Kyle Busch won the 2011 Quaker State 400 at Kentucky Speedway this weekend to earn his third victory of the season; a race that was the inaugural Sprint Car race for the speedway.

The win allowed the 26-year-old driver to jump into the points lead at the season’s halfway mark, four points in front of Carl Edwards. Currently sitting in third is Kevin Harvick who started the race first in the standings. After finishing Saturday’s race in the 16^th spot, Harvick slipped to third behind Busch and Edwards.

After winning the Trucks race on Thursday after starting in the back of the field, Busch started in pole position on Saturday due to a rainout and coasted to the win. The victory puts him just one win away from becoming just the third driver in NASCAR history to collect 100 victories in the top three series.

In all Busch has 48 Nationwide Series wins, 22 Cup wins and 29 in Trucks to his credit. In  this latest win, Busch rolled to the finish line at the 1.5 mile Kentucky track after pulling away from Jimmie Johnson after a restart with just three laps to go. Busch finished the day driving in front of the filed in 125 out of the 267 laps.

A massive traffic jam that kept fans sitting bumper-to-bumper on Interstate 71 while the race had started was also a part of the post-race talk. While speedway officials acknowledged the traffic was worse than expected and said they would fix the issue before next year’s event, that didn’t help the people who missed the event, sitting stranded in the gridlock.

Kentucky is the first venue added since 2001 when tracks in Kansas and Chicago were added and it’s evident some kinks need to be worked out. In the meantime, Kyle Busch goes into the record books as the winner of the first Cup series race at Kentucky.

Used with permission of the author.

Jay Donetelli is a Tampa-based freelance sportswriter and contributor to Sports Climax. With an opinion sharper than an Ovechkin skate blade with the sting of an Ali jab, Donetelli has a loyal cult of readers who have found a way to love him.

Copyright ©2011 Sports Climax, LLC

Derek Jeter’s 3,000^th hit finally arrived and was part of one of the All-Star shortstop’s best days ever at the plate. After flirting with the mark over the past week that saw a rainout and a hitless night at the plate, Jeter finished the afternoon going 5-for-5 and treated the sellout crowd to hit No. 3,000, 3001, 3002 and 3,003.

Oh and hit No. 3,000 happened to be a home run into the upper deck in left field and hit No. 3003 was a game-winner in the eighth inning.

Jeter becomes the first 3,000 hit man in New York Yankees’ history in a career that started with a single to left field on May 30, 1995, a season that he would finish with 12 hits. The following season he would be considered a rookie and finished with 183 hits to earn the AL Rookie of the Year award.

The Derek Jeter rookie card is shown here.

Although Jeter has no batting title to his credit, he has been a consistent contributor and currently has an impressive .313 career average.

Here are a few other facts:

• Former Yankees player Wade Boggs also put his 3,000 hit over the fence (in 1999) but did it as a player for the Tampa Bay Rays.
• While Jeter became the 28th MLB player to get to the 3,000-hit plateau only 14 of those players on that list have done it in one uniform.
• Jeter became the first guy in pinstripes to reach the mark.

Although many are critical of Jeter getting named to the 2011 All-Star Game roster during this underachieving season, by the time the day was over the shortstop raised his season batting average to .270 with 24 RBIs and reminded us that he still puts butts in the seats.

And to achieve a feat that guys by the name of Mickey Mantle, Babe Ruth, Yogi Berra and Joe DiMaggio couldn’t, adds even more to the accomplishment.

Used with permission of the author.

Jay Donetelli is a Tampa-based freelance sportswriter and contributor to Sports Climax. With an opinion sharper than an Ovechkin skate blade with the sting of an Ali jab, Donetelli has a loyal cult of readers who have found a way to love him.

Copyright ©2011 Sports Climax, LLC

Yao Ming retiring is not the welcome news new head coach Kevin McHale was hoping for. According to the Houston Chronicle, the dominating center has decided to retire after nine NBA seasons.

“We’d all be really happy if Yao comes back to play, and I hope he can,” McHale said recently.

The Rockets need their big man no doubt; they have missed the NBA Playoffs the past two seasons with Ming spending most of those nights in street clothes sitting on the pine. In the 2009-10 season Ming only played five games.

Ming (7ft, 6, 310) is an icon overseas in China and in addition to expanding/marketing the NBA there he has made an impressive mark during his time on an NBA court. In fact between 2002-09 he was selected to the All-Star game. Yao averaged 19 points and 9.2 rebounds.

