NASCAR

July 29, 2005

Something a little different for telling the NASCAR news for last Sunday's race.
Tony Stewart says Goodyear wasn't at fault for the rash of tire failures in June.
"We might be teammates, we might not, His deal starts in '07, and mine is done in 06," Matt Kenseth says of Jamie McMurray.
Tony Stewart's team changed a flat rear tire before the green flag.

And here we go by laps of the Pennsylvania 500:
Lap 1: Green flag. We're two-wide. Also in Lap 1 Kurt Busch takes lead in Turn 1.
Lap 2: Busch already has a one-second lead.
Lap 3: Carl Edwards has already gotten up to 29th. He started shotgun.
Lap 4: Kurt Busch already has a two-second lead
Lap 6: Greg Sacks to the garage.
Lap 8: Jeff Gordon has not gained any spots. He started 21st.
Lap 9: Busch already has a three-second lead.
Lap 12: Kasey Kahne is 37th. He started 15th. Also in Lap 12 Kirk Shelmerdine to the garage.
Lap 14: Caution is out for the first time. Mike Wallace has a flat left rear. Wallace is trying to get back to pit road.
Jeff Gordon also took two tires, so he will restart seventh. Dale Jarrett took two tires and will restart fourth. McMurray lost a lot of spots on pit road. He will restart ninth. Looks like Jeremy Mayfield also took two tires, because he came out third. Carl Edwards takes two tires and will come out 10th. Kurt Busch's team gives him a flawless 13.5 second stop, and he retains the lead. The only driver who stays out is P.J. Jones.
Lap 15: Looks like the whole field is coming in for tires.
Lap 17: Green flag. Kurt Busch leads.
Lap 20: Travis Kvapil smacks the Turn 3 wall. No caution.
Lap 21: Two-tire update: Jeremy Mayfield is falling like a rock, while Dale Jarrett and Jeff Gordon are retaining their track position.
Lap 22: Kurt Busch has led all but one lap.
Lap 24: P.J. Jones to the garage.
Lap 25: Kevin Harvck is 10th, but he is already 12 seconds back.
Lap 26: Carl Edwards is about to crack the top 10. He started in the rear of the field.
Lap 28: Kurt Busch has his biggest lead of the race. Mark Martin is second. Ryan Newman is third.
Lap 32: Busch has a four-second lead. That is half a straightaway.
Lap 33: Joe Nemechek passes Tony Stewart for fourth.
Lap 37: Ryan Newman is third, but he is 10 seconds back.
Lap 40: Kurt Busch is already upon the rear of the field.
Lap 47: Johnson still leads the points. Biffle is 27 back, Stewart is third, 30 back. Still 10 drivers in the Chase.
Lap 48: Green flag stops have begun. Harvick is the first car to pit. Mayfield is right behind him. Both take four tires.
Lap 49: Nemechek, Burton and Jarrett on pit road. They all take four tires.
Lap 50: Jeff Gordon, Rudd, Mears, Johnson, Edwards on pit road. Also Caution is out for Travis Kvapil's blown tire. This will put all those on pit road on the tail end of the lead lap.
Busch has already strong stop and will restart second. Martin and Newman are right behind him. Rusty Wallace has a good stop and will restart eighth.
Joe Nemechek, who stopped earlier, will take the lead.
Looks like everyone is taking four tires this time.
Lap 51: Yellow-flag stops begin.
Lap 53: Dale Earnhardt Jr. is on pit road for spring changes. He will go a lap down.
Lap 55: Green flag. Nemechek leads, but he has six cars ahead of him. They are: Edwards, J. Gordon, Kenseth, Johnson, Burton and Mears.
Lap 59: Rusty Wallace is up to sixth.
Lap 60: Busch passes Nemechek for the lead.
Lap 61: Busch puts Johnson a lap down.
Lap 63: Kyle Busch has cracked the top 10.
Lap 66: Earnhardt Jr. is two laps down.
Lap 69: Caution is out for debris. Matt Kenseth gets the Lucky Dog.Mike Wallace stays out to lead a lap.
Newman gains three spots on pit road. Nemechek lost three spots on pit road. Rusty Wallace is the big loser on the stops -- the left side of the car was up forever, and he will go from fourth to 15th.
Kurt Busch is first in, first out again with a good stop. Looks like four tires all around again.
Lap 72: Leaders come in for stops.
Lap 75: Green flag. Busch leads.
Lap 80: 28 cars on the lead lap.
Lap 92: Kurt Busch leads Ryan Newman by seven seconds.
Lap 100: Halfway. Kurt Busch has led all but 10 laps.
