NEU » still tinkering, Griffi

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Target will leave IndyCar at the end of this season after 27 years with Chip Ganassi Racing that included 11 championships and four Indianapolis 500 victories.The exit comes as Target is examining all of its marketing platforms under new chairman Brian Cornell. Target is also the primary sponsor of Kyle Larson in NASCARs top Sprint Cup Series and will return to his car in 2017.Targets relationship with Ganassi is one of the longest in any racing series, and the retail giant was a key player in helping Ganassi build his organization. Target not only sponsored Ganassis first car as a team owner, it eventually became a partner as the Ganassi team grew to one of the top two players in open wheel racing.In discussing the decision to leave IndyCar, senior vice president Scott Nygaard rattled off a list of highlights from Targets run: Jimmy Vasser winning Ganassis first championship, Alex Zanardi adding another two, Juan Pablo Montoya winning Ganassis first Indianapolis 500 and domination over the last decade by Dario Franchitti and Scott Dixon.It was a really difficult decision that we made -- weve been with Chip Ganassi Racing for 27 years and we are ridiculously proud of the success, Nygaard said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. But the Target brand is about being fresh and new, so we felt like this was the time to make the difficult decision and expand our sports marketing platform.About the NASCAR sponsorship, Nygaard said only that Target is excited for the 2017 season with Larson. Targets contract with Ganassi runs through next year.Chip Ganassi raved about his partnership with Target while noting he understood the company made a business decision after nearly three full decades together in IndyCar.Its the greatest sponsor in racing, ever, Ganassi said. Theyve been nothing but good to me. They developed me personally and professionally. Ive developed lifelong friends and relationships. I understand things change and people have different marketing efforts, and the way they want to stamp their name on things.But its one of the longest running sponsors in racing and they delivered for me and the team, and the team delivered for them.Target walks away from an enormous investment it made in IndyCar and aligning itself with Ganassi drivers as its brand ambassadors. That includes Dixon, who has been sponsored by Target for 15 years and is one of the greatest open wheel drivers in history. Ganassi said Dixon is not a tough sell at all to sponsors, and he expected to announce a replacement on the Target car within the next two months.Dixon is a four-time IndyCar champion and his 39 career victories include the 2008 Indianapolis 500.I cant thank Target enough for their partnership on and off the track over the years, Dixon said. They have been with the IndyCar team for an amazing 27 years, which is unheard of in professional sports, and on the car Ive driven for the past 15 seasons. I have nothing but great memories and much thanks for Target being great partners for so long.Nygaard praised Dixon as a longtime Target ambassador.He is a true class act, a gentleman on and off the track, Nygaard said of the New Zealand driver. Hes always stood tall for the values of Target and the Target brand. Hes done more than we could ever ask for.Nygaard did not reveal if Target will replace its IndyCar sponsorship with another platform, only saying the company is going through what that evolution of our sports marketing will be in the future. Custom Packers Jersey China . -- An ugly goal by Nick Bonino helped the Anaheim Ducks overcome the defensive-minded Phoenix Coyotes on a night when their ragged power play continued to struggle. Cheap Packers Jerseys . Booth picked up 65 caps after making her national team debut in 2002 at the age of 17. She most recently played for Sky Blue FC of the National Womens Soccer League. "It just felt like it was my time to move on," she said in a phone interview from her hometown of Burlington, Ont. http://www.custompackersjersey.com/ . Vokoun departed practice on Saturday morning after discovering swelling in his thigh. He was taken to a local hospital where the clot was revealed. The club announced the surgery following a 5-3 exhibition loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets. Cheap Custom Packers Jersey . Sulaiman, 44, was chosen unanimously Tuesday in a vote by the leadership, the World Boxing Council said. Sulaiman becomes the sixth president of the organization. Authentic Custom Packers Jersey . This should be celebrated because it will not always be this way. With the amount of money given to players by their clubs these days, it is a wonder that so many of those teams allow the sport to continue to take away many of their assets so they can play for a different team in the middle of their season. Arnold Palmer considered the question, fighting back a mischievous grin.This was in June 2016, and he was sitting in a golf cart behind his office just across the road from Latrobe Country Club, the Western Pennsylvania course Palmer grew up on as the son of the greens-keeper-club pro and later bought. Like much of the golfing public, he was trying to make sense of the U.S. Golf Association ruling that had nearly cost Dustin Johnson the title at nearby Oakmont Country Club a day earlier.Ill tell you what I think: The USGA screwed it up, Palmer chuckled, using an even saltier term, but good.It was vintage Arnold, just being one of the guys and making you feel that way, too. He was frail at the time, but still feisty and besides, you rarely had to work hard to figure out how Palmer felt about things.That voice was stilled Sunday night, when news of the death of the games King reminded millions why they took up the maddening game in the first place. But it will resonate for as long as golf is played.Palmer acknowledged dozens of time how impossible the game was to master, but quick to add that few accomplishments gave him more satisfaction than taking control of it for a few magical moments. He spoke his mind on topics beyond the game and even late in life, as age and illness hobbled his once-powerful frame stole the timber from his voice, Palmer still radiated so much charm and candor that he still got his point across. Only months earlier, all it took was one of his million-dollar smiles for a photo shoot with Kate Upton to go viral.That grin melted quickly in the heat on that June afternoon, though, as Palmer talked about the rest of his day. Hed just come from the practice range at Latrobe, where trying to hit balls left him frustrated. He crossed his arms in front of him, the opposite palm resting on his shoulders.I dont have any strength left, he said.Not at that moment, but his surroundings spoke volumes about what a powerful man Palmer had been.The walls of his office were covered with pictures of his family and testimonials and thank-you notes fromm U.ddddddddddddS. presidents and local charities. Stacks of requests for his autograph were piled atop a desk, where Palmer plowed through them happily whenever he could squeeze out the time. A reception area twice as big as his office was lined floor to ceiling with the overflow -- trophies, ribbons and plaques; almost too many to count -- that reflected a life well-lived.Across from his office was Palmers original workroom, stuffed with more than 5,000 golf clubs in various stages of being repaired or reworked. He learned to wield tools helping his father, Deacon, keep everything from the tractors at Latrobe to the members clubs in good working order, then began working on his own. As Doc Griffin, Palmers long-time friend and aide wrapped up a tour of the workshop, he pointed toward a few clubs on a nearby bench.Hes still tinkering, Griffin chuckled.Palmer never lost that working-man appeal. If anything, the man once described as having the strong hands of boxer Rocky Marciano and the forearms and shoulders of a blacksmith turned it into a legacy. He wintered in Florida, but spent his summers around Latrobe, never really leaving his hometown. After winning most everything the game offered, he bought the country club where members occasionally clashed with Deacon about his sons temperament and his go-for-broke swing, and Palmer threw the doors open to the public.None of the golfers whod played the course that sunny June afternoon had any idea that golfs King had been out among them. They were too busy taking in the scenery or struggling with their own games. A lucky few may even have been playing well enough to experience a moment of exhilaration that was writ large across Palmers face when he had been in pursuit of major championships.As far as he was concerned, that would have been tribute enough.---Jim Litke is a sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at jlitke(at)ap.org and https://Twitter.com/JimLitke . ' ' '