Detroit Free Press from Detroit, Michigan • 17

I For live World Cud scores and standings, Inside Shock 2 NFL 3 NHL 9 10 GP North, UD-Jesuit to meet in all-metro baseball final SB Johnson says Mavs are too laid-back 5B i 1 1 send text message liril uuithTFAM NAMF i (e.g., England) or GROUP (e.g., Group E) to 44636 (4INF0). rrx Zy Li "Xl 1.1 www.freep.com Detroit Free Press Saturday, June 17, 2006 Sports 313-222-6660, sportsfreepress.com PERFORMANCE 400 I MICHIGAN INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY ace THE SATURDAY LINEUP THE TO-DO LIST 12:30 P.M. U.S. OPEN No Tiger Woods? But the Open still has many story lines: The Phil ri 7 Mon ty's winless streak in America. And, Y-K'' UCJV VI Ullf i vvniyeu ruui stomping all V.

over the world sir best golfers. NBC 1 (Channel 4). 1 I' ir- txi -i i i 4 P.M. TIGERS AT CUBS Rookie Justin Verlander certainly has proved he can pitch in the big leagues -only Mike Mussina has more than his 10 quality starts but can the Tigers' right-handed fire-ballerhit? He even didn't bat at Old Dominion. He must today in Wrigley Field.

Channel 20. BO-OR-BIE TIME! 3 P.M. UNITED STATES VS. ITALY After being routed In its opener, Team USA must beat mighty Italy to rescue its hopes of reaching the World Cup's second round. Of course, the U.S.

has never beaten Italy (0-3-2). ABC (Channel 7); coverage starts at 2:30. a p.m. HURRICANES AT OILERS Dwayne who? Guess Jussi Markkanen can do the job in goal after all. Edmonton still trails, 3-2, but suddenly it doesn't seem like such a lock 1 fern rrMi i-wt-HimiHin Photos by ROMAIN BLANQUARTDetroit Fr Press From left, Kirk Almquist, Tim Malinovsky and Tony Lunders make adjustments to Jeremy Mayfield's 800-horsepower NASCAR Dodge on Friday at Michigan International Speedway.

DAY 2: Mayfield's team tries to engineer formula for victory QUALIFYING: Kahne takes pole; Gordon rebounds to No. 2 By MIKE BRUDENELL FKF.E PRESS SPORTS Bv SHAWN WINDSOR FRkE PRESS SPORTS WRITER 4 4 using computer simulations. Tim Malinovsky spent much of his day at Michigan International Speedway staring at mathematical grids on a laptop. He was deducing degrees for suspension, plugging in the track conditions, eyeing a scientific method to get the 800-horsepower Dodge around MIS' two-mile oval as efficiently as possible. "It's all about balance," said Malinovsky, the team's 31-year-old race engineer.

Beginning Friday, the team announced he's leaving Hen-drick Motorsports at the end of the season to pursue other options, was third at 184.995 in his Chevrolet. Gordon, who demolished his car at Pocono last Sunday when the brakes failed, was slightly miffed with his starting position, however. "Obviously, it was a really good run," said Gordon, who wasn't hurt in the accident, which he called the biggest of his career. "But you're also disappointed when you 2. WSJ that the Stanley Cup will be on display at downtown NBC (Channel 4) and CBC (Channel 9).

Claude Queen inspects spark plugs after practice laps Friday. Stay tuned Jeremy Mayfield, who won in August at MIS, is attempting to break a 14-race winless streak this season. Follow Mayfield's progress in the Free Press today through Monday. tffX For more photos from PJifJ qualifying, as well as Jeremy Mayfield's first day at MIS, check out freep.com. BROOKLYN, in the No.

24 Chevy on Friday after a huge wreck at Pocono last weekend, four-time Nextel Cup champion Jeff Gordon just missed the pole for Sunday's 3M Performance 400 at Michigan International Speedway. It took a lap of 185.644 m.p.h. by Dodge's silver-quick Kasey Kahne to nip him. Gordon settled for second at 185.543. Brian Vickers, who has BROOKLYN, Mich.

Not long after sunrise Friday, in a cramped office built in the bowels of a semi-truck, Jeremy Mayfield's NASCAR team began preparing for Sunday's race with math. Fractions. Ratios. Differentials. Equations.

Infinite combinations. There is still a place for gearheads in the garages of the country's biggest racing circuit, but these days, the decisions are made by engineers, See MAYFIELD, 6B See MIS, 7B Tiger's out, but why was he in U.S. Open at all? National exposure friendly to Tigers DETROIT 5, CHICAGO CUBS 3 Leader board TO PAR RD 1 RD 2 TOTAL By JOHN LOWE FRhE PFUSS SPORTS WRIT! Golfer Steve Strieker TICKETS STILL AVAILABLE! 9 A.M. NASCAR AT MIS Enjoy a full day of racin' fun for $40. And children 12-and-younger get in free.

Gates open at Michigan International Speedway at 8 a.m. today. Nextel Cup practice starts at 9, followed by truck qualifying at 11:40 and the truck race at 3:15 p.m. Tickets and info: 1-800-354-1010, www.mispeedway.com and the MIS box office. THE BIG NUMBER 2.34 Justin Verlander's earned- 4 70 139 140" 141" 14f 142 69 71 71 70 71 70 Colin Mongomerie Geoff Ogilvy Kenneth Ferrie Jim i Furyk ik a -J VvVJ 70 72 2 Padraig Harrington 1 73 69 142 KEY FOLLOWERS TO PAR RD 1 RD 2 TOTAL Golfer Phil jyiickelson Vij ay Singh barren Clarke Mike Weir David Duval 5 71 7-3 115 5 73 72 145 I 5 71 74145" 5 '77 68 145" DREW SHARP MAMARONECK, NY.

The only ones who didn't see this implosion coming were the intimates on Team Tiger. Their primary function in what's now become a half-billion dollar enterprise is serving as the house sycophants, providing Tiger Woods with only the information he wants to hear. And the penalty for that was Woods' first missed cut at a major since turning pro 10 years ago. He finished 12-over par, shooting 76-76 152 in the first two rounds of the U.S. Open.

He won't admit he grossly erred strategically, but it was compet-itive suicide making the tricky CHICAGO As Todd Jones was pitching a 1-2-3 ninth inning Friday, a chant broke out among hundreds if not thousands at Wrigley Field: "Let's go, Tigers!" It could be heard all over the park, including where Marcus Thames sat in the dugout. "It gave me goose bumps," he said. A wave of Tigers followers found their way into the standing-room-only crowd. They saw the Tigers hit for the cycle and then some in the first 10 batters of the game to drive out Cubs left-hander Glen-don Rusch and take a four-run lead. Then Nate Robertson and three relievers combined on a six-hitter in a 5-3 victory.

Jones had suffered the loss in four of his previous seven appearances. By producing a strikeout and two groundouts, he didn't have to face the potential tying run in John Mabry, the fourth hitter due in the run average in road games this season. Beware, Cubbies! M0RRY GASH Associated Press Tiger Woods is left scratching his head after shooting a 76 for the second straight day and missing the U.S. Open cut. "I just didn't execute properly.

It wasn't rust." TIGER WOODS, on missing the cut after nine weeks away from golf. TV: Today-Sunday p.m., NBC. of Winged Foot his first tournament in nine weeks following the death of his father, Earl. His decision to compete proves he buys into the mythology that he's some form of golfing cyborg, impervious to See TIGERS, 10U See SHARP, 413 winus ana winning contours '1,.