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BROOKLYN, Mich. - The numbers keep climbing — and this time the rise was anything but gradual. Jeff Gordon set the track qualifying record at Michigan International Speedway on Friday with a speed of 206.558 mph, winning his 76th career pole in NASCARs Sprint Cup series. Gordon broke the previous mark of 204.557 by a remarkable margin — and that record was set just two months ago by Kevin Harvick. Speeds at MIS have been climbing ever since the two-mile oval was repaved before the 2012 season. When Marcos Ambrose reached 203.241 that year, it was the first time anyone won a pole at over 200 mph since Bill Elliott did it in 1987, before horsepower-sapping restrictor plates were introduced at Talladega and Daytona. Joey Logano broke Ambroses record last August, only for Harvick and Gordon to keep pushing it higher. "I dont know where to start," Gordon said. "You can point at the repaving of the racetrack. This track is smooth — has a tremendous amount of surface area where the tire can get a lot of grip to it. The next thing is the cars." Gordons run Friday was the seventh-fastest pole-winning speed in the history of NASCARs top series. NASCAR overhauled its qualifying process before this season, switching to a knockout format similar to Formula One and IndyCar. NASCAR now uses three rounds of qualifying at tracks 1 1/4 miles in length or larger. The entire field has 25 minutes to post their fastest single lap and the top 24 advance to the second round. The second segment lasts 10 minutes, and the fastest 12 advance to a final, 5-minute round. There have been 17 qualifying records set this season, so this is not simply an MIS phenomenon. "It has nothing to do with the racetrack picking up speed," said Logano, who qualified second behind Gordon. "It has (to do with) what weve been doing to the race cars to go faster. ... I believe its cooler out, too. So I think between those two things, thats why we went faster again, but the racetrack itself isnt picking up speed. The racetrack, if anything, is maintaining to getting slower. But its widening out, so its becoming a better race." It was Gordons second pole of the season. He also qualified first last week at Watkins Glen but finished 34th, giving up the series points lead to Dale Earnhardt Jr. Not everyone took advantage of the favourable conditions at MIS. Earnhardt and Johnson failed to advance out of the first round of qualifying. Earnhardt was 25th and Johnson 30th. Johnson, who won at Michigan in June, has finished out of the top 10 in the last five races — and 28th or lower in four of them. "Weve just had a vibration with our car, really a shake, a violent shake through the corner," Johnson said. "Weve been trying to get to the bottom of it. We made it better, and it certainly went faster, but just not enough. Well go back to the drawing board." Carl Edwards qualified third, followed by Brian Vickers and Brad Keselowski. "Its fast — thats the simplest way to describe it," Edwards said. "I wish you guys could ride in that car with me there. That is screaming." Joe Crede Jersey . Top-seeded Djokovic, who is making only his second appearance this year after reaching the quarterfinals of the Australian Open, was a 6-3, 6-3 winner over 54th-ranked Istomin of Uzbekistan. "It wasnt as easy as the scoreline indicates," said Djokovic, who has won in Dubai on four occasions. Bobby Jenks Jersey . made a diving catch in left field for the final out in a 1-0 victory over the Miami Marlins in a regular-season finale Sunday. Zimmermann (14-5) allowed only two baserunners, finishing with 10 strikeouts and one walk in the fifth no-hitter in the majors this year. http://www.whitesoxteamshop.com/White-So...ids-Jersey/.com) - Real Madrid claimed its 20th consecutive win across all competitions by cruising to a 4-1 victory at Almeria on Friday. Ozzie Guillen Jersey . They started shooting the puck. Joe Pavelski had a hat trick to move into a tie for second in the NHL in goals and the Sharks beat Philadelphia 7-3 Thursday night in the first game for both teams following the Olympic break. Paul Konerko Jersey . Future Hall of Famer Ricky Ray is in his prime and back for a third season in double blue. The 34-year old was magnificent in 2013, throwing for just under 2,900 yards despite missing eight games, tossing an impressive 21 touchdowns against just two interceptions, completing 66 per cent of his passes in the process.BROOKLYN, Mich. -- Joey Logano was only a few laps away from victory when suddenly, holding off Paul Menard wasnt his main problem. "I could tell something was wrong on the back straightaway," Logano said. Loganos flat tire with about five laps remaining allowed Menard to win the NASCAR Nationwide Series race Saturday at Michigan International Speedway. It was Menards second victory on that circuit and first since 2006, and Logano was left trying to come to terms with a race that was going well until the final moments. "I hate to give them away like that," Logano said. "You look at the silver lining I guess, which is we had a fast race car and should have won the race. You win some this way and lose some this way." Logano was leading when he was derailed by the tire problem. Menard took advantage of his good fortune, holding off Sam Hornish Jr. by 0.468 seconds. It was Menards first Nationwide start of the season. Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished third, followed by pole-winner Kyle Busch and Brian Scott. Regan Smith finished seventh and remained atop the points list. Menard, one of several Sprint Cup drivers in contention in the event, won the 250-mile, 125-lap race in his No. 33 Chevrolet. He figures he might have had a shot to win even without Loganos mishap. "I would have liked to have lined up nose to tail with Joey," he said. "It would have been a hell of a race." Logano wasnt disputing that, but the point became moot when he ran over something in his No. 22 Ford and dropped all the way back to 16th place because of the cut tire. "The 33 was quick and had a fast race car also. We were going to have a race because he was catching me a little bit," Logano said. "Sometimes you are the bug, sometimes you are the windshield.dddddddddddd It is never over until it is over. You think you are in good shape and you are worried about a caution more than anything else and then the next thing you know you hear it starting to come apart." Busch won his third Nationwide pole of the year but was unable to repeat his victory two weeks ago at Dover. Scott was the highest finisher among this years Nationwide regulars, holding his own among several Cup drivers. "Ive been fortunate to run a couple Cup Series races, and I felt like it was a huge benefit to me and my team in the Nationwide Series," said Scott, who along with Menard was part of a big day for Richard Childress Racing. "The added track time, just driving something with more horsepower. You actually figure out ... the grip threshold, and you realize just how high it is. Then you can get in your Nationwide car and you know that youre nowhere near it or youre at it, and how to approach that." Hornish nearly won the Nationwide Series in 2013, but his sponsorship money dried up and he parted ways with owner Roger Penske. Hes made only three Nationwide starts this year, but the irregular schedule doesnt seem to be affecting his performance. Hes finished in the top five in all three races, including a victory at Iowa in May. He was in the No. 20 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing on Saturday. "Its not really a knocking-off-the-rust thing, because Im at the shop every week," Hornish said. "I feel like Im keeping from being rusty by the amount of things that Im doing as far as that. Gotten to do a little bit of testing, and theyve given me good cars. Everybody at Joe Gibbs Racing has been super nice to me so far -- glad that we could come out and have another good day for them." ' ' '