Games for Windows » These races are so hard to win

BRISTOL, Tenn. - If two rain delays totalling more than five hours werent enough, the water-logged race at Bristol Motor Speedway had a battery fly out of a car and spread a toilet paper-looking substance all over the track. And that wasnt even the strangest occurrence Sunday. Moments before Carl Edwards closed in on what should have been the white flag lap, the caution lights were accidentally turned on from the flag stand. As NASCAR tried to figure out what was going on, the sky opened up and prevented the race from resuming. Edwards was awarded the win under caution — a victory he was headed to before the mishap — and celebrated his third career win at Bristol with his trademark backflip on the slick concrete. "Oh, man, I thought, This is stupid. I shouldnt do this ... Its awfully glossy. It might be slick," he said. "I didnt want to stick it perfectly and have my feet go that way and break my arm on the concrete. That would have been terrible. I was actually really nervous about that." NASCAR vice-president of competition Robin Pemberton said a person in the flag stand leaned on the manual override switch and that turned on the caution lights. Six seconds after the lights were turned on, the flag man waved the yellow flag. Pemberton said that the flag man can wave the caution flag without a call from series officials in the tower if they see a proper reason. "We were scanning cars and spotters, and theres some of us in the tower that only heard it after the teams were talking about it because we were looking at other things around the racetrack," Pemberton said. Said Edwards: "No harm, no foul, lets act like it just didnt happen." The victory makes Edwards the fourth winner in four races this season and, under NASCARs new rules, is supposed to get him into the 16-driver Chase for the Sprint Cup championship. "Just to have a win this early, man, it is a huge relief," he said. Five other things from water-logged Bristol: BUMP-AND-RUN: With Chase berths conceivably on the line with a win, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was salivating at a shot at teammate Edwards when the final caution came out at Bristol. But he knew if the race went green again, his only chance would be the old Bristol bump-and-run, which hasnt been used in years. Its a risky move to do to a teammate, but owner Jack Roush said he expected nothing less from Stenhouse. "When it comes time to really charge for the checkered flag, there are no team orders, there are no rules," Roush said. "I expect them to race one another as they expect to be raced, not only with one another, but with everybody in the garage. I expect Ricky is as fierce a competitor as there is out there, and if his car has the speed in it and he can get to the car in front of him, particularly the short track, youd bump-and-run and take the prize if you could. Id be disappointed if he didnt have that in his mind." AWESOME ARIC: Aric Almirola finished a career-best third — and Richard Petty Motorsports teammate Marcos Ambrose was fifth as four Ford drivers placed in the top-five — but Ambrose felt he could have gotten more. He restarted second behind Carl Edwards with 70 laps to go and had one solid chance to take the lead. If hed gotten past Edwards, he just might have grabbed his first career victory. "These races are so hard to win, and it was a great day for us," he said. "Im not disappointed at all with third, but when you see it and you can taste it and its that close, you wonder what could have went different." SMOKE RISES: Tony Stewart salvaged what looked like it was going to be an awful weekend with a season-best fourth-place finish. It came after he qualified 37th, needed two Saturday practice sessions with crew chief Chad Johnston to make significant improvements to the car and needed the entire race to work his way into the top-10. "Its a step in the right direction for sure. This is a big one. If you come out of this place with a top-five youve had a good day," he said. DISSAPOINTED WITH THE FINISH: Kyle Larson flirted with the lead and was in position to race for the win until the race-changing caution with 77 laps remaining. He went to pit road third, took four tires and restarted ninth. So even though he finished a career-best 10th, the rookie wasnt thrilled. "Its crazy to think its kind of a disappointing finish for the way we ran for most of the race, but all in all it was a good race," Larson said. DALES BAD DAY: Dale Earnhardt Jr.s strong start to the season finally came to an end at Bristol, where he finished 24th after opening with a win and two second-places. Although his Chevrolet wasnt great all weekend, his trouble Sunday was compounded by two left-front tire issues. Once he was out of contention, he was basically just making laps for the bulk of the race. It