Lap 105: Rusty Wallace is 10th, but he is half a lap down.
Lap 108: Green flag stops begin. Nemechek is the first on pit road. Stewart comes with him.
Lap 109: Martin, Kahne and McMurray in.
Lap 110: Biffle in. Busch pits, gives up lead to Newman. Loose lugnot on the left front for Busch, who had a 17.5 second stop.
Lap 111: Kenseth caught speeding on pit road. He will be a lap down.
Lap 111: Vickers, Waltrip, Edwards, Newman, Leffler, Johnson, Riggs, Gordon in.
Lap 112: Pit cycle complete. Busch leads Martin by four seconds.
Lap 113: Busch has clinched the five bonus points for leading the most laps.
Lap 114: Burton's on pit road with fire coming out of his exhaust.
Lap 120: Caution is out for debris. Ricky Rudd gets the Lucky Dog.
The first driver with four tires is Mark Martin (fourth). Biffle came in 11th, Wallace 10th. Kyle Busch also opts for two tires. He was 12th and comes out third. Michael Waltrip overshot his pit box and loses four spots. Waltrip was going to take four tires, but he only took two. Joe Nemechek has a tire hit the jack; as a result, he loses 12 spots. Greg Biffle and Rusty Wallace take the lead with a two-tire stop. Kurt Busch has problems on the left rear and will fall back to eighth.
Lap 122: Everyone is back on pit road.
Lap 126: Green flag. Biffle leads.
Lap 130: Caution is out for debris. Kevin Harvick gets the Lucky Dog.
Lap 131: Leaders are staying out. Several cars on the tail end of the lead lap are pitting.
Lap 133: Green flag. Biffle leads.
Lap 139: Caution is out. Newman and McMurray have tangled. Looks like Newman had a flat tire. Both Newman and McMurray have damage. Jimmie Johnson is the Lucky Dog. Also Martin passes Biffle for the lead.
Lap 140: Mark Martin scored as leader.
Stewart, J. Gordon, Labonte and Vickers took two tires. Rusty Wallace will forego track position and take four tires.
Lap 141: Mark Martin stays out, takes lead. The top six (Martin, Busch, Nemechek, Waltrip, Bliss) did not stop. Lap 143: Green flag. Martin leads. Robby Gordon to the garage. Engine problems.
Lap 150: Martin leads Busch by a half-second. Caution is out. Kyle Busch has backed into the Turn 1 wall hard. Casey Mears is the Lucky Dog.
Most of the cars on the tail end of the lead lap come to pit road. Kevin Harvick (11th) is the first car to make a stop.
Lap 151: Leaders stay out.
Lap 154: Green flag. Martin leads.
Lap 160: Martin and Busch have 40 laps on our tires. Waltrip (third) last stopped on Lap 129.
Lap 163: Joe Nemechek has a flat tire. Caution is our. Tremendous break for the leaders. Matt Kenseth is the Lucky Dog.
Rusty Wallace takes lead with a two tire stop. Martin has a great stop, takes four tires, is nearly hit by Mike Garvey. Edwards takes two tires, goes to second. Harvick takes fuel only, goes to third. Martin will restart fifth
Lap 164: Everyone comes in for service.
Lap 167: Green flag. Wallace leads. Martin is the first car with four tires.
Lap 168: Busch gets around Martin for fifth.
Lap 176: Busch is all over Wallace's bumper.
Lap 177: Caution was for debris (Kenseth's brake rotor). Busch passes Wallace for the lead, but the caution comes out. Wallace is still technically the leader.
Tony Stewart (12th) is the first car in for service. The rest stay out.
Lap 178: Most of the cars on the second half of the lead lap are in for tires.
Lap 181: Green flag. Wallace leads.
Lap 183: Martin passes Edwards for third. Busch gets back around Wallace for the lead.
Lap 189: Busch already has a 2.5-second lead.
Jimmie Johnson comes in, changes two tires.
Lap 190: Caution is out. Mike Wallace has crashed on the Long Pond straight after help from Jeff Gordon. Nemechek also spun. Jeremy Mayfield is the Lucky Dog.
Lap 194: Green flag. Busch leads.
Lap 195: Caution is out. Biffle's tire goes down, Michael Waltrip rear-ends him and backs it into the Tunnel Turn wall. Sterling Marlin is the Lucky Dog.
Lap 197: Green flag. Busch leads.
Lap 198: Caution is out for the 11th time. Waltrip has spun again. We're going to have a green-white-checkered.
Lap 202: Green flag. Busch leads. Kahne is in the wall. He was running fifth. No caution.
Lap 203: Caution is out. Kurt Busch wins the Pennsylvania 500.

