of a fifth consecutive birdie | Forum
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Oct 27 '17
LONG POND, Pa. Markus Golden Jersey . -- Dale Earnhardt Jr. traded hats, waited for his cue, and flashed three fingers for the cameras. Thats one for every win. The beer baths, champagne toasts, selfies, and photo opps in Victory Lane are almost routine now for Junior. He added a new wrinkle at Pocono, a broom. Earnhardt hoisted the broom high over his head after he completed a season sweep at Pocono Raceway, the third win in a season that has served as a career renaissance for NASCARs most popular driver. Earnhardt now holds the No. 1 seed in the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship. Can he keep the momentum headed into NASCARs version of the playoffs? "Youre the broadcaster," Earnhardt teased crew chief Steve Letarte about that question. "You dont," the departing Letarte said. "Youre too far from the Chase." The legion of Junior Nation fans roared when Earnhardt stormed ahead of the pack off the final restart with three laps left for the lead. His third win, he also won the Daytona 500, tied him for the most in Sprint Cup this season. Earnhardt held off the hard-charging Kevin Harvick to become the first driver to sweep both races at the track since Denny Hamlin in 2006. He tweeted "Lookin for a broom" last week when he landed in Pocono. He found one in Victory Lane. "This group all really enjoys each other," Earnhardt said. "We want to see everybody happy." They had tons of fun inside the Pocono media centre. Letarte acted hurt when his nameplate didnt have the same three winners stickers that were on Earnhardts card. Earnhardt also brought a Make-A-Wish Foundation teen to the podium and made sure hed have his own namecard and stickers. "This is my buddy, Chris. Does he get one," Earnhardt said. They all got their stickers -- the same ones applied to the No. 88 Chevrolet. Earnhardt also became the fifth straight Hendrick Motorsports driver to win at Pocono. Owner Rick Hendrick was not at the race, though he did talk to his winning driver on the phone on pit road. "I told him thanks for believing in me and making my life better," Earnhardt said. Earnhardts sweep followed Kasey Kahne and Jimmie Johnson last year and Jeff Gordon in the August 2012 race. Earnhardt has his most wins since he won six times in 2004. His three wins are one shy of his combined total from 2005-2013. His win Sunday was the 22nd of a career still without a Cup championship. "We had a fast car all day," Earnhardt said. "Steves strategy was perfect at the end. I dont know if anyone knew what was going on there, but it was pretty awesome." Earnhardt said before the race his No. 88 Chevrolet was better than his winner in June. They were both fast enough to take the checkered flag. He had a bit of luck in his first win when debris slowed down race leader Brad Keselowski. On Sunday, no one could touch Earnhardt over the final 14 laps. "We were determined to go home from the last win and improve the car," he said. Earnhardt and Letarte are clicking in their final season together. Hendrick Motorsports named Greg Ives the crew chief for 2015 once Letarte heads to the broadcast booth. "I think hes going to make me look bad," Letarte said. "Mr. Hendrick has a remarkable talent of matching drivers with crew chiefs." Harvick, who clinched a spot in the Chase, was second, followed by Joey Logano, Clint Bowyer and Greg Biffle. Gordon finished sixth a week after he won the Brickyard 400. He led a race-high 63 laps and passed 24,000 career laps led in the No. 24 Chevrolet and 1,000 laps led at Pocono. He still holds a 17-point lead over Earnhardt in the standings. Earnhardt would have the No. 1 seed because he was one more win than Gordon. Earnhardt, who swept a track for the first time since Talladega in 2002, had few cars left to hold off on the lead lap after several potential contenders got knocked out. Hamlin triggered a 13-car wreck with 43 laps after he got sideways coming out of a turn. Brian Vickers tried to avoid Hamlin and slammed into Matt Kenseth to send cars all over the track. The pileup looked like a "Big One" straight out of Talladega or Daytona, with smoking, dented and destroyed cars littering the track. Tony Stewarts No. 14 Chevrolet rested atop Paul Menards No. 27 Chevy. "I cant drive it because my car is on top of the other car," Stewart said over the radio. Stewart, Vickers, Menard and Matt Kenseth all visited the NASCAR care centre. "Big wrecks are always frustrating when youre in it," Kenseth said. Aric Almirola said he slammed on the brakes as hard as he could, but still got "creamed from behind and pushed into the wreck." Hamlin was able to straighten himself out and stayed out. Kyle Busch topped the lengthy list of stars with an early exit when the No. 18 needed a push to the garage with a variety of issues. Six-time champion Jimmie Johnson finished outside the top 10 for the fourth straight race. He fell a lap down after his rear right tire smacked the wall, rebounded to run fifth, then a second blown tire forced him to the garage. "It wasnt the best weekend but we still gave ourselves a chance at a win, if not a top five, today and came up a little short," Johnson said. His teammate carried the Hendrick banner all the way to victory. "After last year, I thought the only thing were not doing is winning," Earnhardt said. Now, the good things come in threes. Kurt Warner Jersey . The hard-serving 22-year-old from Thornhill, Ont., became the first Canadian to be ranked in the Top 10 on the ATP World Tour thanks to his runner-up performance at Rogers Cup in Montreal. Jaron Brown Jersey . Howard hit a three-run homer with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning to lift the Philadelphia Phillies to a 6-3 win over the Colorado Rockies on Wednesday night.After another week of high-quality golf around the globe, we have picked out our top five shots of the week on Sky Sports. Stacy Keating came within a few inches of a hole in one on the opening day of the Fatima Bint Mubarak Ladies Open in Abu Dhabi, although she was happy to settle for a kick-in birdie on the 141-yard 17th.Escape of the week went to Ryder Cup star Andy Sullivan, who looked certain to drop a shot at the 18th on day one of the Turkish Airlines Open after finding an awkward spot in a greenside bunker. But despite having one foot in the trap and one out, Sullivan splashed out to a couple of feet, albeit with the aid of another ball! Andy Sullivan managed to savee par from an awkward spot in a bunker Kiradech Aphibarnrat binned one of the putts of the week in Turkey, while champion Thorbjorn Olesens dominance of the par-threes was evident as he stiffed his tee-shot to the 14th to set up his seventh two of the week - and his third straight at that hole. Chad Williams Jersey. And finally, Bernd Wiesbergers brilliant escapology from the trees in the final round was more than worthy of a mention as he gave himself an unlikely chance of a fifth consecutive birdie.Watch the video to see our shots of the week on Sky Sports, but did we miss any? Tweet us @SkySportsGolf with your favourites. Also See: WATCH: Drone Golf challenge Olesens lucky birdie European Tour Ace Club Golf live on Sky Sports 4 Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China Cheap Jerseys From China Cheap NFL Jerseys Authentic Wholesale Jerseys China Cheap NFL Jerseys China NFL Cheap Jerseys ' ' '
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