d came back with one of his better games this season, gaining 146 yards on just 14 carries, highlighted by a 61-yard scamper and

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire ServiceDistributed by The Sports ExchangeDARLINGTON, S.C. -- Tropical storm Hermine made sure Chris Bueschers path to the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup would be just a bit more difficult.In qualifying for the last five races, Buescher has advanced to the second round four times and to the third round once, posting an average starting position of 20.4.But at Darlington Racing this weekend, Buescher didnt have a chance to qualify, thanks to the storm that washed out all track activity on Friday.Accordingly, with the starting order set by owner points, Buescher will take the green flag from 31st place in Sunday nights Bojangles Southern 500 (6 p.m. ET on NBC) -- right beside David Ragan, the driver hes trying to beat for the 30th position in the regular-season standings.If Buescher is 30th or better after the Sept. 10 race at Richmond, he make the Chase. If hes 31st or worse in the driver standings, his Chase spot will go to someone else.With two races left before the cutoff, Buescher leads Ragan by seven points for the all-important 30th spot.On a track fraught with peril, starting that deep in the field is certain to raise Bueschers stress level.Definitely, Darlington being one of the tougher race tracks we go to, that makes us a little bit anxious to get out there and get rolling this weekend, Buescher said. Nature has not helped us by any means. Without qualifying right, its going to put us starting a lot further back than what weve been able to qualify the last several months, so thats a little bit of a bummer there.But, on the other hand, Darlington is my favorite race track we go to. I absolutely love that race track. I had a lot of fun there on the XFINITY side, and Ive gotten my fair share of stripes already, so maybe Im done with that and we can keep it clean this weekend.This will be the first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start at Darlington for the driver of the No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford, who is competing for Sunoco Rookie of the Year honors this season.In four XFINITY Series races, Buescher has an average finish of 17.0, with his best result of fifth coming in last years championship season.CALE YARBOROUGH HONORED IN DARLINGTON CEREMONYIn a special ceremony on pit road at Darlington Raceway on Saturday morning, NASCAR Hall of Famer Cale Yarborough was honored for his contributions to the sport.The garage area at the 1.366-mile track was named in Yarboroughs honor.Yarborough, the honorary pace car driver for Sunday nights Bojangles Southern 500, grew up in nearby Timmonsville and decided he wanted to be a race car driver the first time he saw an event at the Lady in Black.In fact, he sneaked into the garage that now bears his name to watch his first race at the track.I slipped under the fence when I came to see my first race, and now, here Ive got a garage named after me, so its great, Yarborough said. This is a great honor. Theres no place like Darlington to me, and to have a garage area named after you from now on is just great.Team Penske driver Joey Logano is five victories short of the five Southern 500s Yarborough won during his career, but Logano remembers his first encounter with the three-time Sprint Cup champion during a winners circle appearance in 2009.He took me around in a ride-along car, and I sat in the passenger seat and he came out with his old race suit on, open-face helmet, bubble goggles, and I got to sit in the passenger seat with Cale Yarborough driving around Darlington, Logano said. I thought, Man, this is the coolest thing.Obviously, I wasnt watching racing when he was racing -- I wasnt alive -- but re-watching races and reading a lot about the history of the sport and what hes meant to NASCAR racing, its neat that hes still so involved and he still cares about the sport.KEVIN HARVICK ON POLE AFTER QUALIFYING RAINOUTThe odds against Sundays Bojangles Southern 500 producing another first-time winner are relatively heavy.When all track activity was washed out on Friday, the starting field for the race was set according to owner points, and the top 10 starters in the field, from pole sitter Kevin Harvick through 10th-place Matt Kenseth, all have at least one NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victory this season.Why is that significant? Because in the last 14 races at Darlington, 10 of the winners have come from the top 10 spots on the starting grid. So the odds say a driver who already has won this year will take the checkered flag on Sunday night.Brad Keselowski will line up next to Harvick, with Carl Edwards in third and fourth, respectively, behind the front-row starters. Joey Logano, Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, Martin Truex Jr., Jimmie Johnson and Kenseth complete the top 10.The last time Harvick started from the pole in Darlington, in April 2014, he picked up his only victory at the track.But that doesnt mean 11th-place starter Chase Elliott should abandon hope of notching his first career win.Back in 2004, Elliotts Hendrick Motorsports teammate, Jimmie Johnson, started 11th and ultimately took the checkered flag. In the 14-race stretch dating to Terry Labontes 2003 victory, the deepest in the field a winner has started is 23rd (Regan Smith in 2011).SHORT STROKESJimmie Johnson paced opening practice at Darlington with a lap at 176.025 mph, followed by Denny Hamlin (175.060 mph) and Sunoco rookie Ryan Blaney (174.711 mph). Ryan Newman, who currently is 15 points behind Jamie McMurray for the final Chase spot on points, was fifth fastest at 174.519 mph. McMurray was 26th on the speed chart. ... Newman, however, slipped to 25th fastest in final practice, while McMurray was two spots ahead of him in 23rd. Brad Keselowski was fastest in the session at 174.649 mph, followed by Kurt Busch (174.031 mph) and Johnson (174.019 mph). Kasey