Neues » Were moving forward.

DOVER, Del. Joe Gilliam Youth Jersey . -- Jimmie Johnson held off a teammate, passed a pair of Hall of Famers, and dominated once more at Dover. His slice of track history was more than just another milestone to tack on his bio. His latest win at his favourite track put the Chase field on notice that his run at a sixth championship in the No. 48 is gaining steam. Johnson never let Dale Earnhardt Jr. catch him down the stretch Sunday and won for a record eighth time at Dover International Speedway. Johnson had shared the mark of seven wins on the concrete mile with Bobby Allison and Richard Petty. "Truthfully, it was the first thought that went through my mind when I crossed the finish line," Johnson said. "It wasnt long after I thought about the impact of winning in the Chase." Johnsons win bumped him from third to second in the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship standings. Matt Kenseth, who won the first two Chase races, holds an eight-point over Johnson as the Chase heads to Kansas for the fourth race. Led by Johnsons fifth win, the entire top 10 was made up of Chase drivers. Joey Logano, Jeff Gordon and Kyle Busch rounded out the top five. Kevin Harvick, Kenseth, Ryan Newman, Greg Biffle and Clint Bowyer completed the top 10. "Youve got to win when youre at your best track," Johnson said. "We had to win here today. I think any points on the 18 or 20 would have been a very good day. Max points, its an awesome day." Not so much for Earnhardt, who had one of the fastest cars, but he missed pit road and gave up the lead early in the race. He had a strong enough No. 88 Chevrolet to get back into the race and contend for his first win of the season but couldnt pass Johnson. "We left everybody in the mirror. We were clicking off some laps," Earnhardt said. "But just not fast enough to get to Jimmie." Kenseth kept his points lead even as he fell short in trying to become the first driver to win the first three Chase races. "For how bad I felt like we struggled with the car, that was a decent finish," Kenseth said. Johnson dominated as he usually does at Dover and led 243 of the 400 laps to help extend his Chase record with his 23rd career win in 93 starts in NASCARs version of the playoffs. He swept Dover in 2002 and 2009 and won races in 2005, 2010 and 2012. He jumped a restart and served a pass-through penalty that cost him the win in the spring race. Crew chief Chad Knaus brought the same car back for this one and, this time, Johnson was pretty much flawless. Johnson has his sights set on a bigger piece of NASCAR history. Hes in the hunt for his sixth Cup championship, which would put him one behind Petty and Dale Earnhardt Sr. for most in series history. "Jimmie is probably the most underrated champion we have in this industry," Knaus said. "He is by far and above the most powerful driver over the course of the last 25, 35 years in this sport." Johnson caught a huge break when Earnhardt slowed during a green-flag pit stop and missed the entrance to pit road. He went from holding a 3.7-second lead on Johnson to trailing by more than 9 seconds after he finally made his stop. Johnson took the lead -- and took off for his 65th victory in 428 career starts. Even smart pit strategy that included a late four-tire stop wasnt enough to boost Earnhardt past his Hendrick Motorsports teammate. "The mistake I made coming on to pit road and missing pit road completely (cost us)," Earnhardt said. "If I had not given up that track position and had a smart enough race to keep the lead when it counted, right at the end we might have won the race. It would have been hard to get by us just like it was hard to get by Jimmie." Other Chase driver finishes include, Kasey Kahne in 13th, Kurt Busch 21st, and Carl Edwards 35th. Edwards entered fourth in the standings but plummeted to 11th once a late tire issue sent him to the garage. Most drivers insisted this weekend that it would not be a three-driver Chase. With seven races left, Kyle Busch is third and only 12 points back. But Harvick and Gordon are 39 points out, and Biffle and Newman are both more than 40 points behind. Its going to take major problems out of the top three and an improbable winning streak from some drivers in the back to shake up the standings. Kyle Busch has a pair of seconds and a fifth to open the Chase. "Its certainly appealing and you could be happy with it," he said, "but were a little disappointed at the same time." Jack Lambert Jersey . Auld made 37 saves in a 5-3 loss to the Boston Bruins on Saturday. It was Ottawas first game without starter Anderson, who is out indefinitely after cutting his hand Wednesday night, and it was evident the team wasnt sure how to deal with the change in goal. Antonio Brown Jersey . Not Peyton Manning. Hes holding on to the heartache to stoke his competitive fire. http://www.steelersrookiestore.com/Steelers-Alejandro-Villanueva-Jersey/ . On Sunday, hell attempt to become the youngest driver to win a NASCAR Nationwide race on Iowas short track. The 20-year-old Blaney wont be the only kid pushing a podium finish.TORONTO -- Whether or not the Brooklyn Nets purposefully set themselves up to face the Raptors, Toronto coach Dwane Casey warns: Be careful what you wish for. The Raptors make their first playoff appearance in six years when they host the Nets in Game 1 on Saturday -- and the opening-round series is already contentious before it has even tipped off. The Nets seemed to have been angling for this particular matchup, apparently believing their veteran experience will win out over a young, inexperienced Raptors squad. "It would tick me off if that was the case. . . If they did, sometimes you have