Termine » support from the school and community, an

KANSAS CITY, Kansas -- With the unpredictability of Talladega looming, the pressure is on for eleven of the 12 drivers competing in NASCARs Chase for the Sprint Cup.The Talladega effect could play a huge role in the Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway, because nobody wants to leave Kansas on Sunday night knowing that they will need to count on winning next weeks restrictor-plate contest at NASCARs most fearsome track.By virtue of his victory at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Oct. 9 in the first race of the round of 12, Jimmie Johnson is the only Chase driver who can afford to relax over the next week. Johnson is already locked in to the Round of 8, which starts Oct. 30 at Martinsville Speedway.What happens between now and next Sunday will determine which seven drivers will join Johnson to fight for the 2016 Sprint Cup Series championship. Charlotte was potentially a dream-killer, with five of the 12 Chase drivers finishing 30th or worse, putting a serious damper on their title hopes.But things can turn around quickly, and a solid run at Kansas -- or even better, a win -- could put that dream right back on track.Heres what to watch for Sunday:1. Powered by Toyota: Toyota dominance has been a talking point all year, and it was definitely on display for qualifying at Kansas. Toyota drivers qualified 1-2-3-4 and claimed five of the top seven grid positions.Matt Kenseth claimed pole position, leading Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch in a Joe Gibbs Racing 1-2-3. Martin Truex Jr. will line up fourth in the quasi-Gibbs Furniture Row Racing Toyota, while Denny Hamlin could only manage seventh.Kenseth isnt known as a great qualifier, so seeing the No. 20 Camry on the pole speaks volumes. It was just his 18th career pole, but 10 of those have come since 2013 when he joined JGR.The year has been pretty solid for the organization, Kenseth remarked. We all had a pretty good day and Im just glad we finally got one -- those guys have gotten a lot of them this year. The 78 [Truex] and 19 [Edwards] and all those guys have won poles, everyone except for me.Its great having teammates that good, but its also hard to beat them. I was glad we got one today.Toyotas have won 15 of the 30 Cup Series races run this year, besting nine for Chevrolet and six for Ford. Busch won the Spring race at Kansas, with Kenseth fourth.Its just a testament to Joe Gibbs Racing and Toyota to be able to do what weve done, Busch said. Ive run well here the last couple of times. In the fall I think weve had top-5 finishes and being able to win here in the spring was definitely a confidence-booster, being able to understand and know that I can do it.There were a couple of guys that were fast in May that Im sure well have to contend with this time around.2. Kenseth, one year later: In the fall 2015 race at Kansas, Kenseth led 153 laps and looked in position to win. But in the closing laps, Joey Logano reeled him in and the pair made contact with three laps to go. Kenseth spun down to a 14th-place finish, while Logano scored a win he didnt really need, the Penske Ford driver having already clinched a spot in the Chases round of 8.Kenseth failed to advance in the Chase. He clearly placed the blame on Logano, because a couple weeks later, he intentionally wrecked the younger driver at Martinsville Speedway, earning himself a two-week suspension. The Martinsville crash earned a place in stock car racing lore, quintessential NASCAR, to use one of Brian Frances favorite expressions.Always a strong performer at Kansas (hes a two-time winner), Kenseth is arguably the favorite Sunday. Hed rather look forward to that instead of dwelling on what happened in the past.Its been a good track for me in the past, but you never know whats going to happen, he said. As you saw last week, anything can happen in these races. If it happens to someone else, it can happen to you. Were going to go out there and race hard.I think you want to win every weekend, he added. With this Chase format, theres always talk about winning and desperation and all this stuff. Ive never been at a race I didnt want to win and have done everything I could to win the race within a certain extent. I dont think the 48 [Johnson] is going to ride around in the back because hes already won.3. Johnsons quest for seven: Johnson is a six-time Sprint Cup Series champion, but the elimination-format Chase has not been kind to him. This is the first time that JJ has advanced to the round of 8 since eliminations were introduced in 2014.Its been a strange season for the 48 team, which won two early-season races, then endured a barren 24-race stretch that marked the longest winless streak in the history of Hendrick Motorsports.Through the summer, Johnson and crew chief Chad Knaus believed their performance wasnt as bad as the results might have indicated. The 48 has run strongly in most of the Chase races to date, culminating in that satisfying victory a week ago in Charlotte.Although hes already locked into advancing, Johnson doesnt plan to let up on the throttle -- though he wasnt happy with his 21st-place qualifying run at Kansas.We need to get qualifying under control, he said. I need to get better at it because that is the only way you are going to create the best scenario for Homestead [site of the Chase championship round].We are not taking it lightly that we qualified 21st, but Im not too concerned about it, Johnson added. Im better at racing than I am at running a single lap.4. The bubble battle: Last weeks race at Charlotte was extraordinary in the way it adversely affected the championship hopes of so many drivers. You expect one or two guys to have a bad day in any given race, but to have five out of 12 drivers encounter problems was a shock.Austin Dillon, Logano, Chase Elliott and Kevin Harvick are currently outside the cut line, and Hamlin (who suffered a late race engine failure at Charlotte) is far from safe.Of course, there are two ways to advance -- by winning a race or finishing the round among the top eight in points. Everybody is looking for a win at Kansas, but the battle for the top eight is still alive and well, with eighth-place Hamlin and 12th place Harvick separated by just eight points.Of the quintet in trouble, Harvick probably has the best chance to prolong his season. Remarkably, he is the only driver in the field who has never been eliminated from a Chase round over the last three years. Three times in that span, Harvick has come through to win when he needed to, and with Talladega up next, there has never been a better time for him to come