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No. 11 Wisconsin on the road. The Badgers were off this week.---Follo

in Unsere Regeln 27.05.2019 07:53
von t123 • 2.806 Beiträge

INDIANAPOLIS -- Tony Kanaan had one more lap, one anticlimactic last lap under the yellow caution flag, to end 12 years of frustration in the Indianapolis 500. He flipped up his visor to wipe away tears as the crowd roared its approval, and then in Victory Lane gave his bride of two months a long kiss and poured the celebratory winners milk over his head. Kanaan is Indys hard-luck loser no more. He is its champion at last, fittingly with a dose of good luck for a change. "I have to say, the last lap was the longest lap of my life," Kanaan said. It was one of Indys most popular victories. The losers were pleased with the outcome, evidenced by a scene similar to rivals lining up to congratulate Dale Earnhardt when he finally won the Daytona 500 on his 20th try. Dario Franchitti, whose crash brought out the race-ending caution, stood grinning by his crumpled car, two thumbs up as Kanaan passed under yellow. "When I saw who was leading, it cheered me up a little bit," said Franchitti, last years winner. "Hes a very, very deserving winner." The fans thought so, too, standing on their feet, screaming "TK! TK! TK!" as he and team owner Jimmy Vasser went by during the traditional victory lap. It felt magical to Kanaan, like he had given the crowd at Indianapolis Motor Speedway a gift. "It means a lot to me because so many people, I could feel that they wanted me to win, and its such a selfish thing to do because what are they getting from it?" Kanaan said. "Im the one who gets the trophy. I believed that this win was more for people out there than for me. "I wanted it all my life, but over the years I was kind of OK with the fact that I may never have the chance to win." His chance came at the end of a history-making race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, where Kanaan knew he had to pounce at the green flag for the final restart with three laps to go. He did, zipping inside leader Ryan Hunter-Reay to roar to the lead -- where he wanted to be in case another caution came out. "I knew I had to get the lead on the restart because it could be a yellow, which happened to me plenty of times here, and it did," Kanaan said. "How funny is life? The yellow was my best friend." Kanaan had his fair share of chances to win at Indy, but came up short time and time again. He was leading when the rain came in 2007, only to lose to Franchitti when the race resumed. In all, Kanaan went into Sundays race with 221 laps led at Indy -- more than any non-winner except Michael Andretti and Rex Mays -- but his second-place finish to Buddy Rice in 2004 was the closest he had come to victory. He had a pair of third-place finishes, including last year, again to Franchitti. "Its wonderful for him," said Mario Andretti, himself a victim of bad luck at Indy. "Hes raced here long enough that he deserves it, no question." The win for Kanaan and car owner Vasser was celebrated throughout the paddock. Alex Zanardi, who came from Italy to watch the race and gave Kanaan one of his 2012 London Paralympics medals as good luck, wept behind the pit wall as Kanaan took the checkered flag. "I tell you Im starting to think (the medal) really works," said Zanardi, who lost his legs in a 2001 crash in Germany. "Its a dream come true to see Tony win, to see Jimmy Vasser win, my dear friend. Im so happy, Im so happy." It was Vasser who brought Zanardis medal to Kanaan before the race, telling his driver that Zanardi wanted him to rub it for good luck. "I actually cuddled with the thing," Kanaan admitted. Vasser, caught in the middle as a driver during the political fighting in open-wheel racing, only got the chance to run Indy eight times in his career and not during his prime. He had goose-bumps on the celebratory lap with Kanaan as the crowd chanted the drivers name. "I never won it as a driver. In fact, I couldnt win it as a driver," Vasser said, "so I had to hire the right guy to do it, get a baby Borg on my shelf," referring to the winners Borg-Warner trophy. It will be one adorned with Kanaans likeness, and the driver joked he could finally "put my big nose on that trophy." Fellow Brazilian Helio Castroneves, like Franchitti shooting for a record-tying fourth Indy win, was happy for his long-time friend. "Finally hes able to win this race. Hes