11/14/2008 - Homestead, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - David Reutimann recorded his first career pole in the Sprint Cup Series by taking the top starting spot in Friday's qualifying for the Ford 400 at the Homestead-Miami Speedway. Reutimann, the driver of the No.44 Toyota for Michael Waltrip Racing and a native of Zephyrhills, FL, rounded the 1.5-mile oval in 31.462 seconds (171.636 m.p.h.).
Reutimann's first pole came in his 63rd start. He becomes the fourth first- time pole winner in the series this year, joining Travis Kvapil (Talladega), Paul Menard (Daytona) and Patrick Carpentier (New Hampshire).
"I think we sat on the outside pole at Bristol and came close a couple of other times," Reutimann said. "It feels really good to see the 44 up there, and it shows all of the guys at the shop and on the team that they've been working hard all year long and doing a great job."
Scott Speed, in just his fifth Sprint Cup start, secured the outside pole with a time of 31.494 seconds. Speed and Red Bull Racing teammate Brian Vickers switched rides for this weekend, with Speed moving over to the No.83 Toyota, and Vickers taking the wheel of the No.84 car. Vickers will start 20th.
Roush Fenway Racing teammates Matt Kenseth (31.500) and Carl Edwards (31.502) will start on the second row.
Edwards, currently 141 points behind Jimmie Johnson, will start the season- finale 26 positions ahead of the championship leader.
"That was a good lap for us," Edwards said. "We're not the strongest qualifier, so a lap like that was impressive."
If Johnson finishes 36th or better at Homestead, regardless of Edwards' performance, he will join Cale Yarborough as the only drivers to win three consecutive Cup championships. Yarborough captured his titles from 1976-78.
"The lap was okay, and I felt good about the lap," Johnson said. "Unfortunately, coming to the green flag, I lost a bunch of time and I didn't take the green flag with the speed I needed into those long straightaways. I think I lost most of my time there."
Johnson will start 30th.
Kevin Harvick and David Ragan will make up row three.
Jamie McMurray, Kyle Busch, Reed Sorenson, and Martin Truex, Jr. will start seven through 10th, respectively.
Other notable drivers and their starting positions include: Tony Stewart (13th), Dale Earnhardt, Jr. (22nd), Ryan Newman (29th), and Jeff Gordon (37th).
Ken Schrader, Max Papis and Sam Hornish, Jr. did not qualify.
Homestead will mark the end of Stewart's 10-year run with Joe Gibbs Racing as the two-time Cup champion leaves the No.20 Toyota to drive for his own team - Stewart Haas Racing - in 2009.
Newman, the 2008 Daytona 500 winner, will make his final start in the No.12 Dodge as he departs Penske Racing at the end of the season to join Stewart's new team.
Homestead is also one last chance for several drivers to end their season with at least one victory. Most notably is Gordon, who has won a race in 14 consecutive years. However, Gordon has not scored a victory since October 2007 at Charlotte. He has yet to win a Cup race at Homestead, but did take the checkered flag for a Nationwide event there in 2000.
Kenseth and Harvick are also winless this year. Kenseth has won at least one race in the previous six seasons, while Harvick has recorded a victory in the last three years.
The green flag is scheduled to drop Sunday around 3:45 p.m. (et).
<< Isles D Pock suspended
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The National Hockey League has suspended New
York Islanders defenseman Thomas Pock for five games, without pay, for an
incident that occurred in Thursday's 3-1 victory over the Ottawa Senators.
Pock wa
<< Bears' Orton probable, could start Sunday
Lake Forest, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chicago Bears quarterback Kyle Orton is
listed as probable for Sunday's game against Green Bay, as he continues to
recover from an ankle injury.
Orton, who missed last Sunday's game against Tenn
<< NAC rolls over Heracles to move into first
Breda, Netherlands (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ellery Cairo, Edwin De Graaf and Patrick
Zwaanswijk scored as NAC defeated Heracles 3-0 on Friday at Rat Verlegh Stadion
to move into first place in the Dutch Eredivisie.
NAC entered this week's matches
<< Hannover settles for draw against Bochum
Hannover, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jan Schlaudraff scored his fifth goal but
Hannover handed Bochum a 1-1 draw on an own goal on Friday at AWD-Arena.
Schlaudraff, who left Bayern Munich to join Hannover this season, has done well
in a sta
Cowboys RB Jones out for Sunday >>
Irving, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Dallas Cowboys will get quarterback Tony
Romo back for Sunday night's divisional clash with the Washington Redskins,
but running back Felix Jones is still out with a hamstring injury.
Jones has not
NCAA announces women's Final Four sites from 2012-2016 >>
Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The NCAA announced Friday the women's
basketball Final Four sites for the years 2012 through 2016, a list that
includes Denver and Nashville.
Denver will host the women's Final Four in 2012,
Bush a no-go against Chiefs >>
Metairie, LA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - New Orleans Saints running back Reggie Bush
will not dress for Sunday's game against the Kansas City Chiefs.
Bush, three-plus weeks removed from arthroscopic knee surgery, took limited
reps in practice
Stanford leads Ochoa's tournament by two >>
Guadalajara, Mexico (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Angela Stanford continued her recent
hot streak with a six-under 66 on Friday that gave her the second-round lead
at the Lorena Ochoa Invitational.
Stanford, on the heels of four consecutive top-fi
The NFL preseason is approaching. Time for players, coaches and teams to turn over a new leaf. General managers have hired some new coaches, while coaches have added some offensive and defensive assistants to try and improve things. Here’s a look at some changes to look for in the preseason.
