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03/15/2010 - Sao Paulo, Brazil (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Seven months after suffering back injuries in a practice crash at Sonoma, CA, Will Power made an impressive comeback in the IZOD IndyCar Series by winning the inaugural Sao Paulo Indy 300 in Brazil.
Power turned in a gutsy performance in the series' season-opener and first race held in a South American country. The 29-year-old Aussie avoided a five- car pileup on the opening lap and then endured rainy conditions for a majority of the event before passing Ryan Hunter-Reay for the lead in the closing minutes to claim his second career IndyCar victory.
"It was probably the most mixed up race that I have ever been in, but it created an opportunity for me to come back through the field and end up winning the race," Power said. "I think it was just a really good day for racing. If you were fast you could pass, because there is such a good track layout here. I'm pretty sure it was an exciting race for the fans."
Power undoubtedly had a dramatic day from start to finish on the Sao Paulo street circuit.
For the first time in series history, both qualifying and the race were held on the same day. A bumpy surface and slick concrete along the front straightaway led to unsafe race conditions and forced Indy Racing League officials to postpone Saturday's schedule qualifying until the following day. Track personnel made improvements in time for Sunday morning's "warm-up" practice session.
Power missed the final practice due to a faulty gearbox, but after his Penske team managed to correct the issue in time for qualifying, he managed to earn the fifth starting position.
By the time Power parked into victory lane, his hands were severely blistered from driving on one of the most physically demanding courses.
"I was really proud of my guys for the job they did to get us ready for qualifying," Power said. "They really were great all day. It was a long day with qualifying and the race all in just a few hours, but we were able to come out alright in the end."
Vitor Meira almost enjoyed the same triumphant return as Power did in Brazil. Meira also sustained a season-ending injury from a horrifying crash in last year's Indianapolis 500. With a third-place run, he was the highest finisher among the seven Brazilians who competed in front of their home crowd.
"It couldn't be much better than that," Meira said. "I think Will can relate to it with a back injury and all that. It gets pretty uncertain at some times and having a team behind you making sure that the seat is available, it makes a big difference during the recovery."
Prior to the start of the 2009 season, Power left KV Racing Technology and joined Penske to serve as substitute driver for Helio Castroneves until his federal tax evasion problems were resolved. Power drove Castroneves' car to a sixth-place finish in last year's season-opener in St. Petersburg, FL.
When Castroneves was acquitted and showed up in time for the second race of the season in Long Beach, CA, Power moved into a third Penske entry and ran a limited schedule from there. But Power continued to be one of the hottest drivers in IndyCar with sensational performances at Long Beach, Indianapolis, Toronto and Edmonton, where he recorded his first series win.
This year, Power joins Ryan Briscoe and Castroneves in Penske's stable of full-time drivers. The team has not been a three-car operation since 1994 when Al Unser Jr., Emerson Fittipaldi and Paul Tracy finished 1-2-3, respectively in points.
With Power's full-time status, Penske will be Chip Ganassi Racing's biggest threat in IndyCar this season. Reigning series champion Dario Franchitti and 2008 titleholder Scott Dixon are considered as the top-two contenders for this year's title, but after winning in Brazil, Power moves right up there with both Ganassi drivers in the championship ranks.
<< Ovechkin suspended two games for "reckless" hit on Campbell
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Washington Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin has
been suspended two games without pay for his hit on Chicago Blackhawks
defenseman Brian Campbell.
The incident, which the NHL called "a reckless hit" in
<< Lions get CB Houston from Falcons
Allen Park, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Detroit Lions acquired cornerback Chris
Houston from the Atlanta Falcons for a pair of draft picks on Monday.
Detroit gave up its sixth-round choice in the 2010 NFL Draft in addition to a
conditional s
<< Lamely rallies for first PGA Tour title
Rio Grande, Puerto Rico (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Derek Lamely fired a six-under 66
in the final round Monday to come from behind and win the rain-delayed Puerto
Rico Open.
Lamely, who won for the first time on the PGA Tour, completed the event
<< Beckham's World Cup absence confirmed
Turku, Finland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - England midfielder David Beckham underwent
successful surgery to repair a torn Achilles tendon on Monday in Finland, and
it was confirmed by Dr. Sakari Orava that he will miss this summer's World Cup
in Sout
Packers re-sign T Tauscher >>
Green Bay, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Green Bay Packers on Monday re-signed
veteran offensive tackle Mark Tauscher to a two-year contract.
The Wisconsin product has spent his entire 10-year career with the Packers,
who selected the 6-f
Djokovic sneaks into fourth round at Indian Wells >>
Indian Wells, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - World No. 2 Novak Djokovic barely survived
his third-round match Monday at the $4.5 million BNP Paribas Open, an ATP
World Tour Masters event.
The second-seeded Djokovic outlasted 25th-seeded German Philip
Giants, Jets to both host games opening weekend >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Giants and New York Jets will
both host games at their new home, Meadowlands Stadium, on the opening weekend
of the 2010 regular season.
