Asbury Park Press from Asbury Park, New Jersey • Page 26

SPORTS ASBURY PARK PRESS MONDAY, SEPT. 27, 2010 MTV. I I 1 iJ SEPTEMBER 27, 2010 SPORTSWATCH 4 page P2 www.app.com 1. 1 1 AP PHOTO Jimmie Johnson (right) races against Joey Logano on Sunday in Dover, Del. Johnson won the race, leaving him in second place In the Chase for the Sprint Cup.

Johnson smokes the competition NASCAR tfj Toronto Toronto Toronto Boston 7CiSr 7:07 7:07 7:07 7:10 HmMj, YESMLBN Ch.9MLBN YES Ch.9 vTy 880AM 880AM 880AM 880AM yjii' MilwsukM MUwauka MSvmrtae Milwaukst Washington 7:10 7:10 7:10 7:10 7:10 SNY SNY SNY SNY SNY 660AM 660AM 660AM 660AM 660AM Washington Washington Washington Atlanta 7:05 7:05 7:05 7:35 CSN CSN CSN Ch. 17 1210AM 1210AM 1210AM 1210AM jCItJ Colorado I'VJ UveWellHD L.rl No radio By MIKE FINNEY STAFF WRITER DOVER, Del. Jimmie Johnson did his post-race burnout after winning the AAA 400 Sprint Cup race at Dover International Speedway on Sunday on an asphalt strip near the entrance to the garage area, almost literally leaving his competitors in his smoke. Johnson's Chevrolet got faster as the AAA 400 grew longer and he eventually pulled away and took the checkered flag by 2.637 seconds over runner-up Jeff Burton in front of 88,000 fans as he seeks his fifth consecutive Sprint Cup Series championship. "It was a dream scenario," said Johnson, who collected $262,803 for recording his 53rd career victory.

"We did it by winning the pole, leading the most laps and winning the race. We want to win this championship. We want to win five in a row. We've got to keep this momentum going." Johnson left Dover in second place in the Chase for the Sprint Cup, drawing to within 35 points of leader Denny Hamlin, who finished ninth. doing that.

You have to be great to do that." Seven of the 12 drivers competing in the Chase were among the top-11 finishers. Hamlin was just happy to stay out of trouble at Dover, where he had only an average finish of 27th place in the last four races at the track. 'We knew we were going to lose some (points) to (Johnson), unless they made a mistake or something like that," Hamlin said. A.J. Allmendinger set the pace during the opening stages of the race.

He passed pole-sitter Johnson for the lead on lap 14, diving underneath him entering the first turn. Allmendinger remained on a roll from there and held a 4.2-second lead over Martin Truex Jr. after lap 100. He led the race three times for 143 laps, but eventually finished 10th. Mike Finney is a staff writer for The (Wilmington, Del.) News Journal.

Email: mfinney delawareonline.com.s. It was the sixth victory of Johnson's career at Dover, which is the most among active drivers and moves him to within one of the track record of seven wins shared by Richard Petty and Bobby Allison. Joey Logano rebounded from a frightening crash at Dover last September to record a third-place finish and was followed across the finish line by Kurt Busch and Carl Edwards. The race, which uncharacteristically featured only one accident, was completed in a contrite three hours, two minutes and 27 seconds for an average speed of 131.543 mph. It was the second-quickest 400-mile race at Dover, trailing only Mark Martin's win in September 1997 (132.719).

Burton trailed Johnson by 1.2 seconds with 50 laps remaining but that was as close as he would be able to get. "They're great," Burton said of Johnson's Hendrick Motorsports team. "The word is not being overused when I say that. They've won four (championships) in a row. You're not good "It was a great day for us because it shows us what we are capable of and the fact that we can win races and be competitive in this Chase," Johnson said.

"This summer was hard on us. There is no way around that. We had bad races and finished bad. We had good races and finished bad. So it is nice to do things start to finish all weekend long on the right foot." There was a mixed bag of sunshine and passing clouds that kept track conditions constantly changing throughout.

The rubber laid down in the turns by the tires also added to adjustments that had to be made. For Johnson, it was a dream scenario. After all, his crew chief Chad Knaus is considered to be the best in the business. "What a great job," Knaus said. "We showed up and were a little bit off.

