Archive for February, 2012
Preds add Gaustad, reunite Kostitsyns (AP)
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Author: Preds add Gaustad, reunite Kostitsyns (AP)
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP)—The Predators won their first playoff series last spring. Now general manager David Poile thinks three trades within the past two weeks positions Nashville to do much more this season. “We’ve certainly got ourselves in a real good position here in the playoff race, and I think with these trades we’ve certainly given us a chance to play with the big boys this year when we get in the playoffs,” Poile said Monday after making two trades before the NHL deadline. “So we’re done. Like I said, I’m really happy.” The Predators paid a big price, sending a first-round pick in the 2012 draft to Buffalo for center Paul Gaustad and a fourth-round pick in the 2013 draft. Earlier Monday, Nashville picked up forward Andrei Kostitsyn from Montreal earlier Monday in exchange for a second-round and conditional fifth-round pick in the 2013 draft. Nashville had received the conditional fifth-round pick from Montreal 10 days ago along with defenseman Hal Gill in the first of Nashville’s three big trades before the deadline. Poile said he feels he filled the needs for a big defenseman in Gill, added more scoring with Kostitsyn in re-teaming him with his brother Sergei in Nashville and a strong center in Gaustad who can fight and move up and down the lineup while handling faceoffs in the final minute. “We paid a big price, but again it’s a specific player to play a specific role,” Poile said. “Everybody pays their prices at different times. Most clubs pay big money at July 1st. We haven’t been too notorious in doing that. I feel real good about paying a little bit more if that’s the case on Feb. 27 when you have 20 games left in the season to challenge for the playoffs and to challenge for the Stanley Cup.” Gaustad, traveling to join Nashville in North Carolina, said Monday night on a conference call he had tried to forget about the season-long talk he would be traded after spending about 12 years in western New York with the Sabres. Now the 30-year-old center will be playing in the postseason again with the Predators. “Playing against them is very hard,” Gaustad said. “They play hard. They play the system hard. I mean you look from the goaltender to the defense and the forwards, it’s a balanced attack. I’m excited to join that group.” The Predators went into Monday night’s game with the Los Angeles Kings fifth in the Western Conference, six points behind Central Division leading Detroit. Nashville gave up nothing but draft picks in these three trades, though the Predators did send forward Jerred Smithson to Florida for a draft pick on Friday. The Predators won their first postseason series last year against Anaheim but lost in six games to Vancouver. Then they were criticized last summer for letting players like Steve Sullivan, Joel Ward, Marcel Goc, J.P. Dumont and Shane O’Brien leave. Poile wanted to give some of his younger players time to develop, and now the Predators have 10 players having scored 10 goals apiece. Nashville also ranked first in the NHL on the power play Monday for the first time in franchise history. If these moves pay off with a deep playoff run, then the biggest dividend might be convincing defenseman Ryan Suter to re-sign with Nashville. Suter becomes a free agent July 1, and he had made it clear he wanted to see how committed team owners were to winning. Captain Shea Weber will be a restricted free agent after this season as well. Poile said he hopes Monday’s moves show all the Predators how committed ownership is to winning. “Hopefully a big playoff run here will get Ryan signed up,” Poile said. Sabres general manager Darcy Regier said two teams offered first-round picks for Gaustad with the first not from Nashville. But one team withdrew its offer, and the deal was on at midnight and off Monday morning only to be revived this afternoon. Then the calls came about 90 minutes before the deadline. Gaustad is in the final year of a four-year, $9.2 million contract. “He was born and raised with the Buffalo Sabres,” Regier said. “But when we looked at it, we thought long and hard about whether or not to trade him, and if so, under what conditions to trade him. And we set the standard high, and the standard was we had to be able to acquire a first-round pick and if we couldn’t acquire a first-round pick in that process, then we were not going to trade him.” Nashville came through with the right offer. Poile likes Gaustad’s size at 6-foot-5 and 225 pounds that Nashville wants to match up with the rest of the Western Conference in the playoffs. Gaustad has seven goals and 10 assists in 56 games this season. In his seventh full NHL season, Gaustad is a reliable checking forward and a good face-off specialist that Nashville needed after trading away Smithson. Both Gaustad and Andrei Kostitsyn are expected to join the Predators in North Carolina where they play the Hurricanes on Tuesday night. “I’ve been on the short end of a lot of 2-3 games,” Poile said. “Hopefully this year we’ll be winning them 3-2.” ——— AP Sports Writer John Wawrow, in Buffalo, N.Y., contributed to this report.
