recent cap of 27,000 to make room for more

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AVONDALE, Ariz. -- A few drivers, like Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano, raced onto the track to get in their qualifying sessions. Others waited, some nearly 10 minutes, before heading out for the first time. There were long stretches with almost no activity followed by mad scrambles to get runs in before time ran out. Cars raced past each other at close to a 100 mph difference. No doubt, this first round of NASCARs new knockout qualifying was a little strange and will take some getting used to. Brad Keselowski earned the first Sprint Cup pole under NASCARs new format, edging Joey Logano with a track-record top speed of 139.384 mph at Phoenix International Raceway on Friday. "Its a lot more nerve-racking," Keselowski said. "Usually a pretty good rule of thumb is that If its more nerve-racking for the drivers, its a lot more fun for our fans and partners and all those things, and thats a good thing. Im more interested in feedback from our fans to see if they liked it." Keselowski was one of the first drivers to go out in the first session and finished behind Logano. He trumped his teammate in the shorter, second session to earn his fourth career pole and a spot on the front row for Sundays 312-mile race. Jamie McMurray qualified third, defending Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson was fourth and Daytona 500 champion Dale Earnhardt Jr. will start fifth, next to Greg Biffle. "The qualifying format was before because I felt like I was one of those guys it was exciting for me because I wasnt in, I made another run, I got in," McMurray said. "The excitement was there." NASCAR made numerous changes for this season, including a tweaked qualifying process in an effort to liven up what had become a monotonous part of race weekend. Instead of going out one at a time, the entire field gets a 30-minute session to post their fastest lap, with the top 12 moving on to a 10-minute second round. On bigger tracks, the qualifying will have three sessions, with the field cut to 24 then 12. NASCAR got a glimpse of the new system at Daytona last week, but it didnt last long; the Nationwide series was able to get in one round before rain washed out the rest of the qualifying and for the Truck Series. The Daytona 500 didnt use the new qualifying process, so Phoenix was the inaugural go-round. No one knew quite what to expect and there was a bit of concern about drivers intentionally blocking each other to prevent fast lap times, something NASCAR officials planned to keep an eye on. Instead, the action on the track was sparse for long stretches, with some drivers racing out to get qualifying laps in right away while several others waited several minutes to get their first lap in. One issue while there were multiple cars on the track were the speeds. NASCAR decided against allowing teams to have cool down units in their pit stalls, so most of the drivers in the field put in one fast lap and one that was much slower to cool their engines, creating differences of up to 100 mph between the cars. "Weve got a really good dialogue with all of our competitors," said Robin Pemberton, NASCARs vice-president for competition and racing development. "They dont want to force us to do something thats wrong. They weigh in because they think things can be better. Its our job to take and balance all that out and remove the agenda part of that a team may or may not have. Right now, its working pretty good." For the first session, Logano and Keselowski were at the front of the pack along pit road -- by random drawing -- and raced to get out in front on the track so theyd have a clear path. Logano put up the fastest time early and Keselowski was right behind him in second. Despite teams coming in for adjustments -- one crewmember was allowed to come over the wall to make minor changes -- those two stayed out front for the entire first session. For the final session, Keselowski put up his fast time relatively early in the 10-minute window and swapped places with Logano for the pole. "Unfortunately, we won the wrong one," Logano said. "We won the first one and our teammate got the second one, but either way we both had a chance to win something. He just got the trophy to take the pictures with." wholesale jerseys .J. -- A Super Bowl hero is returning to the New York Giants. nfl jerseys china . And it was a former TFC player punishing his old club, as Canadian international Dwayne De Rosario led the way with two goals in D. http://www.nfljerseyschinacheapwholesale.com/. The 20-year-old from Thornhill, Ont., was forced to pull out in the first set Wednesday when he fell awkwardly while trying to retrieve a ball from Luxembourgs Gilles Muller. Raonic called it quits soon after and went for scans at a local hospital. cheap wholesale jerseys . That will be 35 more holes than the first time they played together. Walker was a senior at Baylor when he used his parents credit card -- against their wishes because it was during finals -- to go through Monday qualifying for the Byron Nelson Championship. wholesale jerseys from china . The good saw the Maple Leafs pick up at least a point for the 14th time in the past 16 games (11-2-3), the bad saw opportunity to draw even with a division rival foiled on yet another blown third period lead. Rather than depart the grand old city of Montreal with a share of second place in the Atlantic division, Toronto heads home three points back of their Original-Six rival with an eye on what went well and what mightve been. BOSTON -- With security tight along the 26.2-mile route, tens of thousands of runners set out from the starting line at the Boston Marathon on Monday in a "Boston Strong" show of resilience a year after the deadly bombing. "I showed up, Im back, and I am going to finish what I didnt finish last year," said Mary Cunningham, 50, of St. Petersburg, Fla., who was stopped a mile short of the finish line by the explosions last year. The two pressure-cooker bombs that went off near the finish line killed three people and wounded more than 260. Police were deployed in force along the course, with helicopters circling above and bomb-sniffing dogs checking through trash cans. Officers were posted on roofs. Boston Marathon race director Dave McGillivray said it had been a long and difficult year. "Were taking back our race," he said. "Were taking back the finish line." A total of 35,755 athletes were registered to run -- the second-largest field in its history, with many coming to show support for the event and the city that was traumatized by the attack on its signature sporting event. "I cant imagine the number of emotions that are going to be there," said Katie ODonnell, who was stopped less than a mile from the end last year. "I think Im going to start crying at the starting line, and Im not sure Ill stop until I cross the finish line." Buses bearing the message "Boston Strong" dropped off runners at the starting line in the town of Hopkinton. A banner on one building read: "You are Boston Strong. You Earned This." The most obvious change for the 118th running of the worlds oldest annual marathon was the heavy security. Nevertheless, many found the atmosphere to be calm and friendly. "I think everybody is being very pleasant," said Jean Bertschman, a Hopkinton resident who comes to watch the start of the marathon most years and had never seen anything close to this level of security. Spectators went through tight seccurity checkpoints before being allowed near Hopkinton Common.dddddddddddd Runners had to use clear plastic bags for their belongings, and fans hoping to watch near the finish line were encouraged to leave strollers and backpacks behind. More than 100 cameras were installed along the route in Boston, and race organizers said 50 or so observation points would be set up around the finish line to monitor the crowd. Runner Scott Weisberg, 44, from Birmingham, Ala., said he had trouble sleeping the night before. "With everything that happened last year, I cant stop worrying about it happening again. I know the chances are slim to none, but I cant help having a nervous pit in my stomach," Weisberg said. Race organizers expanded the field from its recent cap of 27,000 to make room for more than 5,000 runners who were still on the course last year at the time of the explosions, for friends and relatives of the victims, and for those who made the case that they were "profoundly impacted" by the attack. Lelisa Desisa of Ethiopia and Kenyas Rita Jeptoo, who crossed the finish line on Boylston Street about three hours before the explosions, returned to defend their championships. Desisa came to Boston last fall to donate his first-place medal to the city as a gesture of support. Jeptoo, who also won the race in 2006, said she is hoping for a third victory -- and one she can enjoy. "It was very difficult to be happy. People were injured and children died," she said of last years marathon. "If Im going to win again, I hope I can be happier and to show people, like I was supposed to last year." Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 20, is awaiting trial in the April 15, 2013, attack and could get the death penalty. Prosecutors said he and his older brother -- ethnic Chechens who came to the U.S. from Russia more than a decade ago -- carried out the attack in retaliation for U.S. wars in Muslim lands. Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, died in a shootout with police days after the bombings. ' ' '