New York Jets: The Jets were one of the surprise teams in the NFL last season, making the playoffs under hard-driving first-year coach Eric Mangini. Mangini rebuilt the offensive line with rookies D'Brickashaw Ferguson (the No. 4 pick in the 2007 Draft) and Ohio State center (the 29th pick in the first round). This season he upgraded the defense with rookie linebacker David Harris (Michigan) while the secondary picked up a much needed top-notch corner in Pitt CB Darrelle Revis (No. 14 overall).
The Jets have added balance to the offense for QB Chad Pennington with RB Thomas Jones, essentially stolen from the Bears. He will upgrade a New York ground game that was 20th in rushing with a weak 3.5 yards per carry. They have their first true feature back since Curtis Martin. Offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer prefers ball control, like his father Marty. In preseason, behind Pennington you’ll see second-year QB Kellen Clemens and mobile newcomer QB Marques Tuiasosopo.
Jacksonville Jaguars: The heat is on Jack Del Rio in Jacksonville as the Jaguars flopped last season despite a ton of talent. Keep in mind that under Del Rio the Jaguars have been outstanding in preseason with a 12-4 SU, 11-5 ATS August mark. Their defense is loaded, it’s the offense that has been stuck in first gear the last few years.
Enter a new offensive coordinator in Dirk Koetter, the former Boise State and Arizona State pass-happy coach. He will try and upgrade a passing game that ranked 24th last season. Del Rio has criticized wide receivers and Matt Jones this summer, both of whom have battled injuries. It will be interesting to watch the “new” Jaguars passing game in preseason.
Arizona Cardinals: Word out of Arizona is that the players like new coach Ken Whisenhunt, who was the Steelers offensive coordinator last year. We think of Arizona as all-passing because their running game has been awful of late because of a poor offensive line. However, keep an eye on the running game in preseason as they’ve made a lot of changes.
The new coach brings in Russ Grimm to coach the offensive line (Grimm did a marvelous job building the Steelers line). They took Penn State OT Levi Jones in the first round and signed two offensive linemen, Mike Gandy and Al Johnson, to provide depth. Reggie Wells was moved from right tackle to left guard and they want more speed out of the offensive line for pulling and traps, a Pittsburgh staple under Bill Cowher.
Atlanta Falcons: While all the attention has been focused on QB Mike Vick’s off-field problems, new coach Bobby Petrino is revamping the Falcons from an all-running team to a more balanced one. Petrino likes the experience of backup QB Joey Harrington and he has veteran backup Chris Redman, who used to play for Petrino at Louisville and knows his offenses better than anyone. Petrino wants Vick to be more of a pocket passer.
The addition of FB Ovie Mughelli is a sign Petrino wants a power rushing attack behind a physical fullback and newcomer WR Joe Horn should upgrade what was a below average wideout corps. Petrino is changing their old zone-blocking scheme to a more traditional in-line blocking scheme and the offensive line is bigger. Rookie DE Jamaal Anderson was grabbed in the first round and the secondary got younger with former Auburn cornerback David Irons, who the Falcons think was a steal as a sixth-round pick.
Cleveland Browns: The 2007 Browns look like a double-edged sword. There was the excitement of the offseason, trading for RB Jamel Lewis, upgrading the offensive line with Wisconsin’s Joe Thomas (the No. 2 pick in the draft) and free agent LG Eric Steinbach, then trading for Notre Dame QB Brady Quinn when he fell to No. 22. GM Phil Savage and head coach Romeo Crennel feel they have a talented, balanced offense with these new pieces, plus TE >Kellen Winslow and WR Braylon Edwards.
However, were these moves made in desperation? And were they foolish ones? The Browns gave up their 2008 first-round pick for Quinn and we all know QBs take time to develop. And even first-round QBs can be busts (Joey Harrington, Akili Smith). We also don’t know if the offensive line is that much improved (31st in rushing in 2007) and they did nothing to improve a defense that was awful against the run (142 yds pg allowed).
The Browns have a new offensive coordinator in Rob Chudzinski. This is a young offense and Quinn looked tentative, indecisive and inaccurate early in camp. Crennel will play Charlie Frye, Quinn and Derek Anderson in preseason. And there is a mixed bag for rookie QBs receiving significant starts: Tim Couch (14), Kerry Collins (13), Ben Roethlisberger (13), Vince Young (13), Joey Harrington (12), Matt Leinart (11) and Kyle Boller (nine). While all the focus will be on the Browns new-look offense, I’m more concerned with the defense.
Carolina Panthers: Coach Jon Fox loves the ground game, but Carolina has made some interesting changes for 2007. Fox fired offensive coordinator Dan Henning and brings in Jeff Davidson to run the offense. Davidson has brought in zone-blocking schemes to the Panther offense, a dramatic change for a system that's been built around a power-running style.
In zone-blocking, offensive linemen are responsible for blocking any defender who appears in their zone, instead of focusing on one defender. The Broncos and Falcons have had success with the system, which features smaller, more athletic offensive linemen and can create running lanes on the inside and outside. Keep an eye in preseason on how Carolina adjusts as it will take time to learn the system. Fox has been one of the top coaches in preseason, with a 15-5 SU, 12-7-1 ATS August record.
Dallas Cowboys: WR Terrell Owens is still here, but QB Drew Bledsoe and Bill Parcells are gone. New head coach Wade Phillips takes over, replacing Parcells. He ran the Chargers defense last season. Phillips was chosen by teary-eyed owner Jerry Jones partly because he is one of the best 3-4 coaches in football and the Cowboys have loaded up on players for that scheme.
Remember that Phillips was blitz-happy with the Chargers last season and early reports out of the Dallas camp have mentioned how the Cowboys have been blitzing a lot, a departure from Parcells. The theme of the 2007 Dallas defense appears to be one of attack.
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