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Sunday Combine Scouting Report: WR Mohamed Sanu, Rutgers
Sunday Combine Scouting Report: WR Mohamed Sanu, Rutgers
Mohamed Sanu isn’t flashy, but he could be a quality #2 NFL receiver. (AP) (From inside Lucas Oil Stadium, during Sunday’s quarterback/receiver drills…) Sanu measured at 6-2, 215. He’s a long-looking athlete with a muscular upper body and slightly skinny legs. He took a while to get up to speed on the 40 (would like to see his 10-yard splits), but showed decent glide when he got there. On the 13-yard comeback, he had good stride and reached out to grab the ball with his hands, keeping him in bounds. However, he misjudged the 25-yard seam route and came up short. He had great form in the gauntlet — one of the most impressive receivers on the day. Caught every ball with his hands on the first one (again, good technique — not a body catcher), kept his body straight on the line, and threw the balls away with ease. He was even better on the second gauntlet, adjusting to high and low throws. No drops in either drill, and straight-line all the way. He rounded off his route slightly on the short cut slant, but caught the ball. He had a better cut on the 10-yard out-and-up, and adjusted to an overthrow inside to make the catch. He wasn’t able to make the catch on the 13-yard dig route due to an overthrow by Russell Wilson. On the 35-yard seam, he tracked the ball very well, turning his head at the right time and making an over-the-shoulder catch. He had a good cut and catch on the t13-yard inside dig, and he made okay cuts on the deep post corner, adjusting to an underthrown pass at the end. I like Sanu as a reliable, though not exceptionally quick, receiver who can make gains in possession concepts, and I think he reinforced his grasp of the fundamentals during his combine workout.
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Tour Report: Final update: Mickelson, Bradley tied (PGATOUR.com)
Tour Report: Final update: Mickelson, Bradley tied (PGATOUR.com)
How/Getty Images J.B. Holmes got off to a great start with a 4-under 67 on Thursday. By Helen Ross, PGATOUR.COM PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. — J.B. Holmes knew he was playing better than his scores indicated. Particularly that disappointing 80 he shot last Saturday in the third round at Spyglass Hill last week on the way to a missed cut at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. “It was just kind of one of those weeks where a couple bad things happened and I didn’t putt as well,” Holmes said simply. “All of a sudden I put up a pretty big number out there.” Not so on a blustery Thursday during the first round of the Northern Trust Open, though. Holmes’ score finally reflected the way he felt he’d been hitting the ball when he fired a 68 that left him one shot off the lead held by Phil Mickelson. The big-hitter from Kentucky. who set the tone for the day when he birdied his first three holes, was tied with Hunter Mahan. “I really felt pretty good this week practicing and coming up to this golf course,” Holmes said. “I really enjoy playing here. I like the layout of this golf course. I felt like I could shoot a pretty good score today.” Holmes, who started on the back nine, made the turn in 32 and then hung tough during an adventurous homeward stretch. He birdied the first hole, parred Nos. 3 and 4 and then went bogey-bogey-birdie-birdie-double bogey-birdie over his final six holes played in the day’s most gentle breezes. “It was blowing really hard all day,” Holmes said. “You really had to be real precise with your lines, especially striking your irons going in. You had to make sure you flushed it because the wind would definitely move it around quite a bit. I started off great, and then it died down a little bit at the end, and actually when it got a little bit easier I made a few mistakes. My record was a little bit better when the wind was blowing real hard. “Overall it was a really good day for me. It was really difficult. We got about four holes where the wind wasn’t blowing. It was whipping most of the day on us. Holmes is playing in just his fourth tournament since undergoing brain surgery last September to repair a Chiari malformation at the base of his skull. He’s not quite 100 percent but h says he’s seen improvement every week. Holmes has a good track record at Riviera, too — sharing the first round lead a year ago on the way to a tie for 12th and finishing seventh or better the three previous years. “It’s nice to get back out here and start hitting some shots like I used to, so it’s nice to put a good competitive round in on tough conditions,” Holmes said. “It’s just nice to be back out here, and it’s always encouraging when you can play good starting off on the first round. Watch: Round 1 Highlights Mahan makes more memories By Helen Ross, PGATOUR.COM PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. — When Hunter Mahan was 11 or 12 years old, his dad would bring him to Riviera Country Club to watch what was then called the Nissan Open. He later worked the range as a volunteer while a student at USC. “This was always