Fahrwerk / Räder » degree of off-court difficulty imaginable.

NEWTON, Iowa -- Sam Hornish Jr. beat Ryan Blaney off a restart with 21 laps to go and hung on to win the NASCAR Nationwide Series race Sunday at Iowa Speedway. Pole-sitter Ryan Blaney was second, followed by Regan Smith, Chase Elliott and Elliott Sadler in the first stand-alone event of the season. Hornish, in the No. 54 car usually driven by Kyle Busch, led 167 of 250 laps to win in second Nationwide start of the season for Joe Gibbs Racing. Elliott has a two-point lead over Sadler and Smith in the series points standings. From the startl, Hornish and Blaney were the only drivers in serious contention. Blaney began the race on the outside of the front row after winning his first series pole Saturday. But Hornish, who qualified second, pulled in front on the opening lap. Blaney and Hornish were the only leaders for the first 214 laps, and lapped traffic was often more of a concern that the cars directly behind them. Blaney eventually caught Hornish at the tail end of a green flag run that lasted roughly 65 laps. But the final restart belonged to Hornish, who failed to secure a full-time ride for 2014 despite finishing second in the points standings last season. It was Hornishs third win in 101 Natiionwide starts. Michael McDowell then briefly took the lead with 30 laps to go by taking just two tires while the rest of the leaders took four. But McDowells gamble failed to pay off, and he settled for seventh. Elliotts fourth-place finish concluded a hectic weekend for the 18-year-old. He graduated from high school in Georgia on Saturday morning and flew back to Iowa in time to qualify sixth later in the day. Elliotts crew hung his graduation cap and tassel on the No. 9 pit box for good luck on Sunday. But Elliott, like everyone else in the field, had no answers for Hornish or Blaney. Greg Garcia Jersey . -- Brandon Hope stopped 46 shots and Kurtis MacDermid scored with 27 seconds remaining in overtime as the Owen Sound Attack edged the visiting Kingston Frontenacs 5-4 on Saturday in Ontario Hockey League action. Matt Strahm Jersey . Make that, almost always subjective. Saturday at Carrow Road, the spirit of fair play trumped the rulebook, costing Norwich City three points. http://www.padressale.com/padres-rollie-fingers-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. Tony Gwynn Padres Jersey . - The Oakland Athletics say they are stopping negotiations to extend their lease at the Coliseum. Craig Stammen Jersey . He, the 25-year-old Toronto backup net-minder and Manitoba native, would be making just his fourth start in the past 16 games against the Jets the following evening. It was the word of opportunity for Reimer, who has fallen into the role of backup, outmatched in recent weeks by Jonathan Bernier, his Quebec counterpart.LOS ANGELES -- When the final buzzer sounded on the longest two weeks of the Los Angeles Clippers careers, they felt more exhaustion than elation. While coach Doc Rivers high-fived fans and pumped his fist at the crowd, Blake Griffin and Chris Paul quietly congratulated each other. They had just persevered through seven exhausting playoff games amid enormous distractions leading to their owners lifetime banishment from the NBA. A franchise that once redefined losing was a winner despite it all -- and theres no telling how much farther these new Clippers can go. Griffin scored 24 points, Paul had 22 points and 14 assists, and the Clippers outlasted the Golden State Warriors 126-121 in Game 7 on Saturday night to win their first-round playoff series. "Im just happy we pulled it out," Paul said. "Its going to sound crazy, but it was all about tonight. Everything else was in the past. We didnt dwell on all that stuff, and not to diminish how serious everything has been in the past week or so. It was all about basketball tonight." Jamal Crawford scored 22 points for the third-seeded Clippers, who earned the franchises third playoff series win in 38 years with the highest degree of off-court difficulty imaginable. Less than a week after dumping their team warmup jerseys at centre court in a pregame gesture of defiance against Donald Sterling, the Clippers earned a cathartic win and a second-round date with the Oklahoma City Thunder, starting Monday night. "I just thought with all this stuff, this team just needed this win," Rivers said. "This was a hard week. It feels like two months. I just needed to be able to smile and laugh and cheer, and be proud of something. And I was very proud of my players." Sterling was banned for life from the NBA on Tuesday after a recording of racist comments by the 80-year-old billionaire was made public. The Clippers endured sleepless nights, constant public scrutiny and a failed attempt to close out the series in Game 6 before they finally hung on to beat Golden State. Sterlings long-estranged wife, Rochelle, cheered and clapped from the back of the lower bowl of Staples Center, where most of the advertising signage was illuminated again after the advertiser walkout sparked by Sterlings comments. "Its been a crazy ride for us," said DeAndre Jordan, who had 15 points and 18 rebounds. "I commend our guys for sticking with it. Its been a roller coaster, but we came out and had a job to do, and we did it." Stephen Curry had 33 points and nine assists, but Golden State blew a lead with 2:10 left in Game 7. Draymond Green scored 24 points for the Warriors, who lost their first GGame 7 since 1977 and failed to advance in consecutive postseasons for the first time since that same year.dddddddddddd. "We fought so hard this whole series, this whole season," Curry said. "It stings. Its disappointing for sure." An exhausting series ended with one last well-played game between the California powers who traded the lead throughout the second half. Los Angeles couldnt seize control of the first home Game 7 in franchise history until the final minutes -- and the Clippers did it in fitting Lob City style. After Griffin put the Clippers ahead for good by muscling home a layup, Jordan blocked Currys layup attempt to set up a fast break leading to J.J. Redicks lob to Griffin for a thunderous slam. Jordan added a dunk on an offensive rebound, and Griffin spun in the air and threw home a layup while getting fouled with 56 seconds left. Jordan threw down another alley-oop from Griffin with 22 seconds left, but Green hit a 3-pointer to trim the lead to 120-118. But Redick, Paul and Darren Collison hit two free throws apiece in the final 12 seconds to ice it. Redick scored 20 points for the Clippers, and Jordan put in a stellar low-post performance for the two-time Pacific Division champions. Klay Thompson managed just 15 points for the Warriors, failing to make a shot in the fourth quarter. Curry had just three field goals in the second half. "I thought it was a hard-fought series that everyone in the organization should be proud of," Jackson said. "We all went through it. The statements that were made were made to all of us. ... We did a good job handling what could go down as the toughest moment in league history, as far as what we had to go through." The game could have been the last for Golden State coach Mark Jackson, who might be on shaky ground with Warriors ownership despite presiding over the long-struggling franchises best two-year stretch in two decades. Curry said it would be "a shock" if Jackson wasnt the Warriors coach next year. "I dont get caught up in it," Jackson said. "Im totally confident, and I have total faith that Im going to be fine." NOTES: The Warriors havent won a Game 7 on the road since the Philadelphia Warriors beat the St. Louis Bombers in the 1948 BAA semifinals. ... Jordan set a franchise record for rebounds in a single playoff series, surpassing Bob McAdoos 94 rebounds for the Buffalo Braves in 1975. Jordan had already set the club record for blocked shots in a series. ... Warriors big man Jermaine ONeal played only three minutes after a collision with Los Angeles Glen Davis in Game 6 left him with a bone bruise on his right kneecap. ' ' '