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SPARTA, Ky. -- Kentucky Speedway has changed, and we probably wont know whether its for the better until a full weekend of racing has been completed.Thanks to a repave and a mild reprofiling of Turns 1 and 2, almost everything that competitors have learned since the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series started running there in 2011 has been thrown out. For all practical purposes, Kentucky is a brand-new racetrack, to the joy of some and the disappointment of others.Its a totally different race track, for sure, 2013 Kentucky winner Matt Kenseth?said. Id say its basically like starting over.Almost since it opened in 2000, Kentucky was notorious for its bumpy surface. While that created difficulty in setting up cars to handle, it also provided much of the tracks character. The 1.5-mile oval some 35 miles south of Cincinnati was also famous for its weepers and was known as one of the most difficult tracks to dry and make race-ready after periods of rain.Coarser asphalt and a revised aggregate base, along with south-end banking increased from 14 to 17 degrees, are expected to provide relief from the drainage problems. The other major change to the track is a wider pit lane exit and resultant narrower entry to Turn 1, where the width has been reduced from 72 to 56 feet.About a dozen teams tested the new surface for Goodyear on June 13 and 14, prompting the tire maker to change to a slightly harder right-side compound for the Cup Series to address concerns about the potential for excessive wear.We spent two days testing here and obviously Goodyear needed to make some adjustments to the tires coming back to make them live, said?Kevin Harvick, who claimed pole position based on owner points after qualifying for the Quaker State 400 was rained out Friday.As weve gone through practice, we havent had any tire issues so far. But it changed things a lot with the feel in the car and the things you want in the car. So weve scrambled a little bit, and hopefully getting a little more practice will be beneficial because we still arent exactly where we need to be in terms of balance and whats going to happen the longer you run the car.Harvick admitted that he and crew chief Rodney Childers took a conservative approach for practice. Hendrick Motorsports teammates Jimmie Johnson and Kasey Kahne both contacted the wall, and?Kyle Busch had to summon all of his skill to catch a huge tank-slapper.Youre definitely cautious just because you dont know where the limits are, and every time you go out you push or see something you havent done before, Harvick said. You start to gather a notebook in your mind about how far you can push things, how far you can hang the car out or how loose or tight the balance needs to be.The hard thing about repaves at some places is you can be overaggressive and slide up out of the groove, but here, you wind up knocking the side off the car into the fence.The rain that arrived just 20 minutes into Fridays Cup practice made things more difficult for competitors in several ways. After any track is repaved, teams need as much track time as possible to dial in their cars to adapt to the changes. In addition, having more rubber laid down on the track tends to widen the groove for the race, creating opportunities for passing.The decision to jettison qualifying in favor of additional practice time was welcomed by the drivers. Just a few days ago, NASCAR altered its rule for a qualifying rainout to set the grid by owner points, rather than practice speeds as it had been done in the past.That put Harvicks Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet on pole, with Brad Keselowskis Team Penske Ford alongside on the front row.With the major changes to the Kentucky track, Keselowski welcomed the extra practice time.The approach is to take all the Kentucky notes and run them through the shredder and start from scratch, he said, adding that he and crew chief Paul Wolfe based their car setup on what worked earlier this summer at Michigan International Speedway. Whats worked here in the past isnt even close to whats going to work here this weekend. That was pretty obvious before we got on the track and confirmed when we did.The cars are challenging to drive like we thought they would be and like we hoped they would be, Keselowski continued. Midcorner speed is way down and straightaway speed is way up, so thats a bit of a handful, but the good kind of handful that really challenges drivers and really forces drivers to really push it to the limit.Keselowski believes that the reduction in midcorner speed brought on by the low downforce package in the Cup Series has the added benefit of reducing the potential for tire issues. But he was concerned about the Xfinity Series race scheduled for Friday night.Its interesting going back and forth between the Xfinity car and the Cup car because the midcorner speed in the Xfinity car is almost 10 mph higher than the Cup car, and the Xfinity cars are just killing the tires.While the focus in the past at Kentucky was getting a car to handle over the bumps, the new challenge is to manage tire wear. With a conservative, ultrahard right-side tire and a high-grip new track surface, expect plenty of two-tire and even no-tire stops Saturday night as teams try to gain track position through pit strategy.The Friday rain didnt help things in that respect.It definitely will make the groove narrower, which is a shame, Keselowski said. The tire on the car this weekend really isnt laying down the rubber that would make the groove wider and wider.It is what it is. We all deal with the same thing and well get through it.One thing the drivers wont have to endure this year is the physical pounding they used to take at the roughest oval on the NASCAR tour. Some of them say theyll miss the bumps and the character they contributed to Kentucky, but Harvick isnt one of them.It feels great, to tell you the truth, Harvick said. My neck doesnt hurt; it doesnt pound your heels and your neck to the point where you cant hardly walk for two days. Rudy Gobert Jersey . 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On a day filled mostly with qualifying matches, fifth-seeded Marcel Granollers of Spain also entered the second with a 7-5, 3-6, 6-2 win over Aljaz Bedene of Slovenia, while Guido Pella of Argentina defeated Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain 7-6 (6), 6-4 to advance. Custom Utah Jazz Jerseys .Y. - Nelson Mandela will be honoured by the New York Yankees with a plaque in Monument Park. Its been over 30 years since Mal Meninga was tearing up the English rugby league scene but people around the Liverpool area have long memories.Its a region where Liverpool and Everton dominate the sporting conversation, but mention rugby league to one of the regions many loquacious taxi drivers and theyll invariably bring up Meninga.The Kangaroos coach was at the peak of his career when St Helens pulled off the biggest signing in the clubs history by convincing him to join for the 1984-85 season on a big-money contract.He repaid them with a whopping 28 tries in 31 games and still to this day is regarded as one of the greatest imports to play in the English game.I loved my time living and playing at St Helens, Meninga told AAP.I used to come down to Anfield, which is just down the road, quite a lot when I wasnt playing, to watch Liverpool play.Craig Johnston, the Aussie midfielder, was there and carving it up and we became good friends.Liverpool were the top dogs at the time and I became mates with many of the players whod come down and watch our games.Unfortunately I broke my arm and couldnt go back and play for a second season. But its a time I look back fondly upon.Signing Meninga was a far from straightforward process for Saints, who faced fierce competition for his services.Veteran broadcaster Ray French, who despite being the BBCs main rugby league commenttator at the time, was also a member of the St Helens board, and thanks to some help from Wayne Bennett managed to get the deal over the line.ddddddddddddSaints had said to me theyd signed Mal just before I went out to Australia for the 1984 Great Britain tour, French told AAP.I was staying at the Pacific Hotel in Manly, but when I came down for breakfast I saw Gary Hetherington, the Leeds chairman,He said: Ray, weve just signed Meninga.So I made up an excuse, left the breakfast table and shot straight upstairs to phone Mal.He assured me hed only sign for me and to meet him in Brisbane in three weeks time for the second Test.When I got up to Lang Park I bumped into Wayne Bennett and he said: Ray, Leeds are here, what do you want me to do?So Wayne distracted them by taking them out to the field for a chat.While he was doing that I grabbed Mal and he signed in the clubhouse.French believes he hasnt seen a better and more influential player than Meninga during his 60-year association with the game.He was fantastic for us, there had never been anyone like him before over here and there hasnt been anyone since, he said.There is also a humility to Mal. He has no edge to him and his word is his bond and we remain great friends to this day. ' ' '