The Giants will play Sunday afternoon, September 12,
Seahawks ink TE Baker >>
Kirkland, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Seattle Seahawks on Monday added depth at
the tight end position by signing veteran Chris Baker.
Per club policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The 30-year-old Baker spent last season with the P
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NEW YORK (AP) -By staying away from the cupcakes, Southern California earned itself a slim new ranking.
No. 1 always seems to fit USC.
Southern California jumped two spots to No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25 on Tuesday, rewarded by voters for opening the season with a dominant performance on the road against a BCS conference opponent.
Georgia and Ohio State, the preseason Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, started their seasons with glorified scrimmages at home against FCS (formerly I-AA) teams. USC, however, traveled across country to face Virginia and could not have been more impressive in a 52-7 victory.
Georgia fell to No. 2 and Ohio State to No 3.
"We realize that rankings so early in a season are certainly fluid. But rankings do help establish a pecking order for things later in the season," USC coach Pete Carroll said in a statement. "As for moving into the No. 1 spot, it's nice to know that people think highly of our team."
Since reaching No. 1 on Dec. 7, 2003, the final-regular season AP poll of that season, USC has been No. 1 in 39 polls, by far the most of any team during that time.
"Some have said the voters are taking our schedule into consideration," Carroll said. "Our philosophy has always been to schedule outstanding opponents. We need to play challenging games like we just did, traveling across the country to open the season at Virginia. Games like that bring out our best and make us stronger as a team."
The latest voting was close. USC received 21 first-place votes and 1,539 points from the 65-member media panel. Georgia had 20 first-place votes and 1,506 points. Ohio State got 15 first-place votes and 1,497 points.
"I'd say we've evolved as pollsters," said Stewart Mandel of SI.com, who moved USC up to No. 1. "In the past, voters just kind of automatically moved teams up and kept teams where they were if they won."
Georgia beat Georgia Southern 45-21 on Saturday and Ohio State opened with a 43-0 win over Youngstown State.
"There's a bit of a growing backlash for the amount of teams that open with I-AA cupcakes," said Mandel, whose book "Bowls, Polls and Tattered Souls" chronicles college football's controversies. "To see a team [USC] go on the road and play a New Year's Day bowl team from last season, and not only play them but destroy them, how could you not reward that team?"
USC also jumped past Georgia to No. 1 in the USA Today coaches' poll, which has the same top five as the AP poll.
"It's definitely a privilege to be No. 1. But it's not heartbreaking to me if we drop," Georgia offensive lineman Josh Davis said. "It doesn't matter right now what we're ranked. What matters is our next game and right now, that's Central Michigan. The only time the polls matter is in December. That's when the polls matter."
While the Bulldogs opened easy, their schedule ultimately should be as difficult as any team's. Georgia's big nonconference test is at No. 15 Arizona State on Sept. 20. The Bulldogs also face six Southeastern Conference rivals that've been ranked in the first two polls.
As for Ohio State, the Buckeyes play at USC on Sept. 13 before getting into the Big Ten schedule.
But of the teams in this week's top 10, USC and Texas are the only ones that don't play an FCS opponent, and the Trojans are the only team that doesn't play a team from a non-BCS conference.
Get the latest 2009 BCS Championship odds at MySportsbook.com.
The last team to drop from No. 1 after a victory was USC last season. LSU jumped from No. 2 to No. 1 when it beat Tulane 34-9, the same week the Trojans edged Washington 27-24 on the road.
The last preseason No. 1 team to lose the top spot after winning its opening game was Florida in 2001. The Gators beat Marshall 49-14, but preseason No. 2 Miami opened with a 33-7 victory over Penn State and the Hurricanes jumped to No. 1 with Florida slipping to second.
The next four teams in the new Top 25 stayed the same: No. 4 Oklahoma (two first-place votes), No. 5 Florida (five first-place votes), No. 6 Missouri (one first-place vote), No. 7 LSU (one first-place vote) and No. 8 West Virginia.
No. 9 Auburn and No. 10 Texas each moved up a spot, taking advantage of Clemson's big drop. Clemson, ninth in the preseason, fell out after losing 34-10 to Alabama on Saturday.
Also falling out after losses were Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh and Tennessee.
Moving into the rankings were No. 21 Fresno State, No. 22 Utah, No. 23 UCLA and No. 24 South Carolina.
Alabama moved up 11 spots after its big victory over Clemson.
The second 10 started with No. 11 Wisconsin, followed by Texas Tech, Alabama and Kansas. BYU and Arizona State were tied for 15th. Rivals BYU and Utah are both ranked for the first time since 1996.
South Florida was No. 17, ahead of Oregon, Penn State and Wake Forest at No. 20.
The final five were all the teams to move into the ranking, except for Illinois, which dropped four spots and tied South Carolina for No. 24.
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