NEWS » hen I got back to the bench, I asked

TALLADEGA, Ala. -- Last year, the ugly part of the Chase elimination-style format at Talladega came when Kevin Harvick stayed out with a sick car in the final laps, causing a wreck that ended the race.This year, the ugly came in a different fashion: with Matt Kenseth finishing 28th, Carl Edwards in 29th and Kyle Busch in 30th -- good enough to advance to the semifinal round of the Chase for the Sprint Cup. The three Joe Gibbs Racing drivers never made much of a move, dropping to the rear of the field before the green flag ever fell and staying there throughout the day. There were only four cars on the lead lap behind them.Kenseth finished with an eight-point cushion to advance, Busch finished with a six-point cushion and Edwards with a four-point spread.We accomplished all we need to accomplish, Busch said. Well take it and move on. We didnt get paid very well today, but well get paid very well in about four weeks when were hoisting a trophy.With a couple of engine failures taking out some contenders but no big wreck to thin the field, the Gibbs drivers opted to never make a real move throughout the race. There was a slight chance Austin Dillon and Denny Hamlin could have had such good finishes to knock out one of the Gibbs cars running around in the back, but they took their chances.For Busch, the defending Sprint Cup champion, it was the best 30th-place finish ever.There is no reward to go race and get wrecked so you try to be smart and do what you can do, Busch said. If youre guaranteed racing and everybody along with yourself is all crashed out, then the points would stay the same, [youd race] but you cant guarantee that.You have to be smart and you have to try to survive.Busch said he was hesitant to use the strategy, which was similar to what he tried in 2014 only to get hit from behind by Dillon as he slowed for an accident well up ahead of them.Anytime we were just kind of chilling, riding, kind of hanging out and we had a car behind us, I made sure to get out of that situation and made sure we were the last car, Busch said. I didnt want anybody behind me besides a teammate.The one driver who could have been hurt by strategy was their JGR teammate Hamlin, who had no one to rely on for a push up front. His third-place finish was good enough to tie Dillon for the final spot and win the tiebreaker with the best finish in the round. In other words, Hamlin advanced no thanks to his teammates.They had to do what they had to do to get in, Hamlin said. You cant sacrifice those three cars to try to get the last one in. Youve got to know youve got in your hand three aces. You cant try to get the fourth and risk it, so I knew I was going to be out there alone.One thing fans can be sure of -- they wont see this next year. Because Talladega is the middle race of the round, no one will use the strategy because drivers will need to get every point they can prior to the elimination race at Kansas.Next year, it will be a way better race and I think well have way more entertainment for the fans and everyone, with the schedule change putting Talladega back before Kansas, Busch said. Youll know what you have before you go into Kansas, so I feel like everyone is going to have to race and youre going to have to get as many points as you can through this track in order to have a safe day at Kansas.Thats good, because there hopefully wont be many more of these answers after the Talladega race next year.I dont think any of us had any fun and none of us enjoyed it, Kenseth said. But it was just what we had to do.Camping World Truck Series: Old and newThe truck championship hunt eliminated two young drivers in Daniel Hemric and John Hunter Nemechek, keeping a mix of veterans and newcomers in the mix.Series vets Timothy Peters, Matt Crafton and Johnny Sauter are among the six drivers to advance to the semifinal round. Ben Kennedy, in his third year in trucks, advanced, as did Kyle Busch Motorsports rookies William Byron and Christopher Bell.Byron was the only driver guaranteed a spot entering the race Saturday at Talladega, but the other five were ahead of the cutoff entering the race and held their positions as Nemechek blew an engine and Hemric got caught up in a couple melees. Grant Enfinger won the race driving for GMS Racing.Peters hopes that experience matters.I look forward to the next three, Peters said. Im not worried about [the rest]. Were going to race our own race. ... Im excited about going to Martinsville for sure. Well take it how it comes.Crafton and Sauter have two career wins at Martinsville, while Peters also has one. At Texas, Byron won in June, and Crafton