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SPORTS Saturday, July 30, 2016 East Oregonian Page 3B NASCAR Martin Truex Jr. cruises to pole at Pocono Raceway By DAN GELSTON Associated Press LONG POND, Pa. — Martin Truex Jr. has one of his four career Sprint Cup wins at Pocono Raceway. He added his 10th career pole, too. Truex extended Toyota’s recent romp, and turned a lap of 179.244 mph to win the pole Friday. Truex and Carl Edwards made it a 1-2 Toyota front row. Edwards just missed the top spot for Joe Gibbs Racing with a lap of 178.873 and he thought his No. 19 Toyota might have had enough to best Truex’s chart-topping speed. “That must have felt really good because mine was great,” Edwards said. Toyota has 10 wins this season and nine in the last 15 races, high- lighted by consecutive wins by JGR drivers Matt Kenseth at New Hampshire and Kyle Busch last weekend at the Brickyard. “It’s a really neat time to be driving a Toyota for Joe Gibbs,” Edwards said. “Hopefully, we can keep this rolling.” Truex won his third pole of the season in the Furniture Row Racing No. 78 Toyota and the 10th of his career. His win this season at Charlotte Motor Speedway might have been the most dominant performance by any Toyota driver in a race in years. Paul Menard, Denny Hamlin and Ryan Newman completed the top ive. Driving for Richard Childress Racing, Menard posted the surprise performances of the day at Pocono. Menard has just two top-10 inishes all season and showed no signs of developing into a threat for making the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship. Martin Truex Jr. (78) drives at Pocono Raceway during qualify- ing for Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Pennsyl- vania 400 auto race Friday, July 29, 2016, in Long Pond, Pa. Truex qualiied on the pole. AP Photo/Mel Evans But a crew chief switch might make the difference. Menard topped the lone practice chart in his irst race weekend with crew chief Danny Stockman. RCR dumped Justin Alexander for Stockman for Menard’s stretch run. Stockman has won two Xinity championships during his seven years at RCR and he and Menard worked together in that series, including a win last year at Road America. Menard made Sprint Cup’s championship chase last year, but stands 23rd — and out of the playoffs — with just six races left in the regular season. “RCR as a whole, we don’t like to suck,” Stockman said. “We have been really digging hard as a company to not suck. It’s not fun. Your people get beat down. Every- body at the shop, we have all the tools to do this right.” RCR had a rare stout day at the track, with three drivers in top 12. Austin Dillon was 12th. Here are other items of note from Friday at Pocono: K E Z E L O W S K I ’ S RECOVERY: Brad Keselowski starts seventh only days after he was involved in a brutal wreck during a test session at Watkins Glen. He slammed nose-irst into a protective tire barrier coming out of the irst turn and tore up the entire front end of the No. 2 Ford. The Team Penske driver walked away unhurt and he blamed an improperly installed brake line on the crash. Keselowski, the 2012 Sprint Cup champion, said the latest wreck at The Glen has him concerned about the safety of drivers on road course tracks. “There’s only so many of those hits you’re gonna take before someone gets killed,” Keselowski said. “It’s just the way it is. I know that. It’s not something I’m comfortable with. ... Odds are, that if 100 people take that hit, one or two are not gonna be standing here anymore.” GORDON’S RUN Six-time Pocono winner Jeff Gordon qualiied — yup, 24th — in his second race driving for the injured Dale Earnhardt Jr. Earnhardt missed his third straight race because of concus- sion-like symptoms and there is no timetable for his return. Gordon came out of retirement to drive