We had to work hard to get (the car) where we needed it, but man, it was fast. It was just a lot of hard work by all the guys. I couldn't be prouder of Jhis whole team." -Jets also on 105.7 FM Home game I ON THE AIR BASEBALL 10 p.m. (WGN) Chicago Cubs at San Diego NFL 8:30 p.m. (ESPN) Green Bay at Chicago TODAY'S ODDS NFL OWN TODAY Today 3 3 UNDERDOG at Chicago FAVOMTC Green Bay Single shot earns Furyk pair of trophies GOLF Tour Championship THE ASSOCIATED PRESS ATLANTA One clutch shot gave Jim Furyk two big trophies Sunday.

He sat between them Sunday afternoon after his dramatic victory in the rain at East Lake, the crystal trophy for the Tour Championship on his left and the sterling silver FedEx Cup trophy on his right. Which one meant more? Furyk reached out his right hand and gently tapped the silver cup, which might be more valuable than the $10 million that comes with it. Clinging to a one-shot lead, in a bunker so deep he could only see the top of the lip, Furyk hit a clean shot and watched it head for the flag. It landed inches from the cup and spun to a stop 2 'a feet away for an easy par and a one-shot victory over Luke Donald. the crowd.

And he shared a hug with his wife, Tabitha, asking her, "Did I win the bonus?" Furyk had a pretty good idea when he walked off the 18th tee, and the cheer of the crowd when he tapped in only confirmed it. It was the kind of finish the PGA Tour had in mind when it created the FedEx Cup four years ago. Six players had a chance to claim the $10 million prize over the final hour at East Lake, from Matt Kuchar as the top seed to Nick Wat-ney all the way down at No. 28. Then came the final hole.

Donald chipped in for birdie from 100 feet on the 17th hole to keep his hopes alive. Furyk, who had a three-shot lead with three holes to play, made bogey on the 16th and 17th holes and hit his hybrid into a bunker on the 18th. If he made bogey, Furyk and Donald would go back to the 230-yard 18th hole for a sudden-death playoff with $11.35 million riding on the outcome. Then came a bunker shot that defined a career worth of grit. He was in a bunker nine times at East Lake, and saved par every time.

Donald didn't bother going to the range. He waited in the scoring trailer. Furyk finished at 8-under 272 and earned $1.35 million, along with the $10 million bonus, the biggest payoff in golf. He moved to No. 5 in the world ranking.

Furyk was the No. 3 seed when the playoffs began, but was disqualified from the opener when he missed his pro-am time at The Barclays because the battery died in his cell phone, which he used for an alarm. He put his name on a trophy with Tiger Woods and Vijay Singh. He finally won the Tour Championship, giving him three victories in a season for the first time in his career. He stated a strong case three victories and FedEx Cup champion as PGA Tour player of the year.

Maybe that explains why his stoic demeanor gave way to a celebration never before seen out of Furyk. "It just hit me," said Furyk, who closed with an even-par 70. "I was excited and dropped the putter and I don't know. I guess at that moment, you're not really responsible for what happens next." He thrust his fist toward the grandstand with such force that it looked like he heaved his golf ball into SPORTS SHORTS Monmouth field hockey romps Behind seven goals from five players, the Monmouth University field hockey team defeated the host University of Vermont 7-1 on Sunday. The Hawks (7-1) extended their winning streak to six games.

At 3:59, Kimmy Baligian scored the first of her two goals, giving Monmouth a 1-0 lead. Brookdale captures Harford Invitational With Olga Kanezkya winning the fourth-singles championship to supply the decisive points, the Brookdale Community College women's tennis team edged Hagerstown (Md.) 14-13 to capture the Harford Invitational on Sunday in Harford, Md. Brookdale's Heidi Denn won the first-single championship, while Natalie DeSabato won the title at second singles, Rutgers women edged The Rutgers women's soccer team dropped a 1-0 decision to Villanova on Sunday, despite outshooting the Wildcats 15-10 and taking six more corners. Villanova got on the board in the 36th minute, as Heidi Sabatura played the ball through to Katie Ryan at the top of the 18 yard box. Ryan knocked the ball past freshman keeper Samantha Perretty for the score.

