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Local Sports Scene
NASCAR Racing
Bri Hollenbeck Is June’s Athlete Of The Month

NFL Network Ranks Montrose’s Snee Among Top 100 Players In League
By Tom Robinson

The NFL Network included Montrose graduate Chris Snee, a guard for the New York Giants, as one of its Top 100 Players of 2011.

Snee was ranked as the National Football League’s 77th-best player overall when the network revealed its selections in a 10-part series this summer.

The former Boston College guard allowed just two sacks during the 2010 season.

Snee is a three-time Pro Bowl and All-Pro selection.

Logan Mankins of the New England Patriots was the top-ranked guard and listed at 39th-best overall.

Carl Nicks of New Orleans (55th) and Brian Waters of Kansas City (67th) were the only other guards to rank ahead of Snee.

The rankings were determined through polling of current players.

WEEK IN REVIEW

Binghamton Mets pitcher Matt Harvey found himself in an unfamiliar role at the Futures Game Sunday night.

The starting pitcher was called on to get the final out of the game for the top overall prospects in all of minor league baseball.

Harvey got a groundball out on his third pitch and the United States beat the World, 6-4, in Phoenix.

A first-round pick out of North Carolina in the 2010 Major League Baseball Draft, Harvey is 0-2 with a 9.24 earned run average after his first three starts at Class AA with the B-Mets. He was 8-2 at St. Lucie of the Class A Florida State League to start the season.

Harvey, who reached 97 miles per hour on the radar gun on one of his three pitches in the Futures Game, has struck out 106 and walked just 28 in 88 2/3 total innings this season.

After getting two hits Friday, Montrose graduate Rich Thompson had back-to-back, three-hit games Saturday and Sunday for the International League North Division-leading Lehigh Valley IronPigs.

Earlier, Thompson had one hit each in games at Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, against the Yankees July 4 and 5.

Thompson’s big weekend, which started in Rochester Friday and continued on to Syracuse, saw him hit a combined 8-for-14 (.571). In the three games, he scored five times, drove in three runs, tripled twice and doubled once.

In 72 games, Thompson is batting .280 with 28 stolen bases. He has scored 51 runs.

THE WEEK AHEAD

Minor league baseball joins the Major Leagues by taking an all-star break.

The Triple-A All-Star Game and Eastern League All-Star Game are both scheduled for Wednesday night.

Pitcher Adam Warren has been added to the International League roster for the Triple-A All-Star Game, making him the only Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankee on the roster. Three Yankees who were selected earlier - pitcher Kevin Whelan, catcher Jesus Montero and first baseman Jorge Vazquez - are unavailable and have been dropped from the roster for the game in Salt Lake City.

Binghamton has infielders Josh Satin and Jordany Valdespin on the Eastern Division roster, along with pitcher Jeurys Familia, for the Eastern League game in New Hampshire.

TOM ROBINSON writes a weekly local sports column for the Susquehanna County Transcript. He can be reached lined at RobbyTR@aol.com.

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NASCAR Racing
By Gerald Hodges

Kyle Busch 2 For 3 At Kentucky

By Gerald Hodges; The Racing Reporter

SPARTA, Ken. - Kyle Busch won two of the three events over the weekend at Kentucky Speedway, including Saturday’s inaugural Sprint Cup race.

Though Busch started and ended the night in first and led 125 of the race’s 267 laps, it wasn’t quite as easy as it might sound.

“We stayed up front all the night, made it seem easy, but certainly it wasn't,” Busch said. “There at the end, there were a couple of tense moments, but we prevailed.”

Kyle Busch, winner of inaugural Kentucky Cup race.

The race wasn’t settled until Busch kept Jimmie Johnson at bay on the last restart, clearing Johnson’s No. 48 Chevrolet off Turn 2. David Reutimann restated in the fourth spot but charged forward, passing Johnson just short of the finish line on the final lap.

“It was hit or miss the first part of the race,’ said Reutimann. “We would make it better, then make it worse. Every time we put four tires on, we couldn't go anywhere, too tight. Either the track was changing or tightening up more or we weren't changing enough, taking big enough swings on it.”

Johnson finished third and moved from 6th to 5th in points.

“We decided to come down pit road and put two tires on it, which ended up being good,

as few guys as we had on the lead lap,” said Johnson. “The car did not take off like it had before on two tires.

