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Nov 23 '16, 05:09AM
SONOMA, Calif. Shawn Thornton Panthers Jersey . -- Although Dario Franchitti hasnt won an IndyCar race since last years Indianapolis 500, hes in prime position to snap that unpleasant streak when he starts on the pole Sunday in an excellent Honda at Sonoma Raceway. But if he can help Scott Dixon by stepping off the gas a bit, Franchitti would be happy to follow team orders. Franchitti wont put his personal success ahead of Target Chip Ganassi Racings fortunes. That means Dixon will get every chance to gain ground on IndyCar points leader Helio Castroneves (453 points), who leads second-place Dixon (422) with five races to go. "I want to win the race, obviously," Franchitti said after turning a lap in 1 minute, 17.5271 seconds to win his 33rd career pole. "But the big picture -- and we say this every year in our team -- we sit in the first meeting of the year, and our two goals are to win the 500 and win the championship. We didnt win the 500, so weve got to win the championship. Scott is our best shot at that, and whatever I can do to help him win that championship, I will." Will Power also hasnt won an IndyCar race since early last season in Sao Paulo, yet he feels the same way about Team Penske teammate Castroneves, who needs a strong finish in the waning weeks of the IndyCar season to earn his first championship. "Anything to help Helio win the championship," said Power, who finished second in each of the last three years. Dixon finished qualifying in second place at 1:17.7196, while Castroneves starts back in fifth behind Power and Ryan Hunter-Reay. That distance isnt much, but its a bit tougher to make up at Sonoma Raceway, a 2.385-mile road course in Northern California wine country. Passing is uncommonly difficult on the winding, 12-turn Sonoma track, which makes qualifying particularly important. Four pole-sitters have won the race, and nobody has moved up to win from farther than fifth. Its tough even under ideal conditions, but the Bay Area wind has been unpredictable this week, its direction changing 180 degrees over the course of many afternoons. The wind also blows Sonoma sand onto the track, creating unpredictable tire conditions and general uncertainty with every turn. "It was all over the place," Castroneves said after qualifying. "You really have to expect the unexpected all the time -- and then the sun is really beautiful right now, and actually no (wind). It was very difficult for everyone." Charlie Kimball continued his impressive recent work with a sixth-place run Saturday, easily his highest qualifying position in Sonoma. Ganassis Kimball earned his first career victory in IndyCars most recent race in Ohio. "The wind does totally change the track," said Power, who set the track record in qualifying last year. "Our car was quite tough. Im pretty happy. I think the Ganassi guys have definitely got a leg up on everybody here." Franchitti earned his third pole at Sonoma and his fourth pole of the season. The Scot said his team spent a sombre week working on the race after the recent deaths of Chip Ganassis father, Floyd, and the wife of former Ganassi engineer Andy Brown. "Its obviously been a very tough week," Franchitti said. "Were pretty focused on bringing a good result for the team." While the top two teams will do anything to help their top two drivers, nobody is conceding the IndyCar series title to the two front-runners just yet. Five drivers are within 111 points of Castroneves, including Andretti Autosports Hunter-Reay in third place and Franchitti in fifth. Castroneves said hes feeling fine after spraining his neck and cutting his shin when he crashed a stock car during practice on a street course in his native Brazil two weeks ago. He insists hes in top condition to handle the demanding Sonoma track -- as does defending Sonoma champion Ryan Briscoe, who qualified well back in 22nd place for Panther Racing in his final IndyCar event of the season. Custom Florida Panthers Jersey . Thousands of fans at Mosaic Stadium will be cozying up to each other in an effort to stay warm in chilly temperatures and block the Prairie wind that locals say can knock your socks off. Jussi Jokinen Panthers Jersey . -- Ryan Getzlaf grabbed the three pucks wrapped in tape and held them up to his chest in the Anaheim Ducks dressing room for a celebration nine seasons in the making. http://www.hockeypanthersofficialonline.com/ . PETERSBURG, Fla. No strangers to making bold moves in free agency, the Philadelphia Flyers made a trade for a veteran defenceman before agreeing to terms on a four-year contract. Numbers Game breaks down the Flyers addition of Mark Streit. The Flyers Get: D Mark Streit. Streit, 35, has been among the highest-scoring defencemen in the league. Since 2007-2008, he has 241 points in 367 games (0.66 points per game), which ranks seventh among defencemen with at least 200 games played over that span. Of course, over the last two seasons, since he returned from missing the entire 2010-2011 season with a torn labrum in his shoulder, Streit is minus-41, which is tied for worst among defencemen in that time. That doesnt all fall on Streit, however, as the Islanders have had their share of questionable goaltending and Streits puck possession numbers were strong prior to 2013 season. In Philadelphia, Streit can continue to play 22-23 minutes per game and anchor the power play. Again, going back to 2007-2008, Streit has 120 power play points in just over four-and-a-half seasons, so hes a decided asset with the man advantage. There is risk involved in Streits contract. Since he is over 35-years-of-age, it will count against the Flyers cap even if he retires before it is complete. While its reasonable to expect Streit to play the next couple years at a relatively high level, maybe by the time hes 38, its possible that hes not going to be handle playing the top-four minutes that contract necessitates in order to provide value. In addition to the Flyers most likely needing write big compliance buyout cheques to both Daniel Briere and Ilya Bryzgalov, just to squeeze Streits deal under the salary cap, the Flyers are going to be in a position to move a defenceman because (not including Chris Prongers contract, which surely will be allocated to long-term injured reserve) they will have more than $26-million allocated to six defencemen. Andrej Meszaros, with one year and $4-million left on his current contract, could be the easiest to move, even afteer he missed 37 games due to shoulder injuries last season. Shawn Thornton Jersey. . Admittedly, acquiring top-four defencemen isnt easy and adding Streit probably makes the Flyers better next year, which is one thing. What it does for them in years three and four of the deal could be another entirely. It wouldnt be the first time that the Flyers have overspent on a free agent, and being the highest bidder leads to a likelihood of overpaying, but there is some irony involved in using two compliance buyouts on players overpaid as unrestricted free agents, in order to gain the financial flexibility to venture down the same path at a different position. The Islanders Get: RW Shane Harper and a fourth-round pick in 2014. Getting a fourth-round pick for Streit is pretty nice value for the Islanders, considering he was set to leave as an unrestricted free agent, which would yield nothing in return. A fourth-round pick brings slightly better than a one-in-five chance of landing an NHL player. Harper, 24, ripped up the ECHL last season, scoring 27 points in 15 games for Trenton, but has 41 points in 143 career AHL games, making it unlikely that hes going to make the jump to the NHL at any point. His inclusion in the deal is likely more related to giving the Flyers room for new contracts. Teams are allowed to have 50 players under contract and, according to www.capgeek.com, the Flyers now have 44 signed, with six restricted free agents still waiting for deals. The Islanders, on the other hand, are nowhere near their reserve list limit. The Islanders will have to make up for Streits absence, particularly on the power play. Veteran Lubomir Visnovsky is already a regular on the Isles power play, so the next best in-house option may be Matt Donovan, a 23-year-old who has 93 points in 147 AHL games over the past two seasons and is due for his chance in the NHL. Scott Cullen can be reached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. 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