Ming has been dealing with serious injuries over the past several years leading to several trips to the doc and IR list but after a recent surgery on his left ankle, Yahoo! Sports says he has informed the league office he is retiring.

Ming would join another fan favorite into retirement; Shaquille O’Neal. Shaq made a video aimed at Yao, congratulating him on his decision, saying:

“We’re going to miss you, bro. You’re one of the greatest players ever to come out of China. You’re one of the greatest players, period. Enjoy retirement. Let’s go on vacation, bro. Me and you.”

With the NBA lockout in effect and these two big men gone from the game, it’s going to create an even bigger challenge for the league to win any fan base back if the season gets a late start.

Shaq’s Stats Say It All – Sports Climax

Used with permission of the author.

Jay Donetelli is a Tampa-based freelance sportswriter and contributor to Sports Climax. With an opinion sharper than an Ovechkin skate blade with the sting of an Ali jab, Donetelli has a loyal cult of readers who have found a way to love him.

Copyright ©2011 Sports Climax, LLC

A fan died from injuries suffered in a fall at Rangers Ballpark during the Rangers 6-0 win over the Oakland Athletics last night.

The incident happened in the second inning when the man yelled for a foul ball that was retrieved by outfielder Josh Hamilton. Hamilton responded by tossing the ball to the fan. The fan leaned to catch the ball and fell over the rail through a space between the railing and the back of the scoreboard located on the left-field fence.

The fall was estimated to be approximately 20 feet. This is actually the third fall reported in Texas and second in the past year at this stadium.  Last July in a game against the Cleveland Indians, a fan fell 30 feet from the upper deck while trying to retrieve a foul ball in the right field area of the ballpark. He survived.

With three accidents, one leading to death, expect for the Rangers organization to address the issue and add additional safety features to the ballpark.

Fans get aggressive trying to catch balls. A fan recently made the news when he dropped his daughter trying to catch a ball coming his way. Did the man intend to dump his girl on the concrete just to get a ball? Probably not but it’s a reaction, just like the one last night that caused the man to lean too far and fall. Fans sitting in the area said the victim was with his young son. That said, he was trying to send his son home with a prized souvenir.

After the game Ryan closed the locker room off not allowing any immediate postgame media contact with the players then later made this statement:

“I think as any of us would be Josh is very distraught over this as the entire team is.”

The Rangers are considering giving Hamilton a day off to recoup from the incident.

Former president George W. Bush attended the game and was sitting in the front row with Rangers president Nolan Ryan when the incident occurred. Ryan left his seat to deal with the catastrophe while Bush remained in his seat. We’ll hold off on any “The Pet Goat” puns at this time.

Used with permission of the author.

Jay Donetelli is a Tampa-based freelance sportswriter and contributor to Sports Climax. With an opinion sharper than an Ovechkin skate blade with the sting of an Ali jab, Donetelli has a loyal cult of readers who have found a way to love him.

Copyright ©2011 Sports Climax, LLC

Roy Williams is suing an ex-girlfriend to regain the $76,000 ring he gave her and according to Odessa American the Dallas Cowboys’ wideout will have an opportunity to plead his case at an injunction hearing this week in Odessa, Texas.

According to court documents Williams sent the rock in the mail to his then fiancee, Brooke Daniels. In addition to the ring, Williams was also said to have sent her some cash and a taped marriage proposal.

Now I’m no Dr. Phil but WTF kind of marriage proposal goes UPS! And for a guy who didn’t tip the pizza delivery guy when he played in Detroit, $76K is a ton of cash to fork out for a ring.

Getting back to the legal details, after the couple decided to not tie the knot, Williams asked for the ring back.

Here’s where it gets better.

Williams said Daniels told him she lost the ring so he put in a claim to State Farm who investigated the loss. After the insurance company determined the ring was not lost it has turned into a court matter. In a recent interview the girl’s father said they never said the ring was lost and he has possession of it.

Looks like engagement rings fall under the conditional-gift rule in Texas courts meaning the courts need to determine what party is at fault for the break-up so it can decide who gets it. Texas courts have set precedence that have required engagement rings to be returned to the donor if the relationship is terminated due to the fault of the receiver of the ring.

In layman’s terms that means if this former Miss Texas is at fault for the break-up, then Williams gets the rock back; if not she keeps it. In the meantime you have to wonder if she’s wearing it on her middle finger.

