The Charlotte Observer from Charlotte, North Carolina • 24

wm 2C Wednesday May 11 2011 SPORTS charlotteobservercom The Charlotte Observer NASCAR larvick YOURGUIDE TO WHAT 'S GOINGON iomssBi (MVS MiS $25000 fine I understand bc cause of the car on pit Neither Harvick nor Busi were expected to commenj further before their respeeth media availabilities Lriday ag Dover (Del) Intcmation Speedway NASCAR also elected tf take no further action regard ing drivers Ryan Newman anif Juan Pablo Montoya wht! sources said got into a physica altercation inside thd NASCAR hauler last wcekenJ while discussing their on-traclf incidents from the previou week at Richmond Va Tharp said NASCAR officials made it clear to both drivers they had each received their final warning and would) be watched closely BECOME OUR FAN ON FACEBOOK Follow the biggest sports news in the Carolinas Panthers Bobcats NASCAR college sports and more on Facebook Search for Observer Sports" on Lap 363 of 370 rJ Busch then spun Harvick on the frontstrctch After the race Harvick blocked entrance to the garage climbed from his car and attempted to punch Busch through the window Busch then hit his accelerator and knocked car into the pit wall and continued into the garage Harvick was the first to announce the penalty posting the following on his Twitter account Tuesday morning weeks probation and Drivers penalized for actions that spilled onto pit road after 500 By Jim Utter jLrttercharlotteobservercom NASCAR had no issues with Kyle Busch and Kevin run-ins on the track during Saturday Southern 500 at Darlington (SC) Raceway Their confrontation after the race however was a different matter NASCAR fined both drivers $25000 and placed them probation through June 15 covering any NASCAR-sanc-tioned events in which they participate during that time penalties arc a result of what occurred on pit road after the race was said Kerry Tharp senior director for competition are about maintaining a safe environment on pit Busch and Harvick made contact on the track several times on Lap 363 of the race Harvick bounced off car exiting Turn 4 and into teammate Clint bringing out the final caution TV All times pm unless noted Schedules subject to change Available in the counties of Ashe Avery Buncombe Burke Cabarrus Caldwell Catawba Cleveland Davidson Davie Forsyth Gaston Haywood Henderson Iredell Lincoln McDowell Mecklenburg Moore Polk Rowan Rutherford Watauga Wilkes Radio highlights COLLEGE BASEBALL Charleston Southern at Carolina 7 WRHM FM (1071 Lancaster C) MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL Washington at Atlanta 7 WZGV-AM (730 Charlotte) WGNC-AM (1450 Gastonia) WGVL-AM (1440 Greenville SC WCAB-AM (590 Rutherfordton) WSTP AM (1490 Salisbury) WOHS-AM (1390 Shelby) WSPG AM (1400 Spartanburg) WSPG-FM (971 Spartanburg) WBCU-AM (1460 Union SC) WBCU-FM (1035 Union SX) MINOR-LEAGUE BASEBALL Charlotte at Columbus 635 WRHI-FM (94 3 Rock Hill) Hickory at Savannah 705 WMNC-FM (921 Morganton) MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL at Houston FSCR 2 Washlngton at Atlanta SPSO 7 St Louis at Chicago ESPN 8 Chicago White Sox at LA Angels WGN 10 MINOR-LEAGUE BASEBALL Indianapolis at Durham MLB 11 a NBA Boston at Miami TNT 7 Memphis at Oklahoma City TNT 9 30 NOTES Available in South Carolina and the NC counties of Anson Ashe Avery Buncombe Burke Cabarrus Caldwell Catawba Cleveland Davidson Davie Forsyth Gaston Guilford Haywood Henderson Iredell Lincoln McDowell Mecklenburg Moore Polk Randolph Richmond Rowan Rutherford Stanly Union Watauga Wilkes News Maker flies over Grand Canyon HUALAPAI INDIAN RESERVATION Ariz Swiss adventurer Yves Rossy (yeevz has completed a flight over the Grand Canyon in his custom-built jet suit his first such flight in the United States Rossy nicknamed the Jet Man performed the stunt Saturday with little fanfare in front of a small group of team members He was airborne for about eight minutes soaring 200 feet above the canyon rim on the Hualapai Reservation A planned Friday flight in front of reporters was cancelled after Rossy 51 determined it would be too challenging without practice runs The Federal Aviation Ad- 1 ministration had given him the green light less than an hour before the scheduled stunt sponsor announced the successful flight Tuesday Rossy flew up to 190 mph before deploying his parachute and landing on the canyon floor He has rocketed over the English Channel and Swiss Alps in his wing suit He says the US flight is among the most memorable experiences of his life associated press PHOTOS BY JEFF SINER )smercharlotteobservercom From left Scott Cooper and Marcus Smith of Charlotte Motor Speedway marvel with NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt Jr at what a video clip of a flyover will look like on the giant HDTV The screen is along the backstretch between Turns 2 and 3 FOWLER from 1C wide Series qualifying But when race highlights ran on the big screen I was riveted After the news conference I drove to the frontstrctch and looked at the screen from afar If anything it was even more impressive because it remained easy to see even in bright sunlight I certainly acknowledge the speedway has made some serious missteps and silly exaggerations in the past Ask speedway officials to estimate the number of people in a standard jury box and you might get back 1000 remember there are a lot of people who in their But I also give the speedway full credit for this home run The hype actually matches the reality with this big daddy of HDTVs When you pay good money to go to a race track you want to marvel at something This sucker is marvelous Scott