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Our experts weigh in on four of the biggest questions in NASCAR:Turn 1: Will Jimmie Johnson reach 100 wins in his career?Ricky Craven, ESPN NASCAR analyst: Its actually not impossible considering he could race nine more years, average two wins per year, and be knocking on the door at 50. But its a slippery slope for drivers in their 40s, and just assuming a couple of wins a year isnt practical. But having this discussion puts into perspective what an amazing career he has had.Ryan McGee, ESPN.com:?No, but its not that he couldnt. I think its entirely up to him. The number is reachable. Over the last five seasons, hes won 23. That same pace would do it. But I dont think theres any way he sticks around another five seasons.John Oreovicz, ESPN.com: It would be a great storyline for NASCAR, but its unlikely to happen. Johnson is 41 and needs 22 wins to hit the century. Among modern-era NASCAR greats, only Dale Earnhardt won that many races after he turned 42. Darrell Waltrip won 11, Mark Martin eight, Bill Elliott just four. Even Richard Petty claimed only 10 wins post-42. Johnson is athletically in better condition than those guys were, but the likelihood of him averaging three or more wins a year for the next seven years is pretty remote.Bob Pockrass, ESPN.com: No. Hes at 78. I dont see him racing more than four more years after this one and dont see him winning five each year.Marty Smith, ESPN.com:?If he wants to. But hell have to race until hes at least 50. And I dont expect him to race until hes 50. He doesnt race for numbers or accolades, its just not what fulfills him. I still cant even fathom that hes six wins away from tying Darrell Waltrip and Bobby Allison. Thats inconceivable to me. And its inconceivable to him, too. At heart, hes still just a dirt-bomb kid from SoCal whose success is founded in love from his parents and their desire to spend time with their three sons in the desert, away from the static of heavy machinery and school buses. And Johnson got a shot from Ricky Johnson and Herb Fishel and the Herzogs and Ricky Hendrick and Rick Hendrick and Jeff Gordon. And now hes Tom Brady in Nomex. If hes not the greatest ever, hes in the final sentences of the conversation.Turn 2: Five Chase drivers (Denny Hamlin, Chase Elliott, Austin Dillon, Joey Logano and Kevin Harvick) finished outside the top 30 at Charlotte. How many of them, and who, wont advance to the next round?Craven:?Im worried about Austin Dillon and Joey Logano the most. I believe Harvick will battle his way forward and Chase Elliott could surprise, as he has the speed to win this weekend in Kansas. Denny Hamlin is a toss-up, and someone in the top eight will fall; that could be Kurt Busch.McGee:?The two young guys are probably in the most trouble. Harvick is at the bottom and his Chase has been three awful finishes and one win, but no one has been better in the elimination format than Happy, so no way Im ruling him out until hes gone. He and Hamlin are weekly threats to win, and those two plus Logano are proven plate race winners. I really believe that Elliott and Dillon are both capable of winning at Talladega, too. But their sample size is tiny compared to the vets, so the older guys have the edge.Oreovicz: My guess is three of the five wont make it. Of that group, certainly Harvick has the best chance to advance because hes the guy who has shown the ability to flip the switch and win when necessary since the start of the elimination format Chase. Logano is the next best bet to move on to the round of 8, but Elliott would be the best story.Pockrass:?Three of them wont advance. Denny Hamlin wins Talladega and Chase Elliott scores enough points to get into the next round. Am I crazy to doubt Harvick? Probably.Smith:?Its almost impossible to speculate on this. Consistency may not apply to this equation, given such a short increment of time and the esteemed level of competition the drivers on the outside must supplant. There are 11 positions out there for the taking, and for drivers deep behind in points it may take wins to earn those spots. Harvick will win Kansas. Thats just how that No. 4 bunch operates. They wreck or screw up on pit road one week, and then they come back seven days later and win. So hes in. Logano and Hamlin are strong everywhere, so I expect theyll get in. Chase Elliott is among the most consistent drivers in the sport, and Austin Dillon, in my opinion, made great strides as a racer this year. But those guys havent yet won. Talladega is out