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Bay on Thursday to win for a seventh time
LONG POND, Pa. Boston Bruins Gear . -- Dale Earnhardt Jr. is having a blast again, with a shared bond with his crew, comfort in his own skin as NASCARs most popular driver, even finding fun 140 characters at a time on Twitter. Winning races sure has a way of easing burdens on Junior. Earnhardt turned Brad Keselowskis trash into Victory Lane treasure, pulling away down the stretch Sunday at Pocono Raceway for his second win of the season and a secured spot in the Chase field. He paired his first career win at Pocono with his Daytona 500 championship for his first multi-win season since 2004. "I feel like Im such a lucky guy to have this second opportunity again to be competitive," Earnhardt said. But for as strong as he ran in the No. 88 Chevrolet, Keselowski gift-wrapped this win when he yielded the lead with five laps left in a desperate attempt to clear debris from his grille and cool his overheated engine. Keselowskis gamble backfired -- he couldnt get the draft needed from the lapped traffic to clear his car and make one final pass for the win on Earnhardt. Keselowskis No. 2 Ford still had the oomph in the engine needed to finish the race, and he had his second-straight runner-up finish. "It was definitely a mistake because the engine made it," Keselowski said, rubbing his face. "It probably shouldnt have." Junior shook off the rising red gauges in the No. 88 that could have had his car meet a similar fate as Keselowski. "They were still within good reason to stand on it and give it hell," he said. Kurt Busch, Denny Hamlin and rookie Kyle Larson completed the top five. Earnhardt gave Hendrick Motorsports three straight wins, following back-to-back victories by Jimmie Johnson. Johnson overcame a pit road accident to finish sixth. Owner Rick Hendrick texted Earnhardt before the race to let him know he would not attend and would see him next week at Michigan. Earnhardt told him, "Ill drink one for you after its over." Earnhardt stuck to his end of the deal, spraying all types of beverages in a jubilant Victory Lane. Johnson was the first driver over to congratulate him. I dont have much to do tomorrow," Earnhardt said, grinning. "Tonights going to be a long one." Earnhardt, long NASCARs most popular driver, gave the Pocono crowd plenty of reason to go wild. He was mobbed by almost 100 fans outside the Pocono media centre, screaming his name and clamouring for a picture with the winner. He waved and ducked into a waiting car, whisked away for another party. Maybe the fans should try tweeting at him to earn his attention. A reluctant participant on Twitter for years, Earnhardt warmed fast to the social media site after winning Daytona. He said he underestimated the amount of fun hed have interacting with fans. He loved the "go get ems" that dot his feed, though its the "haters" that he really feeds off. "The real short ones, like, You suck, those are the best ones," he said, smiling. "I just favourite them and block them. Its so much fun." Earnhardts second win means he is guaranteed to make the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship field. He won for the 29th time in 519 career Sprint Cup starts. "When we won at Daytona, man, it made the rest of the year a lot more relaxing, a lot easier," he said. "It makes it fun because you can just go to the track and just race, not worry about points." Juniors breakthrough was more meaningful because has come in crew chief Steve Letartes final season. Letarte, who had a Pocono win with Jeff Gordon, has become one of Earnhardts best friends. That tightness off the track just may have sparked the wins on the track. "Maybe thats why him and I are such good friends, because I might be the only one in the world that doesnt wonder what its like to be Dale Junior," Letarte said. "Hes a normal guy, hes a great guy, hes a great talent. I dont have any idea what its like to be him." Earnhardt led three Hendrick drivers in the top 10; Gordon finished eighth. Johnsons bid for a third straight victory was derailed when he connected on pit road with Marcos Ambrose. Coming off wins in the Coca-Cola 600 and at Dover, Johnson was fifth when he pitted under yellow. Johnson hit Ambrose and spun 180-degrees, which forced him to back into his stall for more repairs. He needed two tires, had right-front damage and dropped to 29th on the restart. Busch posted his first top 10 since his win at Martinsville nine races ago. He salvaged a rough day for his team that saw fellow Stewart-Haas Racing drivers Tony Stewart and Kevin Harvick drop from contention with various issues. Stewart held the lead and was in great position late to win until he was busted for speeding on pit road and was dropped to 31st. Harvick was running second when had tire trouble. Stewart finished 13th, Harvick 14th, and SHRs Danica Patrick was 37th after she smacked the wall with 22 laps left. All those mishaps -- and one loose wrapper -- all made it a race to remember for Earnhardt. "A year or two ago, we werent running to seize the opportunity," Earnhardt said, "and now we are." Boston Bruins Shirts . The victory strengthened Liverpools position in the top four after Tottenham lost 1-0 at Norwich in the days late kickoff, cutting the north London club six points adrift of fourth place and the final Champions League slot for next season. Cheap Bruins Jerseys . The Sochi organizing committee said in Fridays statement that the torch relay reached the North Pole on Oct. 19. Russian Polar explorer Artur Chilingarov, who led the mission, lit a special bowl at the North Pole sign.Montreal, QC (SportsNetwork.com) - Max Pacioretty scored the games only goal with 1:52 remaining in overtime to lift the Montreal Canadiens past the Washington Capitals 1-0 on Saturday afternoon. Paciorettys goal, coupled with Carey Prices second consecutive shutout, ended Washingtons seven- game winning streak in Montreal and sent the Canadiens to a fifth straight victory. Price followed up his whitewash of the Rangers on Thursday with 36 saves. He improved to 10-1-1 since Dec. 20, thanks in part to Pacioretty chipping in Tomas Plekanecs centering feed in OT. Plekanec was skating down the right boards when he sent a backhand on net that a lunging Pacioretty got enough of to send over Braden Holtbys left sshoulder. Bruins Jerseys China. Holtby, who was coming off his own shutout of the Penguins, made 29 saves in an otherwise stellar performance. Final Score: Detroit 4, NY Islanders 1 Detroit, MI (SportsNetwork.com) - Petr Mrazek stopped 22 shots and the Detroit Red Wings grabbed a 4-1 victory over the New York Islanders on Saturday. Brendan Smith, Gustav Nyquist, Tomas Tatar and Jonathan Ericsson each lit the lamp for the Red Wings, who rebounded from a loss at Tampa Bay on Thursday to win for a seventh time in their past eight games. Lubomir Visnovsky had the only goal of the game for the Islanders, who have dropped their past two contests. Chad Johnson allowed all four goals on just 19 shots in the loss. ' ' '
- Created: Dec 17 '19
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