11-21-2015, 03:02 AM
CONCORD, N. Greg Hardy Jersey Cyber Monday .C. -- NASCAR took the final step toward setting its 2014 rules package with a critical test session Wednesday at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The test featured four simulated races with four configurations on the Gen-6 Sprint Cup Series car. Drivers had to attend a mandatory debrief with NASCAR following each session to give feedback on the aerodynamic, engine and suspension combinations. NASCAR had 30 cars participating in the test, and planned to choose the configuration most favourable among drivers to test with a tapered spacer designed to reduce engine horsepower. The goal of the test is to improve the racing at 1.5-mile superspeedways, which has been a stated goal of NASCAR Chairman Brian France. He was scheduled to attend the test Monday, but rain postponed it until Wednesday. "Really what were attempting to do here is to get closer competition and more passing, closer competition, the cars running closer in the pack, passing more with an eye for the fans," Gene Stefanyshyn, NASCARs vice-president of innovation and racing development. "Were using various metrics to look at that, like the first to fifth time differentials, the time differentials between the 10 fastest laps, those types of things." NASCAR vice-president of competition Robin Pemberton said the goal was to use the data collected Wednesday to set 2014 rules "ASAP. Hopefully beginning of next week." Testing for the season-opening Daytona 500 begins Jan. 9 at Daytona International Speedway. Among the four test car configurations on which data was accumulated and will be sorted through over the coming hours and days were: --Splitters with a square leading edge. --Skirts at four-inch minimum ground clearance on both sides of car. --Rear fascia trimmed 1.375 inches higher in current scallop region. --9-inch rear spoiler with 1-by-14-inch-wide end tabs. --8.375-inch rear spoiler with 1-by-14-inch end tabs. --1.5-inch high by 37.5-inch wide roof strip. --43-inch wide by 13-inch long radiator pan. --Intake manifold to throttle body plate that yields engine power of 750 horsepower NASCAR tested six cars at Charlotte in October, and Stefanyshyn said Wednesdays test with actual races was critical to choosing the proper rules package. "When its all said and done, there is no wind tunnel where you can put 30 cars in, or (a computer model) where you can do that," he said. "We do all that to get our best hypothesis or answer. But then really what it comes down to is 30 cars running around the track and seeing how it all works and measuring that." Robert Lester Jersey Cyber Monday . The native of Westmount, Que., who made headlines in Canada last week after unexpectedly making the final four in Melbourne, will be joined by Gabriela Dabrowski of Ottawa, Sharon Fichman of Toronto and Aleksandra Wozniak, Blainville, Que. Kelvin Benjamin Jersey Black Friday . The NFL has said former Saints defensive co-ordinator Gregg Williams ran an improper pay-for-performance pool, which offered bonuses for big plays as well as big hits that forced opposing players from games or left them needing help to leave the field.BETHESDA, Md. -- Justin Rose has won enough times on the strongest golf courses to appreciate how one mistake can make a difference. He got away with one Sunday at Congressional to win the Quicken Loans National. Shawn Stefani did not. With the poise and the putting touch of a U.S. Open champion, Rose atoned for a 4-iron he hit into the water on the 18th hole to make a 15-foot bogey putt that got him into a playoff and gave him new life. On the 18th hole in the playoff, Stefani hit the same type of shot that rolled into the same pond left of the green. There are no second chances in a sudden-death playoff. Rose won with a par on the first extra hole for his first victory since the U.S. Open last summer at Merion. This one required about as much work, with Congressional far more difficult and unrelenting than when it hosted a soggy U.S. Open three years ago. "Congressional got its reputation back after the U.S. Open," Rose said. "I really enjoy this type of golf and this type of test. I think it tested all of us. Im delighted." The Englishman was far from delighted after thinking he had thrown this one away. Tied for the lead as he played the 18th, Rose tried to squeeze a 4-iron through a tiny gap in the trees from 209 yards away, playing toward the right side of the green for a chance at par. Instead, he turned it over and realized when he jogged toward the fairway that it was headed for the water. His caddie, Mark Fulcher, told Rose that Stefani had just made bogey behind them on the 17th. "Everything else was forgotten at that point," Rose said. "I wiped the slate clean and just focused on my putt on 18. An amazing feeling in any sort of championship when you make a putt like that. That means something. Thats special. "And then the playoff, it was just up to me to not do what I did the first time around." He left that to Stefani, who had drilled his tee shot in regulation and narrowly missed a 20-foot birdie putt for his first PGA Tour victory. In the playoff, Stefani pulled his tee shot in the trees and got relief from grandstands blocking his view of the green. He chose a 6-iron to punch it around the trees. "The grass closed the club down," Stefani said, "and it went left into the water. I was trying to play it down the right side and have a chance at a putt, two putts for a par. Thats the way it goes. It was great to have a chance to win." Both closed with a 1-under 70 and finished at 4-under 280 on a course that looked like a U.S. Open, and played like onee the way so many contenders -- seven players had at least a share of the lead at one point -- tumbled down the leaderboard. Charles Tillman Jersey Black Friday. Only six players broke par in the final round. And it was only the second time this year that the winning score was higher than the 36-hole lead (6 under). That also happened at Torrey Pines, which like Congressional, previously hosted a U.S. Open. No one crashed harder than Patrick Reed, who had a two-shot lead to start the final round, still had a two-shot lead at the turn and didnt even finish in the top 10. He made back-to-back double bogeys, shot 41 on the back and closed with a 77 to tie for 11th. "This definitely burns and definitely gets me more fired up for more events coming up," Reed said. Even though he got a reprieve with the clutch bogey putt, Rose looked like a U.S. Open champion the way he put himself into position. He hit 5-iron to 5 feet for one of only four birdies on the 11th hole Sunday. Staring at potential bogey from deep rough on the 14th, he boldly hit 3-wood up the hill and between the deep bunkers to the middle of the green. It was a par, but Rose called the 3-wood his "shot of the day." And before his blunder on the 18th, he holed an 8-foot sliding par putt on the 17th. "I felt like all aspects of my game were tested this week, and its really nice to win in that fashion," Rose said. Stefani, whose only major experience was at Merion last year, plodded along like a U.S. Open veteran with one par after another. He joined Rose in the lead with a 15-foot birdie putt on the 16th. So many others fell back. Brendon Todd was tied for the lead until a double bogey in the water on the 10th. Marc Leishman three-putted for bogey on No. 7 and made bogey on the easiest par 4 at Congressional. Brendan Steele made a late rally, only to take on too much from the rough on the 18th and find the water for double bogey. This was the first British Open qualifier on the PGA Tour -- the leading four players not already exempt from the top 12 at Congressional get into Royal Liverpool next month. Stefani earned one spot as the runner-up. Charley Hoffman (69) and Ben Martin (71) each birdied two of the last three holes to tie for third. Steele got the last spot with a 71 that put him in a three-way tie for third with Andres Romero and Todd, who already is exempt. Steele earned the spot over Romero because he has a higher world ranking. Romero closed with a 68, the low score in a final round when the scoring average was 73.7. Cheap Jerseys nfl jerseys cheap authentic wholesale jerseys jerseys from china authentic Cheap Jerseys wholesale stitched jerseys ' ' '