And this, sports fans, falls under “NFL news” during the dragged out lockout…and if this continues we all may need Dr. Phil.

Used with permission of the author.

Jay Donetelli is a Tampa-based freelance sportswriter and contributor to Sports Climax. With an opinion sharper than an Ovechkin skate blade with the sting of an Ali jab, Donetelli has a loyal cult of readers who have found a way to love him.

Copyright ©2011 Sports Climax, LLC

With 15 ejections in the first five days of the month, Major League Baseball may have seen more ejections in July than Barry Bonds or Roger Clemens may have seen over any entire season. Yeah those are different injections but you get the picture.

After starting out with five heave-hos on July 1^st, the total for the month hit 15 after two players and a manager were given the boot in the Detroit Tigers game in Anaheim yesterday.

After Angels’ DH Bobby Abreu struck out in his first at bat, he argued with home plate umpire Angel Campos and was sent to the showers; according to our references it’s the first ejection in his career.

By game’s end, Tigers starter Justin Verlander and manager Jim Leyland were booted by first base umpire Joe West to make it a trifecta. For the record, West, taking a play out of Jim Joyce’s book, made a blunder on the call at first that led to the lone run in a 1-0 Angels’ win and the Tigers’ ejections.

With three in one game and 15 in less than a week we have to imagine MLB’s Three Blind Mice might be at it again. This rekindles the ongoing debate on the poor officiating in MLB and you have to wonder if it’s way past time for the league to make some type of move expanding instant replay, even in the regular season.

Considering how willing players and managers are to make a case arguing balls and strikes while knowing they’ll be sent home early, it may also be time to advance into the world of technology. With all the technology in today’s world, when are we going to see a computerized strike zone that is set precisely to a zone that guarantees an equal playing field?

While some may argue that taking the “human factor” away would hurt the game, when that human factor determines outcomes of playoff games and changes history then it may be time to develop it.

MORE MLB: Will Prince Fielder’s HR Derby choices raise controversy?

Used with permission of the author.

Jay Donetelli is a Tampa-based freelance sportswriter and contributor to Sports Climax. With an opinion sharper than an Ovechkin skate blade with the sting of an Ali jab, Donetelli has a loyal cult of readers who have found a way to love him.

Copyright ©2011 Sports Climax, LLC

Takera Kobayashi may be the true hotdog eating champ after all.  While Joey Chesnut was taking home his 5th consecutive Mustard Belt after cramming 62 franks down at the 2011 Nathan’s International Hotdog Eating Contest, T.K. outdid him on a rooftop in Manhattan. Here’s an edited version of the video. (BTW we did watch the entire video to confirm T.K. did accomplish the feat):

A former six-time champ of Nathan’s contest, T.K. is shown in the full version of the video below devouring 69 dogs in 10 minutes, a number that breaks Chesnut’s all-time record.

When told about the feat, Chesnut said:

“It wasn’t a competition. It was him just eating. I’ve done 71 in practice by myself.”

For those wondering why Kobayashi did not compete head-to-head against Chesnut this year, he remains ineligible because he refuses to sign an exclusive contract with Major League Eating.

Sorriest thing about all this is, Kobayashi’s abs looked more ripped than mine even after filling them up with 20,000 calories.

Used with permission of the author.

Jay Donetelli is a Tampa-based freelance sportswriter and contributor to Sports Climax. With an opinion sharper than an Ovechkin skate blade with the sting of an Ali jab, Donetelli has a loyal cult of readers who have found a way to love him.

Copyright ©2011 Sports Climax, LLC

The 2011 Home Run Derby contest will take place at Chase Field on Monday July 11, 2011 with a new format that has the AL and NL competing for charity.

The teams have been selected and announced by their captains, David ‘Big Papi’ Ortiz of the Red Sox and Prince Fielder of the Brewers. Both captains bring great resumes to the event with Fielder winning the competition in 2009 with 23 homeruns and Big Papi taking the title last year with 32 dingers.

Joining Ortiz on the American League team will be teammate Adrian Gonzalez, Blue Jays slugger Jose Bautista and Yankees Robinson Cano. While Bautista leads MLB with 28 home runs, Yankees Curtis Granderson and Mark Teixeira who have 25 each were left off the team.

On the NL squad the three players joining Fielder will be Brewers’ teammate Rickie Weeks (15 HRs), Dodgers’ Matt Kemp (22 HRs) and the Cardinals’ Matt Holliday (12 HRs).