to be careful what you wish for," Casey said. "For us, we were going to take whoever came to us, whether it was Brooklyn or Washington or Charlotte. We were prepared for all three teams." Raptors general manager Masai Ujiri echoed his coachs sentiments. "Good for them," Ujiri said. "You know what? We havent lost one -- I know I havent and I can sense from the players -- second of sleep worrying about the Brooklyn Nets. At the end of the day if we want to be a good team, we have to play good teams. Were not hoping for anybody. Were in the playoffs. You have to play. "They can do whatever they want. Well be right here." The Nets lost four of five games down the stretch, and Brooklyn coach Jason Kidd sat his starters for Wednesdays season-finale -- a whopping 29-point loss to Cleveland -- fuelling chatter the Nets were tanking in order to drop to the sixth seed, pitting them against Toronto rather than Chicago. If they were insulted by suggestions the Nets preferred to play them, the Raptors werent saying Thursday. "Man, weve had a chip on our shoulder all year. We dont care. It aint going to stop now," said Raptors all-star DeMar DeRozan. "The same chip we had before the season even started, weve got it now. Nothings going to change, it dont matter who were playing against. At the end of the day its a playoff team. Only the good teams make the playoffs, right? Youre going to have to play somebody good so it dont matter to us." The Raptors (48-34) and Nets (44-38) split their four games during a season that saw Toronto win the Atlantic Division title and set a franchise record for victories. Raptors sophomore Terrence Ross added fuel to the fire -- unknowingly he said --about a month ago when he said he hoped for a Toronto-Brooklyn matchup. That prompted Nets centre Andray Blatche to tell the Daily News: "You better be careful what tree you bark up. He better be careful." Ross said his comment was both blown out of proportion and misinterpreted. "I said I wanted to have Brooklyn because, looking up to those guys when I was younger. . . Paul Pierce, KG (Kevin Garnett), Joe Johnson. . . so getting a chance to play with them would be like an honour," the 23-year-old Ross said Thursday. "Everyone kind of ran with it, took their own thing, whatever, thats what happens when youre in the playoffs. "But thats who we have now and I guess I did give that comment (and get) what I asked for." There is a massive discrepancy in playoff experience between the two teams, and its why many are picking the Nets to knock out the No. 3-seeded Raptorss. Terrell Edmunds Jersey. Pierce alone -- with 136 playoff appearances -- has played in almost as many post-season games as the entire Raptors roster combined. "Were all in the same league, man. Honestly, thats how I look at it," DeRozan said, sounding exasperated by the suggestion. "Credit to them, they did what they did but we played against guys who are experienced all season, honestly." The 24-year-old DeRozan has zero playoff experience, but rolled his eyes when asked how long it will take to adjust to the pace of the post-season. "It aint like its rocket science or nothing. Everybody keeps talking to me, bringing it up like its rocket science or Ive got to know trigonometry or something," DeRozan said. "You just figure it out. You just go out there. Ive been playing this game long enough, Ive been in the league long enough, been in a lot of situations. So it shouldnt be hard." Longtime NBA coach Jeff Van Gundy, now an NBA television analyst, weighed in on the Brooklyn tanking storyline in a conference call Thursday, saying the Nets "absolutely tried to get to (the Raptors) by resting their guys." "People for some reason think Toronto is a better matchup," Van Gundy said. "I love watching the Raptors play." Van Gundy had kind words for Casey, who worked under a new GM this season in Ujiri, and saw his team thrive after the blockbuster seven-player deal in December that sent Rudy Gay to Sacramento. "I think Dwane Casey has gone through a lot of upheaval in his team in Toronto as far as roster changes, management changes, and hes handled himself with such dignity and class, and hes got his team playing so hard and so well together," Van Gundy said. "I just think they have to keep doing what theyve been doing, competing hard, playing together, big guys controlling the paint, and theyve got a tough matchup. "I like the Raptors a lot. I think theyve had a remarkable season led by a remarkable coach, and I think theyve got a great shot at advancing to the second round." Before Thursdays practice, the Raptors sat down to watch the 60-second "We the North" commercial thats part of the clubs new ad campaign. The Great White North is embraced and the Ontario capital takes centre stage in the video that kicked off a massive franchise rebrand that will continue over the next two years. Ujiri said Canadian fans -- and especially those in Toronto -- will embrace the Raptors during this long-awaited playoff run. "I think they want to make that building on Saturday and whenever we play here a living hell for those teams," Ujiri said. "Its what Ive said from Day 1 -- it should be a disadvantage to come and play here. "We The North, for me, its who we are. Enough of all of these excuses of weather and enough of all of these excuses for players who didnt want to be there. For me, thats all crap. Were moving forward. We hope Canada can stand tall, the Toronto Raptors can stand tall and we can be who we are. "Were proud to be a team in Canada. Were not apologetic to anybody or any players that left or anything that happened in the past. We are who we are. Were going to move forward. Were going to grow. Were going to win." ' ' '