“These tires seemed to kind of wake up after they get a heat cycle. So the last restart, the car took off a lot better. I was able to hang with the 18 outside of turns one and two.

“If I could have stayed inside of him, it would have been one heck of a finish to the end. He cleared me and went on.”

Ryan Newman played pit strategy perfectly and came home fourth, followed by Carl Edwards. Matt Kenseth, Brad Keselowski, David Ragan, Kurt Busch and Jeff Gordon completed the top-10.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. blew a left front tire exiting pit road and wound up 30th.

Top-12 Chase contenders after 18 of 36: 1. Kyle Busch-624, 2. Edwards-620, 3. Harvick-614, 4. Kurt Busch-606, 5. Johnson-605, 6. Kenseth-602, 7. J. Gordon-552, 8. Earnhardt-548, 9. Newman-538, 10. Hamlin-530, 11. Stewart-527, 12. Bowyer-514.

Meanwhile, a traffic backup of epic proportions presented a gloomy side of what could have been a nice inaugural race.

Kentucky track owner Bruton Smith coined the phrase, “Get Lucky in Kentucky,” but not everyone that tried to attend Saturday night’s Cup race was lucky.

It was a traffic nightmare getting into and out of the track.

Some fans were turned away.

There was no place to park.

There were many posts on Twitter, complaining about five and six hour traffic delays.

Six hours to travel just 45 miles.

“It is really disappointing that we had such an issue with traffic tonight,” NASCAR spokesman Kerry Tharp said. “We would like to apologize to those fans. … It's got to improve. We know they are going to pour a lot of hard work and effort to make the traffic situation a lot better.”

Kentucky Speedway officials did not immediately say if they would refund the thousands of advance tickets, held by fans who were unable to make it into the race.

KESELOWSKI WINS ON FUEL

Saving fuel from the start of the final green-flag run, Brad Keselowski held off Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch to win Friday night's Nationwide Series race at Kentucky Speedway.

In winning his first Nationwide race of the year and the 13th of his career, Keselowski beat runner-up Harvick to the finish line by 1.180 seconds. Busch rolled across the stripe 3.796 seconds behind the winner.

“I felt like we were pretty good the very first run,” Keselowski said. “You never know when you have a race-winning car, especially when it transfers from day into night. I certainly felt more comfortable once I got clean air, and I said something to (crew chief) Todd (Gordon) about it.

“You get that clean air, and these cars are just phenomenal to drive, and mine was no exception. It was really, really fast.”

Kasey Kahne came home fourth, followed by polesitter Elliott Sadler, who took the series points lead from 17th-place finisher Reed Sorenson with his fifth-place run. Kenny Wallace, Michael Annett, Carl Edwards, Ricky Stenhouse, and Joey Logano were the remaining top-10 finishers.

Top-10 points leaders after 18 of 34: 1. Sadler-641, 2. Sorenson-637, 3. Stenhouse-614, 4. Allgaier-598, 5. Leffler-568, 6. Almirola-553, 7. K. Wallace-532, 8. S. Wallace-490, 9. Annett-483, 10. Scott-483.

KYLE BUSCH IS KENTUCKY TRUCK WINNER

Starting from the rear after missing the drivers' meeting and driver introductions didn't deter Kyle Busch, who held off charging Parker Kligerman to win Thursday night's Truck race at Kentucky Speedway.

Busch won his fifth race of the season and the 29th of his career in a green-white checkered-flag finish set up by a late caution. The win was his 98th national series victory in NASCAR racing, third most all-time.

“On the (last) restart, when Jason White was on my inside, I figured if I could just get another good restart where I didn't spin my tires, I'd be all right,” Busch said. “Those guys spun their tires every time, and it kind of worked for us.

“It's hard to not be the leader in those positions and not spin your tires. I know how they feel.”

Kligerman ran second, followed by Brendan Gaughan, Todd Bodine and Jason White.

Top-10 points leaders after 10 of 25; 1. Sauter-347, 2. Whitt-324, 3. Dillon-322, 4. Buescher-315, 5. Kligerman-312, 6. Hornaday-310, 7. Peters-308, 8. Crafton-297, 9. Coulter-292, 10. Gaughan-287.

