Forum » fourth Czech strike from Tomas Necid.In Latvia

BROOKLYN, Mich. -- Joey Logano was only a few laps away from victory when suddenly, holding off Paul Menard wasnt his main problem. "I could tell something was wrong on the back straightaway," Logano said. Loganos flat tire with about five laps remaining allowed Menard to win the NASCAR Nationwide Series race Saturday at Michigan International Speedway. It was Menards second victory on that circuit and first since 2006, and Logano was left trying to come to terms with a race that was going well until the final moments. "I hate to give them away like that," Logano said. "You look at the silver lining I guess, which is we had a fast race car and should have won the race. You win some this way and lose some this way." Logano was leading when he was derailed by the tire problem. Menard took advantage of his good fortune, holding off Sam Hornish Jr. by 0.468 seconds. It was Menards first Nationwide start of the season. Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished third, followed by pole-winner Kyle Busch and Brian Scott. Regan Smith finished seventh and remained atop the points list. Menard, one of several Sprint Cup drivers in contention in the event, won the 250-mile, 125-lap race in his No. 33 Chevrolet. He figures he might have had a shot to win even without Loganos mishap. "I would have liked to have lined up nose to tail with Joey," he said. "It would have been a hell of a race." Logano wasnt disputing that, but the point became moot when he ran over something in his No. 22 Ford and dropped all the way back to 16th place because of the cut tire. "The 33 was quick and had a fast race car also. We were going to have a race because he was catching me a little bit," Logano said. "Sometimes you are the bug, sometimes you are the windshield. It is never over until it is over. You think you are in good shape and you are worried about a caution more than anything else and then the next thing you know you hear it starting to come apart." Busch won his third Nationwide pole of the year but was unable to repeat his victory two weeks ago at Dover. Scott was the highest finisher among this years Nationwide regulars, holding his own among several Cup drivers. "Ive been fortunate to run a couple Cup Series races, and I felt like it was a huge benefit to me and my team in the Nationwide Series," said Scott, who along with Menard was part of a big day for Richard Childress Racing. "The added track time, just driving something with more horsepower. You actually figure out ... the grip threshold, and you realize just how high it is. Then you can get in your Nationwide car and you know that youre nowhere near it or youre at it, and how to approach that." Hornish nearly won the Nationwide Series in 2013, but his sponsorship money dried up and he parted ways with owner Roger Penske. Hes made only three Nationwide starts this year, but the irregular schedule doesnt seem to be affecting his performance. Hes finished in the top five in all three races, including a victory at Iowa in May. He was in the No. 20 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing on Saturday. "Its not really a knocking-off-the-rust thing, because Im at the shop every week," Hornish said. "I feel like Im keeping from being rusty by the amount of things that Im doing as far as that. Gotten to do a little bit of testing, and theyve given me good cars. Everybody at Joe Gibbs Racing has been super nice to me so far -- glad that we could come out and have another good day for them." Adidas Ultra Boost 2018 . 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And rest hardly led to rust for the two-time defending NBA champions.REYKJAVIK, Iceland - Swansea midfielder Gylfi Sigurdsson scored both goals Monday as Iceland pulled off a shock 2-0 defeat of the Netherlands in a European Championship qualifier to hand new coach Guus Hiddink his third loss in four matches since taking over after the World Cup.It was Icelands first ever victory over the Netherlands in 11 meetings.The win kept Iceland perfect in three qualifiers and left it level atop Group A with the Czech Republic, which got its third straight win by beating Kazakhstan 4-2 in Almaty. Turkey remained anchored to the bottom of the group with Kazakhstan after gaining its first point with a 1-1 draw at LatviaSigurdsson scored twice before the break. He fired home from the spot in the 10th minute after Stefan de Vrij had brought down Birkir Bjarnason and volleyed powerfully into the roof of the net in the 42nd after the Dutch defence failed to clear a corner.We put them in the saddle by giving them two goals, said winger Arjen Robben.It really is painful that we lost here, said Dutch captain Robin van Persie, who was kept in check almost all night by a tight Iceland defence.The second Iceland goal came after a spell of Dutch pressure when Van Persie came close and Robben squandered a great chance by heading wide after a cross from the left by Daley Blind.But those chances were interspersed by sloppy passing and clumsy defending by a Dutch team that appeared a shadow of the side that finished third at the World Cup.We have to keep our emotions in check and take a careful look at the state of Dutch football and then talk about how to progress, Hiddink said.ddddddddddddince the successful tournament in Brazil, the Dutch have lost a friendly to Italy, lost to the Czech Republic, struggled to victory over Kazakhstan and now lost to Iceland, a dismal record that will put pressure on Hiddink, who is in his second stint in charge after previously leading the Netherlands to the World Cup semifinals in 1998.Van Persie said it was not fair to blame Hiddink.Guus is a fantastic coach, he said. We are all working as hard as we can to play well.Hiddink brought on a second striker — Klaas Jan Huntelaar — at halftime for Wesley Sneijder, but the Schalke striker who came off the bench Friday night to score against Kazakhstan could not make an impact this time.As the Netherlands pushed forward trying to claw its way back into the match, it gave room to Icelands forwards and Kolbeinn Sigthorsson and Bjarnason both came close to extending the hosts lead after the break.Everyone fought for each other, Sigthorsson said. It was a team performance.After opening its campaign with a surprise 2-1 win over the Netherlands and beating Turkey by the same score on Friday, the Czechs wrapped up victory over Kazakhstan inside an hour thanks to goals by Borek Dockal, David Lafata and Ladislav Krejci.The hosts showed off their prowess at set pieces with two late goals by Yuri Logvinenko from corners sandwiching a fourth Czech strike from Tomas Necid.In Latvia, Bilal Kisa opened the scoring for Turkey shortly after halftime with a long-range shot and Valerijs Sabala equalized with a 54th-minute penalty. ' ' '