ekansekans's blog: "df"

DOVER, Del. Darren McFadden Camo Jersey . -- Jimmie Johnson was the mane man at Dover. Wearing an afro clown wig -- tufts of green, red, yellow and blue could be spotted from the stands -- Johnson had to admit it was hard to take him seriously while he played the role of race jester. Some guys just have all the fun. That especially includes on this track. Johnson romped again at Dover International Speedway, racing his way into the tracks history books on Sunday with his seventh win on the concrete, matching the mark held by Hall of Fame drivers Richard Petty and Bobby Allison. No active driver owns the track like the five-time Sprint Cup champion. Johnson led 289 of the 400 laps and looked every bit like the driver who swept the two Cup races at Dover in 2002 and 2009. Johnson last won at Dover on Sept. 26, 2010. He also won the September 2005 race. "God, I love this place," Johnson said as he took a victory spin. Then it was off to goof around in Victory Lane. Johnson, crew chief Chad Knaus and other Hendrick Motorsports crew members wore the wacky wig seen in the talking-animal movie, "Madagascar 3: Europes Most Wanted." They had good reason to clown around. Throw in the All-Star race and thats a sweet four-race winning streak for NASCARs top organization. Johnson won at Darlington Raceway and Kasey Kahne won the Coca Cola 600. Johnson also won the non-points All-Star race during that span as the No. 48 Chevrolet is heating up as he chases a sixth Cup championship. "Ive never been one to pay attention to stats," Johnson said. "I just truthfully never thought Id be the guy whod build up any cool stats. Here I am with some pretty cool stats with legends of our sport and guys that Ive looked up to." Johnson won his second race of the season -- and first where he celebrated with a rainbow circus wig. "Im just proud of this hair," Johnson said. "The hair brought some speed to the team." Petty needed 46 races to win seven times and Allison had 35 races. Johnson got to seven in his 21st start at the track known as the Monster Mile. "You whipped em today," Knaus said over the radio. Kevin Harvick, Matt Kenseth, Dale Earnhardt Jr., and Clint Bowyer rounded out the top five. Johnsons win came about 390 miles after a massive 13-car accident ended weeks of mostly accident-free races and took out defending Cup champion Tony Stewart. Stewart eventually returned and finished 25th. Johnsons only real challenge for a stretch came from teammate Jeff Gordon. The No. 24 was strong enough to lead 60 laps midway through the race and had perhaps the car to beat until a tire issue and an ill-timed debris caution combined to land him in 13th. "Its always more frustrating when youve got a car that can win and you show it by going up there and taking the lead," Gordon said. "We dont care about finishing top 15 or top 10 right now. That does nothing for us. We need wins." Maybe Gordon really did have the top car. But Johnson had the win. Earnhardt joined his Hendrick teammates up front most of the race and posted his fifth top-five of the season. His losing streak stretched to 142 races, but he has only one finish outside the top 10 in his last nine races. NASCARs most popular driver is back as a regular threat to win races. "We are getting close," he said. "We are finishing good when we are not winning. I cant really complain too much about how were doing." Kahne followed his victory with a ninth-place finish to round out another stellar race for Hendrick. Points leader Greg Biffle was 11th and holds a one-point lead in the standings over Kenseth heading into next weeks race at Pocono Raceway. After weeks of lengthy green-flag runs in the Cup series, the cautions and accidents finally returned. Stewart, Landon Cassill and Regan Smith all connected to trigger the multi-car crash. Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch also later were taken out of the race on separate incidents. There were seven cautions in the race. Johnson, who won his 57th career Cup race, took charge and led the final 76 laps, pulling away for good on a restart with 31 laps left. Theres no Earnhardt-like streak in Johnsons future. The wins will surely keep coming. As for that wig? "I dont think this fits the M.O.," a smiling Knaus said. "Its going to be short-lived." Ted Hendricks Jersey . Anton Khudobin frustrated the Senators as he stopped 44 shots Thursday night and Boston defeated Ottawa 3-1. Brandon Myers Jersey .J. -- Kyung Kim won the U. http://www.nflraidersfansshop.com/darrius-heyward-bey-womens-jersey/ .SPORT: SHOOTINGMens 50m Rifle ProneCory Niefer (Saskatoon, Sask.)What You Should Know: Niefer is making his second appearance of London 2012. He finished 46th in the 10-metre air pistol event on Monday in his Olympic Games debut. The 35-year-old was a coach for Canada at Beijing 2008.  