can’t come quick enough
for Dodge. It currently doesn’t have any
teams ranked in the top 10.
Night races far from a
boon for TV ratings
Race fans at the Bristol Motor
Speedway consider last Saturday night’s
Sharpie 500 a roaring success. In fact,
they consider the night race one of the
most-popular of the season.
Television viewers, however, contin
ued to see it differently.
Night races continue to be ratings
losers for NASCAR Night races, includ
ing last Saturday’s Sharpie 500, have pro
duced she of the top-11 worst of
the year - not counting races postponed
a day by weather.
BEAT
From page 6A
HaCs 25. Morrow 10
Marrow 28. HaCo 26
Marrow 26. HaCa 24
In the second match, the
Lady Bears won the first
game 25-10 because of a for
feit. Morrow was late and
the referee was just about
to call the match when
it showed up, explained
Jones.
The Lady Bears played
well in the second, he added,
CLARKE
From page 6A
loaded, but a wild pitch
brought one runner to the
plate. Clarke struck out the
side in the top of the first and
finished with five whiffs. She
walked a batter with one out
in the second, but catcher
WIN
From page 6A
Jackson. They lost the first
match 25-17 and the second
25-14.
■7/ HASCAR .
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CUP SERIFS
Longing to be average
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Kasey Kahne
11th place 9O points out of 10th
Wins: 4
Average finish: 16th
Making the Chase requires consistent mediocrity, not wins
By Don Coble
Morris News Service
FONTANA, Calif. - When asked if he’d
trade a couple of wins to finish 13th every
week, Greg Biffle never hesitated.
“I’d take it,” he said.
A sport that’s the purest of all competi
tions - the first one across the finish linb wins
has been transformed into something far
more complicated.'Finishing first isn’t nearly
as important as simply finishing.
The top-10 drivers in the Nextel Cup
Series standings after next week’s race at
Richmond, Va., will move into the Chase for
the Championship, NASCAR’s made-for-tele
vision series that determines the champi
onship. Everyone else will race for 11th
and whatever crumbs are left by the playoff
contenders.
On the surface, making the Chase
seemed simple. An average finish of 14th
with no laps led and no wins is enough to
be in the top 10. Thirteenth place would be
good enough for fourth place in the current
rankings.
“If you offered me 13th place every week,
I’d take it now,” Biffle said. “You have to learn
how to play the game. I’ve learned. It’s all
about consistency.”
Biffle is 12th in the standings with two
races to go before the Chase. But he’s 251
points behind lOth-place Mark Martin. Even
but made some errors at
“critical junctures” and lost
28-26 (a normal game is to
25 - win by two).
The final game of the
match went back and forth,
Jones said, as neither team
could consistently string a
run together. Morrow was
able to squeak by 26-24.
“(I) felt that Morrow
snuck by with one,” he said.
“While not making excuses,
the squad was without start
ing Middle Hitter Jennifer
Doerbreiner, who stayed
behind to rehab a sore
Laura Thompson threw out
that runner at third base
after a strikeout.
With one out in the third,
Clarke hit a Northeast
Raiderette. That runner
would be thrown out at home
trying to score on a pitch in
the dirt with two outs.
Ashley Craddock of Perry
“We didn’t play very well
in that one,” Hardy said.
“Mary Beth and Leigh Anne
Fall played solidly on defense.
(But) our only offensive
weapon was Ashley. We just
couldn’t get much going.”
Driver Behind
Jimmie Johnson Leader
Matt Kenseth -7
Kevin Harvick -321
Kyle Busch -402
Jeff Gordon -408
Biffle doubts he can make up that much
ground in two races.
“It’s unbelievable we’re in the position
we’re in,” Biffle said. “I never would have
believed it. I never thought it would end up
this way. We’ve led a lot of laps, but that does
n’t count.”
Biffle’s had eight finishes of 31st or
worse. That’s why he’s behind. Kasey Kahne,
who’s tied with Jimmie Johnson for the most
wins (four) this year, also has six finishes of
31st or worse. Although he’s been ranked
among the top 10 for 19 of the 25 racing
weeks - being as high as second during the
second month - Kahne started a slide in June
that’s dropped him from third to 11th in the
rankings, '9O points behind Martin.
