Termine » onship drought, Ricketts now wants t

ELKHART LAKE, Wis. -- Michael McDowell pointed his No. 2 Chevy against a concrete barrier at the finish line, burning his tires in a smoky celebration.Finally, a late lead didnt disappear for McDowell at Road America.McDowell edged teammate Brendan Gaughan by 0.534 seconds in overtime on an overcast, sometimes misty Saturday afternoon at the sprawling road course for his first career NASCAR Xfinity Series victory.Brennan Poole was third, while pole-sitter Alex Tagliani finished seventh in the 194-mile race.After five career top-five starts at Road America, McDowell has the ending that he sorely wanted.Today was a great day to check it off the list, said McDowell, a regular on NASCARs top Sprint Cup circuit.McDowell finished second in 2012. He dominated most of the race the previous year before losing the lead on the second of three attempts at a green-white-checkered overtime finish.McDowell started watching video of that race on Friday night before deciding to turn it off.I shut it off with five to go, he said. Im glad I did.Gaughan nearly played spoiler.The Richard Childress Racing teammates went bumper-to-bumper midway through the last lap.When I came out of Turn 5, Brendan was right there with me, McDowell said. I said, `Uh oh.It was the start of four-turn stretch of the 14-turn track in which Gaughan said he thought he had the best shot to overtake McDowell.McDowell held on through the critical eighth turn, and cut off Gaughans passing lanes from there. Gaughan couldnt catch up, even with fresher tires.Michael and I have always raced with respect, so Im not going to do anything stupid, Gaughan said. Got right to his rear bumper, but just couldnt pull it through (Turns 9 and 10) to get to him.FRANTIC FINISH: Three cautions in a late eight-lap stretch led to several bumps and spin-outs in the field around the course. Cars went three-wide at times around tight turns.The extra time had crew chiefs fretting about fuel strategy and tire wear.Those restarts are wild, Poole said. It was a lot of fun, some of the most fun Ive had this year.McDowell held to finish with a top speed of 108.487 mph. An RCR driver won the Road America race for the third straight year.WHOS HOT: Gaughan picked up his third top-three finish in five career Xfinity starts at Road America, and 12th top-10 finish this season. On Saturday, Gaughan said he benefited on the last restart after passing Daniel Suarez and Justin Marks, who were racing hard but found bad lines out of the third turn.WHOS NOT: Marks, after falling no lower than fourth through 40 laps, finished in 32nd place after spinning around the turn following contact with another car. Suarez managed to finish in fourth.TAGLIANI TIME: The Canadian road race expert set the early pace and led for 17 laps. Tagliani briefly took the lead after a restart on Lap 28 before skidding around the left-hand sixth turn after getting nudged by McDowell from behind while trying to move inside.Tagliani drove into the grass and fell back into the middle of the field. He slowly wound his way back up the field, but his frantic charge came up short.McDowell said he didnt intentionally hit Tagliani.But at the time, I was clearly in there and wasnt sure what he was doing when he came across the nose, McDowell said.WEATHER: Gray conditions hovered over the 4.05-mile road course. At one point, light rain fell on parts of the track, forcing caution for four laps.UP NEXT: Darlington Raceway, Sept. 3. Denny Hamlin is the defending race winner. D.J. Humphries Jersey . PAUL, Minn. Phil Dawson Jersey . Argentina winger Ezequiel Lavezzi and France midfielder Blaise Matuidi scored, with star striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic setting up both despite having a poor game by his high standards. Forward Eduardo gave Ajaccio the lead in the sixth minute after being set up by right winger Benjamin Andre, and the Corsican side looked comfortable in the first half, with the lively Johan Cavalli causing problems with his probing runs from midfield. http://www.officialcardinalsnflauthenticshop.com/a-q-shipley-stitched-jersey/ . The showiest items on Calgarys lot were forwards Mike Cammalleri and Lee Stempniak. Both will be unrestricted free agents this summer. Camo Cardinals Jerseys .com) - Richie Incognito has reportedly been admitted to a psychiatric care unit in Arizona. Haason Reddick Jersey . -- Yogi Ferrell orchestrates pretty much everything in Indianas offence. After putting the Curse of the Billy Goat out to pasture, Chicago Cubs owner Tom Ricketts is looking to make peace with another one of the historical ghosts that have haunted the team over the years.Having ended the Cubs 108-year World Series championship drought, Ricketts now wants to contact Steve Bartman.It was just so important for this organization to put this lovable loser crap to bed, Ricketts told USA Today Sports on Wednesday. ...?We had to get past that and put that in the history of the Cubs, and not the future. We changed that dialogue, and now, its all a thing in the past.Bartman was vilified by some in Chicago for attempting to catch a ball above outfielder Moises Alou along the wall in left field during Game 6 of the 2003 National League Championship Series between the Cubs and Marlins. Bartman made contact but didnt catch it, and neither did Alou, who would have made the second out iin the eighth inning but instead jumped up and down in frustration.ddddddddddddThe Cubs fell apart and lost that game and also Game 7.At the right time, Ricketts said?of his plan to contact Bartman. Im sure well figure something out that provides closure for everybody. Hopefully, we can make it work.I never focused on ghosts or curses or Bartman or any of that stuff. ... We wanted to eventually get to that point where we can pick out rings ... and here we are.Frank Murtha, a lawyer who has served as Bartmans spokesman, told USA Today that Bartman still lives and works in the Chicago area. Bartman has not conducted any interviews since the 2003 incident.[Bartman] was just overjoyed that the Cubs won, as all the Cubs fans are, Murtha said after the Cubs clinched the title. Wholesale Nike NFL Jerseys Wholesale Authentic Jerseys Cheap Jerseys Wholesale Cheap Jerseys Cheap Jerseys China China NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys Wholesale ' ' '