Rutgers volleyball falls In three sets The Rutgers women's volleyball team dropped a three set match to 25th-ranked host Cincinnati on Sunday. The Bearcats (13-3) had scores of 25-14, 25-20 and 25-16 to knock off the Scarlet Knights (7-8), who were led by sophomore Stephanie Zielinski, who recorded her sixth double-double of the season with 30 assists and 10 digs. ON THIS DATE 1894 Aqueduct Race Track opens its doors. The building is torn down in 1955 and the new Aqueduct reopens on Sept. 14, 1959.

1947 Armed, then the world's leading money-winning thoroughbred, meets 1946 Kentucky Derby winner Assault in the first $100,000 winner-take-all match race, held at Belmont Park. Armed earns an easy victory over Assault, who was not in peak racing condition. 1950 Ezzard Charles wins a unanimous 15-round decision over Joe Louis at Yankee Stadium in New York to retain the world heavyweight title. SPORTSWIRE NBA Anthony deal on hold Nate Smith won the WNB Golf Classic for his first Nationwide Tour title, shooting a 6-under 66 for a two-stroke victory over Aliitair Pretnell, Fabian Gomez and Brandt lob in Midland, Texas. Smith, the 27-year-old former Duke player in his first season on the tour, finished at 18 under on the Midland Country Club course.

He earned $94,500 to jump from 78th to 25th on the money list with $1 53,054. The top 25 after the final five events will earn 201 1 PGA Tour cards. Rust Cochran won his second straight Champions Tour title, shooting a 1 under 71 for a two-stroke victory over Tom Pernice Jr. at the SAS Championship in Cary, N.C. The 51 -year-old Cochran, a winner for the first time on the 50-and-over tour weeks ago in South Korea, became the third wire-to-wire winner in tournament history, finishing at 14 under at Preston-wood.

Pernice, the 2009 winner, closed with a 68. England's John Parry won the Vivendi Cup In Chambourcy, France for his first PGA European Tour title, shooting a 2- under 70 for a two-stroke victory over Sweden's Johan Edfort. The 23-year-old Parry, a former Walker Cup player who turned professional in 2007, finished at 1 7-under 271 at Golf de Joyenval Club. Edfors closed with a 71. Ireland's Padralg Harrington, the lone Ryder Cup player In the field, finished with a 64 to tie for ighth at 13 under.

NHL Rafalskl, Wings top Rangers Brian Rafalskl had a goal and three assists and the Detroit Red Wings beat the New York Rangers 5-3 in a preseason game on Sunday. Tomas Holmstrom and Henrik Zetterberj each had a goal and an assist, and Dan Cleary and Patrick Eaves also scored for Detroit (2-2-0). Jimmy Howard made 18 saves. Soan Avery, Erik Chrii-ttnton and Artom Anlsimov scored for New York (2-1-0). Martin Biron stopped 19 shots and Chad Johnson made 10 saves.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL Georgia dismisses drunk driver Georgia freshman Demetre Baker was dismissed from the team by coach Mark Richt on Sunday following a drunken driving arrest. Baker was arrested early Sunday in Athens and charged with DUI, underage possession of alcohol and improper driving. He is the 10th Georgia player to be arrested this year. Baker, 19, was a linebacker who has not played this season and did not travel with the team for Saturday night's 24-12 loss at Mississippi State. off, wire reports The New Jersey Nets' attempt to acquire Carmelo Anthony is in a holding pattern.

A person close to the trade talks told The Associated Press on Sunday that the Nets are waiting for the Nuggets to sign off on a deal that would bring Anthony to New Jersey and also Involve Charlotte and Utah. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the negotiations were ongoing. While he couldn't talk directly about Anthony, Nets general manager Billy King acknowledged he had been working on a trade. GOLF Herman qualifies for match play Farmingdale's Sherry Herman qualified for match play at the U.S. Women's Mid-Amateur Championship over the weekend at Wichita Country Club in Wichita, coming back after an 8-over-par 80 in Saturday's first round with a 75 on Sunday.

The low 64 scores ad- vanced to match play, which begins on Monday. Merman, a five-time New Jersey Women's Amateur champion, and the reigning U.S. Senior Women's Amateur champ, has twice reached the semifinals of this event. CONTACT US Steve Feitl Sports Editor (732) 643-4227; sfeitlrSgannett.com Kevin Steimle Assistant Sports Editor (732) 643-4077; ksteimlgannett.com Michael Herrmann Scholastic Sports Editor (732) 643-4083; herrmannapp.com To report news orcores: (732) 643-4000; sportsapp.coii..