Daytona Beach, FL (SportsNetwork. Jeremy Kerley Bills Jersey .com) -- NASCAR announced a radical change to its qualifying format for the Sprint Cup, Nationwide and Camping World Truck Series on Wednesday, making it similar to knockout qualifying used for Formula One and IndyCar Series road/street course races. At NASCAR racetracks measuring 1.25 miles or longer in length, qualifying will consist of three rounds. Tracks measuring less than 1.25 miles will feature just two segments. NASCAR noted its revised qualifying format will not be used for the Daytona 500 (Feb. 23) and the Truck Series race at Eldora Speedway (July 23), which is the only national touring series event contested on a dirt track. It also wont be used for the Sprint Cup non-point races -- the Feb. 15 Sprint Unlimited at Daytona International Speedway and the May 17 NASCAR Sprint All- Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. "Were looking forward to the new qualifying format for all three of our national series this year," NASCAR vice president of competition Robin Pemberton said during a teleconference. "The new format is something that weve been looking at for quite some time. The goal is providing a more fan- friendly and exciting qualifying session for each race event across the board, with the exception of the Daytona 500 and Eldora, which are unique in their own right. "NASCAR fans will be treated to highly competitive elimination-based qualifying segments that will be more engaging to the fans in the stands and those watching on television or online." For those races on tracks 1.25 miles or greater, the first qualifying elimination round will be 25 minutes in duration and includes all cars/trucks. The 24 entries that post the fastest single lap from the opening segment will advance to the second round. The remaining cars/trucks will be sorted from their times in descending order posted during the first segment. The 12 cars/trucks that recorded the quickest single lap during the second round, which is 10 minutes in length, will then advance to the third and final segment, which lasts five minutes. Positions 13 through 24 will be based on lap times during the second round. Positions 1 through 12 will be determined during the final round, with the driver posting the fastest lap winning the pole position. There will be a five-minute break between each of the three qualifying rounds. For those tracks shorter than 1.25 miles, the opening segment in qualifying will be 30 minutes in duration and includes all entries. The 12 cars/trucks that recorded the fastest single lap time will advance to the second segment. The remaining field will be determined by lap times in descending order during the first round. Positions 1 through 12 will then be decided in the final segment, which is 10 minutes in length. "We believe the timing is right for this new style of qualifying, and for our drivers and teams, we believe that it will create even better competition leading into the event," Pemberton said. NASCARs new format is scheduled to be used for the first time on Feb. 21 when the Nationwide and Truck Series have qualifying for their season-openers at Daytona. Sprint Cup will utilize the format beginning with the March 2 race at Phoenix International Raceway. Eddie Yarbrough Bills Jersey .Y. - OK, it is done. Taron Johnson Bills Jersey . Bjoerndalen broke the record he shared with cross-country skiing great Bjoern Daehlie, also matching his fellow Norwegians record of eight gold medals. Bjoerndalen earlier won gold in Sochi in the mens sprint biathlon. http://www.authenticbillsfanatic.com/c-87-bills-tremaine-edmunds-jersey.aspx .com) - James Harden put the Houston Rockets on his back and willed them to an overtime victory on Thursday. SAN DIEGO -- Other than one bad pitch, Chicago Cubs left-hander Travis Wood had a pretty good night. Wood came within five outs of pitching his first career shutout before allowing Carlos Quentins pinch-hit, two-run home run, and Chicago held on to beat the San Diego Padres 3-2 Saturday night. Wood (5-4) hit an RBI single and Luis Valbuena homered for the Cubs, who bounced back from an 11-1 loss Friday night. Wood allowed two runs and three hits in 7 1-3 innings, struck out three and walked two. "I felt good all game," Wood said. "I made a bad pitch there to Quentin. I wanted a cutter in, but didnt quite get it all the way in there and he got through it. But other than that everything was working pretty good all game." Quentin, who missed the previous four games with a groin injury, hit an 86 mph pitch an estimated 405 feet off the left-field facade with one out in the eighth to chase Wood. Quentin has five career pinch homers and two in one week. Yasmani Grandal was aboard on a one-out walk. Other than that, "my fastball was locating down and I got some quick outs there," Wood said. "All in all, no complaints other than one pitch, but thats going to happen." Quentin also hit a two-run, pinch homer last Saturday at Colorado. He hurt his groin on Sunday and hadnt played until Saturday nights appearance. "Thats a hard thing to do to pinch-hit -- one of the hardest roles in our game to come off the bench without playing and go step in the batters box against pitcher and hit a home run," manager Bud Black said. "That is hard to do and he has done it twice in a week. "When Carlos does that, that is what we expect," Black said. "He is a dynamic offensive player and our team changes." Problem is, the Padres havent seen much of Quentin this year. He missed the first 39 games after starting the season on the disabled list with a bone bruise in his left knee. "He makes us better,&" Black said. Tremaine Edmunds Jersey. "Hes arguably our best offensive player each and every night he is in the game." Valbuena extended his hitting streak to eight games when he drove an 88 mph fastball from Billy Buckner into the right field seats with one out in the sixth. It was his third. Nate Schierholtz doubled to right with two outs. The Padres intentionally walked Darwin Barney to get to Wood, who singled up the middle to drive in Schierholtz. Valbuena also scored in the fourth, reaching on a walk, advancing on Welington Castillos single and coming in on Schierholtzs base hit. Hector Rondon pitched the ninth for his sixth save in seven chances. Buckner (0-1) started in place of Andrew Cashner, who is on the disabled list with a sore right elbow. Buckners contract was purchased earlier Saturday from Triple-A El Paso. He allowed three runs and six hits in 5 2-3 innings, struck out four and walked three. NOTES: In a pregame ceremony, the Padres honoured first responders involved in fighting last weeks wildfires. The players and coaches formed two lines in the outfield and greeted the first responders as they walked in from the warning track. ... Cashner played long toss for the first time since going on the disabled list, retroactive to May 15. Cashner will throw again Sunday. . RHP Tim Stauffer pitched well enough in Fridays win over the Cubs to earn another start. It will come on Wednesday at Arizona. . Newly acquired LHP Troy Patton, acquired from Baltimore in Saturdays trade for C Nick Hundley, will complement LHP Alex Torres in the bullpen. He should arrive in San Diego on Sunday. . Cubs OF Justin Ruggiano could rejoin the team on the road trip; hes been on the DL since April 24 with a strained hamstring. Ruggiano played consecutive games in Triple-A Iowa on Thursday and Friday. . Padres RHP Ian Kennedy (2-6, 3.79) faces Cubs RHP Jason Hammel (5-2, 2.91) in Sundays series finale. Wholesale Jerseys China NFL Jerseys China Cheap Nike NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys 2019 Discount Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Authentic Wholesale Throwback Jerseys ' ' '