“I wouldn't have expected we’d be 11th
going into this weekend, but that’s racing,”
Kahne said. “It’s humbling sport and it’s all
about the ups and downs. That’s what makes
it so good. It (confidence) was real high
(after fourth victory of the season at
Michigan in June). It was as high as it’s been
all season long. Wherever we went after this
we went into that race thinking we were
going to win or run up front. We’ve just had
some struggles since then.”
Casey Mears spent the first 10 races
ranked in the top 10. He started the season
with three top-10 finishes, only to start a run
in July of five consecutive runs of 21st or
Achilles tendon.
“Our trainer thought the
rest would have her ready
for Saturday when we start
area play.”
Jones added he can’t wait
to play Morrow Oct. 5 at
Houston County with a full
and healthy squad.
Overall, Morgan Hollars
had a total of 20 assists
throughout both matches.
Catherine Goodman had five
kills.
The attack, Jones added,
was started once again by
several key digs by defensive
had two extra-base hits, a
double and an RBI triple.
Thompson had two hits with
one RBI, Erica Smith and
Clarke each doubled for an
RBI and Crystal Greer sin
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Greg Biffle
12th place 251 points out of 10th
Wins: 1
Average finish: 18th
specialists Dhwani Patel,
who had four assists and two
key digs, Sam Moncada who
had six key digs and three
assists, and Brittany Pierce
who had three assists. Devon
Preston had ten aces while
Nicole Williams had four.
The record for the Lady
Bears is now 9-2 overall and
0-0 in Area 2-AAAAA.
They next play Saturday
in area play at Luella High
School. They play Luella
at 11 a.m., Union Grove at
noon and Mundy’s Mill at
1 p.m.
gled in a run.
Some Panthers came off
the bench to contribute to the
scoring. Bailey Clay walked
with the bases loaded and
Haley McCarty had a hit.
Two Complete
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Driver Behind
Kevin Harvick Leader
Carl Edwards -519
Denny Hamlin -562
Clint Bowyer -666
J.J. Yeley -704
worse. Now he’s out of playoff contention.
“At the beginning of the season, in the
first three races, we were good," Mears said.
“After that, we haven’t been finishing like we
should. The last (seven) races have been a
killer. We didn’t capitalize on the races we
needed to capitalize on. Now we’re fighting
for 11th.
“At the places you normally struggle, you
have to be 15th. At the places you normally
run good, you need to be top 10, fighting for
a win. We were on a path to do that earlier in
the year, then we got lost. The secret is to
average 14th or 15th every week. If you do
that, you’d be right in it.”
The Chase has created other meltdowns.
Ryan Newman started the season strong
with third-place finish at the Daytona 500, but
he quickly dropped out of the top 10 with a
43rd-place finish at Las Vegas, the third race
of the year. He’s never recovered.
Kahne has been the most-amazing flop.
He’s only had two top-10 finishes since June.
“There’s no room for error right now,” he
said. “We just need to do our thing and not
make any mistakes and just be smart about
everything we do. Everything has changed
since then (Michigan in June), and I would
n’t have expected it to change like it has.
This is going to be a big week. It’s going to
tell a lot about what’s going to happen the
rest of the season.”
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Carl Edwards
13th place 261 points out of 10th
Wins: 0
Average finish: 18th
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THE HOUSTON DAILY JOURNAL
Driver Behind
Todd Bodine Leader
Johnny Benson -154
David Reutimann -230
Ted Musgrave -244
Rick Crawford -301
This Week’s Race
WHERE: California Speedway in
Fontana, Calif.
WHEN: 8 p.m., Sunday
TRACK DIMENSIONS: 2-mile oval
with 14-degree banking in the cor
ners
BROADCAST: Television NBC;
Radio Motor Racing Network
LAST YEAR’S WINNER: Kyle Busch
TRACK RECORDS: Qualifying -
188.425 mph (Kyle Busch); Race
155.012 mph (Jeff Gordon)
COMPANION EVENTS: Friday -
Pole qualifying (6:30 p.m.,
Speed); Saturday Busch
Series Ameriquest 300 (10 p.m.,
TNT).
RACE NOTE: Dodge has yet to win
a race at the 10-year-old
California Speedway. Dodge’s top
driver, Kasey Kahne, could use a
win to bolster his Chase chances.
He is 11th in the points standings,
90 points out.
302 Margie Dr.
Warner Robins, GA
(478) 953-2705
Mon-Fri 9-5 • Sat, by Appt.
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