Earnhardt’s No. 88 Chevrolet. His familiar No. 24 now belongs to fellow Hendrick Motorsports driver Chase Elliott. Earnhardt warned Monday that his return to NASCAR could take longer than planned. “I wish Dale a speedy recovery. I’d like him to be back in the car,” Pennsylvania 400 • Sunday, 10:30 a.m. • TV: NBCSN STARTING TOP 10 1) Martin Truex Jr. 2) Carl Edwards 3) Paul Menard 4) Denny Hamlin 5) Ryan Newman 6) Tony Stewart 7) Brad Keselowski 8) Chase Elliott 9) Matt Kenseth 10) Joey Logano Gordon said. “But at the same time if he’s not, I feel like each time I’m in the car I’ll be more conident and comfortable to get better results.” QUALIFYING HICCUP Cup qualifying was pushed back about 20 minutes because of a glitch in the Laser Inspection Station. Several cars had not passed inspection when qualifying was scheduled to start. Kyle Busch did not pass inspection until the inal minutes of the irst round of qualifying. HARVICK’S START Kevin Harvick starts 17th with Dax Gerringer serving as his interim crew chief. NASCAR suspended Rodney Childers for an improperly installed lug nut at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Childers is the ifth crew chief suspended over a lug nut rule instituted by NASCAR earlier this season. The rule was put in place because teams were not applying all ive lug nuts properly in an effort to have faster pit stops. Gerringer is Harvick’s race engineer. NFL Ex-Duck Jordan reinstated after year-long suspension By STEVEN WINE Associated Press DAVIE, Fla. — Miami Dolphins defensive end Dion Jordan’s suspension ended just as training camp began. Jordan was reinstated by the NFL on a conditional basis after sitting out last season for his latest violation of the league’s substance abuse policy. Commissioner Roger Goodell notiied Jordan on Friday, before the Dolphins’ irst practice. Jordan may join the Dolphins and participate in meetings and conditioning work, the league said. Once arrangements have been conirmed regarding Jordan’s clin- ical resources, he will be permitted to take part in all preseason activities, including practices and games. Before the start of the regular season, Jordan will meet with the league. Jordan Based on his compliance with his recovery program, he will be permitted to participate in all regular-season activities beginning in Week 1. He will be evaluated later in the season for full reinstate- ment. Jordan applied in May to return. The overall No. 3 selection in the 2013 draft, Jordan has contributed little so far in his career. He’s coming back from his second suspension under the NFL substance abuse policy. Jordan has played in only 26 games with one start, totaling 46 tackles and three sacks. The Miami group that drafted Jordan is gone, and he returns to a new coaching staff led by head coach Adam Gase. Jordan excelled as a pass rusher at Oregon, but his lack of produc- tivity with the Dolphins has raised questions about his best position, and they might consider moving him to linebacker. They’re deep at defensive end with newcomers Mario Williams, Jason Jones and Andre Branch, and with Cameron Wake returning from Achilles tendon surgery. Following the Dolphins’ irst practice, Gase declined to say much about plans for Jordan. “We’re still at the beginning stages of this,” Gase said. “I know that’s the boring answer, but that’s POOL: Decision within a month Continued from 1B the kids.” Hamblin added that he understands BMCC’s stance, but argues that if they are true about being there for the community, the pool is one place to show it. “When it’s not used by their college students or athletics, it is hard for them to justify the cost for improvements,” Hamblin said. “But it’s vital for the community, not just these teams.” Both coaches are hopeful that BMCC will opt for a band-aid approach with some minor