Fowler: 704-358-5140 sfowlercharlotteobservercom Turns 2 and 3 is truly enormous And incredibly clear From now on anyone who sits in a seat during the major races at CMS with no view of the TV will do themselves an extreme disservice Many fans at the track will end up watching the TV rather than the race (this happens frequently at Cowboys Stadium too) Other than making sure you build enough bathrooms and exit roads massive video screens have always struck me as the best investment a sports venue can make You need to be able to argue with fans who say can sec if just as well at home and for You need to be able to tell them honestly that they can actually see it just as well in person plus get the adrenalin rush of a live event what the speedway has done knows how to promote a race or sell an event like the guys in As part of the unveiling NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt Jr played a video game on the giant hl-definition TV that Charlotte Motor Speedway has installed said NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt Jr who added another hype stripe to the event by showing up to play some video games on the new screen Now not a gamer so watching Junior play a video game on a 16000-square-foot screen struck me as about as much fun as watching Nation Tournament schedule At Charlotte Today 1 pm: No 4 Temple vs No 5 Charlotte 3 pm: No 3 Saint vs No 6 Dayton 6 pm: Loser of Game 1 vs loser of Game 2 Thursday 1 pm: No 1 Fordham vs TBA 3:30 pm: No 2 Massachusetts vs TBA 6 pm: TBA Friday Saturday 1 pm: TBA 3:30 pm: Champi- 3:30 pm: TBA onship 6 pm: TBA 6 pm: If necessary Atlantic 10 Softball Could this be the end of softball dominance in the Atlantic 10 Conference? UMass has won slx straight league tournament titles and had captured the last four regular-season championships outright before this season Fordham broke run of regular-season titles and enters the tournament as the top seed Fifth-seeded Charlotte hopes home-field advantage can work some magic The 49ers open the tournament today with a 1 pm game against fourth-seeded Temple JOE HABINA CORRESPONDENT The Washington Wizards are again the Washington Bullets in everything but name Wizards players Jordan Crawford left and John Wall show off the new uniforms Tuesday with red white and blue and horizontal stripes a player who played here I think that all of a sudden a great said Elvin Hayes the Hall of Fame forward whose No 11 is retired By the numbers I JP A-10 tournament titles won by UMass in the past 16 years Temple won the title in 2004 The Minutewomen have won 18 tournaments since 1991 Flome runs this season by Charlotte senior catcher Tenaya Tucker She broke the school single-season mark set by 49ers assistant coach Kristi Panter 1 Strikeouts the past two sea-JLyt! Jasons in 5812 innings by UMass pitcher Sara Plourde Threw a six-inning perfect game May 1 against LaSalle Sara Plourde UMass: The 2010 A-10 Pitcher of the Year has a conference-best 133 ERA and 25 wins Dark horse Charlotte (26-22 10-6): Led by the right arm of senior pitcher Katy Hackctt (19-10) and the bats of Tcnaya Tucker Whitney Williams and Briana Gwaltncy (10 home runs 40 RBIs) TOP SPORTS STORIES AT CHARLOTTEOBSERVERCOM Based on page views from midnight to 6 pm Tuesday: 1 Kannapolis gets a champ In Butler coach Newsome 2 Charlotte hopes Silas can beat odds again 3 Four players leave UNC football program 4 Gerald Henderson out four to six months with hip injury 5 Glover's finish leads top 5 TOP STORIES AT THATSRACINCOM 1 NASCAR walking fine line in policing its policy 2 NASCAR penalizes Harvick Busch 3 Drama-filled night at Darlington THE TEAMS The Favorite Fordham (38-17 16-4): Won first regular-season title since 2005 Highest scoring team in tournament notching 255 runs (43 more than any other league foe) Contenders Massachusetts (28-17 14-5): Had a 4-5 record against the other five teams in the tournament including 0-2 against Fordham Saint Joseph's (29-14 10-4): Posted league-best 293 average and 370 on-base percentage Outfielder Dana Parks has a conference-high 438 batting average Temple (21-21 12-6): Lost three of its last four conference games Has three hitters with at least six home runs DID YOU KNOW? Dayton and Charlotte clinched tournament berths in the same April 30 double-header The 49crs won the opener 2-0 and the Flyers captured the second game 5-4 Mineau won A-10 Pitcher of the Week four times this season Plourde was a I three-time winner and Hackctt won it 1 once 1 Charlotte senior outfielder Whitney fi Williams is tied for the league lead in stolen bases with 23 -j Massachusetts has 75 A-10 tournament victories more than three times as many as any other team in history I Charlotte has had six straight winning 1 seasons since joining the A-10 before the 2006 season I PLAYERS TO WATCH Jen Mineau Fordham: Two-time A-10 softball student-athlete of the year School career strikeout leader and carries a 370 GPA Tenaya Tucker Charlotte: triple crown leader with 400 batting average 11 homers 43 RBIs Lauren Nacke IB Dayton: Leads conference with 17 home runs and 47 RBIs Her 406 average is more than 50 points better than any teammate Jocelyn Dearborn 3B Fordham: only two-time winner of the A-10 Player of the Week second in league with 16 homers and 44 RBIs CONTACT US Call 704-358-5125 or e-mail obsportscharlotteobservercom Mike Perslnger executive editor: mpersingercharlotteobservercom Harry Pickett deputy editor (colleges golf high schools NBA): hpickettcharlotteobserver com Kelvin Hart asst editor (online): khartcharlotteobserver com Rick Barger night editor: rbargercharlotteobserver com.