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DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. Buccaneers #40 Jersey . -- The first full practice for the Daytona 500 ended early Wednesday after rookie Parker Kligermans airborne car ripped out a chunk of the grandstand fence. Kligermans car ended up sliding on its roof halfway down the front-stretch at Daytona International Speedway. No one was injured in the seven-car wreck, which stirred memories of last years last-lap crash in the second-tier Nationwide Series season opener at Daytona. Kyle Larsons car destroyed a large section of the catch-fence, sending debris into the stands and injuring nearly 30 people. The stands were virtually empty during practice Wednesday. The garage area, meanwhile, was buzzing with teams feverishly trying to fix cars or fine-tune backups for Thursdays dual qualifying races. "It happens every year," driver Joey Logano said. "You always hope youre the one thats not in it or you miss it. I saw it getting kind of crazy out there and youre kind of in the middle of it and you cant really get out of it at that point when youre in the middle. It was a little too late." Logano and Matt Kenseth started the melee when they got together coming out of turn 4 during a drafting session. Trevor Bayne hit Logano, who then slammed into Paul Menard. Menards car shot up the track and collected Kligerman. "You dont want to wreck in practice for sure," Kenseth said. "Honestly, the last lap and a half, I was just trying to figure out how to get out of there and get to the pits. But when youre stuck in the middle, you kind of got to wait until everything clears out." Kligermans car lifted off the ground, landed on top of Ryan Truexs hood then turned upside-down before coming to a stop across the track. "Youre not learning anything racing like that in practice," said Kligerman, one of eight rookies trying to make Sundays season-opening Daytona 500. "It was the first time Id ever flipped over. Id never done that in a race car. I assumed itd be rough, but it was actually soft. I saw the whole thing go down. Im up in the fence kind of floating along. Thankfully, none of the fans got injured, I hope." Kligerman, though, wasnt happy with Logano and his No. 22 Ford. "The 22 was being overly aggressive. Its a shame," Kligerman said. "Hes supposed to be a veteran. You go up here to the Sprint Cup Series, its supposed to be the best of the best and a guy in a practice is racing people like its the end of the Daytona 500. ... I dont quite understand that one. I am pretty upset about how that all went down." Dave Blaney also was involved in the crash. Six of the seven cars involved in the wreck -- all but Kenseth -- went to backup cars. Blaney doesnt have a backup car, but was working to get one from another team. Swan Racing was the hardest hit. Not only was Kligermans car totalled, but teammate Cole Whitt also hammered the wall earlier in practice. Whitts accident caused Brian Vickers and Casey Mears to get together, and Jeff Gordon ended up with a piece of debris lodged in his hood. Swan had just one backup car, which went to Kligerman, so the team was forced to fix Whitts Toyota. Vickers also went to a backup car. All of the backup cars will have to start from the back of the field in Thursdays qualifying races. The damage to the fence was severe enough that NASCAR cancelled the rest of the practice session so workers could repair the small hole. Daytona officials said the fence held up as expected. Workers replaced one cable and some meshing, and no one in the stands was injured. Fifteen cars didnt get on track during the first session. That included six-time and defending series champion Jimmie Johnson, who wrecked one Daytona car in the exhibition Sprint Unlimited on Saturday night. "Not that we were going to draft in practice before that, but we really arent going to draft now," Johnson said. "We need to watch ourselves because were down to one good race car. We have other stuff at home, but we really dont want to bring it down here." Jeff Demps Buccaneers Jersey . For now, Joe Girardi and the rest of the New York Yankees are just thankful they have the Japanese right-hander pitching like one of the best in baseball. Jonathan Casillas Buccaneers Jersey . No way, absolutely no way. If you do, where do you go from there? If you want to progress as a team and as a club you have no chance if you sell players like that. After getting bounced in five games during the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs last season by the Ottawa Senators, the Montreal Canadiens are looking to learn from the experience and improve on it. "Last year didnt go the way we wanted it to, but we need to look at what went well and what didnt go so well. Hopefully this year we will be better," Brendan Gallagher said after practice. This year, the Canadiens have a little more depth to work with by adding players like Daniel Briere, Dale Weise, Mike Weaver, Douglas Murray and arguably, the biggest addition to this playoff roster, Thomas Vanek, who the Canadiens were able to land at the trade deadline. Vanek, along with his linemates Max Pacioretty and David Desharnais have been have been a force to be reckoned with for the Habs. The three have combined for 29 points in the last 10 games of the regular season, and will be the line the Habs will count on to lead them in scoring this post-season. "Five-on-five play will be a difference maker and thats where our line needs to be good," Thomas Vanek told the media. Buccaneers #99 Jersey. Based on the way the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Montreal Canadiens have played each other this season, one can only expect to see a low scoring series. Three of the four games between the two clubs ended with 2-1 scores that were decided in overtime or shootouts "That was playoff hockey to a ‘T this year against Tampa" said goaltender Carey Price. After a successful Olympic run that saw Price win gold in Sochi, the 26-year-old goaltender will try and build off the experience he gained during his time with Team Canada. "Seeing how other guys conducted themselves during pressure situations and how previous Stanley Cup winners prepared for the game was valuable," Price added. Goaltending on the Lightning side of things is still questionable with Ben Bishop getting injured with just three games left in the regular season. Travis Moen will travel with the team to Tampa Bay but is not cleared to play. Hes still recovering from the concussion he suffered back on March 24. Wholesale Jerseys ' ' ' |