through in the clutch yet again.As the winner of the last two fall Kansas races, Logano is another solid bet, and he was pleased to qualify near the front in sixth place after starting 14th for his last two Kansas starts. Hamlin will line up seventh, Harvick 11th, Dillon 12th and Elliott 13th.5. The forgotten few: With all the focus on Johnson and the five drivers who struggled at Charlotte, the other six drivers still in the Chase have been pretty much ignored. Kenseth, Busch, Brad Keselowski, Kurt Busch, Edwards and Truex could briefly feel safe after solid finishes at Charlotte, but all of them will quickly point out that the same kind of misfortune could befall them this weekend or next.In this group, Kurt Busch might be the driver to watch. He has not been happy with the handling of his Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet this weekend at Kansas, and he qualified 15th, lower than all the other Chase-eligible drivers than Johnson.?Busch improved to run third fastest in the final practice session, but he encountered trouble as the time clock expired, blowing a right front tire and causing significant damage to the splitter of the No. 41 Chevrolet as it dug into the infield grass. Busch needs a good result at Kansas, but he will be starting from the back of the field in his backup car and it will be interesting to see whether he can keep his composure if things dont go well for him early in Sundays race. Brandon Finnegan Jersey . After a first half in which he thought "the lid was on the basket," the Toronto Raptors coach watched his squad mount a second half surge to defeat the Cleveland Cavaliers 98-91. Chris Sabo Jersey . The injury bothered Bledsoe in the Suns victory over the Clippers on Monday and he sat out the teams home loss to Memphis on Thursday night. http://www.redsgearshop.com/Customized/ . The Clippers were angry about blowing a big lead; the Kings didnt like being in that kind of hole and nearly digging themselves out only to lose. Scott Feldman Jersey . Ibaka equaled a career high with 20 rebounds, adding four blocked shots and 15 points as the Thunder smothered the Milwaukee Bucks offence in a 92-79 victory Saturday night. Pete Rose Jersey . -- Charlie Graham stopped 67 shots as the Belleville Bulls edged the visiting Guelph Storm 6-5 on Saturday in Ontario Hockey League action. LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Thousands of people joined Olympic sprinter Tyson Gay at a candlelight vigil Monday night on a Kentucky high school track honoring Gays 15-year-old daughter, who was fatally shot over the weekend.Gay stood on the track at Lexingtons Lafayette High School where he and daughter Trinity excelled and he thanked people for showing support after the girls death early Sunday after gunfire erupted outside a restaurant in that city. The teens mother, Shoshana Boyd, also was present amid the crowd honoring her memory.I want you guys to love each other, have peace and protect each other, said Gay, who added that he was numb from crying over her death. Thats what Trinity would have wanted. ... Life is not a joke.Many in the crowd wore pink and purple -- Gays favorite colors -- with some holding balloons of those same hues that were later released into the air. Several pairs of track spikes hung from a fence along with a baton that said In Memory of Trinity.Three men charged in connection with the shooting pleaded not guilty Monday and face an Oct. 25 court date. The three appeared via video before Fayette County, Kentucky, District Court Judge T. Bruce Bell.Bell set bail at $5,000 each for Chazerae Taylor, 38, and his son, DMarkeo Taylor, 19, on wanton endangerment charges. Dvonta Middlebrooks, 21, is charged with wanton endangerment and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. His bail was set at $12,500.Bell will assign attorneys for two of them. The younger Taylor already has a lawyer.Lexington police say Middlebrooks was in the parking lot of the Cook Out restaurant early Sunday and fired multiple shots in the incident in which Trinity Gay was shot. Court records said the Taylors acknowledged firing shots.Police spokeswoman Brenna Angel said police dont believe Trinity Gay was in either of two vehicles involved.Gay told The Associated Press on Monday evening that in talking with police, he believed his daughter was an innocent bystander. But he said authorities didnt reveal details of their investigation.Tyson Gay said he and his daughter were very close, according to Lexington TV station WLEX, which spoke to him Sunday.Its so crazy. I have no idea what happened,, Gay told the station.ddddddddddddGrief counselors also went to the Lexington high school Monday for students and staff, Fayette County Public Schools spokeswoman Lisa Deffendall said. Years ago, Gay had attended the same school as his daughter. Trinity Gay was a standout sprinter, placing in the top five in several events at the state championships in May. Her father still holds the state record in the 100 set in 2001.Lafayette principal Bryne Jacobs, teacher Rhonda Mullins and girls track coach Crystal Washington all described Trinity Gay as friendly and outgoing. She dreamed of becoming a surgeon.She was full of energy and life, said Mullins, who had Gay in family and consumer science classes along with the Future Educators of America club. She was a kid that everybody wanted to teach.Jacobs said Trinity Gays mother, who also attended Lafayette, had thanked him for support from the school and community, and noted that Trinitys life was something to celebrate.Our hearts are burdened that she is not in our building anymore, Jacobs said.The emotions flowed before, during and after a candlelight vigil on the track where Trinity Gay excelled. Tyson Gay hugged Shoshana several around him.Many others hugged and cried, but Jerome Brown, 16, held his feelings for his former teammate in check. I dont want to cry, but it hurts a lot, said Brown, who ran with Trinity Gay since she was 9. I wanted to come here for her mom. With Trinity, when she was on the track, it was home.Tyson Gay competed in the last three Summer Olympics. He was part of a team that won a silver medal in the 4x100-meter relay at the 2012 London Games, though that medal was ultimately stripped after Gay tested positive for steroids in 2013.Last summers Games in Rio featured another stinging disappointment for Gay, 33, who has battled injuries. He was a member of the American mens 4x100-meter relay team that finished third in the final before being disqualified for an illegal baton exchange between Mike Rodgers and Justin Gatlin. The teams appeal was denied, giving Canada the bronze medal. ' ' '