MARTINSVILLE, Va. -- Matt Kenseth will be right behind Jimmie Johnson when the green flag drops at Martinsville Speedway on Sunday. Johnson, the only man in front of him in the Sprint Cup championship points race, is starting second and Kenseth fourth. Kenseth would love to be that close at the finish, too. Johnson has found success at the tricky 0.526-mile track shaped like a paper clip, while Kenseth has been frustrated here throughout his career. Johnson, whose lead is four points, has eight wins at Martinsville in 23 starts. Kenseth? No wins in 27 starts, and his best finish -- second -- came back in 2002. But if theres hope for the 2003 series champion, it came in the spring when Kenseth passed Johnson for the lead at one point and led for 96 laps, more than the rest of his career here combined. He wound up 14th while Johnson won, but the early burst gave Kenseth a reason for optimism. "This spring, at least the first half of the race, we were really good and really competitive and (it) really, really helped me be better because we had the car good," he said. "I dont know. Some tracks feel natural to you and comes real easy, fits your style and other ones are just a lot more work. "This one has just been, in general, a lot more work for me than other tracks." Johnson has no such problem, at Martinsville or seemingly anywhere, in Kenseths eyes. "People always say, Man, its a great track for Jimmie, he said. "Is there a bad one?" Johnson laughed when told Kenseth said "you can almost pencil the 48 in" at Martinsville. Johnson said he only needs to look at the starting lineup to realize hes got plenty of competition. "We have had a good run over the years," he said, slipping into a businesslike tone. "I understand where that comes from based on past history, but again it doesnt guarantee anything for this weekend. "At most its flattering, but weve got to go out there and get to work." Besides, Kenseth has a crafty way of his own, as Johnson experienced at Charlotte this year. "I think he ran around the top five -- fifth, sixth, seventh -- somewhere throughout the night," Johnson said of the race two weeks ago. "We were up there dominating the race and I started to think that we might pick up a couple of points on him. Then when the checkered fell he was one spot ahead of me. "He is a great driver, great team, and there is no quit in those guys." Kenseth also will have something of an advantage at the start, with three teammates surrounding Johnson. Denny Hamlin is on the pole to Johnsons inside, with Kyle Busch and Kenseth behind him. Its not Kenseths style to pay attention to where Johnson or anyone else is during the race because it doesnt change the way he races. Kenseth says he just races as hard as he can every race. With four races to go, he likes his chances in the final three at Texas, Phoenix and Homstead, Fla. Theyre all tracks where he feels his team can hit something that gives him a chance to win. But first, theres Sunday. "Good news is we are still in it as of right now," he said before Fridays qualifying runs. "Hopefully, we can have a great race on Sunday and still be in it when we leave here." Trent Brown Patriots Jersey . Toronto FC hosts the three-time Italian league champions in a friendly Aug. 7 at BMO Field, a game that Roma CEO Italo Zanzi said falls within a key part of their pre-season. Custom New England Patriots Jerseys . -- David Freese is starting to pick up his run production, which is something the Los Angeles Angels have been waiting half a season to see. http://www.patriotsfanaticstores.com/aut...atriots-jersey/. -- Mixed martial arts fighter Cristiane Justino Santos has been suspended and fined for testing positive for steroids. Kenny Britt Jersey . -- Steven Stamkos scored his first goal since returning from a major injury, Ryan Callahan had his first goal with Tampa Bay, and the Lightning beat the Florida Panthers 5-4 on Thursday night. Jeremy Hill Patriots Jersey . Sterling was banned for life and fined US$2.5 million by the NBA on Tuesday for racist comments the league says he made in a recorded conversation. Nash, who plays for the rival L.A. Lakers, spoke as a representative of current NBA players at a press conference assembled by Sacramento mayor and National Basketball Players Association adviser Kevin Johnson.MILWAUKEE -- Its been a busy summer for Milwaukee Bucks general manager John Hammond. After hiring a new coach, Hammond set his sights on the NBA draft, then got to work rebuilding the roster, eventually bringing 11 new players to Milwaukee. Last week, however, Hammond made sure one of those players still around after last season stays in Milwaukee for a while. He signed centre Larry Sanders to a four-year extension worth approximately $44 million. "Weve talked about moving forward as an organization and building around young players on our roster," Hammond said. "Hes one, if not the, key, core piece for us moving forward. This is a great step for us for who we want to become." The extension comes after a breakout year for 24-year-old Sanders, who led Milwaukee in rebounds (9.5 per game) and averaged 9.8 points, both career highs. His 2.83 blocks per game were second in the NBA to Oklahoma Citys Serge Ibaka. "Hes one of the top defenders in the NBA," Hammond said. "Hes one of the top shot-blockers in our business and hes only going to get better defensively, get better on offence and were really excited to have him be a part of our organization long-term." Offensively, Sanders is still a work-in-progress, but has shown marked improvement over his first three seasons and shot a career-best 50.6 per cent from the field. Free throw shooting is soomething of a concern -- hes 58 per cent from the line in his career but -- but he connected at a 61.dddddddddddd8 per cent clip a year ago while averaging 8.5 attempts. Milwaukee selected Sanders with the 15th overall pick in the 2010 draft. He was set to enter the final year of his four-year rookie-scale contract, which will pay him $3 million this season. Getting better on offence is a key goal for Sanders and new coach Larry Drew. "Not just going to the basket but trying to facilitate more, open the court and understand the offence more," Sanders said. "Theres a lot on the offensive end Im working on." Sanders emotional play has made him a crowd-favourite at the Bradley Center, but has also made him a target for officials, who ejected him a league-leading five times last season, including three in a span of 10 days. He finished fifth in the league with 3.3 fouls per game and was third with 14 technicals. "My focus needs to be on winning the game," Sanders said. "I know coach hates when we talk to the officials ... so Ill just watch him." Not long after taking the job, Drew sat down with Sanders and made it clear that things had to change. "We went to dinner and talked," Drew said. "It was a very frank and candid conversation; he realized he had to get better and its something Im going to expect of him." Wholesale Jerseys 2019 Wholesale Jerseys From China Stitched Jerseys Wholesale Black NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Camo Cheap NFL Black Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Free Shipping ' ' '
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