the best field in golf, so this was always a great place to come out here and watch a lot of great players from pretty much all over the world to come and play,” Mahan said. “This was always a great spot.” Imagine, then, the new memories Mahan could make if he continues to play as well as he did on a windy Thursday at Riviera in the first round of the PGA TOUR event that is now known as the Northern Trust Open. Mahan turned an OK round into something special with a string of four straight birdies that brought him home with a 67 that was one stroke off the lead held by Phil Mickelson. Mahan is tied with J.B. Holmes, who also played in the afternoon, as did Mickelson, on a day when the average score on the par-71 layout was 73.466. “Obviously when we woke up this morning, the wind was humming pretty good,” Mahan said. “The course is in perfect shape right now. The greens are rolling very true. They’re not too fast because if they were it would be pretty difficult to play with the wind. … Probably the last seven holes the wind started to die down progressively, and by the end, it couldn’t be playing any nicer or any better. So I was excited to come make some birdies late. ”I hit it good all day, just a couple loose swings, but other than that, it was very solid from tee to green, and put myself in good position all day to kind of make putts.” Mahan had played 13 holes and was even par when the birdie barrage began in calmer conditions he called “about as good a weather as we’re ever going to see.” He’d had four birdies up until that point, but also made two bogeys and a double bogey at the 18th as he made the turn. Mahan wasn’t discouraged, though, and all of a sudden, the putts started falling — from 34, 21, 4 and 12 feet. He was tied with Mickelson when the last putt dropped but the big lefthander chipped in for a final birdie to seize sole possession of the lead. “I felt like I was close to getting a string going,” Mahan said. “The course is in great shape and the greens are holding just enough to where you can hit it close. The pins were pretty accessible for the last few holes.” Mickelson rides momentum Thursday By Helen Ross, PGATOUR.COM PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. – Phil Mickelson didn’t set up over the ball behind the 18th green expecting to chip it in. But he did — much to the delight of the vocal fans at Riviera Country Club — and with that closing birdie Mickelson claimed sole possession of the lead at the Northern Trust Open. he birdie, which was his sixth of the day, capped off an extremely solid 66, and Mickelson, who only dropped one shot to par on this blustery afternoon, finds himself one stroke ahead of Hunter Mahan and J.B. Holmes. He’s a two-time champion at Riviera, too. “It was quick, it was downhill, and I had to play about four or five feet of break, so it’s not one that you’re trying to get aggressive with,” Mickelson said as he revisited the final chip. “I was trying to get good speed and try to let it feed with the break, and I got fortunate obviously that it went in.” Fortunate, maybe. But Mickelson is clearly confident right now after closing with a 64 — that was three strokes better than anyone else in the field — on Sunday as he won the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am for the fourth time. The victory boosted Mickelson’s career total to 40 and showcased the hard work he put in during the offseason that he’d yet to put on display in 2012. “I felt very confident at the start of the year because I had played eight to ten rounds exactly like Sunday’s final round, and I felt like I was so amped up and ready to start the season,” Mickelson said. “(Then) I came out and played three terrible tournaments, and I don’t know what happened there, and my confidence took a little bit of a hit. “To come back and play the way I know I can play Sunday when I needed it most at Pebble, it gets my confidence right back to where I was starting the season, and I’m excited about the upcoming event, especially heading into our biggest event in April.” Mickelson’s performance at Pebble Beach certainly was not lost on his peers. While he said it was too early to start worrying about Mickelson this week, Mahan called him a “stud of a player” and said it would be fun to compete against him on Sunday, as Tiger Woods had done in the same group at Pebble Beach. Mickelson outscored Woods by 11 shots that day. He has now has beaten the former world No. 1 the last five times they’ve played in together in the final round. ”I’m sure Tiger really didn’t like watching Phil make all those birdies, that’s for sure, because that was a great tournament by Phil,” Mahan said. “That final round was pretty impressive. That course was setting up for it, too, because the conditions were pretty good, and you can get on a streak there pretty quick those first few holes, and boy, Phil played a very impressive final round. “I think Tiger has made huge strides and big progress, and I think he’s on the right path, it just didn’t click that day.” Final update: Mickelson leads by 1 By Helen Ross, PGATOUR.COM PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. — A