cost Earnhardt the points lead, which went to Brad Keselowski. Earnhardt now trails Keselowski by 10 points. Wholesale Thunder Jerseys .C. Lions 35-14, was named the CFLs offensive player of the week Tuesday. Sheets recorded his ninth 100-yard rushing performance of the season to tie the Riders club record. Gary Payton Jersey . JOHNS, N. http://www.cheapthundersjerseys.com/?tag...n-durant-jersey. -- Without Carey Price, the run for a first Stanley Cup in 21 years got steeper and longer for the Montreal Canadiens. Andre Roberson Jersey .com) - Former FBI director Robert Mueller said his investigation found no evidence that the NFL saw the elevator video of Ray Rice striking his then-fiancee before the tape was released in September. Cheap NBA Jerseys . Seriously. Seven years of losing has brought many different faces, players and management, to the annual pre-season get-to-know-the-team round up.OAKLAND, Calif. -- Golden State Warriors coach Mark Jackson asked his players a simple question during Fridays morning shootaround: How many of them had ever been on a team 14 games over .500? Only veterans Jermaine ONeal, Steve Blake and Andre Iguodala raised their hands. With so many home games remaining, the opportunity in front of the Warriors is rare. Golden State took another step forward Friday night by easing past the Atlanta Hawks 111-97 for its third straight win. "Were chasing greatness," Jackson said. "Were not going to be satisfied. Were going to continue to try to chalk up Ws, continue to battle and continue to celebrate where we are as a basketball team. Its a great time. And if nobody else knows it, we know it." David Lee had 18 points and six rebounds, and ONeal came off the bench to add 17 points and eight rebounds to lift the Warriors (39-24) a season-high 15 games over .500 with a relatively smooth win. Iguodala and Stephen Curry each scored 13 points to help Golden State build a 66-52 halftime lead and go ahead by 20 in the fourth quarter. The Warriors, fresh off a 4-2 road trip, are 8-2 since the All-Star break and beginning to look like the team that roared to the second-round of the playoffs last year. "Ive been 15 under in New York a bunch of times and when I first got here," Lee said. "It says a lot about the direction this organizations headed that were breaking through and reaching goals like that." Paul Millsap had 16 points and seven rebounds after missing the last five games because of a bruised right knee for the Hawks, who have lost five straight. Mike Scott added 14 points and DeMarre Carroll and Jeff Teague scored nine points apiece as Atlanta continued its late-season slide. The teams traded baskets for most of the first half until the Warriors put together a 12-1 spurt in the closing minutes that the Hawks (26-34) never recovered from. "We lost our focus," Atlanta coach Mike Budenholzer said. "WWe lost our mental toughness at the end of the second quarter and they were able to get out on us to like a 14-point lead going into halftime.dddddddddddd That stretch really hurt us." Golden State began a stretch of nine of 11 and 13 of its final 20 games at Oracle Arena. The Warriors want to use the finishing stretch to re-establish their home-court advantage and make a run at the Los Angeles Clippers, who are four games ahead in the Pacific Division. The Warriors, who needed Iguodalas 3-pointer as time expired to beat the Hawks 101-100 in Atlanta on Jan. 3, allowed little drama in the rematch. Draymond Greens 3-pointer capped a run that put the Warriors ahead 97-77 with 6:09 remaining in the fourth quarter. The depleted Hawks, with big men Al Horford and Gustavo Ayon out for the season, never seriously challenged. The only major setback for the Warriors came when shooting guard Klay Thompson limped to the locker room six minutes into the first quarter with a strained lower back. He did not return for precautionary reasons, the team said. Thompson has been Golden States most durable player the past three years. He has played in a franchise-record 211 straight regular-season games to start his career. Jackson said Thompson couldve started the second half, but there was no reason to with the Warriors in control. Millsap moved Atlanta within four early in the third quarter, but he had little help inside. Golden State led 85-77 entering the fourth quarter before pulling away. "We got away from what weve been doing," Millsap said. "Its kind of tough to lose that discipline, especially when youre on the road." NOTES: Curry has made at least one 3-pointer in 51 consecutive games, the longest active streak in the NBA after Kyle Korvers league-record 127-game streak ended in Atlantas loss at Portland on Wednesday. Korver was 1-for-5 shooting from beyond the arc against the Warriors. ... The Hawks play at the Clippers on Saturday night. ... The Warriors host Phoenix on Sunday. ' ' '