Only for Guild Members » Detroit remains home for a four

KANSAS CITY, Kan. Mario Kempe Jersey . -- At any age, Jeff Gordon sure knows how to win. Nearly two decades after he burst onto the scene with his first victory, Gordon keeps taking checkered flags, storming to the lead in the final laps at Kansas Speedway on Saturday night for his first victory of the season and 89th overall in NASCARs top series. The 42-year-old Gordon held off a hard-charging Kevin Harvick on the final lap to move into the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship field. Gordon won for the first time since October at Martinsville and became the ninth driver to win in the first 11 races this season. He entered the race with the points lead, but exclaimed a weight was lifted off his shoulders as he crossed the finish line for his third Kansas victory. "Im just so proud of (the 24 team). They have been giving me the best race cars all year long," Gordon said. "I have been having so much fun. Im going to be 43 this year and I feel like Im 25 again. That is the way they make me feel." Kasey Kahne was third, followed by Joey Logano and Dale Earnhardt Jr. Danica Patrick was seventh for her best career Cup finish. Gordon built his points lead on the strength of four top-fives and seven top-10s in the first 10 races -- including second-place finishes at Texas and Richmond -- but he knew how much one win would ease pressure on his Hendrick Motorsports team. He got it under the lights at Kansas. "This is so sweet," he said. "What a huge weight lifted off this teams shoulders. We needed to get to Victory Lane." Gordon is celebrating the 20th anniversary of his first career Cup victory at Charlotte Motor Speedway in the prestigious Coca-Cola 600. He will go for his fourth Coca-Cola 600 victory May 25. At Daytona this year, Gordon insisted he was serious about considering retirement with a fifth championship. He looks every bit a title contender -- but said he feels like he could race until 50 if his cars are this stout. "The whole retirement thing I think is thrown out too much," he said. "I know Im somewhat to blame for that." After the start of the race was delayed 35 minutes by rain, the first Sprint Cup night race at Kansas soon left drivers in the dark after the lights went out on the backstretch. NASCAR polled drivers if they wanted to continue and they were good to go, with Kurt Busch and Carl Edwards among the many who said the track was bright enough to race. Harvick led the final 36 laps in his October win and led the first 41 on Saturday before briefly falling into the middle of the pack. Harvick worked his way to the front in the No. 4 Chevrolet and opened a commanding lead over Gordon and Logano. He led a race-high 119 laps in the 400-mile race -- small consolation once Gordon grabbed the lead with eight to go. With two wins already, Harvick has been a force in his first season at Stewart-Haas Racing, but his dominant Chevrolet ran out of gas on his last pit stop and lost time that he couldnt recover. "I should have been paying attention to my pit road lights and should have got off pit road better," he said. "I made a mistake at the end and it cost us a chance to stay out in front of the 24." Patrick had her best run of the season, spending most of the race nestled inside the top 10, and brought a needed jolt of electricity when she passed teammate Tony Stewart and Earnhardt to move into third with 95 laps left. Patrick hadnt finished better this season than 14th at Fontana and her lone top-10 in the Cup series was an eighth-place finish in the 2013 Daytona 500. She was shuffled back on a restart, costing her a top five. Patrick beamed in the garage after the kind of finish shed been striving for since her dazzling performance at Daytona more than a year ago. Crew chief Tony Gibson told her, "Chicks rule, huh?" "I know that we havent had the best of times, but we work hard for it," Patrick said. "This is the kind of stuff that materializes in wins. Weve just got to keep hanging around and doing what were doing. Im just proud of everyone for working really hard and believing in me." Sara Christians fifth-place finish in a 1949 race remains the best for a female driver in NASCARs top series. Jamie McMurray and David Gilliland both had their cars erupt in flames in separate accidents. Gilliland was slow to exit his No. 38 Ford and gingerly walked away from the smouldering wreckage. He was checked out and released from the infield care centre. "It was the hardest hit Ive had in a long time," he said. McMurray had a solid run derailed when he smacked the wall and the back of his No. 1 Chevrolet caught fire. "I heard a small pop, and then just lost all the steering and got