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Our experts weigh in on four of the biggest questions in NASCAR as the Sprint Cup Series braces for Chase race No. 7 Sunday at Martinsville Speedway:Turn 1: NASCAR put new rules in for Sprint Cup veterans running in Xfinity and Trucks. No more than 10 Xfinity races and seven Truck events a season, and none during the Chase in each series. Whats your take?Ricky Craven, ESPN NASCAR analyst:?it was time for a formula like this to be created. Its an opportunity to expand the field of young drivers in the Xfinity series, and we need young talent to be identified. There is a long list of stars retiring in the next five years, and those seats need to be filled with talent.Ryan McGee, ESPN.com: Im all for it. Ive been for it for years. I totally understand the rock and the hard place that Xfinity and Truck owners are between. Sponsors are incredibly difficult to come by in those series and those sponsors want established names behind the wheel. This allows for just enough of that but also allows those owners to bring along young racers. Plus, the Cup guys winning races within those series Chase formats unquestionably waters down the postseason. Fans have been telling me they wanted something like this for years, like all the way back to the Mark Martin-stinking-up-the-Busch-Series show days. Now they have it.John Oreovicz, ESPN.com: Fan unrest has been building up for quite some time, so this came as no surprise. It took only a couple of races this playoff season for NASCAR to realize that Cup drivers were not only sometimes devaluing the Xfinity and Truck Chases, they also had the potential to actually affect the championships, whether through a wreck or team orders. I think its a good move to keep Cup veterans out of the lower series Chases.Bob Pockrass, ESPN.com: Wait and see. The Kyle Busch rule -- this year it would have impacted only Kyle Busch, Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano -- will help quiet fans angry over Cup drivers taking Xfinity/Truck glory and potentially impacting their championships. But Im not convinced it helps developmental drivers because it encourages sponsors who want Cup drivers to spend less money, and that could impact opportunities down the road.Turn 2: NASCAR had hoped to announce an entitlement sponsor by the end of October. Its the end of October and no announcement. Concerned?Craven:?I am not concerned, and I truly dont understand why an announcement will be made in the middle of our playoffs. Ive been told an announcement is coming and I have no reason not to believe that. I also believe that in spite of some of the challenges our sport faces, we bring value that cant be found elsewhere.McGee: Yes. And Im far from alone. These days, when Im dropping in at the track sporadically, the single biggest conversation people want to have is about this. Theres uncertainty in the garage air. Thats not good.Oreovicz: Yes. Its getting late in the game and in the not-so-distant past, blue-chip companies would have been lined up to bid for the opportunity to take over title sponsorship of the Cup Series. With attendance and television numbers down, NASCAR needs this transition between title sponsors to have a positive impact at what is a critical point in time for auto racing as a whole.Pockrass: For sure. It should have announced a sponsor over the summer as corporations started making 2017 budgets. This is not a good sign. Those in the industry and the garage are concerned. While the racing has improved in 2016, the vibe on the sport has not.Turn 3: What did you think of the Joe Gibbs Racing driver strategy to run in the back at Talladega?Craven:?I thought they did exactly what they needed to do to enhance their chances at winning the title. They played within the rules. At the very least they played in the environment that creates unintended consequences. I feel for the fans of those drivers, but its hard to blame teams trying to win a title.McGee: It was the racing equivalent of an NFL team not playing its starters in the final game of the regular season. I understood it, but I hated it. Gibbs and his people are smart enough to know the big picture from the little one.?If one of those cars goes on to win the championship, the Talladega thing will become nothing more than a footnote. So taking a ton of flak this week from fans and media will be a small price if they meet their ultimate goal.Oreovicz: It cheated fans of the team and its drivers and proved that under the right circumstances, you can still points race in the elimination-style Chase. Nobody predicted 37 cars would be running at the finish, including 34 on the lead lap, and that darn near made the strategy backfire on JGR. But as Kyle Busch said, dont blame the players, blame the game.Pockrass: Hated anyone who did it -- Tony Stewart included -- but understood why they did it. The best thing is they wont do it next year for the full race because it is the second race in the round.Turn 4:?Of the final eight drivers in the Chase, which would you consider the long shot to win the title?Craven:?I would say Kurt Busch has gotten less attention than any of the other seven drivers and hes probably made the least noise in terms of performance. I think its nice that every one of the eight drivers remaining has won in 2016, which makes it especially tough to pick an underdog.McGee: At this point, were down to all big-timers, so long shot is a tough term to apply. But as Denny Hamlin fans will