blustery day didn’t blow Phil Mickelson off course, not with the affable lefthander riding the momentum of Sunday’s come-from-behind victory on the Monterey Peninsula. Mickelson, who fired a flawless 64 on Sunday to win the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, is back at the top of another leaderboard after the first round of the Northern Trust Open. Mickelson claimed sole possession of the lead when he chipped in from 35 feet for a sixth and final birdie at the 18th hole as shadows settled over Riviera. His 66 was one better than J.B. Holmes and Hunter Mahan while Jonathan Byrd and Carl Pettersson are another stroke behind. “It feels really good to get that one extra shot because I felt like I left one or two out on 16, 17, and you hate to have such a good round and let a few slide late,” said Mickelson, who is commuting to San Diego this week and beat a hasty retreat to the Santa Monica airport after his round. “To make that shot unexpectedly on 18 felt like I got one of those back.” Play was suspended by darkness at 8:42 p.m. ET after the gusty weather had scores soaring and rounds inching towards the five-hour mark. Tee times in the afternoon, in fact, were delayed 26 minutes on the front nine and 11 on the back. Tournament officials made the unusual decision to send the afternoon groups out without standard bearers since the wind was gusting to 35 mph. The scoring average when play was suspended with 30 players left on the course was 73.466 – more than two strokes above par 71. Only 23 players were in red numbers when the horn sounded. The first round will resume at 7 a.m. PT (10 a.m. ET) and the second round will begin as scheduled. “It was a challenging day today because Riviera doesn’t give you great opportunities to run balls onto the green,” Mickelson said. “That kikuyu grabs it so you really have to fly it on. Fortunately the greens were somewhat receptive, and that’s why I think the scores weren’t extremely high. A lot of them were right around par. “You could keep the ball underneath the wind, underneath the tree line and still get it to stop somewhat on the greens because they were receptive. So I thought that even though the wind was challenging, it was still a fair test.” Play suspended by darkness PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. – The first round of the Northern Trust Open has been suspended by darkness. Play will resume at 7 a.m. PT (10 a.m. ET) and the second round will begin as scheduled. A total of 30 players were stranded on the course. Everyone had finished at least 12 holes when the horn sounded at 5:42 p.m. PT (8:42 p.m. ET). Mahan birdies four straight PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. — Hunter Mahan has reeled off four straight birdies to pull into a tie for the lead. Mahan’s birdie putts started on the fifth hole, his 13th of the day, and came from 34, 21, 4 and 12 feet. He’s now tied with Phil Mickelson, who has two holes remaining, and J.B. Holmes, who bounced back from a double bogey to birdie the ninth for a 67. Mahan, who started on the back nine, has had an equally adventurous round. He birdied his first two holes but ended up making the turn in even par after another birdie, a bogey and a double bogey on No. 18. He was even par when the streak started on the front nine, too, after making birdie on No. 1 and a bogey on the fourth. Leaderboard update: Lefty on top PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. – J.B. Holmes has had a roller-coaster ride on his second nine at Riviera on Thursday. He was cruising along at 5 under before he made consecutive bogeys at Nos. 4 and 5. Holmes bounced back well, though, tapping in from 19 inches at the sixth hole and making another birdie from 17 feet at the next to get back into a tie with Phil Mickelson. Holmes gave both those shots back, though, when he made double bogey at No. 8. He found the left rough off the tee and was short of the green in two, then chipped on a three-putted from 58 feet. So Mickelson, who made three birdies in his first four holes after he made the turn, is now alone in first at 4 under. He has just bogeyed the par-3 16th, putting his tee shot just over the green and eventually missing a 7-footer to save par. Twos aren’t unprecedented for Phil PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. — Phil Mickelson came to Riviera this week bidding for a second straight victory after Sunday’s phenomenal 64 lifted him to his fourth AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am title. Consecutive wins aren’t unprecedented for the affable lefthander, either. He’s accomplished the feat three times (2006 BellSouth Classic and Masters, 2005 FBR Open and AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am and 1996 Nortel Open and Phoenix Open). The last time a player won in consecutive starts on TOUR was Jonathan Byrd (2010 Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open and 2011 Hyundai Tournament of Champions). The last player to win in consecutive weeks, though, was Tiger Woods at the 2009 Buick Open and Bridgestone Invitational. Donald fires solid 70 in opener By Helen Ross, PGATOUR.COM PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. — Luke Donald, who led the PGA TOUR in strokes gained putting last year, didn’t have his best day on the greens during the first round of the Northern Trust Open. Even so, the world No. 1 played well enough to post a 70 that left Donald firmly in the hunt at a tournament where he’s finished sixth or better three of the last four years. “These greens are tricky,” Donald said after taking 30 putts. “If you can putt well around here, it’s going to help. … I practice in south Florida on pretty perfect, smooth Bermuda greens; to come here and play on poa annua, it’s a big adjustment. “And with them being quicker today with the wind, that was the toughest part for me.” Donald started relative quietly on the back nine in his 2012 PGA TOUR debut, reeling off four straight pars before making bogey at No. 13. Donald got that stroke back at the next par 3, though, rolling in a 14-footer for birdie, and later two-putting from 36 feet at the par-5 first hole to get into red numbers. “This morning it was freezing, blowing a gale, and it was not easy,” Donald said. “This course is tough with benign conditions, so with the added wind and the greens, they’re fast. They seemed a little bit faster than usual. Eleven-and-a-half to 12 on the Stimpmeter usually makes it really tough out there.” Otherwise, Donald was pretty pleased with the way he was hitting the ball overall. He found 8 of 14 fairways and 12 greens in regulation while playing just his fifth competitive round of the year — and first in the United States. “I’m excited about my ball striking, the way I’m controlling the flight,” Donald said. “I’m moving it both ways, feel like I’m driving the ball pretty solidly, happy with the work that I’ve done in the off season, seems to be paying off. So far, so good. Yeah, just a little bit of tidying up here and there, but feels very good.”
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Video: LeBron James and Blake Griffin help us wish you a happy Valentine’s Day
Video: LeBron James and Blake Griffin help us wish you a happy Valentine’s Day
It doesn’t say much for our cold, loveless hearts that we attempted to write a paean to NBA fans to celebrate Valentine’s Day and failed, but then again we’re kind of sick of coming up with things that rhyme with “Lin.” Instead, all we can say is that we hope the shoebox in front of your desk receives the a litany of well-penned Valentine’s Day cards, thrown in with the ferocity that LeBron James and Blake Griffin showed the rim on Monday night. Happy Valentine’s Day, darlings.
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Kansas opens casino, finalizes road-course plans (NASCAR.com)
Kansas opens casino, finalizes road-course plans (NASCAR.com)
Lesa France Kennedy strode through the Art Deco-inspired lobby, past rows of blinking slots machines and spinning roulette wheels, her eyes trying to take in the homage to old Hollywood. The chief executive of International Speedway Corp., which owns and operates Kansas Speedway, could only marvel at the new casino overlooking Turn 2 of the race track—a $411 million facility that has created 1,000 new jobs and is expected to attract 4 million visitors annually. “All the different screens, all the colors,” Kennedy said. “I’m blown away.” Kennedy is gambling on the Hollywood Casino at Kansas Speedway, which celebrated its grand opening on a rainy Friday morning, to generate interest, drive ticket sales and increase revenue for ISC during a sluggish time for motorsports. It’s a bet she’s confident will pay off. “Anything we can do to bring more entertainment to the area, and also for our fans, will help not only us but the overall region,” Kennedy said. “The group here has been so supportive and so interested in bringing tourism that it’s made it really easy.” Long lines of cars snaked out of the parking lots and along the access roads running parallel to the backstretch in anticipation of the opening. After a ribbon was cut and Sprint Cup drivers Clint Bowyer and Kasey Kahne threw the ceremonial first dice, people began streaming through the doors and taking up seats at slot machines and blackjack tables. The casino, a partnership between ISC and Penn National Gaming, is the first to open in the Kansas City market in 15 years, and the first land-based, Las Vegas-style casino in the area. All of the gaming is on a single, 95,000-square-foot floor, with a bar and restaurant that overlooks Turn 2 of the speedway, providing a unique vantage point for its two race weekends. The first is in late-April, when the Truck Series and Sprint Cup Series visit the track. The second weekend, in mid-October, brings an ARCA race, the Nationwide Series and one of the Chase races that make up the Sprint Cup playoff system. “I get to do this for a living and we’ll open several new facilities this year, but you can imagine the creativity that comes with opening a venue like this,” said Peter Carlino, the chief executive of Penn National Gaming, which owns and operates casinos across the country. The casino is only the latest development on the Kansas side of Kansas City. The speedway, which