so close so many times, but the good news is the good old boys are still able to run fast," Castroneves said. Carlos Munoz, a 21-year-old rookie making his first IndyCar start, finished second and Hunter-Reay was third. "T.K. is such a fan favourite, absolutely, its great to see him win it. If anybody is going to win it in the field, hes one of the few Id like to see other than myself," Hunter-Reay said. "We were leading on that last restart, I knew I was a sitting duck, and I wasnt too bummed about it because I knew we had enough laps to get it going again and have a pass back. Maybe I would be third on the last lap, which is where I wanted to be." Only there was no racing on the last lap. Franchitti brought out the caution seconds after Kanaan passed Hunter-Reay for the last of 68 lead changes -- exactly double last years record. On the final lap, the leaders came to the finish line all bunched up around Kanaan, saluting the IndyCar stalwart who had longed to add the final missing piece to his resume. That was about as slow as anyone had driven all day. The average speed was 187.433 mph, another Indy record. Marco Andretti finished fourth, failing to win for the eighth time, and Justin Wilson was fifth in the highest-finishing Honda on a day that was dominated by Chevrolet. Castroneves was sixth. Pole-sitter Ed Carpenter led a race-high 37 laps and finished 10th. James Hinchcliffe of Oakville, Ont., and Alex Tagliani of Lachenaie, Que., finished 21st and 24th, respectively. "It was a bad day all around. I feel bad for my teammates," said Hinchcliffe, who led the race three times for a total of seven laps. "We were running right at the front there and a (caution) may have cost us a chance at the win. Theres nothing really to say about our day. It was a non-factor. We were a non-event. Im really disappointed." Tagliani said his day was over when he made contact with the wall. "I got on the outside and I touched the gray and the car slid," he said. "When you do a lot of laps, the marbles accumulate and I touched the marbles and I tagged the wall with the rear a bit -- just enough to bend the suspension and we had to change it. We lost a bunch of laps." For a time, it appeared the win would go to AJ Allmendinger, who led 23 laps in his Indy debut for Roger Penske. Fired by Penske from his NASCAR ride last year after failing a NASCAR drug test, Penske gave him a second chance with this IndyCar opportunity. Seven years after leaving open-wheel racing, Allmendinger finally ran "The Greatest Spectacle in Racing" and was leading when his seat belt came undone, forcing him to pit. It put Allmendinger off the pit cycle, and he was forced to stop for gas twice far in advance of the rest of the field. It meant Allmendinger had to drive his way back to the front each time, and he finally sputtered out at seventh. "Ill be honest, pretty special moment to be leading at Indy," he said. "My body kind of went numb, my mind was racing and I could feel my heart beating really fast, and thats a special moment Ill never forget." A year after 34 lead changes and a frantic finish created what many considered the best Indy ever, IndyCar had its hands full trying to top itself. This one might have done it, with the slicing and dicing at the front, over and over and over again. The 68 lead changes involved 14 drivers, and 28 of the 33 cars were running at the end. With 100 miles to go, 25 drivers were on the lead lap. "It was a hell of a race. Thats all I can say," said Mario Andretti. "This is riveting competition, thats all I can tell you. Its just amazing. The reliability of the cars is there. The product is there. Its unbelievable racing, the best Ive seen in years." Black Swell Bottle Nz . -- Five former Kansas City Chiefs players who were on the team between 1987 and 1993 filed a lawsuit Tuesday claiming the team hid and even lied about the risks of head injuries during that time period when there was no collective bargaining agreement in place in the NFL. Swell Water Bottle Nz . Despite the cost, effort and an improved steroid test, its possible that very few -- if any -- positives will be detected, Dr. Richard Budgett told The Associated Press in an interview. "We just dont know what the results from Torino will be," Budgett said. http://www.swellbottlesnz.com/ . The Barrie Colts defenceman, who impressed many with his play for Canada at the World Junior Hockey Championship, is the top-ranked skater in the February