angrily tell you, Ive questioned that teams ability to be consistent enough to win the Cup. His three wins are great and that run of top-10s he posted leading into the Chase was one of the best of the year, but since the Chase started, hes posted three finishes of 15-plus in six races. The good news is that Martinsville is up next, wheres hes lights out. But based on his postseason thus far it might be win or bust.Oreovicz: Carl Edwards out of the Gibbs/Toyota half of the equation, Kurt Busch from the rest.Pockrass: Kurt Busch. His winning drought is longer than any other driver remaining in the Chase except Carl Edwards, and Busch has led only seven laps in the last 14 races. Cheap Saucony Running Shoes .ca look back at each of the Top 10 stories of 2013. Today, we look back at Boston Strong - a citys recovery from tragedy. Wholesale Saucony Shoes . Houston won 3-0 to advance to face New York in the Eastern Conference semifinals. Last in the game, Di Vaio and Romero got into a shoving match with several Houston players. Romero appeared to elbow and kick Houston defender Kofi Sarkodie. http://www.wholesalesaucony.com/ . LOUIS -- St. Cheap Saucony Shoes Store . And when it opened, every player was at his stall. Thats a sure sign that a team is in a slump and is searching for answers. "Its embarrassing to be at home and play the way we did," said defenceman Josh Gorges. Saucony Shoes Outlet Online .com) - Richie Incognito has reportedly been admitted to a psychiatric care unit in Arizona. NEW YORK -- The New York Yankees have not gained much ground in the wild-card race because they have not been playing the teams they are pursuing.On Friday their first attempt to beat a team they were pursuing was successful and the Yankees get another chance to inch closer in the race Saturday afternoon when they face the Baltimore Orioles.New York has won five of its last seven games and four of five from Baltimore at home this season. The Yankees will face the Orioles eight more times before the season ends.New York is 3 1/2 games out of the second wild-card spot thanks to a 14-4 win Friday that featured another big night from Gary Sanchez.Guys are excited around here and we believe, Yankees manager Joe Girardi said.Sanchez fell a triple shy of the cycle during his fifth career game with three hits and highlighted his latest big night with a long two-run home run.Sanchez is batting .403 and his 10 home runs equal the total he had with Triple-A Scranton Wilkes/Barre.Since he joined the Yankees on Aug. 3, they are a respectable 13-8, and the rookie catchers big night helped them go a season-high five games over .500 at 66-61.We still got a chance at this thing, Yankees left fielder Brett Gardner said. Were believe in ourselves and we got an important game tomorrow. We play all the teams ahead of us, we play them a lot the rest of the year. So we feel good about the place that were in.The Orioles have dropped four of five games in New York this season after winning four of six in Baltimore. Overall, the Orioles (70-58) have dropped seven of 11 since Aug. 15 when they last held a share of first place.Besides failing to gain ground over the Yankees, the Orioles lead over the other teams was reduced. The Orioles lead Detroit by one game, Seattle by two games and Kansas City and Houston by three games.The Orioles will be hoping for a significantly better performance on the mound after Yovani Gallardo allowed eight runs and six hits in a career-low 1 1/3 innings.Baltimore might have the right guy on the mound Saturday inn Dylan Bundy, who is 5-3 with a 3.dddddddddddd56 ERA in eight starts since being added to the rotation following the All-Star break.His ERA is slightly inflated by a sub-par outing in Boston on Aug. 17 and when Bundy limited the damage while allowing a baserunner in five of six innings Monday in Baltimore it prompted high praise from Washington manager Dusty Baker.He reminds me of the old Mets, like Tom Seaver and Gary Gentry and those guys. Baker said. He has one of the best curve balls weve seen. We heard he had great stuff, it was just a matter of his command.After Yankees pitcher Luis Cessa allowed two home runs to Manny Machado among five hits in six effective innings on Friday, Chad Green will make his seventh start for the Yankees and third since correcting some things in the minors. Since returning from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes Barre Aug. 15, Green has allowed one earned run in 12 innings during his last two starts.The right-hander followed up six outstanding innings with 11 strikeouts vs. Toronto by allowing one run and five hits in six innings during Sundays 2-0 loss at the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.As a starting pitcher, Green is 2/3 with a 4.80 ERA and in half of his starts he has allowed one run or less while completing six innings. His 11.10 strikeouts per nine innings is the sixth-highest in the majors among pitchers with at least 30 innings as starting pitchers.The Orioles will likely be without center fielder Adam Jones Saturday. Jones was in the starting lineup Friday despite his hamstring cramping up Thursday but departed with a strained left hamstring in the second inning.Manager Buck Showalter did not think it would require a stint on the disabled list, but it was indicative of a frustrating night for the Orioles.Lets try and get this correct and make that big push, Jones said. At this point in time in the season missing more than a few games would hurt the team. ' ' '