opened in 2001, served as the cornerstone of a building boom that took advantage of good economic times. Several outlet stores, theaters, a minor league ballpark and the new stadium for MLS team Sporting Kansas City have popped up around the facility. But the economic downturn has hurt motorsports, and suddenly it’s become tougher to sell the 80,000-plus seats at Kansas Speedway, along with a dozen other tracks that are owned and operated by International Speedway Corp. Kennedy believes unique entertainment options like the casino can help bring people back to the track. In places where gambling may not work, it could mean shopping and restaurant projects, concert venues and general upgrades to facilities such as Phoenix that have seen better days. “We have a certain amount of capital each year for all our tracks,” she said, “and we’ll take a look at those that are ready for the next step.” Kennedy said she couldn’t have envisioned setting foot inside a casino at Kansas Speedway five years ago. The truth is that nobody could have. It wasn’t until 2007 that the legislature passed a bill authorizing the construction of casinos in four areas of Kansas to generate additional revenue, one of them near the speedway. Under the bill, the games themselves are owned by the state. There’s more to the facility than just gambling, though. A steakhouse offers fine dining, a buffet on the casino floor caters to nearly 300 at a time, a coffee bar and VIP lounge offer more dining options, and the place to be on race weekends is the patio overlooking the track. “It’s truly brought Las Vegas to Turn 2 of this race track,” said Bowyer, who grew up in Emporia and considers Kansas Speedway his home track. “Can you imagine what the atmosphere is going to be like on race weekend?” Everything inside the facility is modeled after the golden age of Hollywood. There are soaring columns with ornate scrollwork, video screens rolling historic clips of Grace Kelly and James Stewart, and vintage movie posters of Steve McQueen in Le Mans and James Garner in Grand Prix, a nod to the motorsports element of the unique partnership. “Any time we can bring more things to the race track area and offer more entertainment, we’d definitely look at that,” Kennedy said. “The casino happens to work for this property. Obviously it’s available here in the area. But we would look at this or any other types of things that would add an extra boost to the economy and to the experience.” But the casino is not the only change taking place at Kansas Speedway. Officials received the final layout from their design team this week for a proposed road course through the infield, and construction is scheduled to begin after the April race weekend. Track president Pat Warren also said Friday he hopes one of the two Sprint Cup races at Kansas Speedway will be run at night in 2013. The track installed lights last year and drew about 25,000 fans last fall for an ARCA race run under the lights. “I can tell you opportunities like this don’t come along very often, but when they do you take advantage of them,” Warren said. “We added lights to the track, last year we replaced 20,000 seats. We’ve done a number of things to the speedway itself. “We always talk about Kansas Speedway being a unique destination. We are truly unique now in a sense of being a destination casino, and a hotel in the not-too-distant future.” The road course, which will be built in conjunction with a reconfiguration and repaving of the original 1.5-mile tri-oval, begins after the frontstretch. Drivers will make a hard left and meander down the backstretch before a hairpin turn brings them back to the main speedway. There are also configurations that allow for the course to be run as a mile-long road course contained entirely in the infield, and part of it as a smaller go-kart track. The work will be finished before the October race weekend, though there won’t be competitive racing on the road course until next year, when a Grand-Am stop is planned. “We haven’t announced the date yet and I’m sure we will in the near future, but that’ll be the first Grand-Am race here and give us road racing, and that will even diversify the fan base even more than it already is,” Kennedy said. The repaving project has generated mixed reactions. Some drivers argued last fall that the new surface would hurt the quality of racing at the track, while others pointed to cracks and potholes as potential safety issues. Some also are upset that 15-degree banking will be replaced by variable banking designed to make passing easier. “I liked the old surface, too, but you have to repave at certain times,” Hendrick Motorsports driver Kasey Kahne said. “To repave now, it might take a few races to get back to where we want it, but overall it’ll be good.” Kahne also said he’s in favor of a night race at Kansas, something that Warren has been pushing for since the lights were installed last year. It won’t happen this season, but the track president is optimistic about next year. “One day race, one night race—the tracks change,” Kahne said. “They race differently at night, so it’ll be good. I’d be looking forward to that.”
