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B—6 NEW JERSEY SUNDAY HERALD Sunday, May 6, 2007 SPORTS Baby Bulls are all grown up now By ANDREW SELIGMAN AP Sports Writer DEERFIELD, Ill. — Chris Duhon thought back to his rookie season and all those substitution buzzers after his mistakes. He couldn’t take three steps in practice without coach Scott Skiles saying something, either. And now? He can smile. The former “Baby Bulls” look like a mature group now. A team that had not advanced past the first round of the playoffs in nearly a decade swept defending champion Miami after winning 49 games in the regular season. Next up: Detroit. “Now that we’ve all matured and we understand how to play the game a lot better, he can relax a little bit,” said Duhon, a second-round pick from Duke in 2004. “He doesn’t have to be on us 24/7.” Skiles a softy? Not exactly. Although Skiles said he hasn’t changed much over the past three or four years, the dynamic between the coach and his core of young players is a bit different these days. “He’s loosened up,” Ben Gordon said. There’s a trust, the kind born over time. Core players such Gordon, Luol Deng, Kirk Hinrich, Andres Nocioni and Duhon understand what Skiles wants, and they know each other’s tendencies. They came of age together and experienced a major breakthrough in the first round, after losing in six games to Washington and Miami the previous two years. The Bulls made a splash in the offseason, when they signed center Ben Wallace to a $60 million contract, and the younger players made waves during the season. Points 1. Detroit vs. 5. Chicago Pistons Bulls Per game playoff averages Rebounds 40.3 42.5 Assists 20.8 23.3 97.0 99.8 FG pct. .449 .460 FT pct. .776 .810 3-pt. pct. .443 .400 Team leaders Billups • 22.3 PTS Deng • 26.3 McDyess • 9.3 REB Wallace • 9.8 Billups • 7.0 AST Gordon • 5.5 SOURCE: NBA AP “I think you saw this year that Scott trusted Ben Gordon, Luol, Kirk much more,” general manager John Paxson said. “I think that’s just a natural component of that.” Deng proved he’s an emerging star, averaging 18.8 points and 7.1 rebounds while shooting 51.7 percent, and Gordon led the Bulls with a career-high 21.4 points per game. Against the Heat, the two were even better. Deng averaged 26.3 points and Gordon 25.5 as the Bulls won a series for the first time since 1998, when Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen led them to their sixth title in eight years. It was a crucial step for a franchise that endured several rebuilding plans in the interim, and for a young core that seemed to be on the verge of a breakthrough. Things began to fall into place after Paxson replaced Jerry Krause as general manager in April 2003. AP Photo/Paul Sancya San Jose goalie Evgeni Nabokov, left, watches the scoreboard as Detroit’s Tomas Holmstrom celebrates his goal with Henrik Zetterberg (40), Niklas Lidstrom (5) and Chris Chelios (24) in the third period of Game 5 Saturday. Detroit beat San Jose 4-1 to take a 3-2 lead in the series. Red Wings win away from advancing By MIKE HOUSEHOLDER Associated Press Writer DETROIT — Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg each scored a goal and had two assists Saturday, leading the Detroit Red Wings past the San Jose Sharks 4-1 and within one victory of reaching the Western Conference finals. Detroit is ahead 3-2 and can close this conference semifinal Monday night in San Jose. The Red Wings outhit and outshot the Sharks in Game 5, but they also had some luck. Datsyuk turned San Jose goalie Evgeni Nabokov’s misplay into the winning goal late in the second period, and Nabokov didn’t seem the same after that, surrendering a pair of third-period power-play goals. With the Sharks circling in the Red Wings zone, Detroit cleared the puck into San Jose territory. Nabokov left the goal to play the puck, but sent it straight into a charging Datsyuk. He scooped it up and sent it into an open net with 3:47 to play in the second. Less than two minutes earlier, Nabokov