improve- ments while some bigger plans can be thought out. The idea was tossed around as a possibility by BMCC ofi- cials as long as the facility can pass an air-quality test that they are currently awaiting. BMCC says that they expect to have their inal decision made within a month. “I have swimmers and parents calling and texting me all the time ... you can feel the desperation,” Ashton-Williams added. “I don’t know if we need to hit the panic button just yet, though.” Neither coach said that they have a backup plan in case the pool remains closed, which could force some creativity to ind some pool time for both teams. “There’s not really a backup plan because there’s no usable pools within probably 60 miles,” Hermiston swim coach Kevin Hamblin said on Friday. “The closest ones would be int he Tri-Cities, but each school has a team and they struggle for pool time as it is.” Ashton-Williams said that Pend- leton could seek out some agreement with either La Grande or Baker — where Ashton-Williams’ sister is the swim coach and has already offered pool time — though she knows those would be last resort options because of the travel. “In the winter time, that’s a long drive and a long drive through the mountains,” she said. Hamblin also said that this situa- tion could put his team at even more of a competitive disadvantage after having limited pool time already. He estimated his team had just over 75 hours of total time in the pool this year, many of which was in cramped quarters as it shared the ive-lane pool with Pendleton swimmers for 30-minute periods so both could it in time between end of the school day and Pendleton Swim Association class time. “We spend more time on a bus than in a pool, but every minute in the pool is better than not being in it,” he said. There is hope that this could also drum up some buzz within the city of Hermiston and possibly the school district about building an indoor pool for the Bulldogs to use and help grow the program. Hamblin said there has been interest several times throughout the last decade of building a pool but things never materialized. “Years ago, Hermiston (school district) looked into it when they started buying the fairgrounds,” Hamblin said. “I don’t think the district really wants to run a pool on their own because it’s a maintenance headache and they’re not moneymakers, but they’re vital for the communities.” Hermiston would also have the possibility of negotiating an agree- ment in the future with the city of Boardman about using the pool in the soon-to-be-built recreation center, but construction is not expected to be completed until 2018. For now, the swimmers, parents, and coaches will continue with community outreach as it aims to gather funds to help contribute to pool renovations. A fund that was started for the pool has collected more than $1,500 as of Thursday evening. “Those high school kids are at every meeting, talking to people, and writing letters, doing everything they can,” Ashton-Williams said. “They’re nervous and want a deinitive answer and I wish I could give them that.” To donate, make a check to the BMCC Foundation with ‘pool repairs’ listed on the memo line. ——— Contact Eric Singer at esinger@ eastoregonian.com or (541) 966-0839. Follow him on Twitter @ ByEricSinger. what it is right now.” When asked if Jordan needs to win back the trust of his teammates, Gase said, “I don’t know him, and that’s hard for me to answer. I just know when he gets here, it’s a fresh start with me. So I guess that’s really all that matters.” Jordan’s irst suspension was for the irst four games in 2014, and two more games were subsequently added for an additional violation. His most recent suspension began in April 2015, and after that he didn’t fail or miss any drug tests while undergoing them weekly, his agent said in May. SCOREBOARD