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CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Kevin Harvick has found himself against the ropes in NASCARs playoffs in each of the last two years. Tired of having to fight his way into the championship race, he is determined to leave nothing to chance.A win two weeks ago at New Hampshire earned him an automatic berth in the second round of the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship. Hed like a win Saturday night at Charlotte Motor Speedway to push him right into the third round.For this three-race segment, the 2014 NASCAR champion has eyed Charlotte as a track that gives him a good shot at a victory. The round also goes to Kansas next week before concluding at Talladega Superspeedway.Charlotte is probably the one Im looking forward to the most, Harvick said. Weve had so much success there. Weve run well there, really, every time weve been there with our Stewart-Haas Racing cars.Harvick has three career points victories at Charlotte, including the October race during his championship season. That victory pushed Harvick into the round of eight of the Chase.Hes also has had success racing at night, something Charlotte Motor Speedway President Marcus Smith noted this week. He dubbed Harvick Nighthawk because Harvick has not finished outside the top 10 at night in the last seven races. Hes only been outside the top-five twice in that span.Harvick has also won six times in night races on the NASCAR schedule since 2012.But with practice time during the daylight this weekend, hes not sure what to expect.Charlotte is a really finicky racetrack and, with the way we practice, most of the practice will be done during the day with the race being at night, he said. Temperature has a huge factor in how the racetrack changes, how the pace changes, so you have to try to guess a little bit on that. You have to try to plan and balance all those things to have a good plan, but you have to be ready to abort that plan and come up with a new one on the fly at any given point.CLAUSON-MOST POPULARThe late Bryan Clauson was honored as the fans favorite driver in the IndyCar Series during a remembrance for the three-time Indianapolis 500 starter.Clauson died from injuries suffered in a sprint car crash in Kansas in August. He was leading when he was involved in the accident, which came in his 116th race of the year. Popular throughout the paddock, Clauson was attempting to race in 200 events this year and was one of the most well-liked drivers in every series.He was remembered during IndyCars season-ending awards ceremony Tuesday night by Conor Daly, who was teammates with Clauson during this years Indianapolis 500 and, like Clauson, grew up in Noblesville, Indiana.You could always tell Bryan had such a strong positive impact on the racing world because everyone across the sport was happy to see him get a shot in the Indy 500, Daly said. It was a true pleasure getting to work with Bryan this year at Indy and to see the whole crowd and everyone around us support him and love seeing him there. He was and forever will be a driver to look up to, a person to strive to be like, and a hero.RACE OF CHAMPIONSJuan Pablo Montoya and Tony Kanaan will both compete in this years Race Of Champions all-star event, which will be held in their adopted hometown of Miami.Kanaan competed in the event in 2004, the year of his IndyCar championship, when it was held in France. The Brazilian partnered with Felipe Massa and the duo advanced to the semifinals.Having the race here in my backyard is the perfect opportunity to be part of it and to race against the biggest names from motorsport around the world, Kanaan said.Montoya will be making his Race of Champions debut. He and Kanaan bring the field to eight confirmed drivers for the event. Also committed to date for the January 21-22 race at Marlins Park Stadium are Ryan Hunter-Reay, Sebastian Vettel, nine-time Le Mans 24 Hours winner Tom Kristensen and Kurt Busch. Seattle Mariners Pro Shop . The head of USA Boxing came out swinging Tuesday with an open letter to Tyson -- a former Olympic hopeful himself -- that accuses the former heavyweight champion of trying to poach fighters who might be candidates for the U. Fake Mariners Jerseys .com) - The Chicago Blackhawks aim for their third three-game winning streak of the season when they host the struggling Edmonton Oilers in Sundays battle at the United Center. https://www.cheapmariners.com/ .500 on the season. The Jets are now 0-5-1 in the second game of back-to-backs. The game started the