robbed Datsyuk of a goal by gloving his shot from close range. Detroit, the top seed in the West, twice has come back from two-goal deficits to win games in this series, but needed only to erase a onegoal San Jose lead Saturday. Unfortunately for the Sharks, blowing leads is becoming something of a habit. A year ago, they lost a 2-0 series lead over Edmonton in the conference semifinals. Detroit vs. San Jose April 26: San Jose 2, Detroit 0 April 28: Detroit 3, San Jose 2 April 30: San Jose 2, Detroit 1 May 2: Detroit 3, San Jose 2, OT May 5: Detroit 4, San Jose 1, Detroit leads series 3-2 May 7: Detroit at San Jose, 10 p.m. May 9: San Jose at Detroit, TBD, if necessary Mikael Samuelsson added an insurance goal nearly four minutes into the final period, slapping a one-timer past Nabokov. Zetterberg and Datsyuk set up Samuelsson’s first goal of the playoffs. Tomas Holmstrom concluded the scoring, converting Zetterberg’s centering pass with 13:46 left in the third. Datsyuk also picked up an assist on the play. Detroit had evened the score at 1 three minutes into the second period on Zetterberg’s fourth goal of the postseason. Nicklas Lidstrom’s shot from the point trickled to Holmstrom, who slid it through the crease to Zetterberg, and he flipped it above a sprawling Nabokov. Marcel Goc opened the scoring on what looked to be a harmless wrist shot. Mike Grier rushed the puck up the ice, sent a pass to Goc between the left circle and the blue line. Goc floated the shot in, beating Dominik Hasek inside the far post with 15:07 left in the first period. Hasek was not squared up to Goc and appeared to misread the angle of the shot. Hasek was perfect after yielding Goc’s goal, turning aside 23 shots and proving again how valuable he is to the Wings. Instead of retiring last summer when Ottawa didn’t want him back, the two-time MVP and six-time Vezina Trophy winner returned to play for Detroit after helping it win a Stanley Cup in 2002. Hasek and the Wings pulled off their strong effort on Saturday despite playing short-handed on defense much of the game. Defenseman Mathieu Schneider broke his wrist during the first period and will miss the rest of the playoffs, Red Wings coach Mike Babcock said. Schneider, who scored the overtime goal in San Jose on Wednesday that evened the series at 2, was hurt when checked by Sharks captain Patrick Marleau. The Wings already were ailing on defense, with Brett Lebda out with an ankle injury. Rookie Kyle Quincey took Lebda’s spot in the lineup. Lebda was scratched despite practicing Friday for the first time since injuring his ankle April 21 in the opening playoff series against Calgary. Notes: Sharks forward Bill Guerin did not play in Game 5 after a deflected shot seriously cut his face in Game 4. Rookie center Joe Pavelski took Guerin’s spot in the lineup. ... Detroit has outshot its opponent in all 11 playoff games. ... Sharks right wing Jonathan Cheechoo’s three-game goal-scoring streak and center Joe Thornton’s seven-game assist streak both ended Saturday. AP Photo/Bill Kostroun New Jersey’s Jason Kidd throws the ball into the air as the buzzer sounds giving the Nets a 98-97 win over Toronto Friday night. The Nets won the series, 4-2. Jefferson takes his turn at playing hero By TOM CANAVAN AP Sports Writer EAST RUTHERFORD — After helping the New Jersey Nets beat the Toronto Raptors with his scoring and passing, Vince Carter sent his former team packing in a most unusual way: by being a decoy for Richard Jefferson. Jefferson scored the winning basket on a spinning layup over Chris Bosh with 8.3 seconds left and stole a pass in the waning seconds as the Nets beat the Raptors 98-97 on Friday night to win their first-round series 4-2. Next on the agenda for the Nets will be LeBron James and the Cavaliers, starting Sunday in Cleveland. However, New Jersey easily could have been playing a Game 7 in Toronto had Jefferson not stepped up big time after getting a surprising call from Nets coach Lawrence Frank with