MIAMI - Theres no Jeff, Jimmie or Junior. Bad Brad missed the cut and Smoke never contended.NASCARs biggest stars are all absent from this final field of four racing for the Sprint Cup championship at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Sunday.The new elimination format introduced by NASCAR this season was designed to emphasize wins over points and create a survival-of-the-fastest finale. Jeff Gordon and Brad Keselowski were eliminated last week. Six-time and defending champion Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt Jr., NASCARs most popular driver, were knocked out in the second round. Three-time series champion Tony Stewart didnt even make the 16-driver field.It was a startling development for NASCAR, particularly since Earnhardt, Gordon, Johnson and Keselowski combined to win 18 of 35 races this season. They will be racing only for pride and a trophy on Sunday while Kevin Harvick, Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano and Ryan Newman will be chasing the Sprint Cup championship.The quartet lacks star power. But it is a formidable field and all four drivers have their share of tangled histories and compelling journeys that have them within reach of what will be the first NASCAR title for one of them.Harvick spent 13 seasons driving for Richard Childress, who hastily called him up to the big leagues to drive Dale Earnhardts car just five days after the Hall of Famer was killed in the 2001 Daytona 500. He had raw talent to go with his hair-trigger temper.But Richard Childress Racing could never get him close enough — he finished a career-best third in the standings three times — and he began talking to good friend Stewart about his future in 2012. Stewart told Harvick if he left RCR to drive for Stewart-Haas Racing, he could get Harvick a title.Harvick joined SHR at the end of 2013 and this first season has been nothing short of magical. Harvick has four wins — including last weeks version of a walk-off home run to race his way into the finale — and his 2,083 laps led are tops in the series this season.These moments are what you live for when youre racing or a professional athlete, he said of his first true chance to win a championship. You want these moments.To make room for Harvick, Stewart had to jettison Newman, the driver he brought with him in 2009 when he became part-owner of Stewart-Haas.Newman got his pink slip last July and promptly won the Brickyard 400 the next race out. That victory raised his stock and Childress brought him on board. He drives Jeff Burtons old car, but in many senses it was a bit of a seat swap with Harvick.Newman, who won a Daytona 500 driving for Roger Penske and at Indianapolis Motor Speedway driving for Stewart, was the final seed in the 16-driver field after a steady if unspectacular run in the playoffs. Last week, he moved Kyle Larson out of his way to snag the last spot in the finale and bumped Gordon.Despite just 41 laps led all year and no wins, he has a chance to end the 20-year championship drought for Childress.Were in this hunt, Newman said. Just to have this opportunity, this is a chance for a dream to come true.Of the foursome, only Hamlin has been in this position before.He was the points leader headed into the finale under a different format in 2010. But his nerves were shaky before he even got in the car and he lost the championship to Johnson. Hamlin hasnt been the same driver since.Last season, Hamlin feuded for more than a month with Logano, his former Joe Gibbs Racing teammate. Things boiled over at California when they raced each other hard and contact sent Hamlin hard into the wall. He broke his back, missed five races and failed to make the Chase for the first time in his career.Logano, meanwhile, was on a career resurgence at Team Penske after failing to meet expectations in four seasons with Gibbs. The former 18-year-old phenom dubbed Sliced Bread was pushed into Stewarts ride before he was ready when Stewart left for SHR.Cast aside so Gibbs could add Matt Kenseth last year, the fit with Penske has been spectacular as Logano made the Chase for the first time last year, then held his own with five wins against the big dogs this season.Now 24 and the youngest of the title contenders, Logano is racing for a championship against his old team and two drivers he has clashed with in Hamlin and Harvick, who relentlessly picked on him when he first came into the series.Logano has never before been in such a high-stakes situation, but hes done it by listening to the advice of crew chief Todd Gordon.Todd said to me, Dont reinvent the wheel at this point. You just polish the wheel a little bit and just become a little better in every area, Logano said. Thats what weve been able to do. Its been a fun ride so far. Cheap Custom Nike Baseball Jerseys . Moments after his Brooklyn Nets teammates ran out onto the court to congratulate him following their 100-98 overtime win over the Phoenix Suns on Friday night, Johnson could only shake his head at scoring only 13 points on 6-of-19 shooting. Custom Nike Tampa Bay Rays Jerseys . Linemates Ryan Johansen and Boone Jenner each had a goal and an assist in the first period, and Sergei Bobrovsky made 36 saves to lead the Blue Jackets past the Florida Panthers 4-1 on Saturday night. https://www.customnikebaseballjerseys.com/ .Y. - The Philadelphia Eagles game at Green Bay against the Packers on Nov. Custom Nike Minnesota Twins Jerseys .com) - A top-10 showdown is on tap in at the McKale Center on Saturday, as the 10th-ranked Arizona Wildcats play host to the eighth-ranked Utah Utes in a key Pac-12 matchup. Cheap Custom Nike Baseball Jerseys Free Shipping . Over the course of his career Glenn is 79-71-1 in 151 starts for a .526 career winning percentage. Since becoming a Stampeder, he has elevated his play and raised his stock around the league.OSTRAVA, Czech Republic -- The Czech Republic levelled its Davis Cup World Group tie with the Netherlands at 1-1 on Friday after Tomas Berdych swept aside Igor Sijsling in the opening singles. Berdych, an Australian Open semifinalist, dominated throughout as he cruised to a 6-3, 6-3, 6-0 victory for the defending champions in the first round matchup. Never facing a break point, the seventh-ranked Berdych broke Sijsling early in each set and secured one break in the first set, two in the second and three in the third before converting his first match point with a powerful forehand winner. "I tried to go on attack," Berdych said. "Im glad that I got rid of the fatigue (from the Australian Open). I felt really good on the court and played accordingly." Earlier, Robin Haase rallied to beat Radek Stepanek in five sets and give the Netherlands a 1-0 lead. The 46th-ranked Haase won the hard fought contest 3-6, 6-4, 6-7 (4), 6-2, 6-1 in 3 hours and 39 minutes on an indoor hard court at CEZ Arena. Berdych and Stepanek are expected to team up for Saturdays doubles, and could face Thiemo de Bakker and Jean-Julien Rojer. Haase broke Stepanek for a 3-1 lead in the final set and did the same in the sixth game beforre serving out, converting his first match-point with a forehand winner.dddddddddddd "I felt good," Haase said. "He had many break points but in the end I always played good. I served well and played some unbelievable points. Maybe I was a little bit more lucky in that today but Im happy, of course." Stepanek took advantage of only three of his 18 break-point opportunities while Haase posted 14 aces and hit 62 winners to Stepaneks 43. The winner of the best-of-five series will face either Canada or Japan in the quarterfinals in April. The 50th-ranked Stepanek took the first set after securing break points in the seventh and ninth games but allowed his 46th-ranked opponent to come back in the second set. Haase broke him in the ninth game with a precise passing forehand down the line. In the third set, Stepanek wasted four break points in the eighth game that would have had him serving for the set with a 5-3 lead. He also failed to convert three set points in the 12th game before prevailing in the tiebreak with his typical attacking play. However, Haase fought back again in the fourth, racing into a 3-0 lead before converting his second set point and then going on to seal the final set. ' ' 'nterceptions, two of which he returned for touchdowns. But Flowers gradually lost time to Marcus Cooper and other defensive backs under a new regime last season. ' ' '
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