Yesterday was a big day for Nascar as Jimmie Johnson snatched the lead position, winning his second Daytona 500. Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished second and Danica Patrick, who began the race as the first female pole sitter, finished in eighth-place.
There were several crashes but none approached the magnitude of the wreck that injured more than two dozen fans a day earlier in a second-tier race on the same track.
In the NBA, the Knicks snapped their longest losing streak of the season beating Philadelphia 99-33. Elsewhere, the Nets took on Memphis and won 76-72. Portland beat Boston 92-86. The Lakers beat Dallas 103-99. Kobe Bryant scored 38 points and Miami defeated Cleveland 109-105.
Checking the NHL, Boston triumphed over Florida 4-1. Carolina doubled up the N-Y Islanders 4-2. Detroit slaughtered Vancouver 8-3. Winnipeg beat New Jersey 4-2 and Calgary slid past Phoenix 5-4.
In top 25 college basketball, No. 6 Duke defeated Boston College 89-68. No. 7 Michigan beat Illinois 71-58 and 25th ranked Notre Dame won against Cincinnati 62-41. Elsewhere, Siena beat Radford 57-65.
In Baseball spring training action, Jon Lester pitched two scoreless innings in his first start of spring training, leading the Boston Red Sox to a 5-3 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals.
The New York Mets tied Houston7-7 and the Yankees general manager says Derek Jeter is about two weeks away from playing in spring training games for the first time since breaking his ankle last fall. Yankees outfielder Curtis Granderson is going to be out up to 10 weeks with a broken right forearm.
For WAMC sports news, I’m Jaired Crofut
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