the game on the line. With New Jersey trailing 97-96, Bosh missed a jumper from the top of the key with 16 seconds to play. Antoine Wright got the Cleveland vs. New Jersey Today: New Jersey at Cleveland, 1 p.m. (ABC) May 8: New Jersey at Cleveland, 8 p.m. (TNT) May 12: Cleveland at New Jersey, 5 p.m. (ESPN) May 14: Cleveland at New Jersey, 7 p.m. (TNT) May 16: New Jersey at Cleveland, TBD, if necessary May 18: Cleveland at New Jersey, TBD, if necessary May 20: New Jersey at Cleveland, TBD, if necessary rebound and the Nets called a timeout with 12.6 seconds remaining. Everyone in the Continental Airlines Arena watched the Nets walk to the bench and expected Frank to call a play for Carter, the former Raptor who was booed every time he touched the ball in Canada in this series. Frank had another idea. He called Jefferson’s number and had Carter run to the left corner, the same side from which Bostjan Nachbar was inbounding the ball. The pass went to Jason Kidd on the left wing and he found Jefferson coming off a screen by Mikki Moore at the right side of the key. Jefferson, who needed surgery to fix a bothersome right ankle in January, went right at Bosh, spun, elevated to the rim and scored a layup to bring the crowd of more than 17,000 roaring to its feet. Carter just smiled. “That shows the character of our team and the weapons we have on our team,” said Carter, who finished with 21 points on 6-of-19 shooting. “For the last couple of plays, they were really loading on me and sending a lot of guys to the middle.” Derby Continued from Page B1 Queen Elizabeth II was one of the 156,635 racing fans on hand, the third-largest crowd in the Derby’s 133 years. She watched from the fourth-floor clubhouse balcony overlooking the finish line. With the sun finally emerging before post time, she had a picturesque view of the Twin Spires to her left. Borel’s Cajun accent gives away his humble Bayou origins. Asked what it was like to win in front of royalty, he said, “It meant everything in the world.” The 65-year-old Nafzger, who is nearly retired, wasn’t as emotional as he was in 1990, when Unbridled won for 92-year-old Frances Genter. Because of her faltering eyesight, Nafzger called the race in her ear so she could follow her colt to the finish line. Then he gave her a big kiss when Unbridled crossed the finish line. This time, Nafzger’s words to 83- year-old owner James Tafel were few and to the point. “Mr. Tafel, we’re clear, we’re clear. It’s up to him now,” Nafzger said. The moment Street Sense crossed the finish line Nafzger wrapped his arm around Tafel, shook his hand and pumped his left fist. By the time the two made their way to the crowded winner’s circle, the white-haired Tafel was beaming. “This is the aspiration of anybody and everybody in the horse business. It’s just overwhelming,” he said. Nafzger and Tafel were taking a second shot at the Derby together. Nafzger trained Vicar, who finished 18th in 1999. AP Photo/Darron Cummings Calvin Borel rides Street Sense, right, past Hard Spun to victory in the 133rd Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky., Saturday. Nafzger works for just two owners now, having turned the day-today grind of his Churchill Downs stable over to an assistant. Besides Tafel, his other client is Genter’s son-in-law. “Maybe now I can afford to retire,” Nafzger said, laughing. Street Sense has finished in the money in all eight of his career races. “This horse has never run a bad race,” Nafzger said. Curlin finished third, losing for the first time in his four-race career. Imawildandcrazyguy was another half-length back in fourth and Sedgefield was fifth. Circular Quay, coming off an eight-week layoff, was sixth for Pletcher’s best finish. Tiago was seventh, followed by Any Given Saturday, Sam P. and Nobiz Like Shobiz. Dominican was 11th, then came Zanjero, Great Hunter, Liquidity and Bwana Bull. Storm in May, who is blind in his right eye, was 16th, trailed by Teuflesberg, Scat Daddy, Stormello and Cowtown