Two-time bronze medallist Sergei Martynov enters the competition as the gold-medal favourite. Rod Streater Womens Jersey .J. -- The New York Red Bulls goalkeeper Ryan Meara had arthroscopic surgery Thursday to repair his left hip, and is expected to miss the rest of the season. Carson Palmer Youth Jersey .C. -- Nicklas Lidstrom and Eric Staal have made their roster picks for Sundays NHL All-Star Game presented by Discover (4 p. DETROIT -- Doug Fister appears poised to give the Detroit Tigers another late-season boost. Fister retired his first 17 batters and then settled for a four-hitter in Detroits 6-1 victory over the fading Cleveland Indians on Saturday night. His bid for a perfect game was broken up with two outs in the sixth inning when Ezequiel Carrera tripled over Austin Jacksons head in centre field. Fister (6-7) finished with six strikeouts and didnt allow a run until the ninth, when Carrera tripled again and scored on a groundout. That cost Fister his first career shutout. "I had some emotion running," Fister said. "It was, take a second to kind of regroup and kind of calm down, and go back to work. It was a good feeling." Detroit trails the first-place Chicago White Sox in the AL Central by 1 1/2 games. Fister went 8-1 down the stretch for the Tigers in 2011 after being acquired in a trade. He went down in his first start this year with a strain on his left side, and hes only recently looked sharp on a consistent basis. This was his fifth straight quality start. It was also the right-handers first complete game since July 2 last season, when he was with Seattle. "Its not coming -- its there," catcher Alex Avila said. "You cant get any better than the way hes pitched his last few outings." Ubaldo Jimenez (8-11) allowed six runs and seven hits in 5 1-3 innings for the Indians, who have lost eight consecutive games. Its their longest skid since dropping 11 straight in September 2009. Cleveland hasnt had a quality start since July 26. "Ive never seen a streak of non-quality starts like this," said manager Manny Acta, who used to manage the Nationals. "Even in 2007, when we were rebuilding things in DC and we practically had to have a tryout camp to find four starters, I neever remember a streak like this. Sebastian Janikowski White Jersey. . We need someone to go out there and break this." Brennan Boesch and Jhonny Peralta each hit a double and a triple for the Tigers. Boesch hit an RBI triple in the second and scored on Delmon Youngs sacrifice fly to make it 2-0. Peralta hit a two-run triple in the fourth and scored on Omar Infantes single. Infante added a sacrifice fly in the sixth. The Indians have lost the first two games of the series by a combined 16-3. The game was delayed for 37 minutes in the second inning when rain began coming down in sheets. For a little while, it was pretty much impossible to see the Detroit skyline beyond right field. There was more rain on the way, but Fister worked quickly and the game finished with no further delays. He threw 107 pitches and the game took 2 hours, 19 minutes -- not counting the stoppage. Carreras first triple sailed over the head of Jackson, who has run down his share of deep fly balls at Comerica Park but couldnt reach this one. That ended the perfect game, but Fister didnt seem concerned. "It really didnt cross my mind, to tell you the truth," Fister said. "I go out there and just really focus on each pitch. Typically, I dont know what inning it is or how many outs there are but its just a matter of going out there and throwing." NOTES: Former Detroit INF Carlos Guillen was honoured before the game by the Tigers and threw out the ceremonial first pitch. Guillen announced his retirement in March. ... Cleveland DH Travis Hafner was activated from the paternity list before the game, but he sat out because of back trouble. ... Detroit will try for a sweep Sunday when RHP Max Scherzer (10-6) takes the mound against LHP Chris Seddon. It will be Seddons first big league appearance since October 2010. ' ' '