rankings. He has 19 goals and 24 assists for 43 points in 45 games with the Colts this season. Swell Bottle 17 Oz Sale . According to a report from the Vancouver Province, the Lions are expected to replace former DC Rich Stubler with defensive backs coach Mark Washington. Swell Water Bottle Clearance .B. -- The Baie-Comeau Drakkar took over sole possession of first place atop the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League on Thursday with their sixth straight win. COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Ohio States usually crisp passing game was mostly shut down by Indiana on Saturday so J.T. Barrett had to get it done on the ground.Barrett rushed a career-high 26 times for 137 yards and a touchdown and threw for another score and No. 2 Ohio State beat Indiana 38-17. Barrett was 9-of-23 for 93 yards passing.In my opinion, thats the best quarterback in college ball, Indiana coach Kevin Wilson said.Ohio State (5-0, 2-0 Big Ten) was forced to rely mostly on its ground game, which accounted for 290 yards, and some tough play by its defense -- including a critical fourth-quarter stop on its own 4 yard line following a Barrett interception -- to fend off the Hoosiers, who had upset Michigan State last weekend.Ohio States defense also forced Indiana (3-2, 2-1) to turn the ball over on downs on the Hoosiers own 33 with 5:22 left and the Buckeyes leading 31-17. Five plays later, Barrett hit Dontre Wilson with a 37-yard touchdown pass to put the game out of reach.Safety Malik Hooker sealed the win by picking off Richard Lagow on Indianas next series. The Buckeyes held Indiana to just one score in the second half.Theyre great athletes and they covered our guys, Ohio State guard Billy Price said. Some days you struggle with passing and some days you struggle with the run, and today was one of the days we struggled with the pass.Both teams had trouble establishing any offensive tempo.It was just an awkward game, Ohio State coach Urban Meyer said.Hybrid back Curtis Samuel rushed nine times for 82 yards and a touchdown for the Buckeyes, and tailback Mike Weber ran for 71 yards and two scores.Lagow was 14-of-28 for 182 yards and two touchdowns, but Indiana managed just 99 yards rushing. Indiana had 281 total yards, compared with 383 for the Buckeyes.They have a great defense, Lagow said. Theyre going to be tough for anybody the rest of the year, Thats on us as well as them being good. We didnt hit a couple plays and they made a couple plays.THE TAKEAWAYIndiana: Buoyed by laast weeks upset of Michigan State, Indiana was effective at times but couldnt keep up with the more talented Buckeyes.ddddddddddddOhio State: The Buckeyes defense played tough and kept Ohio State in the game. Ohio State showed its passing game can be stopped, but Barrett can find a way to win anyway. Meyer said Barrett carried too many times, and we have to fix it.I didnt throw particularly well in the passing game by any means, Barrett said. I have to do a better job of reading the coverage better and getting the ball to our playmakers.MOMENTUM CHANGER: After Indiana scored to cut the Buckeyes lead to 17-10 with 1:03 left in the first half, Ohio States Parris Campbell ran back the ensuing kickoff 91 yards to the Indiana 6. Two plays later, Barrett ran through the Hoosiers untouched for a touchdown to make it a two-score game at halftime.I didnt really feel anyone near me, Campbell said. I thought I was cruising to the end zone. Im sure Ill get it next time. Going out on the field I felt we needed the momentum back. I knew we needed a big play.QUOTABLEThey put the people in on the goal line for a reason, and I knocked them back and made the tackle for loss, said defensive end Nick Bosa, who with Michael Hill stuffed Indianas Devine Redding on fourth and 1 at the Ohio State 4 in the fourth quarter.POLL IMPLICATIONSAn unimpressive win over an unranked Big Ten team isnt likely to garner Ohio State many more first-place votes.UP NEXTIndiana: The Hoosiers face another stiff test next week at home against undefeated No. 12 Nebraska. The Cornhuskers were off this week.Ohio State: The Buckeyes may face their toughest challenge of the season next week when they play No. 11 Wisconsin on the road. The Badgers were off this week.---Follow Mitch Stacy at http://twitter.com/mitchstacyFor some of his other recent stories: http://bigstory.ap.org/content/mitch-stacy ' ' '

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