nd his 12-year-old son, Coleman, of Bartlett, Tennessee, a Memphis suburb, marked the game on the calendar as soon as the sch

SONOMA, Calif. -- As Jamie McMurray turned a corner on the season with a string of solid finishes, he picked Sonoma Raceway as an upcoming track he was looking forward to racing. It seemed like a strange selection considering McMurray has just one top-10 finish at Sonoma in 10 career starts. But he showed his comfort level on the 1.99-mile road course Saturday with a surprise pole-winning run. He topped Marcos Ambrose, a race favourite, with a lap at 94.986 mph. "I felt like Ive always raced really well here," McMurray said of choosing Sonoma as a place he thought he could win this year. "For me, the last restarts have really got me. When you have a restart at this track, guys go from top-five to 30th in about 20 seconds. It can be a track that if you have a caution at the end, you can lose a lot." It was McMurrays ninth career Sprint Cup pole, but first of the year. He also won the pole at Sonoma in 2007. Ambrose wound up second with a lap at 94.924 in NASCARs first use of the group qualifying format. Both Ambrose and McMurray were together in the final group, and Ambrose initially had the pole position. But McMurray snatched it away, and Ambrose made a second attempt to grab it back but came up just short. "The motor quit running coming to the green flag, so I lost all of my momentum coming to the green flag," Ambrose said. "I thought about just bailing out of that lap and trying to roll around for a second lap, but I wasnt sure about engine temperatures and the tires go away so fast. I didnt know if I had already stressed them out and if I could have made up time, so I just went for it." Its not the first engine issue Ambrose has had at Sonoma: He was dominating the race in 2010 and leading under caution when he turned his engine off and lost the race. So he was furious when an engine problem spoiled what he thought would be a pole-winning run for Sundays race. "I pretty much lost my mind there and was really mad and just had to get my composure back to finish the lap off," he said. "It was good enough for the front row, so Im proud of that but disappointed obviously that we didnt get the pole position." Carl Edwards qualified third and was followed by teammate Greg Biffle as Ford drivers took three of the first four spots. Although it was Edwards best qualifying effort at Sonoma, he had thought the new format meant hed get more laps in and have a shot at the pole. "The qualifying format was supposed to be easier on the drivers because we were supposed to get a couple of laps, but my crew chief went ahead and taped the grille off and said that wed just get one lap, so I was really happy with the lap," Edwards said. "I made a couple of little mistakes. I think I could have done better, but, still, its the best position Ive had starting here and to be anywhere near Marcos Ambrose in qualifying at a road race is an honour for me." Defending race winner Clint Bowyer qualified fifth and was followed by Matt Kenseth, Kurt Busch and Joey Logano. Kyle Busch was ninth, and Jeff Gordon rounded out the top 10. NASCAR had previously used group qualifying only in the Nationwide Series but tried it Saturday instead of traditional single-car runs. The drivers were split into eight groups of five or six cars based on practice speeds from Friday, and NASCAR sent them onto the track five seconds apart. The drivers had five minutes to post a fast lap. It was immediately interesting as Victor Cruz Jr., driving for Tommy Baldwin Racing, ran off course and into a barrier to stop the first groups session. "Rookie mistake," he said. There was no mistake for McMurray, who enjoyed watching the qualifying format as he waited for his turn to run. "It was cool how people would bump each other off," he said. When he went out in the final group, he was smooth and steady in his Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet and didnt push too hard. "I was like, Im just going to go out and take what this car will give me and not push it to the very edge," he said. "I drove at about 95 per cent." McMurray teammate Juan Pablo Montoya qualified 13th. Jacques Villeneuve, in the Phoenix Racing entry Kurt Busch drove to a third-place finish last year, qualified 22nd. "It just wasnt quick enough," he said. "We improved the car overnight and I was discovering it and I just didnt drive aggressive enough on the first lap, so there was still a little bit of time, but at least my car was a lot better." Danica Patrick, who has struggled to find speed all weekend and was expected to be strong Sunday, qualified a disappointing 31st. "We picked up from practice. It was loose, especially in the faster part of the course," Patrick said. "But we improved from yesterday and the GoDaddy guys have worked really hard this weekend. Hopefully we have a good day on Sunday."Juan Bernat Jersey . This should be celebrated because it will not always be this way. With the amount of money given to players by their clubs these days, it is a