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College Football July 29, 2005

An unexpected turn of events took place for the University of Georgia Bulldogs. The running game led by tailbacks Thomas Brown, Danny Ware and Kregg Lumpkin took a pretty bad hit Thurday when they found out the lead blocker for the backs was lost for the entire season with any injury.
Fullback Des Williams who was the projected starter this year suffered from a rupture of his right pectoralis muscle while working out with weights earlier in the week. Williams will require surgery and a six month recovery period.
Georgia is requesting a medical redshirt season for Williams which would leave him with two years of eligibility beginning in 2006.
Williams was the teams only fullback with any playing experience but they are putting in freshman Brannan Southerland in and is ready to move up as the new starter.


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Cycling
July 29, 2005

Lance Armstrong wins the Tour de France. His seven straight victories in the Tour de France is the greatest athletic feat of our time, perhaps of any time. Lance Armstrong will step into retirement, ending his career nine years after cancer nearly ended his life. His fame is not only cycling but recovering from cancer. Between those two he has become a hero.

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Fishing
July 23, 2005

A look at fishing this week locally at the Altamaha. Catfish are biting very well and mullet fishing is great going downstream on the outgoing tide. There have been a few bream and redbreast caught.
Trouts and redbreast are the wisest choices in the inshore waters. Some whitening have been caught off the causeway bridges. At the pier on St. Simons, crabbing and catching spade fish have been done very well. Also, an eight foot lemon shark was caught off the pier.
Along the beaches, whitening and redbreast are being caught. One can also catch the redbreast off the sandbars. Spanish mackerel are also being caught off the beach. Several types of fish are being caught at the 40 mile bottom and the following are included: snapper, grouper, kingfish and sailfish.
Speaking of fishing we had the Golden Isles Kingfish Classic last weekend where two Brunswick men and a Savannah man caught the heavist fish in the tournament.


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NFL
July 23, 2005

Falcon Fans The Atlanta Falcons' defensive end Brady Smith will miss training camp and right now his status for the start of the season maybe postponed due to his recent neck surgery. The doctors are predicting that Smith will be out anywhere from 6-12 weeks. If only the 6 weeks, he will just miss the training camp. If it takes the full 12 weeks, he will be missing the first 5 games of the season.
The Falcons will be opening their regular season on Sept 12, 2005 against Philadelphia in the Georgia Dome.