and Sauter have two wins apiece. Peters is the defending winner at Phoenix.I felt like we had a truck that could win the race -- we definitely had enough speed, Sauter said. But youve got to be smart. I feel great [about our chances].Weve won at Martinsville a couple of times, weve won at Texas a couple of times. Theyre really good racetracks [for us]. Weve just got to go there and be aggressive and ultimately race for points.China Jerseys . -- Kyrie Irvings last-minute 3-pointer helped seal another victory for Cleveland -- and the Cavaliers longest winning streak since LeBron James left. China Jerseys Outlet .ca looks back at the stories and moments that made the year memorable. http://www.chinajerseyspaypal.com/ . -- The proud fathers huddled near the Dallas Stars dressing room, smiling, laughing and telling stories while wearing replica green sweaters of their sons team. China Jerseys Replica . -- New England Revolution goalkeeper Matt Reis is retiring after a 16-year career to become the goalie coach for the Los Angeles Galaxy. China Jerseys Reviews . They were putting most of their energy into a record-setting offensive display.DETROIT -- Tuukka Rask again showed how valuable he is to the Boston Bruins.Rask made 23 saves for his 31st career shutout to lead the Bruins to a 1-0 win over the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday night.Tim Schaller scored for Boston, which snapped a three-game skid and ended Detroits six-game winning streak.It was Rasks first game back after missing the previous three with a lower-body injury. Boston lost all three games while allowing 14 goals.It is easier to play when Tuukka is in the net, because he keeps everything so calm on the ice, Boston coach Claude Julien said. Thats a huge advantage for the other players.Even though he was on the ice, there are doubts that Rask is totally healthy.I felt great, Rask said. This isnt going to be a problem going forward. I wasnt sore at all.Jimmy Howard stopped 35 shots for the Red Wings, who lost at home for the first time.We couldnt really get anything going, no momentum at all, Detroit captain Henrik Zetterberg said. (Howard) was good, PK was good. Then I thought the longer the game went, the more battles we won, more chances we got. But we got to be better.Schaller scored with 2:11 left in the second period as his shot from along the goal line in the right corner went in off of Howards left hip. It was Schallers first goal of the season.On the goal, I thought I took everything away on the short side and somehow he managed to bank it in -- off the post, off me and in, Howard said.He plays hard and he makes things happen, Julien said about Schaller.The play was the result of a turnover by the Red Wings Dylan Larkin in the high slot.Detroit coach Jeff Blashill challenged that the play was offside going into the Detroit zone but the play was determined to be onside after a video review.They were hungrier than us all over the ice, outside of Zetteerbergs line, Blashill said.dddddddddddd I thought Zetterbergs line had lots of compete in them, as a result they were the only ones to have any zone time. Maybe a player here and a player there, but as a group they outcompeted us. ... We should have known better than that. In the end it wasnt good enough.The goal also ended Howards shutout streak at 156:02.He stopped the Bruins Austin Czarnik on a one-timer from the bottom of the left circle 7:27 into the second period.Rask made an athletic save on a tip by Detroits Tomas Tatar off a shot by defenseman Jonathan Ericsson at about the eight-minute mark of the middle period.Howard denied Schaller on a short-handed breakaway attempt with 8:38 left in the second.I thought I had him beat, but it went off the knob of his stick, Schaller said. When I got back to the bench, I asked (teammate defenseman Adam McQuaid) if that was a great save or luck, and he said thats just luck. I guess fourth-line guys dont get the nice goals, but the greasy ones count the sameDetroit forward Steve Ott speared Boston defenseman and captain Zdeno Chara in the groin/hip area shortly after the opening face-off but neither referee saw it. Ott and Chara got into a scrum and both received an unsportsmanlike conduct minor 43 seconds into the game.NOTE: Detroit LW Thomas Vanek missed his second game with a lower-body injury. ... Bruins F David Pastrnak served the first game of a two-game suspension because of an illegal check to the head of New York Rangers D Dan Girardi on Wednesday night. ... The Bruins sent G Malcolm Subban to their AHL affiliate in Providence.UP NEXT:Bruins: At Florida on Tuesday night.Red Wings: Host Florida on Sunday. ' ' '