there. Its anyones guess. A lot like this question.Turn 3: Did Richard Childress?Racing do the right thing in giving Ryan Newman a contract extension?Craven:?Ryan finished second in the Chase a couple years back, has a solid résumé, and is definitely worthy of the investment. Most importantly, they have funding, which controls this entire discussion.McGee:?Sure. I know some RCR fans probably wanted to see something more daring, but Newman is solid and, more importantly, hes funded. No bucks, no Buck Rogers.Oreovicz:?RC strikes me as a guy who isnt comfortable with a lot of change. Newman isnt likely to win a championship at this stage of his career, but he still has plenty to offer the organization. Until Childress is ready to hire a young gun without the last name of Dillon, this was probably his best option.Pockrass: Its the safe move. Newman is good as far as a consistent driver who can be a threat to win. But the sport needs more young stars, and this would have been a good opportunity for one of them.Smith:?Presuming the sponsors like Newman and the dollars are right, he did.Turn 4: What does the No. 48 teams competitive ebb and flow this season say about NASCAR racing?Craven: It illustrates how paper-thin the margins are between competing for wins and simply existing without much relevance. Racing today is more about fundamentals than ever before, Qualify well, have a perfect day on pit road, capitalize on restarts. Has anyone other than me noticed execute has become the key word in our sport? I prefer Drive the hell out of it, but Im afraid those days are gone.McGee:?You cant just throw a team out when it has a poor stretch of the season, even if that stretch covers half of that season. It used to be that if a team got off to a bad start in March and April, that was pretty much how it was going to be. Then it would work on its stuff for the next season and rebound. We just talked about RCR. That was the roller coaster forever. But these days not just drivers but entire organizations hit these slumps. In spring 2015 we were writing about how Joe Gibbs Racing couldnt get out of its own way and then it completely turned it around and won the Cup. We all said Hendrick was toast for 2016, and now it is bouncing back and the Chase hands everyone a reset button in September. Shorter in-season streaks that can be fixed? I like it.Oreovicz: It could validate the theory that once a team wins a race early in the season, it concentrates its development program on being competitive in the Chase races, even if it comes at the expense of the regular season. Or it could just mean that Johnson and the 48 team got everything 100 percent correct on race day for the first time in several months. The sport is more competitive than ever these days, and teams have to get things just exactly perfect to win.Pockrass: It says that the real season starts with Chicagoland and the Chase for the Sprint Cup.Smith:?Its damn hard. Thats what it says. Its hard to make it at all, and even harder to sustain it. Even the greatest team of its era -- and arguably the greatest sustained team ever -- is vulnerable to the inevitable fissures that can form when competitiveness wanes. Fast cars and trophies fix everything. But when those arent as easy to come by, neither is patience. Jimmie Johnson and Chad Knaus are rivaled only by the late 90s Evernham/Gordon union, and maybe Inman/Petty among the premier driver/crew chief tandems in NASCAR history. And from the outset theyve had well-documented ups and downs. Through it all they manage to keep on winning. Carolina Hurricanes Store . The 20-year-old Pelicans big man glanced up and smiled widely at the well-wishers -- a fitting end to a day he wont soon forget. Davis responded to his selection earlier in the day as a Western Conference All-Star with 26 points and 10 rebounds, and the New Orleans Pelicans overcame a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit to defeat the Minnesota Timberwolves 98-91 on Friday night. Hurricanes Jerseys 2020 . It was the kind of score that might make everyone else wonder which course he was playing. Except that Graeme McDowell saw the whole thing. Crouched behind the 10th green at Sheshan International, McDowell looked over at the powerful American and said, "Ive probably seen 18 of the best drives Ive seen all year in the last two days. https://www.cheaphurricanes.com/ . Now, with Game 6 set for Fenway Park and an 8:07 p.m. ET first pitch, the Detroit Tigers face the unenviable task of having to beat the Boston Red Sox