• Xavier lands Crawford: Indiana guard Jordan Crawford has accepted a scholarship from Xavier.
Crawford’s brother Joe played at Kentucky and went to Detroit Renaissance. He played in 30 games for Indiana last season as a freshman, including eight starts, averaging 9.7 points and 2.3 assists.
Tony Stewart was fined $10,000 for what the U.S.
Castroneves led a race-high 35 laps and appeared to have the best car in the 27-car field most of the day. But Dixon, who had been running third behind Penske Racing teammates Castroneves and Ryan Briscoe, got past both of them during a pit stop under caution on lap 51.
Several other drivers, on different strategies, stayed out and were ahead at that point, but Dixon eventually inherited the lead when Tony Kanaan pitted on lap 62.
I was reminded of this phenomenon Friday night in a United States Tennis Association (USTA)-sanctioned mixed doubles match between two racket clubs. Wife X and Husband Y (names changed to protect the innocent, of course) were scheduled to play together.
Before the match I spoke to Husband Y and asked in amazement: “Wow, you can play tennis with your wife?”
Not a problem, Husband Y told me.
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Dixon acknowledges that disappointment is never far from his mind as he chases his second series championship and first since 2003, even with Franchitti now racing in NASCAR.
Still, with six races remaining on the 2008 schedule and leads of 63 points over Mid-Ohio pole-winner Helio Castroneves and 69 over his Chip Ganassi teammate Dan Wheldon, Dixon insisted it’s too early to be thinking about points.
“That was an issue,” said John Burke, the race chairman, on Monday. “I’ve talked to a lot of crews who had to deal with it. We got some waves (closer to the finish line on Mackinac) and once they hit them there was some seasickness. And that can be tough.”
Seasickness is caused when the inner ear organs that enable a person to maintain balance are disturbed by a boat’s swaying.
This triggers nausea, dizziness, and sometimes vomiting.
Detroit is the third of six stops in this year’s American Boat Racing Association season. Racing began in Evansville, Ind., on June 27 before moving on to Madison, Wis., the following weekend.
“It’s not a novelty anymore,” Johnson said. “Shirley (three-time Top Fuel champion Muldowney) blazed the way for them, and our sport is now one of the easiest for women to get involved with.
“I don’t let my guard down against them. The women in our sport are there because they belong.”
Force and Will grew up in California. They attended Frank Hawley Drag Racing School, Will in Florida and Force in California.
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Yeley stepped in and finished 20th after getting caught up in two late accidents.
“We just got shuffled at the end,” crew chief Greg Zipadelli said. “It’s kind of been like our year. I don’t know what to say. I know we had a lot better race car than what we finished tonight. We just don’t seem to do anything right to turn it around.”
Yeley, who spent three seasons as Stewart’s teammate at JGR, failed to qualify for Saturday’s race.
If only Onorio had known his son’s determination. Two days later, young Nico, with a little help from his grandmother, was riding his bike without training wheels. A dirt bike was purchased, and a career was born.
“I’d watch him on the dirt bike, and I’d think, ‘Any time now, this kid is going to tip over, and he’s going to tell me he doesn’t want anything to do with it,’ ” said Betsy Izzi, Nico’s mother.
It’s the first victory for the Penske Racing driver since September at California Speedway, and it came on a day when two-time Cup champion Stewart dominated, leading 132 of 284 laps, only to see the hard luck that has dogged him all season continue.
Sunday turned out to be Busch’s day, thanks to crew chief Pat Tryson’s decision to keep his No. 2 Dodge on track when Stewart and several other lead cars pitted during a late caution period.