Cat in last. Borel is the master of saving ground and he demonstrated that skill in the Derby as Street Sense dropped back at the start and headed for the rail. While Hard Spun shot to the lead, Street Sense tucked in 19th along the fence. Borel still had a snug hold on the reins as Street Sense turned for home. A quarter of a mile from the finish, Borel finally moved Street Sense to the outside and they accelerated away from the pack. They quickly reeled in Hard Spun, catching him in the final eighth of a mile as Borel sneaked a peek over his right shoulder approaching the finish line. Once they crossed it, Borel thrust his whip in the air in celebration. Jacksons buy Barbaro’s saddle for charity By DAN GELSTON AP Sports Writer LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Barbaro’s Kentucky Derby winning saddle now belongs to the colt’s owners. “Well, it’s Edgar (Prado’s) saddle, he just used it on Barbaro,” co-owner Gretchen Jackson said after a book signing Saturday at Churchill Downs. “We just love the idea that it’s going to be back with us.” The saddle was sold for $220,000 on Friday night, and the money will go to benefit the Permanently Disabled Jockeys’ Fund. Gretchen Jackson and her husband, Roy, claimed the saddle after some backroom negotiations with Dwight Manley, national manager of the Jockeys’ Guild. HORSE RACING: KENTUCKY DERBY NOTEBOOK Manley thought he was the highest bidder and accepted the saddle, only to be approached by the Jacksons as he walked off the stage. After a brief discussion, the Jacksons received the saddle, with Manley throwing in another $80,000 for the fund. “I actually told them I really wanted it,” Manley said. “I just thought it was the coolest thing. But it is appropriate and fitting that they have it.” Manley’s only request was the Jacksons put the saddle in a museum one day. The money raised will support the 58 disabled jockeys who rely on the fund. The Jacksons made a bittersweet return this weekend to Churchill Downs for the first time since Barbaro won last year’s Derby by 6 1 ⁄2 lengths — the largest winning margin in 60 years. The Jacksons took part in a special ceremony honoring Barbaro between Saturday’s sixth and seventh races. They will receive a $25,000 donation from Churchill Downs Inc. to the Barbaro Memorial Fund, which benefits the New Bolton Center in Kennett Square, Pa., where Barbaro spent his rehabilitation after breaking down in the Preakness. Several fans were also wearing blue rubber bracelets with the phrase “Riding with Barbaro” on them. Money from the bracelets, available for $2 apiece, will go to the Barbaro Fund. The NTRA said Friday more than 25,000 had already been sold over the Internet.
Sunday, May 6, 2007 NEW JERSEY SUNDAY HERALD B—7 The Pros A seven-day planner for local sports Today 7 M 8 Tu 9 W 10 Th 11 F 12 Sa SPORTS New Jersey Nets Game 1 At Cleveland 1 p.m. ABC Game 2 At Cleveland 8 p.m. TNT www.nba.com/nets Game 3 Cleveland 5 p.m. ESPN New York Rangers Game 6 Buffalo 2 p.m. NBC Game 7 At Buffalo 7 p.m. If Nec. www.newyorkrangers.com New Jersey Devils Game 6 At Ottawa 7 p.m. FSNY (If Nec.) Game 7 Ottawa 7 p.m. FSNY (If Nec.) www.newjerseydevils.com New York Yankees Seattle 1:05 p.m. YES Seattle 7:05 p.m. YES Texas 7:05 p.m. YES Texas 7:05 p.m. YES Texas 1:05 p.m. YES www.yankees.mlb.com At Seattle 10:05 p.m. YES At Seattle 10:05 p.m. YES New York Mets At Arizona 4:40 p.m. SNY At San Fran 10:15 p.m. SNY At San Fran 10:15 p.m. SNY At San Fran 10:15 p.m. SNY Milwaukee 7:10 p.m. SNY www.mets.mlb.com Milwaukee 7:10 p.m. SNY Around the dial Today’s TV and radio listings Auto racing TV 7 p.m. NHRA: Midwest Nationals, final eliminations (t) ESPN2 Baseball 1 p.m. MLB: L.A. Dodgers at Atlanta TBS 2:10 p.m. MLB: Washington at Chicago Cubs WGN 8 p.m. MLB: Philadelphia at San Francisco ESPN Basketball 1 p.m. NBA playoffs: Cleveland at New Jersey, game 1 ABC 3:30 p.m. NBA playoffs: San Antonio at Phoenix, game 1 ABC Football 9 a.m. NFL Europa: Frankfurt at Amsterdam NFL 