Although Fielder said he wanted to pick a Diamondbacks player since they are hosting the game, he opted not to do that. That decision may not set well with the Arizona fans since three Diamondbacks players have more HRs then Holliday (Chris Young 16, Kelly Johnson 14, J. Upton 14). Upton earlier said he was hoping to have a chance to represent his team.

So how much has this competition changed over the years?

In 1985 Cincinnati Reds slugger Dave Parker won it with six homers and last year’s winner Big Papi, took home the crown after knocking 32 over the fence. According to the stats we found, the most ever hit was 41 and it happened at Comerica Park in Detroit in 2005 off the bat of Phillies’ slugger Bobby Abreu.

Used with permission of the author.

Jay Donetelli is a Tampa-based freelance sportswriter and contributor to Sports Climax. With an opinion sharper than an Ovechkin skate blade with the sting of an Ali jab, Donetelli has a loyal cult of readers who have found a way to love him.

Copyright ©2011 Sports Climax, LLC

It’s getting to be so redundant that the 2011 Nathan’s International Hotdog Eating Contest could have been pre-written with a fill-in-the-blank spot for champion Joey Chestnut’s total for the day.

Chesnut again hoisted the Mustard Belt, eating competition’s version of the Stanley Cup for the fifth straight time after scarfing down 62 hot dogs in 10 minutes at Coney Island in Brooklyn.

In case you’re into calculating, that equates to 20,000 calories and with a $10,000 prize about $161.29 per consumed dog.

Coming in second place was Chicago-native Patrick Bertoletti who made it look interesting in the early minutes before fading down the stretch and finishing with 53 hot dogs. Third in the country’s most famous eating contest was Timothy Janus with 43.

Chesnut’s 2011 total of 62 is eight more than last year’s 54 that won the 2010 contest.

Like last year, former six-time champ Takeru Kobayashi did not compete after remaining ineligible because he refuses to sign an exclusive contract with Major League Eating.

Chesnut was asked about the rumor that Kobayashi downed 69 dogs today away from the site today to prove he is truly the champ and responded with this:

“It wasn’t a competition. It was him just eating. I’ve done 71 in practice by myself.”

Here’s the edited version of T.K. downing the 69 dogs and I have seen the unedited version to confirm he did indeed complete the feat:

This year also marked the inaugural womens contest that was held separate from the men. Sonya Thomas, a Virginia-native who calls herself “The Black Widow” took home that belt after cramming down 40 hotdogs.

Used with permission of the author.

Jay Donetelli is a Tampa-based freelance sportswriter and contributor to Sports Climax. With an opinion sharper than an Ovechkin skate blade with the sting of an Ali jab, Donetelli has a loyal cult of readers who have found a way to love him.

Copyright ©2011 Sports Climax, LLC

The New York Mets bad season just got worse.

It’s bad enough that they lost the first two games of the Subway Series to the Yankees 5-1 on Friday and 5-2 on Saturday, but now they’re waiting to see how extensive a hamstring injury to Jose Reyes is.

Reyes left Saturday’s game with a left hamstring injury he suffered sprinting down the first base line to beat out an infield hit. This happened in his first at bat and after going back onto the field in the top of the second, he decided to remove himself from the game.

How severe of a blow is this to the Mets?

An MRI on Sunday will tell but in the meantime, keep in mind that Reyes is leading the majors with a .352 average and 124 hits. The speedster also leads the majors with 15 triples and sits in the number two spot in stolen bases with 30. Add 42 multi-hit games and 65 runs scored….you get the picture.

This couldn’t happen at a worse time this season as the Mets are battling to get back to .500 after losing their past three and dropping to 41-42. Couldn’t happen at a worse time for Reyes as well since he becomes a free agent at the end of this season.

If Reyes goes on the IR, he will join several teammates who have missed a significant amount of time for the Mets this season.

Reyes has been the talk of the league this season after setting a new franchise record of reaching 100 hits in the fewest games and after rival Yankees star Alex Rodriguez called him the “world’s best player.”

That statement started a debate with Yankees GM Brian Cashman who argued that Robinson Cano was the best player on the field. Have to think Cashman would get outvoted on that one.   

Used with permission of the author.

Jay Donetelli is a Tampa-based freelance sportswriter and contributor to Sports Climax. With an opinion sharper than an Ovechkin skate blade with the sting of an Ali jab, Donetelli has a loyal cult of readers who have found a way to love him.

Copyright ©2011 Sports Climax, LLC