wonder that so many of those teams allow the sport to continue to take away many of their assets so they can play for a different team in the middle of their season. James Rodriguez Bayern Munich Jersey .J. Ellis hit two-run homers and the NL West champion Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the San Diego Padres 4-0 Saturday night. http://www.soccerfcbayernshop.com/kids-niklas-sule-munich-jersey/ . The judges scored it 48-47, 48-47, 49-46 for Jones (19-1). It was the champions closest call. Despite the loss, it was a remarkable show by the confident Swedish challenger, who had the best of the early rounds and then hung on in the fourth and fifth. Christian Fruchtl Jersey . Dusautoir, the former World Player of the Year, sustained a torn bicep playing for Toulouse in the Heineken Cup on Saturday. The flanker, who has played 65 times for France, is expected to be out for up to four months. Corentin Tolisso Bayern Munich Jersey . Collaros, 25, was solid last season, posting a 5-2 record as the starter while incumbent Ricky Ray was injured. Collaros also started Torontos 23-20 regular-season finale loss to Montreal — Ray didnt dress because the Argos had already clinched first in the East Division — but was one of three quarterbacks to play that day.MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- When Philip Speerings mother told him she would do something special for him making good grades, he focused on the Cleveland Cavaliers only visit to Memphis this season to play the Grizzlies.Speering, 15, wanted to see LeBron James. He wanted to see Kyrie Irving, Kevin Love and the defending NBA champions.Speering got his wish to attend the Cavaliers-Grizzlies game Wednesday night, but none of Clevelands top three players was even in town. As many NBA teams look to rest their top players more and more, James, Irving and Love were all left home, and Memphis beat the short-handed Cavs 93-85.Honestly, I feel like they should come and support their (fans), said Speering, who was wearing a Believeland T-shirt. I understand rest, but its kind of disappointing.Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue announced immediately after his team beat Memphis 103-86 in Cleveland on Tuesday night that James, Irving and Love would not make the overnight, one-game trip. The Cavaliers next game is at home Saturday against the Lakers.The Grizzlies took a similar approach to Tuesdays game in Cleveland. Memphis center Marc Gasol was left home rather than make that trip.Teams are increasingly relying on minutes calculations or assessing the number of games in a particular stretch in deciding whether to sit their best players on a given night.That can be upsetting to fans of the visitors who -- in Clevelands case -- have only one chance to see certain teams come to town. With the Cavs in the Eastern Conference and Memphis in the West, they face each other twice a season -- once on each others floor.Throughout the day Wednesday, sports talk-show hosts debated the decision -- both from the focus of the team, but also from the fans, some of whom paid premium prices for the one opportunity to see the defending champions. Some noted that in sharing ticket packages, the Cleveland visit was among the first games selected.Rick McKenna of Memphis was sitting by himself in the stands.dddddddddddd The native of Ravenna, Ohio, said he paid $400 for his ticket.Lue said a combination of factors contributed to the decision. The Cavs played four games in six nights before the Tuesday game against the Grizzlies. James has not had his usual pep, Lue said, Love has dealt with back issues (although he had 29 points and 13 rebounds in Tuesdays win), and Irving has dealt with tired legs.All three were listed as not with the team due to rest.It was pretty much the circumstance. It wasnt like, `Were coming to Memphis; were going to sit our guys. Lue said.The reasoning still doesnt sit well with fans. Jaden Jenkins, 14, of Memphis, was decked out in his Cavaliers shirt in the pregame. He noted it was pretty upsetting when he heard James wasnt playing, but even worse, when Love and Irving were added to the mix.If a player only plays one game at a particular location, they should play that night, Jenkins said.Mark Edge and his 12-year-old son, Coleman, of Bartlett, Tennessee, a Memphis suburb, marked the game on the calendar as soon as the schedule was released. The father said it might be the only NBA game they attend this season.Its like if you had a lollipop and someone stole it, Coleman Edge said.The disappointment was tempered somewhat when a member of the Cavaliers security staff approached and said the team liked to have people in Cleveland gear on its bench during pregame.At that point, Coleman was escorted to the Cavs bench. He wouldnt see James or Irving, but he was perhaps sitting in the same seat they would have occupied if they made the trip to Memphis.And his father could find a bright spot to the whole episode.Were kind of disappointed, Mark Edge said, but its still a nice father-son night. Were still making memories. ' ' '