Baseball MLB AMERICAN LEAGUE East Division W L Pct GB Baltimore 58 44 .569 — Toronto 58 45 .563 ½ Boston 56 45 .554 1½ New York 52 50 .510 6 Tampa Bay 40 61 .396 17½ Central Division W L Pct GB Cleveland 58 42 .580 — Detroit 55 48 .534 4½ Chicago 50 53 .485 9½ Kansas City 49 53 .480 10 Minnesota 39 63 .382 20 West Division W L Pct GB Texas 60 44 .577 — Houston 55 47 .539 4 Seattle 51 50 .505 7½ Oakland 47 56 .456 12½ Los Angeles 46 57 .447 13½ ——— Friday’s Games Chicago Cubs 12, Seattle 1 Toronto 6, Baltimore 5 Cleveland 5, Oakland 3 Detroit 14, Houston 6 Tampa Bay 5, N.Y. Yankees 1 Texas 8, Kansas City 3 Minnesota 2, Chicago White Sox 1, 12 innings Boston 6, L.A. Angels 2 Saturday’s Games Baltimore (Gallardo 3-2) at Toronto (Happ 13-3), 10:07 a.m. Seattle (Miley 6-8) at Chicago Cubs (Arrieta 12-4), 11:20 a.m. N.Y. Yankees (Eovaldi 9-6) at Tampa Bay (Smyly 2-11), 3:10 p.m. Chicago White Sox (Gonzalez 2-5) at Minnesota (Milone 3-3), 4:10 p.m. Houston (Fiers 7-4) at Detroit (Verlander 10-6), 4:10 p.m. Oakland (Overton 1-1) at Cleveland (Tomlin 10-3), 4:10 p.m. Kansas City (Kennedy 6-9) at Texas (Perez 7-7), 5:05 p.m. Boston (Pomeranz 8-8) at L.A. Angels (Santiago 9-4), 6:05 p.m. NATIONAL LEAGUE East Division W L Pct GB Washington 61 42 .592 — Miami 55 48 .534 6 New York 53 49 .520 7½ Philadelphia 47 58 .448 15 Atlanta 36 67 .350 25 Central Division W L Pct GB Chicago 62 40 .608 — St. Louis 56 47 .544 6½ Pittsburgh 52 49 .515 9½ Milwaukee 45 56 .446 16½ Cincinnati 41 61 .402 21 West Division W L Pct GB San Francisco 59 44 .573 — Los Angeles 58 45 .563 1 Colorado 51 52 .495 8 San Diego 44 59 .427 15 Arizona 42 61 .408 17 ——— Friday’s Games Chicago Cubs 12, Seattle 1 Colorado 6, N.Y. Mets 1 St. Louis 11, Miami 6 Atlanta 2, Philadelphia 1 Milwaukee 3, Pittsburgh 1 L.A. Dodgers 9, Arizona 7 Washington 4, San Francisco 1 Cincinnati 6, San Diego 0 Saturday’s Games Seattle (Miley 6-8) at Chicago Cubs (Arrieta 12-4), 11:20 a.m. Washington (Lopez 0-1) at San Francisco (Peavy 5-9), 1:05 p.m. Colorado (De La Rosa 6-7) at N.Y. Mets (Colon 9-5), 4:10 p.m. Philadelphia (Hellickson 7-7) at Atlanta (Teheran 3-8), 4:10 p.m. Pittsburgh (Taillon 2-1) at Milwaukee (Anderson 5-10), 4:10 p.m. St. Louis (Garcia 7-7) at Miami (Rea 5-5), 4:10 p.m. Cincinnati (DeSclafani 6-0) at San Diego (Fried- rich 4-6), 5:40 p.m. Arizona (Shipley 0-1) at L.A. Dodgers (Kazmir 9-3), 6:10 p.m. MiLB NORTHWEST LEAGUE North Division W L Pct. GB Everett (Mariners) 22 20 .524 — Spokane (Rangers) 21 21 .500 1 Tri-City (Padres) 20 22 .476 2 Vancouver (Blue Jays) 17 25 .405 5 South Division W L Pct. GB Eugene (Cubs) 29 13 .690 — Hillsboro (Dbacks) 22 20 .524 7 Salem-Keizer (Giants) 19 23 .452 10 Boise (Rockies) 18 24 .429 11 ——— Friday’s Games Boise 8, Eugene 7, 10 innings Everett 3, Spokane 1 Hillsboro 10, Salem-Keizer 4 Vancouver 4, Tri-City 3 Saturday’s Games Salem-Kezier at Hillsboro, 5:03 p.m. Eugene at Boise, 6:15 p.m. Everett at Spokane, 6:30 p.m. Tri-City at Vancouver, 7:05 p.m. Golf PGA Championship Friday At Baltusrol GC (Lower Course) Springield, N.J. Purse: $10 million Yardage: 7,428; Par 70 Second Round Jimmy Walker 65-66—131 -9 Robert Streb 68-63—131 -9 Emiliano Grillo 66-67—133 -7 Jason Day 68-65—133 -7 Henrik Stenson 67-67—134 -6 Martin Kaymer 66-69—135 -5 Patrick Reed 70-65—135 -5 Brooks Koepka 68-67—135 -5 Hideki Matsuyama 69-67—136 -4 Harris English 67-69—136 -4 Rickie Fowler 68-68—136 -4 Jamie Donaldson 69-67—136 -4 Yuta Ikeda 70-67—137 -3 Jordan Spieth 70-67—137 -3 William McGirt 70-67—137 -3 Daniel Summerhays 70-67—137 -3 Zach Johnson 71-66—137 -3 Billy Hurley III 72-65—137 -3 Adam Scott 70-67—137 -3 Gregory Bourdy 69-68—137 -3 Hideto Tanihara 71-66—137 -3 Soccer MLS EASTERN CONFERENCE W L T Pts GF GA NYC FC 9 7 6 33 35 39 New York 9 9 4 31 36 28 Philadelphia 8 7 6 30 35 33 Montreal 7 5 8 29 35 30 