twice, on the road, to advance to the World Series. Carolina Hurricanes Shirts . Irving scored 23 points, Tristan Thompson had 20 points and 10 rebounds and the Cavaliers beat the Denver Nuggets 117-109 on Friday night. Stitched Hurricanes Jerseys . Louis Blues. Shane Hnidy joins Brian Munz for the broadcast on TSN 1290 Radio at 7pm ct. NEW YORK -- Scott Darling is more comfortable in his second full NHL season and hes been coming up big for the Chicago Blackhawks with starting goalie Corey Crawford out.Darling stopped 33 shots, Artem Anisimov scored the tiebreaking goal late in the second period and the Central Division-leading Blackhawks beat the New York Rangers 2-1 on Tuesday night.Darling has started the last six games while Crawford has been recovering from an appendectomy. Darling has been stellar over the last four games, allowed just three goals on 116 shots while helping the Blackhawks go 3-0-1.You just get into a rhythm, you get comfortable, not as nervous, said Darling, who upped his record to 7-2-2 this season. You can just relax and have fun out there. ... Last year was my first full year. I was still nervous about my role, my position within the organization. Coming back now, Im not one of the new guys, Ive been here for 2 1/2 years.The Rangers had some chances in the final minutes, but Darling stopped Mats Zuccarellos slap shot with about 3 minutes to go, and then a tip-in attempt by Jimmy Vesey less than a minute later.The guys did a good job of keeping a lot of it from the outside, Darling said. They had their chances and so did we. ... It was a fun game, a great hockey game and a big two points.Trevor van Riemsdyk also scored, Artemi Panarin had two assists and Anisimov had one as Chicago got even with New York following a 1-0 overtime loss at home to the Rangers last Friday.Jesper Fast scored for the Rangers and Antti Raanta, starting for the fourth straight game, made 24 saves. Raanta had won three consecutive starts, including shutouts in the last two. New York had won four of its last five.I think it was pretty much the same deal as it was Friday night in Chicago, Raanta said. Two teams, both have good offenses and both love to play with pace. They got a couple odd-man rushes there; they got two goals from those and we didnt capitalize on our chances. A 2-1 loss, its not a great way to lose the game when its so close.Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews was activated from injured reserve earlier in the day after missing nine games witth an upper-body injury.ddddddddddddAnisimov put Chicago ahead for good with 1:09 left in the middle period, taking a centering pass from Brian Campbell in front and firing it past Raanta for his 13th goal.I just play my game, go hard to the net, said Anisimov, who was drafted by the Rangers in the second round in 2006 and spent parts of four seasons in New York from 2008-12. This is my first team in the NHL, its a special feeling when you score here.After a scoreless first period, Chicago got on the scoreboard at 5:18 of the second as van Riemsdyk took a pass from Panarin and wristed it past Raanta for his first of the season. It ended Raantas shutout streak of 176:22.The Rangers tied it less than 3 minutes later when Fast, standing at the left side of the net, batted the puck out of the air for his third at 8:15.Vesey had a chance for the Rangers on a rush minutes before Chicagos goal, but Darling made a nice pad save on his attempt.He made some key saves as the game went on, Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said.Game notes Toews had four goals and eight assists in 21 games before he was injured in Chicagos 2-1 loss at San Jose on Nov. 23. The Blackhawks were 5-2-2 in his absence. The 28-year-old center has no points in his last six games, and just two assists in his last nine. ... Campbells assist on Anisimovs goal was his 16th assist and 20th point in 40 games against the Rangers. ... New York starting goalie Henrik Lundqvist was the backup in a fourth consecutive game for the first time in his career. ... The Rangers were without D Ryan McDonagh due to an illness. He was replaced in the lineup by Adam Clendening. ... Rick Nash missed his fourth straight game due to a groin injury and Rangers coach Alain Vigneault was optimistic about getting Nash back soon.UP NEXTBlackhawks: At the New York Islanders on Thursday night in the middle game of a three-game trip.Rangers: At the Dallas Stars on Thursday night in the opener of a two-game trip.---Follow Vin Cherwoo at www.twitter.com/VinCherwooAP ' ' '