1 a.m. (Mon.) NFL Europa: Rhein at Hamburg (t) NFL Golf 8 a.m. EuroPGA: Telecom Italia Open, final round TGC 3 p.m. LPGA: Semgroup Championship, final round ESPN2 3 p.m. PGA: Wachovia Championship, final round CBS 6:30 p.m. Champions: FedEx Kinko’s Classic, final round (t) TGC Hockey 2 p.m. NHL playoffs: N.Y. Rangers at Buffalo, game 6 NBC Motorsports 4 p.m. MotoGP 250 at Shanghai, China (t) SPEED 5 p.m. MotoGP World Championship, at Shanghai, China (t) SPEED Softball 1 p.m. College: Alabama at Tennessee ESPN AP Photo/Chuck Burton Tiger Woods watches his tee shot on the second hole during the third round of the Wachovia Championship in Charlotte, N.C., Saturday. Sabbatini takes lead heading into last day By DOUG FERGUSON AP Golf Writer CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Rory Sabbatini holed out for eagle from the first fairway and picked up even more ground with a birdie on the final hole on a thrilling Saturday at the Wachovia Championship, giving him a share of the course record with an 8-under 64 and a final pairing he wanted with Tiger Woods. For those who miss the excitement once found at the Augusta National, this was the place to be. Sabbatini, Vijay Singh and Arron Oberholser all made eagle from the fairway, and players jockeyed for position along the back nine with an array of birdies that brought Quail Hollow to life on a gray afternoon of light rain. And there was one more comparison worthy of the Masters — Woods took bogey on his final two holes and had to settle for a 68. But he wasn’t alone. Phil Mickelson challenged for the lead until a peculiar decision to hit a hybrid from thick grass on the slope above a creek, hitting into the water to take double bogey on the 18th. Oberholser was tied for the lead until his fairway bunker shot found the creek on the 18th, and he finished with a double bogey. Singh nearly went into the creek, then rolled up his pants to his knees to stand in the water and play out of the hazard. He nearly escaped with par, but his Wachovia Championship Saturday At Quail Hollow Club Charlotte, N.C. Purse: $6.3 million Yardage: 7,442; Par 72 Third Round Rory Sabbatini 70-71-64 —205 Tiger Woods 70-68-68 —206 Arron Oberholser 69-69-69 —207 Vijay Singh 67-71-69 —207 Steve Stricker 72-70-66 —208 Ken Duke 70-70-68 —208 Phil Mickelson 70-71-68 —209 Trevor Immelman 68-74-68 —210 Stewart Cink 70-71-69 —210 Anthony Kim 72-69-69 —210 Billy Mayfair 73-71-67 —211 John Senden 72-70-69 —211 Joey Sindelar 69-72-70 —211 Robert Garrigus 72-73-67 —212 Sergio Garcia 71-71-70 —212 Jerry Kelly 69-73-70 —212 Carl Pettersson 68-73-71 —212 Rod Pampling 71-70-71 —212 Jason Bohn 67-72-73 —212 Davis Love III 74-72-67 —213 Nick O’Hern 75-69-69 —213 K.J. Choi 70-74-69 —213 Brett Quigley 70-74-69 —213 Jose Maria Olazabal 70-72-71 —213 45-foot putt cruelly caught the left edge of the cup. When it ended in darkness brought on by a two-hour delay, it left thousands of fans eager to return for the final round. Sabbatini was at 11-under 205 and will be in the final group with Woods, who saved bogey from the creek and was one shot behind. The spunky South African won at Riviera two years ago and heard murmurs that it wasn’t that great of a victory because Woods had withdrawn on the weekend with the flu. “He’s here this week — best opportunity I’ve had to put any of that criticism or doubt aside,” Sabbatini said. Singh roared to life with a birdie-birdie-eagle start to his back nine, and wound up with a 69 and was at 207. He will be paired with Oberholser, who had a 69. Steve Stricker shot 66 and was at 208 with Ken Duke (68). Mickelson, who chipped in for eagle on the par-5 fifth, was still in the hunt after a 68 put him four shots behind. AP Photo/Jason Babyak Jeff Gordon is handed the flag of the late Dale Earnhart after winning the Subway Fresh Fit 500 NASCAR race April 21, in Avondale, Ariz. Gordon tied Earnhardt with 76 career victories with that win. Friends and Foes Gordon more like Earnhardt than fans will admit By