MONEY HUNGRY NASCAR MOVING 2012 NATIONWIDE RACE

NASCAR plans to move its Nationwide race from the 0.686-mile Lucas Oil Raceway track to the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway, a move that NASCAR President Mike Helton said was a way to make IMS a “motorsports destination weekend” with NASCAR’s Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series, Nationwide and Cup series events.

But by doing so, NASCAR eliminates some exciting racing at the track formerly known as Indianapolis Raceway Park.

We’re very disappointed with the decision,” said Lucas Oil Raceway General Manager Wes Collier. “We feel that we’ve provided a great race for NASCAR and all of Central Indiana for 30 years. … There wasn’t anything that NASCAR asked us to do that we haven’t tried to accommodate them or provide for them.

“We’ve made some pretty large investments out here as far as the facility. We had all intentions of retaining this event for the future.”

The track has hosted Nationwide Series races since 1982, and Truck events since 1996.

The big Indy track has seen attendance dwindle for its annual Cup event weekend.

NASCAR’s estimated attendance at the 2010 Brickyard 400 was 140,000, compared with 180,000 in 2009, 240,000 in 2008 and 270,000 in 2007. The Indy 500 in May typically draws an estimated attendance of 250,000-275,000.

This venue change by NASCAR is seen by many as a move to boost revenue for the organization, because racing on the big track has been awful boring the past few years.

Weekend Racing: The Cup and Nationwide cars will be at the 1-mile New Hampshire Speedway, while the Trucks race at the 7/8-mile Iowa Speedway in Newton, Iowa.

Sat., July 16, Nationwide New England 200, race 19 of 34, Starting time: 3:30 p.m.; TV: ESPN.

Sat., July 16, Camping World Trucks Coca-Cola 200, race 11 of 24, Starting time: 8 p.m.; TV: SPEED.

Sun., July 17, Sprint Cup Lenox Tools 301, race 19 of 36, Starting time: 1 p.m.; TV: TNT.

All times are Eastern.

Racing Trivia Question: What was the nickname of early racer Edward G. Roberts?

Last Week’s Question: How many NASCAR Cup championships did Bobby Allison win? Answer. He only has one championship and that came in 1983.

You may contact the Racing Reporter at hodges@race500.com.

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Bri Hollenbeck Is June’s Athlete Of The Month
By Tom Robinson

Through the years, game-ending hits in baseball and softball have become known as “walk-off” hits because one the decisive action takes place, there is nothing left to do but walk off the field.

Bri Hollenbeck took a different approach after her 10th-inning hit ended Elk Lake’s first-round state Class AA softball playoff game by lifting the Lady Warriors to a 2-1 victory over Pen Argyl.

“I hit it to right-center in the gap,” Hollenbeck said of her two-out, bases-loaded hit. “I watched it the whole time. I don’t think I’ve ever been in that situation, so I didn’t think about what to do.

“It went by the right fielder, but I just kept running.”

At that point, Hollenbeck had already done enough to get Elk Lake into the state quarterfinals where the season came to an end in another extra-inning game.

Hollenbeck’s effort helped her claim the Susquehanna County Transcript Athlete of the Month award for June.

Elk Lake started the month with a 2-1 victory over defending state champion Nanticoke in the District 2 Class AA championship game.

Hollenbeck, a senior second baseman, ranked third in the team while hitting well over .400 during the regular season.

In the state tournament opener, she went 2-for-5 but also helped the Lady Warriors with her glove twice to keep the game tied and set up the winner.

“She made two plays in that game to save us defensively,” Elk Lake coach Tony Blaisure said. “She made a diving catch near the first-base foul line and held on as she hit the ground.

“And, she went far to her left on a groundball up the middle and made the play, then stepped on the bag.”

Hollenbeck said the diving catch was also a different experience for her.

“It was a little blooper that I usually tried to catch without diving,” Hollenbeck said. “This one, I laid out for. The ball was on my arm at one point, but it never hit the ground.

“Coach told me it didn’t matter if I used my glove or my arm, as long as I catch it.”

Hollenbeck, the daughter of Willie Carlsen and Becky Arnold of Springville, is a four-year starter in the Elk Lake infield. She began as a third baseman, but moved to second base during her freshman season. She also spent four years on the soccer team and three on the swimming team.

Hollenbeck plans to attend Misericordia University to study nursing.

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