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Baseball
July 16, 2005

Abreu Has Record-Setting Night at Home Run Derby All-Star Outfielder Slugs 24 Homers in First Round, 41 Overall
Phillies outfielder Bobby Abreu won the Home Run Derby with a record setting performance Monday night. He hit 24 homers in his first turn at bat before outslugging Ivan Rodriguez in the finals. He had a total of 41 homers beating Miguel Tejads's 2004 total of 27. Abreu hit 11 homers in the finals which is another derby record to Rodriguez's five in an event that lasted over 3 hours.
Abreu was the first contestant - he also will hit leadoff for the National League in the All-Star Game Tuesday night - and he gave fans a spectacular show right from the start.
He homered on his first swing and didn't stop until he obliterated Tejada's previous mark of 15 homers in a round, set last year in Houston.
Abreu topped out with a 517-foot shot onto the porch above the back row of right-field bleachers. It was the third-longest drive in the 20 times the derby has been held, behind Sammy Sosa's 524-foot homer in 2002 at Miller Park in Milwaukee and Frank Thomas' 519-footer in 1994 at old Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh.
Stay tuned for tonights All-Star game.
also ; It doesn't get any better than this!
The Yankees and Red Sox will square off for a four-game series starting tomorrow night at 7:05 against the Red Sox. If there are only a couple games you watch every year, you defiantely should make time to watch these few games.
In case any of you don't read the NY Post, Sheffield sent out a message to all in Red Sox Nation, saying that if anything like another Arod Varitek brawl were to surface again, he would have Arod's back.




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Racing 2 the Finish Line Previous

Racing 2 The Finish Line with Shannon Faust
Date: July 2005

Nascar
July 7, 2005

There were die-hard fans at the Daytona Speedway Saturday evening. It was a rainy and wet night with a 3 hour rain delay. Finally at 10:30 they started letting the cars go around the track and finally at 11:00 they lowered the green flag and the much anticipated race began. Tony Stewart won the Pepsi 400 for the first time this year. He also led for the majority of the race. Mark Martin got into a wreck on the 35th lab which involved others as well. Dale Jr whom started out in the 31st position ending up finishing in 3rd which he so desparately needed, Jr has struggled this season due to changing of the pit crews and also since they have changed over to the areo package he doesn't drive loose cars well at all. But last night at Daytona he ran a really good race. The race finished around 1 am and they had an awesome fireworks display. Many weery fans were ready to call it a night by the time everything was said and done.

previous news

Baseball
The New York Yankees will announce detailed plans Wednesday for a new $800 million ballpark, which would be built adjacent to the current Yankee Stadium and could be ready by the 2009 season.
Basketball
There won't be a lockout in the NBA this summer if there are only three issues left for owners and players to resolve, union director Billy Hunter said. This is hopefull for all sides invloved

Cycling

Pan-Mass Challenge volunteer positions: Massage, occupational and physical therapists are needed to work the Pan-Mass Challenge Aug. 6 and 7. Volunteers are also needed in a number of other areas to help support the more than 4,000 cyclists expected to take part in the 26th annual event, which benefits cancer research and treatment at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. For more information, call 800-WE-CYCLE or visit www.pmc.org.


Softball
Youth Tournament in Methuen: The Methuen East Little League will host its annual softball tournament July 10 to 24 for ages 10 to 13. The cost is $250 and each team is guaranteed four games. For more information, call Jim Dawe at (978)685-5139 or e-mail methueneastLL@comcast.net.
Tennis

Racquet Club Championship results: Club pro Barry Caron won the Newburyport Racquet Club's club championship by defeating defending champion Randall Seabrook in straight sets in the final, 6-4, 6-4. Caron knocked off Bill Dunnigan in the first round, 6-3, 6-0, outlasted John Taylor in the quarterfinals, 6-3, 6-7, 6-3, and knocked off Joe Filipancic in the semifinals, 6-1, 6-3. Francesco Corvi defeated Jeremy Hert, 6-1, 6-2, to claim the consolation crown.



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