THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
TUESDAY APRIL 8
TUESDAY,APRIL 8,2008
SPORTS
7B
NASCAR
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Carl Edwards fires blanks from twin pistols in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series' Samsung 500 auto race in Fort Worth, Texas. Sunday.
Edwards wins cup after car controversy
BY JENNA FRYER
ASSOCIATED PRESS
FORT WORTH, Texas — Don't tell Carl Edwards that NASCAR's new car is boring, not after he drove it to his series-best third win of the season.
Edwards dominated Sunday's race at Texas Motor Speedway, then rebuked claims made by second and third-place finishers Jimmie Johnson and Kyle Busch that the Car of Tomorrow erased the excitement from the event.
"Let me state my position very clearly: I've heard people say that the races are boring, and people always want something to complain about, if it's too hard to drive you don't get enough side-by-side racing," he said. "It's not supposed to be easy, everyone. It's not supposed to be driving down the interstate.
"There are going to be people that are faster. We're going to have days when we can't keep up because the car is too hard to drive. Somebody's going to win. That's racing."
Edwards might be biased though.
He's proven to be unbeatable on intermediate tracks this season, winning at California, Las Vegas and now Texas. And he could have won at Atlanta had his motor not failed while leading.
His dominance has proven that the severe penalties his team drew after a failed inspection in Vegas won't derail his Roush Fenway Racing team. Edwards was docked 100 points and crew chief Bob Osborne was suspended six races because the lid was missing on the oil tank after the Vegas victory.
"It doesn't matter if we get penalized," Edwards said. "We might get a 100-point penalty for something today. It's not going to change what
I do. I'm just going to do the best I can and our cars are really good. It does feel good to look in there and see the oil tank cover on the car that's good.
"But this is what we do. We got out and try to win. The other stuff doesn't matter."
That was evident as Edwards dominated Sunday, leading a race-high 123 laps. He built a lead of more than 7 seconds at one point, and it only evaporated with two late cautions that allowed Johnson and Busch a pair of chances to catch him.
Neither came close.
"He probably could have led however many laps there were today," said Busch, the third-place finisher. "He just didn't show his full hand. We knew he was pretty good."
Edwards didn't dispute it, either. He nearly won the pole, settling for second when Dale Earnhardt Jr's late attempt nudged him to the second starting position, then paced both of Saturday's final practice sessions to cement himself as the driver to beat.
"That's the truth," he said of Busch's assertion. "I could go a lot faster today if I wanted to."
It wasn't necessary as the No. 99 team won for the first time since the Las Vegas scandal that stripped Edwards of valuable points — the 100-point deduction knocked him out of the points lead, and NASCAR also seized the 10 bonus points he earned for the victory. In addition to his suspension, Osborne was fined $100,000.
As Edwards crossed the finish line Sunday, he dedicated the victory to Osborne, who was watching on TV back in North Carolina.
"This is for Bob Osborne sitting at home," Edwards radioed his crew. "Good job, guys."
Weston White/KANSAN
"Sometimes it can go either way," German Dalmagro, Kansas assistant coach, said. "Unfortunately it didn't go our way. I'm not disappointed in any of my players. I think they fought very hard and they competed like they should."
After winning two of three doubles matches and two of the first three singles matches completed, Kansas jumped out to a 3-1 lead over the Red Raiders. Then the Jayhawks watched the lead slowly disintegrate as they fell in three tight matches down the stretch. Sunday's loss, combined with a 6-1 loss to Baylor on Saturday, dropped Kansas to 7-10 overall and 3-4 in the Big 12 Conference.
The University of Kansas tennis team experienced a heartbreaking 4-3 loss to Texas Tech on Sunday afternoon in Lawrence.
Kansas' strong doubles play continued against Texas Tech. Senior Lauren Hommell and junior Kunigunda Dorn topped Texas Tech's Kerryn Potgieter and Brenna Jackson, 8-6. Also winning in doubles play was the freshmen tandem of Maria Martinez and Magdalena Tokarczyk, who defeated the Red Raiders' Simone Templeton and Kelsy Garland, 9-7.
Senior Elizaveta Avdeeva returns a shot in the back court Saturday morning against the Baylor Bears. Avdeeva and her partner, junior Edina Horvath, lost the doubles match to the Bears in a 6-1 loss. With Sunday's loss against Texas Tech, Kansas drops to 7-10 overall.
BY ALEX DUFEK
adufek@kansan.com
Sometimes the ball just doesn't bounce your way.
TENNIS
Team falls despite strong play
In singles play Hommell continued her hot streak by winning her fourth straight match. Hommell defeated Texas Tech's Leah Roberts 6-4, 6-3 to move to 8-3 on the season.
"I just hope I can keep it up at Texas and Texas A&M next weekend."
"I feel like I'm playing pretty well at six (position)," Hommell said. "I like playing at six. I like winning for the team.
Junior Yuliana Svistun also picked up a singles victory for the Hawks, defeating the Raiders' Potgieter 6-3, 6-2.
2907 W. 6th St. · 785-856-5050
It was a rough day for Kansas' top doubles teams. Junior Edina Horvath and senior Elizaveta Avdeeva floundered in doubles play and later in singles. Horvath and Avdeeva lost a tie break to fall 9-8 (6) in their doubles
Tokarczyk suffered another heartbreaking defeat for the Jayhawks. After dropping the first set 6-4 to the Raiders' Samantha van der Drift, Tokarczyk cruised in the second set, winning 6-1. However, in the third set Tokarczyk just didn't have enough left in the tank and fell 6-4, 1-6, 7-5.
Kansas' Dorn lost to Tech's Templeton 3-6, 6-2, 6-2, in the Hawks' third close loss of the day.
Horvath, the Hawks' most winning singles player, was never able to find a rhythm in singles and fell to the Red Raiders' Janet Durham 6-2, 6-0.
when it heads to Texas for a two-game road trip against some stiff competition. The road trip starts with No. 19 Texas on Friday and concludes with No. 31 Texas A&M on Sunday.
"I believe we are a very good, strong team from one to six and the same in doubles," Dalmagro said. "If we compete the same way we competed today and the same way we competed against Baylor yesterday, I like my chances."
match.
Avdeeva dropped her first set in singles and trailed in the second before fighting back to force a tie break. With the tie break score knotted up at 6-6 Avdeeva injured her ankle and fell to the ground. Although Avdeeva fought back and limped through the last point of the match, she wasn't able to overcome the setback and fell to Tech's Kelsy Garland 6-4, 7-6 (6).
"It's sad to see her go down and not be able to come back and play," Dalmagro said. "But she's strong so I believe she is going to get back to us. It's unfortunate but it happens."
Kansas is looking to rebound
"We're going to come out strong and I know we are going to do a good job in Texas."
Edited by Sasha Roe