JENNA FRYER AP Auto Racing Writer TALLADEGA, Ala. — Accept it, race fans: Dale Earnhardt and Jeff Gordon were buddies. The old man respected the kid and took time to help him adjust to NASCAR’s politics. Earnhardt recognized Gordon as a huge talent and cherished their on-track battles, knowing each victory was a win over a driver destined to go down as one of the best. It’s fact, yet many Earnhardt fans choose to ignore it. They pretend the two drivers were bitter rivals, two very different men with nothing in common. No matter how hard he tries or what he accomplishes, Earnhardt fans are adamant that Gordon simply does not stack up against The Intimidator. Turns out, though, that Gordon is a whole lot more like Earnhardt than anyone imagined. Gordon proved it Sunday with career victory No. 77, which pushed him past Earnhardt for sixth place on NASCAR’s list. It came at Talladega Superspeedway, where the crowd is virtually all pro-Earnhardt, and on the day Earnhardt would have celebrated his 56th birthday. The feat was met with a shower of beer cans thrown from the stands. The record book will show that Gordon took the lead with three laps to go and then won under caution during overtime. But the victory seemed destined hours earlier when he made an Earnhardtesque stand in the prerace drivers’ meeting. NASCAR warned the drivers that there’s a fine line between skillfully bump-drafting and aggressive driving. Gordon respectfully disagreed. In a room packed with his peers, he spoke with NASCAR president Mike Helton about the dangers the drivers were about to face. “I absolutely don’t think there is a fine line,” he began. “We’re not able to mandate it ourselves. You guys have to mandate it because we’ve got the adrenaline flowing. We’re competitors out there trying to win. And we see one guy push another guy, it allows us each to continue to do it more and more and NEXTEL Cup Top 10 Following race 9 of 36 RK 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. DRIVER Jeff Gordon Jeff Burton Matt Kenseth Jimmie Johnson Denny Hamlin Tony Stewart Jamie McMurray Kyle Busch Kevin Harvick Kurt Busch OURCE: NASCAR PTS 1,521 1,318 1,292 1,290 1,189 1,078 1,059 1,054 1,052 1,038 AP more. “And, yeah, obviously, you can’t do it in the corners, but we still do it. Even on the straightaways, it’s about judging the speed, and we’re still wrecking on the straightaways. I don’t think that should be happening at all. We can make a great, exciting race out there. And no offense to your warning, but when you drop the green, I guarantee we’re going to be doing it.” And that, Tony Stewart, is how to make a point. Days after Stewart exposed the sport to ridicule by comparing it to professional wrestling on his national radio show, Gordon calmly made a point to NASCAR that benefited all 43 drivers in the field. For a guy who has resisted replacing the voice that was lost when Earnhardt died in 2001, Gordon certainly appeared a perfect fit for the role Sunday. He insisted after his victory that too much was being made of his stand — even though the race was much tamer by Talladega standards and might have been because of his comments. “It was kind of a spur of the moment thing,” he said. “I wanted to go see (NASCAR) before the drivers’ meeting, and I didn’t get a chance to, and something sparked inside of me and I just had to say something. I don’t know if that made a difference or not, but (the race) was one of the best. “But it had nothing to do with trying to set an example for others of how you go about it. I always try to go about saying things to NASCAR as gingerly as I can to try to get my point across, but not put anything down or take away from anything or anybody.” Former series champion Kurt Busch said Gordon has “always been the lead guy to be politically correct with NASCAR.” “Gordon is very selective with his words,” he said. Teammate Jimmie Johnson said the prerace comments were something most drivers would not have been comfortable making. “If many other