into the fence," he said. Josh Archibald Jersey .com) - Guard Greivis Vasquez and forward Patrick Patterson, two key pieces to the Toronto Raptors run to an Atlantic Division title in 2013-14, were both given qualifying offers by the team on Saturday. Jeremy Roenick Jersey . -- Kyrie Irvings last-minute 3-pointer helped seal another victory for Cleveland -- and the Cavaliers longest winning streak since LeBron James left. http://www.officialcoyotesfanstore.com/authentic-alex-galchenyuk-coyotes-jersey/ . LOUIS -- Russell Martin wanted a better fate for his starting pitcher and helped deliver a happier ending.DETROIT -- Justin Verlander knows he isnt going to make a sixth straight All-Star team. A few more performances like the one Wednesday might mean hes heading in the right direction, however. Verlander overcame a pair of long home runs in the first inning and left with a comfortable lead after the sixth as the Detroit Tigers beat the Oakland Athletics 9-3 for a three-game sweep. Verlander (7-7) started the day looking like the pitcher who has been searching for his mechanics for most of the season. Coco Crisp began the game with a shot over the access tunnel down the right-field line, and Brandon Moss went even deeper into the right-field stands with two out. That, though, was the last time the As scored off the pitcher who has dominated them in each of the last two postseasons. Verlander wasnt sharp, allowing nine hits, but he didnt walk a batter. "I didnt make a big adjustment, I just got more into my rhythm," he said. "My changeup wasnt good, but I was able to throw my slider to lefties, where usually thats just fastball and curve." With a .500 record and a 4.71 ERA, even Verlanders years of dominance arent going to get him to Minnesota later this month for the All-Star festivities. "Im not going this year -- I can pretty much guarantee that," he said. "I didnt have a good first half, and I know that." "Its going to be the first time I get that weekend off in a while. It will be nice to get that time where I dont have to tax my arm. Ive put in a lot of extra work this year, trying to find my mechanics, so the rest will be good," he said. Torii Hunter hit three RBI singles and capped a six-run burst in the sixth inning. The three-time AL Central champion Tigers won for the 11th time in 13 games. The division leaders reached the halfway mark with a 47-34 mark. Oakland still has the best record in the majors despite its stumble at Comerica Park. The Tigers have eliminated Oakland from the post-season in each of the last two years. Detroit won this years season series 4-2, but with both teams leading their divisions, theres aa chance of a fourth October meeting since 2006. Niklas Hjalmarsson Jersey. "We won three of four here last year during the regular season, but they turned the tide on us this time," Oakland manager Bob Melvin said. "This wasnt a very good series for us -- getting swept never feels too good -- but we do want to play them again this year." If there is a third matchup, the As wont expect this version of Verlander. "For guys like that, there is a regular-season version and a playoff version," Moss said. "I guarantee you that when playoff time comes, hes going to be dominant." Hunter started at designated hitter for the first time in his two seasons with the Tigers. Hunter, who turns 39 on July 18, came into the game hitting .185 in his last 32 games and has struggled badly in right field. The Tigers had a rough time, too, going 9-20 in late May and early June. "I think it was really good for our team to go through some of those tough patches," second baseman Ian Kinsler. "It taught us a lot about what type of team we are, that we could come out of that thing and still be one of the best teams in baseball." Jesse Chavez (6-5) struggled for the second straight start, giving up five runs in five-plus innings. Reliever Jim Johnson, who replaced him, allowed four runs while only getting one out. "We got the lead in the first, and I gave it back," Chavez said. "Thats the biggest thing. As a starter, when you get the lead, you want to hang on to it." NOTES: Victor Martinez sat out with soreness in his side, but Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said it was purely precautionary and that he should be back at DH on Thursday. ... DH Yoenis Cespedes (hamstring) and C Derek Norris (back) both returned to the lineup for Oakland. ... The As return home for a series with Toronto, with Sonny Gray (7-3) scheduled to face R.A. Dickey (6-7). ... Detroit remains home for a four-game weekend series with Tampa Bay. Max Scherzer (9-3) is scheduled to pitch the opener against Erik Bedard (4-5). 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