Kahne, whose only realistic path into the Chase is a victory in one of the next two races, was fourth on the list at 173.656 mph. Nike Air Max Danmark .5 seconds to play in the game, Kevin Love never stopped believing that they would come out of there with a win. Nike Air Max Tilbud . -- James Young couldnt wait to apply those tweaks to his jump shot, and the first one he made against UT Arlington told him it could be a good night. http://www.danmarkairmax.com/ . The Americans, skipped by John Shuster, seized the advantage in the eighth end by scoring five points for a 7-3 lead. The Czechs pulled two back in the ninth, but Shusters team of third Jeff Isaacson, second Jared Zezel and lead John Landsteiner ended with another point to secure the last Olympic berth on offer. Nike Air Max Udsalg . The lawyers filed a 33-page amended complaint Tuesday in federal court in Manhattan, expanding on the suit originally filed Oct. 3 in New York Supreme Court. Arbitrator Fredric Horowitz last week refused to compel Selig to testify in the grievance, and Rodriguez then walked out of the hearing without testifying. Billige Nike Air Max . Jordan Lynch, the all-purpose Heisman Trophy finalist from Northern Illinois, failed to make it into that exclusive club. NEW ORLEANS -- The grin on Drew Brees face as he discussed the longest of New Orleans seven touchdowns against the Los Angeles Rams showed how much the Saints record-setting quarterback enjoyed the 50-yard pass -- even if he wasnt the one who threw it.Theres an old adage: Let the throwers throw and let the catchers catch, but, man, that was pretty impressive, Brees said.All Brees had to do was zip a quick backward pass to Willie Snead, and then watch as the young receiver unloaded a deep throw to wide-open running back Tim Hightower. The play exemplified how well New Orleans offense was clicking en route to 555 total yards and a season-high point total in a 49-21 demolition of Los Angeles on Sunday.Saints coach Sean Payton might have had a particular motivation to call the trick play, given that the coordinator of the opposing defense was Gregg Williams, who was fired by Payton after the 2011 season. A few months later, both wound up suspended for 2012 in connection with the NFLs bounty probe. Sundays game marked the first time they had coached on opposite sidelines since.When I heard the play in the huddle, Im like, `Oh, here we go, Snead recalled. I was coming off the field and (Payton) said, `No, stay in, get back in the huddle.Its just a great feeling to make a play like that, said Snead, who played quarterback in high school. We practiced it all week, and I was 3 for 3, and we got out here and (Payton) had the confidence in me to make the throw.New Orleans (5-6) already led 42-21 when the play was called with about 10 minutes left in the fourth quarter.Payton said the play was installed last week because of tendencies Saints coaches had recognized in the Rams defense. The play was called when it was because the Saints got the right look from the defense, Payton said.Rams coach Jeff Fisher said he didnt take it personally.We have to do a better job defensively, he said. Weve got to do a better job coaching.Whatever the case, the play will go down as one of the more memorable aspects of the Saints victory over the Rams (4-7). Here are some others:GOFFS GROWTH: The last person Fisher was about to blame for the lopsided loss was rookie quarterback Jared Goff, who was making his second start and first on the road. Goff was 20 of 32 for 214 yards and three touchdowns to Tavon Austin, Kenny Britt and Lance Kendricks. He lost a fumble on rookie Sheldon Rankins sack and was intercepted by Kenny Vaccaro, but Fisher said the performance of laast springs top overall draft choice got better, which was encouraging.ddddddddddddTIGHTENING UP: The Saints defense looked shaky in the first half, when Goff threw all three of his touchdown passes. But New Orleans shut out the Rams in the second half and continued to demonstrate improvement over early this season, when it gave up more than 400 yards in four of the teams first five games. In five of the Saints past six games, their defense has yielded fewer than 360 yards, including fewer than 300 yards in the past two games. The Rams finished with 247 yards.DERAILED DEFENSE: The Saints yardage and point totals were even more impressive in the context of how Los Angeles has played on defense this season. The Rams came in ranked sixth overall defensively, as well as sixth against the pass and 15th against the run. New Orleans finished with 346 net yards through the air and 209 on the ground. The Saints 49 points were one fewer than the Rams gave up in their previous four games combined.Fisher sounded particularly bothered by running back Mark Ingrams 21-yard touchdown on a screen pass.Anybody and everybody in the bayou knew it was going to be a screen but us, Fisher said.INGRAMS BACK: Ingram was knocked unconscious during New Orleans previous game at Carolina 10 days earlier and placed in the NFLs concussion protocol. He was cleared to return against Los Angeles and came back with one of his better games this season, gaining 146 yards on just 14 carries, highlighted by a 61-yard scamper and 10-yard scoring run to go with his receiving TD.Ingram said he felt good and that his production stemmed in part from an entire offense playing with purpose against Williams.We tried to do everything we could to make sure his coming back here wasnt a good experience, Ingram said.ROOKIE RESURGENCE: Rookie receiver Michael Thomas, who was relatively quiet during New Orleans recent two-game skid, responded with arguably his best game this season , catching nine passes for 108 yards and two touchdowns. His longest catch was a 35-yard grab in traffic over the middle and he broke tackles on his 21-yard score.He is pretty good after the catch so he made a few guys miss, Payton said. He is physical when he gets the ball. He is a tough guy to tackle.---For more NFL coverage: http://www.pro32.ap.org and http://www.twitter.com/AP-NFL ' ' '