Toronto FC 7 7 6 27 25 23 New England 6 7 8 26 27 33 Orlando City 4 5 11 23 32 35 D.C. United 5 8 7 22 19 25 Columbus 3 7 10 19 26 32 Chicago 4 10 5 17 17 25 WESTERN CONFERENCE W L T Pts GF GA FC Dallas 12 6 5 41 35 31 Colorado 10 2 8 38 23 14 Los Angeles 9 3 8 35 34 19 Sporting KC 9 10 4 31 27 25 Real Salt Lake 8 6 7 31 30 31 Vancouver 8 8 6 30 33 35 Portland 7 7 8 29 33 33 San Jose 6 6 8 26 22 23 Seattle 6 12 2 20 20 27 Houston 4 9 7 19 23 26 NOTE: Three points for victory, one point for tie. ——— Saturday’s Game Colorado at New York City FC, Noon Sunday’s Games Portland at Sporting Kansas City, 11 a.m. Los Angeles at Seattle, 1 p.m. Vancouver at FC Dallas, 3 p.m. Montreal at D.C. United, 3:30 p.m. New York at Chicago, 4 p.m. Real Salt Lake at Philadelphia, 4 p.m. Columbus at Toronto FC, 4:30 p.m. New England at Orlando City, 4:30 p.m. Motorsports NASCAR Sprint Cup Pennsylvania 400 Starting Lineup Race Sunday, 10:30 a.m. (NBCSN) At Pocono Raceway Long Pond, Pa. Lap length: 2.5 miles 1. (78) Martin Truex Jr, Toyota, 179.244 mph. 2. (19) Carl Edwards, Toyota, 178.873. 3. (27) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 178.671. 4. (11) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 178.540. 5. (31) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 178.433. 6. (14) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 178.394. 7. (2) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 178.359. 8. (24) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 177.571. 9. (20) Matt Kenseth, Toyota, 177.413. 10. (22) Joey Logano, Ford, 177.151. 11. (42) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 177.082. 12. (3) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 176.835. 13. (47) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 177.322. 14. (17) Ricky Stenhouse Jr, Ford, 177.281. 15. (41) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, 177.183. 16. (18) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 177.054. 17. (4) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 176.988. 18. (21) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 176.880. 19. (1) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, 176.574. 20. (13) Casey Mears, Chevrolet, 176.478. 21. (48) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 176.091. 22. (34) Chris Buescher, Ford, 176.084. 23. (5) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, 175.901. 24. (88) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 175.706. 25. (16) Greg Bifle, Ford, 175.603. 26. (10) Danica Patrick, Chevrolet, 175.404. 27. (43) Aric Almirola, Ford, 174.985. 28. (15) Clint Bowyer, Chevrolet, 174.257. 29. (95) Michael McDowell, Chevrolet, 174.236. 30. (7) Regan Smith, Chevrolet, 173.826. 31. (6) Trevor Bayne, Ford, 173.534. 32. (38) Landon Cassill, Ford, 173.491. 33. (23) David Ragan, Toyota, 173.077. 34. (83) Matt DiBenedetto, Toyota, 172.874. 35. (44) Brian Scott, Ford, 172.209. 36. (98) Cole Whitt, Chevrolet, 171.716. 37. (32) Jeb Burton, Ford, 171.429. 38. (30) Josh Wise, Chevrolet, 170.451. 39. (46) Michael Annett, Chevrolet, 169.750. 40. (55) Reed Sorenson, Chevrolet, 158.615. Points Leaders Through July 24 1. Kevin Harvick 2. Brad Keselowski 3. Kurt Busch 4. Joey Logano 5. Kyle Busch 6. Carl Edwards 7. Martin Truex Jr 8. Jimmie Johnson 9. Matt Kenseth 10. Denny Hamlin 11. Chase Elliott 12. Austin Dillon 13. Ryan Newman 14. Jamie McMurray 15. Kyle Larson 16. Kasey Kahne 17. Dale Earnhardt Jr. 18. Trevor Bayne 19. Ryan Blaney 20. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 21. AJ Allmendinger 22. Greg Bifle 23. Paul Menard 24. Danica Patrick 25. Aric Almirola 26. Clint Bowyer 27. Tony Stewart 28. Casey Mears 29. Landon Cassill 30. David Ragan 671 647 627 606 601 593 573 552 545 542 525 520 507 496 472 462 461 458 450 449 421 397 397 373 363 359 317 310 305 278