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On lap 194, Hamlin’s car went up in smoke with a blown engine, and he finished the race 39th. After starting the day ninth in points, 565 behind leader Kyle Busch, Hamlin earned 46 and fell to 12th — 694 behind.

“We just can’t seem to get there, every week it’s something,” Hamlin said.

He wasn’t the only driver to see his standing fall in the Chase for the Sprint Cup after Sunday, when Carl Edwards got his fifth victory.

(More in ‘Miffed Hamlin departs early’…)

That Colon is positioned as she is in the sport might have a direct link to the late, great Dale Earnhardt, the seven-time NASCAR Cup series champion known as “The Intimidator.”

The turning point of her career might have come in 1994 during a test at Talladega Superspeedway. At the time Colon, now 41, was involved in data acquisitions, which then was fairly new to the sport.

And at that time, Earnhardt wasn’t a big believer in Colon.

(More in ‘Colon unique NASCAR presence’…)

“That’s pretty neat, pretty special to me,” said Busch, who finished second Saturday in the Nationwide race at The Glen. “To be a force to be reckoned with means a lot. This year has just been phenomenal. It’s just crazy.”

Busch, who also clinched the top spot in the 10-race Chase for the Sprint Cup title, has won 16 races in NASCAR’s top three series this season — eight in Sprint Cup, six in Nationwide and two in trucks.

(More in ‘Busch dominates at Glen’…)

Adrian was picked to finish second, followed by Olivet, Alma, Trine (formerly Tri-State), Albion and Kalamazoo.

• Eastern lands center: Matt Balkema , a center from Warren Cousino, has accepted a scholarship at Eastern Michigan. He averaged 14.5 points and 9.6 rebounds last season.

• Lindsay honored: Four-time Stanley Cup-winner and former Red Wings star Ted Lindsay is among four recipients of this year’s Lester Patrick Trophy, for service to hockey in the United States.

(More in ‘Briefs: ABC shows Indy 500 through 2012′…)

“Visibility was the big, big problem,” said Fellows, the first Canadian winner in a major NASCAR race in Canada. “At over 70 mph, there was just so much spray.”

The 48-year-old Ontario driver took advantage of Marcos Ambrose’s pit-road speeding penalty to take the lead, and had about a half-minute advantage over fellow Canadian Patrick Carpentier when the NAPA Auto Parts 200 was red-flagged.

“It’s very dangerous,” Fellows said minutes before the race was called.

(More in ‘Fellows finds his ‘groove’ in waterlogged Nationwide race’…)

Grand Prix officials plan to announce a major headliner for Aug. 30 in the next few days. Local bands will be announced shortly, as well.

Updates can be found at www.detroitgp.com.

• Xavier lands Crawford: Indiana guard Jordan Crawford has accepted a scholarship from Xavier.

Crawford’s brother Joe played at Kentucky and went to Detroit Renaissance. He played in 30 games for Indiana last season as a freshman, including eight starts, averaging 9.7 points and 2.3 assists.

Motor sports: Stewart draws fine of $10,000

Tony Stewart was fined $10,000 for what the U.S.

(More in ‘Briefs: Toney’s TKO now a no decision’…)

Castroneves led a race-high 35 laps and appeared to have the best car in the 27-car field most of the day. But Dixon, who had been running third behind Penske Racing teammates Castroneves and Ryan Briscoe, got past both of them during a pit stop under caution on lap 51.

Several other drivers, on different strategies, stayed out and were ahead at that point, but Dixon eventually inherited the lead when Tony Kanaan pitted on lap 62.

(More in ‘Dixon earns fifth victory of IRL season’…)

I was reminded of this phenomenon Friday night in a United States Tennis Association (USTA)-sanctioned mixed doubles match between two racket clubs. Wife X and Husband Y (names changed to protect the innocent, of course) were scheduled to play together.

Before the match I spoke to Husband Y and asked in amazement: “Wow, you can play tennis with your wife?”

Not a problem, Husband Y told me.

(More in ‘Angelique S. Chengelis: Sports not always love match’…)

Dixon acknowledges that disappointment is never far from his mind as he chases his second series championship and first since 2003, even with Franchitti now racing in NASCAR.

Still, with six races remaining on the 2008 schedule and leads of 63 points over Mid-Ohio pole-winner Helio Castroneves and 69 over his Chip Ganassi teammate Dan Wheldon, Dixon insisted it’s too early to be thinking about points.

(More in ‘Dixon stays on track for title’…)