drivers would have spoken up and said what Jeff did in the drivers’ meeting, it would have come off wrong and people would have laughed,” Johnson said. “It wouldn’t have come off the same way. But Jeff is at that spot in his career and he’s so well spoken and comes from a fair place when he’s speaking about those things, that people are listening.” The garage has lacked that presence since Earnhardt’s fatal accident. Gordon insists he doesn’t want to fill that void, and Stewart proved last week that while his message may be valid, his delivery lacks the finesse Earnhardt perfected. “I know that Jeff doesn’t want to be Dale,” Johnson said. “He wants to be himself and do things his own way. I know he doesn’t want to be in this position to be the voice of the drivers, but he almost has this responsibility that’s developing for him whether he wants it or not.” Kurt Busch returning to old form By MIKE HARRIS AP Auto Racing Writer Kurt Busch made a leap of faith when he left Jack Roush’s team, where he got his NASCAR start and won a championship, to work for Roger Penske. Busch, who took over the seat in the No. 2 Dodge last year, replacing the retired Rusty Wallace, had a decent, though quiet, 2006 in his new ride. He won six poles, had one race win and finished 16th in the points — nowhere near what he and the team had hoped for in his Penske Racing South debut. Busch said that, instead of getting down, the entire team took the first season together as a challenge to improve. “We saw what kind of team and what kind of talent we really possessed,” Busch said. “We knew we had a great foundation to build on.” While Busch hasn’t exactly set the Nextel Cup series on fire in the first nine races of 2007, he definitely is making strides. After finishing a season-best third last Sunday at Talladega, Busch is 10th in the season standings and looking for a lot more heading into Saturday night’s race at Richmond International Raceway. “We had been having good topfive and top-10 performances, but poor fuel mileage led to us getting caught by the caution flags and we just haven’t had some of the finishes we deserved,” Busch said. “But we’ve still been making steady progress up the ladder in the points.” After finishing a disappointing 18th at Phoenix, the Talladega performance was an important one for Busch to regain momentum. To get it done, he managed to charge from 26th to third in the waning laps. “We were pretty aggressive moving up through there, but with the laps running out, we just had to go for it and get all the positions we could,” he said. “The team said we made up 23 spots in the final 10 laps and that’s pretty incredible.” Busch hopes that Talladega finish is something to build on. “It was a finish that we needed and it came at a really good time for our team,” he said. “We had a great test at Richmond earlier this month and we’re really looking forward to getting back there this weekend.” Tough Talk Tony Stewart again spoke his mind on his Tuesday night satellite radio show. Only, this time, he didn’t get in trouble for it. A week earlier, Stewart’s remarks about NASCAR, criticizing officials for unnecessary cautions and relating the stock car sport to pro wrestling, raised a firestorm of controversy that kept Stewart in the news the rest of the week. AP Photo/Rainier Ehrhardt Driver Kurt Busch pits during the Aaron’s 499 April 29, at Talladega Superspeedway in Talladega, Ala. This time, Stewart was asked his reaction to fans throwing beer cans and other debris onto the track after Jeff Gordon won the race at Talladega. “What I thought was awesome is there were a bunch of sheriff’s deputies and policemen that were in plain clothes, and there were also a bunch of uniformed officers there that, as soon as people started throwing things, they were arresting people,” Stewart said. “I thought it was great as far as the people getting arrested for it. I think it’s asinine for people to do that.”
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