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LEXINGTON, Ohio -- Others slipped and slid, but Sebastien Bourdais persevered and even flourished during IndyCar qualifying Saturday at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. A noon downpour turned the 2.25-mile, 13-turn circuit into a slippery strand of roadway, but Bourdais proved to be the best on rain tires. The French driver made it through the first two qualifying rounds and into the Fast Six. "The last lap I knew I was shy and needed some more, so I just went for it and made it stick and that Mystic machine gave me everything it had and it was enough," Bourdais said. It is the second pole of the season for Bourdais and the 33rd of his American open-wheel career, tying him with Dario Franchitti on the all-time list. The KVSH Racing driver ran a 1:24.161 for an average speed of 96.586 mph. It was almost 19 seconds slower than times posted in Saturdays dry morning practice. The slippery track resulted in three stoppages in the first two qualifying sessions, making it hard for drivers to get one lap at speed let alone any rhythm. "Obviously the conditions were really tricky," Andretti Autosport driver James Hinchcliffe said. "The cars just had no grip." It certainly shook up the order for Sundays Honda Indy 200. Series points leader Helio Castroneves and four-time Mid-Ohio winner Scott Dixon failed to get out of their first sessions and will start 15th and 22nd, respectively, in the 22-car field. "Not only was it wet, there were so many yellows that we only got one timed lap in," Castroneves said. "At the end of the day it was the same for everyone. We were the first car out and tried some different lines. Sometimes that is not the best place to be. It gives the other guys some direction on where to run." Castroneves will try to make the most of it in the race as he seeks his first IndyCar championship. "Well just have to keep working and hope the race tomorrow is better than qualifying," he said. Bourdais, who won from the pole in the first race at Toronto, will start alongside Josef Newgarden, his best start on a road or street course for Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing. Target Chip Ganassi Racings Tony Kanaan will start third, while Andretti Autosport teammates Carlos Munoz and Ryan Hunter-Reay will be fourth and fifth. Team Penskes Will Power starts sixth. Power trails Castroneves by 13 points and Hunter-Reay is in third, 69 points behind in the drivers standings, so Mid-Ohio could be a turning point in the championship. "Its typical IndyCar," Power said. "Its all mixed up. You dont know who is going to be pole one week to the next. Its great racing. Hopefully we can get together and get a podium tomorrow, maybe a win." There have been 10 different pole winners through 15 races this year. Columbus-born Graham Rahal missed the Fast Six by one-thousandth of a second and will start seventh. Simon Pagenaud of Schmidt Peterson Hamilton Motorsports is fourth in the championship race and will start ninth. Marco Andretti is 16th and last years Mid-Ohio winner, Charlie Kimball is 20th. Gregor Blanco Jersey . A player confirmed to TSN on the condition of anonymity that he received his ballot yesterday. Another confirms hes been told to expect his shortly. "The unions executive committee insists a strike vote does not mean were pushing away from the table," the player said. "But we want the league to know were serious about our position. Cheap San Francisco Giants Jerseys . -- Josh Smith made a 3-pointer as time expired and finished with 20 points to lift the Detroit Pistons to a 99-98 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Thursday night in both teams exhibition finale. http://www.cheapsanfranciscogiantsjerseys.com/?tag=cheap-madison-bumgarner-jersey . They actually finished with a better record in ‘07 than they did in ‘06 but only marginally, going from 61 victories to 66. Willie McCovey Jersey . None of them are Finlands Pekka Rinne, who stands as Canadas biggest challenge in Thursdays quarter-final round. Even while a young Finnish team has struggled with penalties, turnovers and a lack of offensive depth, Rinne has been a rock with a 1. Dave Dravecky Jersey .com) - The Calgary Flames were again involved in a game in which a team was held scoreless, only this time they came out on the winning side.COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Maty Mauk says he likes to think aggressively on the field. For another week, it paid off. Missouris sophomore quarterback threw four touchdown passes -- two each to Jimmie Hunt and Bud Sasser -- and passed for 144 yards to lead the 20th-ranked Tigers past Central Florida 38-10 on Saturday. "Wait until he gets good," coach Gary Pinkel said. "There are a lot of things out there that he can do to improve and he knows that. Hes a great, gamey player, but he can get considerably better." Mauk entered the day tied for first nationally with eight passing touchdowns but tossed two interceptions last week at Toledo, tying his season total from last year. Making only his seventh career start this week, the sophomore knows that sometimes his decision-making can be to the Tigers detriment. His thinking proved prescient when Central Florida cornerback Jacoby Glenn, a freshman All-American last season, intercepted him with 2 1/2 minutes remaining in the first quarter. Five minutes later, quarterback Justin Holman threw a 2-yard touchdown pass to running back William Stanback to give the Knights a 10-7 lead. "We just needed to make sure we kept a cage on him," Central Florida linebacker Troy Gray said. "He got out of the pocket, and when he gets to running hes a good runner." Missouris first deficit of the season only lasted one drive, though, as Mauk saw Hunt outpacing safety Drico Johnson and then threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to him in the end zone. Hunt finished with two receptions for 21 yards, and four of his past six catches have resulted in scores. "Thats God-given talent he has to be able to make a mistake and get over it within five to 10 seconds," said Sasser, who finished with five receptions for 57 yards. Missouri (3-0) took a 14-10 advantage into halftime before clamping down on defence, getting five sacks and forcing four turnovers after the break. Defensive ends Markus Golden and Shane Ray combined for 3 1/2 sacks and five tackles for loss. &"Each week me and Marcus just go out and try to play to the best of our abilities, make as many plays as we can," Ray said.dddddddddddd. "It doesnt really matter if Marcus is in the spotlight or Im in the spotlight as long as we are doing what we are supposed to do as a defence." Missouri outgained Central Florida 322-299, but limited the Knights (0-2) to 7 of 15 on third-down conversions. Coach George OLeary credited pressure from Golden and Ray for many of his teams stalled drives. Central Florida matched Missouri in the first half thanks to Holman, making his first career start after throwing for one touchdown and running for two more off the bench in the teams season-opening 26-24 loss to Penn State on Aug. 30 in Ireland. The sophomore completed 10 of 13 passes for 97 yards and adding another 30 on the ground before the break, hoping to extend the teams winning streak against ranked opponents to three games. But he struggled in the second half. Holman threw two interceptions, including one to Josh Augusta with 3 1/2 minutes left in the third quarter after the nose guard batted the ball at the line of scrimmage and then jumped to corral it. The play extended the Tigers nation-best takeaway streak to 47 games. Sasser scored four plays later on a 21-yard touchdown pass from Mauk to extend Missouris lead to 21-10. The Tigers then pounced for 17 unanswered points in the final quarter. "You need a guy that big to make sure he made a play, but what great hands," Pinkel said. "Its one of those things where you dont know when those plays are going to happen, but you keep battling and it really changed the whole game." Holman finished with 209 yards on 22-of-36 passing, and Central Florida fell to 0-2 for the first time since 2005. "They had some pressure, but its on me to get the ball out," said Holman, who backed up Blake Bortles last year. "Thats my job as a quarterback -- stay in no matter what the pressure is back there and throw strikes." ' ' '