same way the Vancouver game started the night before, with the Jets taking the first two penalties of the game and killing off the first, but the Oilers getting on the board first, scoring on the second man-advantage. Seattle Mariners Shirts . LOUIS -- Valtteri Filppula assisted on three of Tampa Bays four goals, and the Lightning beat the St. Cheap Mariners Jerseys . Louis Blues teammates who would also be participating in the Olympics, Alex Pietrangelo felt right at home, no different in some ways to the travel experience of any old road trip – save for the length of the journey, that is. CHICAGO -- Both the St. Louis Cardinals and the Chicago Cubs will be filling injury-created holes Friday when they continue their series at Wrigley Field.In the series opener on Thursday, Cardinals left fielder Matt Holliday had his a right thumb fractured when it was hit by a pitch from Cubs left-hander Mike Montgomery in the 10th inning.Holliday was placed on the 15-day disabled list after the game, a 4-3 Cubs victory that was Chicagos 10th win in a row.Earlier Thursday, the Cubs placed right-handed reliever Pedro Strop on the DL after an MRI revealed a meniscus tear in his left knee, while the Cardinals put first baseman Matt Adams on the DL due to left shoulder inflammation.Strop, who was hurt late in the Cubs 3-1 win over the Los Angeles Angels on Wednesday, is due to undergo surgery Friday, and he will be sidelined four to six weeks.He was hurt while the Cubs are also dealing with reliever Hector Rondons sore triceps, which has left him sidelined this week.Rondon, who has a 1.70 ERA, last appeared on Aug. 4, when he earned a hold in the Cubs 3-2 victory over the Miami Marlins.His triceps have come up a little bit sore, so I try to avoid him right now, manager Joe Maddon said earlier this week. Nobody in the training room feels anything is seriously wrong by any means. Its just being careful right now.Maddon said Thursday that right-hander Joe Smith likely would pick up more late-inning work in Strops absence. Smith was acquired in a trade with the Angels just before the Aug. 1 deadline.To help fill out the bullpen, the Cubs recalled right-hander Justin Grimm from Triple-A Iowa. Grimm threw a scoreless eighth inning Thursday night, lowering his major league ERA for the season to 4.46 in 47 appearances.The Cardinals likely outfield replacement for Holliday returned from the minors before the Thursday game when Randal Grichuk was recalled from Triple-A Memphis. Twice demoted to the minors this year, Grichuk hit .272 with six homers and 18 RBI in 23 games for Memphis.Seeing immediate action, Grichuk homered as a seventth-inning pinch hitter Thursday night.dddddddddddd It was his third career pinch-hit home run. He raised his major league season stats to a .219 average with 13 homers and 36 RBI in 85 games.He had some great at-bats while he was down there (at Memphis), and its just a matter of trying how to figure out how to translate that, Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. Whether its defensively or offensively, we need for him to be able to get over that hump to where he can figure out how to be a little more consistent.If he produces, Grichuk could offset the power lost by the Holliday injury. Holliday has a .242 average, 19 home runs and 60 RBI.Grichuk took the roster spot of Adams, who is batting .249 with 12 home runs and 44 RBI in 95 games.For the Thursday night game, Matt Carpenter moved across the infield to Adams first base spot for the first time this season. Brandon Moss and Jedd Gyorko have also spent time at first this season.While the teams may be ailing in other areas, the Friday starting pitchers are reliable workhorses. St. Louis right-hander Adam Wainwright (9-6, 4.34 ERA) will oppose Chicago right-hander Jake Arrieta (13-5, 2.59 ERA).Wainwright is 13-7 with a 3.97 ERA in 30 career starts against the Cubs, with the victory total the most by any active pitcher against Chicago. In his two outings vs. the Cubs this year, on May 23 and June 21, Wainwright is 1-0 with a 4.26 ERA.He was 3-0 with a 1.99 ERA over a six-start span before getting hit hard Sunday against Atlanta. The Braves scored six runs on nine hits in six innings en route to a 6-3 victory.Arrieta is 5-2 with a 2.07 ERA in 11 career regular-season starts against St. Louis. He faced the Cardinals on May 25 and June 22, going 1-1 with a 4.50 ERA.In his most recent outing, he fired eight shutout innings Saturday in a 4-0 win over the As in Oakland. It was Arrietas first victory since June 27 after five consecutive winless starts. ' ' '