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SPORTSTuesday 27 October 2015
Earnhardt only bright spot after Talladega ending
BY JENNA FRYER Sprint Cup Series driver Kevin Harvick (4) drives past a wreck involving Sprint Cup Series driver erately turned right into
AP AUTO RACING WRITER Tony Stewart (14), David Gilliland (38), Danica Patrick (10) Trevor Bayne (6) during the NASCAR Bayne to save his season.
TALLADEGA, Ala. (AP) Sprint Cup Series auto race at Talladega Superspeedway Sunday, Oct. 25, 2015, in Talladega, Ala. And even if NASCAR
-- Thank goodness Dale wanted to punish Harvick,
Earnhardt Jr. showed dig- Associated Press there’s no easy cleanup.
nity in defeat after he was NASCAR can’t undo the fi-
bounced from NASCAR’s with that.” car camera appears to shoved Jimmie Johnson, nal restart, in which Hamlin
playoffs. His fans showered Logano’s show Harvick looking con- left without comment after was caught in the wreck.
The class shown by NAS- car with beer cans. stantly in his rearview mir- running out of fuel at New NASCAR also can’t give
CAR’s most popular driver Their anger may have been ror in an apparent effort Hampshire and then was Earnhardt and Kenseth the
in not criticizing the out- misdirected. to ward off any more cars. accused by other teams of chance to race for the vic-
come was the one take- Harvick knew he had a The replay, though, seems intentionally damaging his tory both needed to ad-
away from a disastrous problem with his engine to indicate he turned right race-winning car at Dover vance.
ending to Sunday’s elimi- and knew his car likely into Bayne’s bumper to to avoid a thorough NAS- A points penalty against
nation race at Talladega wouldn’t go on the restart. spin him and bring out CAR inspection. Harvick wouldn’t do much.
Superspeedway. At least Had he forfeited his posi- the race-ending caution. NASCAR should be ex- All he has to do is win one
four drivers accused series tion in the running order - a Among those question- tremely sensitive to accu- of the next three races -
champion Kevin Harvick of move one would only do ing Harvick’s intent were sations of race manipula- and this stretch includes
manipulating the finish, and as a courtesy to avoid a Bayne and David Gilliland. tion, particularly since the Phoenix, where he’s won
an overwhelming pro-Earn- potential pileup - it’s likely Far more direct in their ac- 2013 fiasco at Richmond in four straight of five of six - to
hardt crowd left dissatisfied the reigning series champi- cusation of race manipula- which Michael Waltrip Rac- advance to the champion-
when a change to the rules on would have plummeted tion were Joe Gibbs Racing ing used a series of maneu- ship. But cleaning up the
prevented him from racing in the standings and have drivers Matt Kenseth and vers to put a driver in the cloud surrounding Harvick
for the win. been eliminated from the Denny Hamlin, who were Chase. It took NASCAR al- is just one part of the prob-
It was a win he had to have, Chase. both eliminated from the most a week to sort out all lem.Talladega under no cir-
too, to advance into the So he was told over his team playoffs when the caution the shenanigans and it was cumstances should be an
third round of the Chase for radio to block as many cars flag came out. made clear by chairman elimination race because
the Sprint Cup champion- as he could on the restart, NASCAR has so far said Brian France that manipu- it’s a crapshoot and simply
ship. But NASCAR said last an attempt to cling to the only that its review of the in- lating races was a very seri- not fair to drivers racing for
week that in an effort to best finish possible. Instead, cident showed Harvick did ous crime. the championship. With so
maintain some semblance Bayne shot around Har- nothing on purpose. With MWR, there were sev- much on the line, their fate
of safety, it would make just vick’s slowed car then tried Doesn’t matter, though. It’s eral smoking guns of intent. shouldn’t be so out of their
one attempt to finish the to cut back in front of him a bad look for the champ, This time, it’s impossible to control at the unpredict-
race under the green flag to get back in line. The in- who already this Chase has prove that Harvick delib- able, high-banked track.
instead of the usual three NASCAR knew well before
tries. Earnhardt supported Sunday that the chances of
the decision before the the field successfully racing
race, and didn’t change his to the finish without wreck-
mind after Harvick hooked ing were slim to none, so
Trevor Bayne on the restart it altered the green-white-
to trigger an 11-car crash checkered flag rule for one
that froze the field before particular race - and even
Earnhardt had a chance to that one attempt at finish-
chase leader Joey Logano ing under green was use-
into the first turn. less. Since everyone knew
“I feel like no matter the a wreck was more than
rules, when the race is over, likely, why even bother
I can live with the result as with the charade? Just let
long as everyone else is the race finish under the
going by the same rules,” original caution and save
Earnhardt said. “Per the everyone the post-race
rule book, it sorted out and headaches that seem to
I finished second. I’m OK be a Talladega staple.q
Nadal rallies from brink to
beat Rosol at Swiss Indoors
France’s Adrian Mannarino returns a ball to Serbia’s Viktor BASEL, Switzerland (AP) — Rafael Nadal “For me it was very difficult to adjust,”
Troicki during their first round match at the Swiss Indoors tennis rallied from losing positions twice to beat said the seventh-seeded Spaniard, who
tournament at the St. Jakobshalle in Basel, Switzerland, on Mon- Lukas Rosol of the Czech Republic 1-6, 7-5, played his first indoor match this season. “I
day, Oct. 26, 2015. 7-6 (4) in the Swiss Indoors first round on tried to survive in that second set and wait
Monday. for an opportunity.”
Associated Press The 69th-ranked Rosol, who beat Nadal at Earlier, French qualifier Adrian Manna-
Wimbledon in 2012, served for the match rino, beat Viktor Troicki of Serbia, 4-6, 7-5,
leading 5-4 in the second set but lost sev- 7-6 (3), and Austria’s Dominic Thiem beat
en straight games. Dutchman Robin Haase 0-6, 7-6 (5), 7-5.
Nadal then trailed 3-0 in the decisive tie- In the late match, Donald Young of the
breaker before clinching a victory he cel- United States beat wild-card entry Henri
ebrated with vigorous fist pumps. Laaksonen of Switzerland 6-2, 3-6, 6-4.q
