Funkerstation » , who were locked down by Wake Forests defe

LOUDON, N.H. -- NASCAR drivers mostly come from outside the Carolinas and they dont have Carolina or Charlotte across their uniforms, but they have a connection to the unrest in Charlotte.When protests in the city turned violent Wednesday night -- the day after a police officer fatally shot Keith Lamont Scott -- windows were smashed in the lobby to the building that houses NASCARs downtown offices. A window to the city-owned NASCAR Hall of Fame also was broken.While the Hall of Fame has remained open Thursday (with the National Guard protecting the facility), NASCAR closed its offices to normal business. Protests on Thursday night were more peaceful.Theres an emotional reaction, Connecticut native Joey Logano?said prior to practice Friday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. A lot of times when you see things like this happen, its in a different city and you dont recognize where its at. But when you see the NASCAR building getting vandalized and you see areas of the city that you know very well with just crazy things happening, it makes you sick to your gut.You dont know what to do and you kind of feel helpless.Matt Kenseth was at the NASCAR offices Wednesday, several hours before the lobby windows were broken.You just hope it stops, Kenseth said. I dont know enough about what actually happened to start it all. Obviously, I think we are very, very, very fortunate to live in a free country, and peaceful protests and demonstrations are OK.The violence and the vandalism and theft and stuff isnt really a way to prove a point or try to make things better.Last week,?Brad Keselowski wrote a blog post about NFL quarterback?Colin Kaepernicks national anthem protest over social injustice. In the blog, titled Truth and Grace, Keselowski wrote, My issue with Colins protest was not in the truth of his position. Theres no part of me trying to deny that. But Keselowski was in favor of a more graceful way to protest (specifically without offending members of the military or their families).[The blog] certainly applies to the situation in Charlotte, Keselowski said Thursday morning, after the Wednesday violence left one protester dead and another civilian in jail as a suspect in that shooting death.I think whether theres truth or not, that could be a long argument. I think there is some truth [giving credence to the protest], Keselowski said. But I think there is no argument about grace.Most of the drivers live at least a 20-minute drive away from where the protests occurred, either north or south of the center of downtown Charlotte.All we can do really is just say some prayers and hope that eventually everything calms down and everyone is able to come to some kind of peace at the end of this thing, and we can move on and move forward and make our world better, Logano said. Right now, its a scary situation.Austin Dillon is one of the few North Carolina natives competing at the Sprint Cup level.Its sad [where] the country is at this point in time, Dillon said. I hope that everybody that can look at everything and gather their thoughts and figure out the right way to fix the problems we have. Hopefully ... the right people will come together and fix these problems that are going on. Custom Los Angeles Lakers Jerseys Cheap . Mickelson barely made the cut but had the best round of the day with nine birdies and an eagle coupled with two bogeys to sit two shots behind leader Craig Lee of Scotland. Lee shot a 69 for a 12-under 204 total. "I just love the fact I am in contention and have an opportunity in my first tournament of the year here in Abu Dhabi," Mickelson said. 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Here are some things to watch in the Atlantic Coast Conference for Week 11:GAME OF THE WEEK: Georgia Tech at No. 18 Virginia Tech. The Hokies (7-2, 5-1) can take another step toward their first ACC championship game berth since 2011 by beating a Yellow Jackets team that didnt do them any favoris last week in a loss to the other Coastal Division contender, No. 21 North Carolina. Virginia Tech -- which was just good enough to hold off Duke last week -- plays its final two league games in the friendly confines of Lane Stadium and knows it must be better against a Georgia Tech team that is one victory shy of bowl eligibility. It is hard to have a sense of relief when you are trying to get ready for Georgia Tech, Hokies coach Justin Fuentes said.BEST MATCHUP: Wake Forest defense vs. Lamar Jackson and the Louisville offense. The Demon Deacons defense has keyed their transformation into a bowl team, ranking second to Clemson in points allowed (18.4). But this represents their toughest test so far -- a matchup against Jackson, the Heisman Trophy front-runner who leads the league in six offensive stat categories, and a Cardinals offense that is putting up more than 50 points and nearly 600 total yards per game. It wont get any easier for Wake Forest -- which plays host to No. 3 Clemson next week. There is not a big margin of error when you play a team of this quality, Wake Forest coach Dave Clawson said.INSIDE THE NUMBERS: Only five of 14 ACC teams are over .500 in league play so far.dddddddddddd The top two teams in each division have been mostly immune to upsets -- the only one of them to lose to a team further back in the standings is Virginia Tech, which lost to Syracuse. The two bottom teams in each division havent beaten anybody ahead of them except for N.C. State, which defeated Wake Forest in a game that hardly seemed like an upset at the time.UPSET WATCH: Maybe Virginia will find a way to cover the 10-point spread against a Miami team that just snapped a four-game losing streak. The Cavaliers, who were locked down by Wake Forests defense last week, will need more from QB Kurt Benkert, who threw for just 190 yards and was intercepted twice with one returned for the game-winning touchdown with less than 7 minutes to play. Complicating things further, the Hurricanes rank fifth in the league against the pass.IMPACT PLAYER: Look for N.C. State RB Matt Dayes to put up some big numbers against a leaky Syracuse defense. Dayes trails only Jackson and Florida States Dalvin Cook among ACC rushers, and is 169 yards shy of the 1,000-yard mark for the season. Defense has been a big problem for the Orange, who are 12th or worse in the league in all four major defensive stat categories.---Compiled by AP Sports Writer Joedy McCreary in Raleigh, North Carolina.---OnlineMore AP college football: www.collegefootball.ap.org ' ' '