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FORT WORTH, Texas -- Kevin Harvick doesnt just want to run well this weekend at Texas Motor Speedway because running well could go a long way toward advancing in the Chase for the Sprint Cup.With tires that will be the same compounds as the ones Cup drivers will have in two weeks at Homestead-Miami Speedway for the season finale, Harvick views this race as a good predictor of who could run strong at Homestead, a race many believe a driver needs to win in order to win the title. ?While Homestead is similar to Texas as a 1.5-mile track, Homestead has a variable banking that lends itself to drivers choosing different grooves to pass. At Texas a driver spends more time avoiding bumps.Weve worked hard on this race just for the fact that we ran so poorly here in the spring and qualified poorly, said Harvick, who started 22nd and finished 10th in April at Texas. We felt like this is an important race because its on the same tire as Homestead. Its a very similar surface as Homestead.Theres a lot to be learned from Chicago [to start the Chase] to here to Homestead.So watch whoever runs well Sunday in the AAA 500 and remember that for 14 days later when four drivers among the 40 starters will have a shot for the title.Harvick leads the list of what to watch for at Texas, and it doesnt have anything to do with tires:Harvick in the ClutchHarvick needs another clutch performance after a 20th-place finish at Martinsville has him sixth in the series standings, 16 points behind the current cutoff with races at Texas and Phoenix left in the semifinal round.The four winless remaining Chase drivers lowest in points after Phoenix will be eliminated from convention, leaving four drivers to vie for the title.It wasnt much of a surprise when Harvick was solid in qualifying as he will start third Sunday. For whatever reason, the team led by crew chief Rodney Childers appears motivated after sour outings and has delivered clutch victories in must-win moments.We dont really care what we did last week, were coming in to this week and every other week we expect to come to the race track and have a chance to win, Harvick said.Its not about points. Its not about what happened last week. Its about how do we win this week? Thats really the mentality of the team that Rodney had instilled in it from the very first day. It is good motivation.While Harvick has won six of the last eight races at Phoenix -- the site of the finale in the round -- he does not have a winning Cup resume at Texas. He had back-to-back second-place finishes before a third a year ago and then a 10th in April. He was 28th in final practice Saturday.His last win came three races ago at Kansas, a place where he had three runnerup finishes after a victory there in 2013.Kansas -- we finished second like five times and that one finally paid us back, Harvick said. That stuff has a funny way of working itself full circle. We had a car capable of winning the last fall race here and I had to hold it in gear for 100 laps or 100 miles, whatever it was.It is just one of those places that we run well, we just hadnt made it all happen.Busch back in the packKyle Busch didnt have the best of days Friday as he smacked the wall on the first lap of practice. Then in qualifying, a water leak ended his effort after just one round.The two events were related.It is a byproduct of pounding the fence before we even completed a lap in practice, Busch crew chief Adam Stevens said. In our hurry to change the motor and all the drivetrain afterwards, apparently we didnt get the lower radiator hose completely clamped on the water neck out of the block and proceeded to dump all the water out of it on pit road after our first run.Were going to start 24th and get after them from there.Busch didnt have to change engines, but teams often do when bringing out a backup car so they can have a non-race-ready engine in the backup car that can run a few laps in a practice session. If they didnt, then teams would? have race-ready engines sitting in the backup cars in the haulers and more than likely not being put to use on a weekend.If there is any consolation for Busch, it appears his backup car has good speed. He ran third in the final practice.All these cars are built probably within five downforce numbers of one another, Busch said. Theyre very similar and I wouldnt be worried for us that were at a disadvantage.Johnson has no pressureJimmie Johnson will start 19th and whether he runs any better than that or not he probably wont worry too much after Sundays race.His organization already has focused on Homestead after his win at Martinsville. The team didnt change which car it would bring to Texas but it was busy during the week preparing cars to take to the wind tunnel to get ready for Homestead.We have the car we raced at Darlington and then a new car that we built that are both going back to the wind tunnel and let the wind tunnel [decide] which one goes [ to Homestead as a primary], Johnson said. Its given us a little time to complete a second car and then make a decision between those two.After the team debrief Tuesday on Martinsville and a little talk about Texas, the Hendrick organization started looking ahead to Homestead. So if Johnson doesnt turn into much of a factor, there could be a reason.We did our Tuesday debrief and we couldnt get through the Martinsville debrief and the Texas prep quick enough because we were all there to talk about Homestead, Johnson said. We stayed long and talked about Homestead and that led to more conversations [that] night.Instead of obsessing over Texas and Phoenix -- were definitely giving it time and attention -- but the obsession is about Homestead.Rain? Drying could take hoursRemember how the 2015 race at Phoenix that determined the finalists was cut short by 93 laps because of rain?Well theres a chance the round could be impacted by rain once again. The forecast for Sunday shows the chance of rain increasing throughout the afternoon.Its a good thing the race will start shortly after 1 p.m. local time (2 p.m. ET) and Texas has lights. The bad news: It took NASCAR more than three hours to dry the track Friday morning for truck practice. If the track does get some rain, NASCAR will have to ask fans to wait a few hours for the race to resume.It more than likely will make every effort to do just that - especially with Chase spots on the line.Wholesale Shoes Australia . This should be celebrated because it will not always be this way. With the amount of money given to players by their clubs these days, it is a wonder that so many of those teams allow the sport to continue to take away many of their assets so they can play for a different team in the middle of their season. Cheap Nike Shoes Australia . The 29-year-old from Port Colborne, Ont., has nothing but good things to say about former U.S. marine Liz (Girlrilla) Carmouche ahead of their co-main event Wednesday on the UFCs "Fight for the Troops" televised card in Fort Campbell, Ky. https://www.shoesaustraliaonline.com/ . Louis Blues teammates who would also be participating in the Olympics, Alex Pietrangelo felt right at home, no different in some ways to the travel experience of any old road trip – save for the length of the journey, that is. Shoes Australia From China . Marincin has played in two NHL games so far this season with two penalty minutes. The 21-year-old has three goals, four assists and a plus-5 rating in 24 games with the American Hockey Leagues Oklahoma City Barons this season. Fake Shoes Australia . Note: The Calgary Flames announced Tuesday that Sean Monahan would not be made available to Canadas World Junior team.HOUSTON -- Rice had some fun at Baylors expense at halftime. The Bears then toyed with the Owls in the second half.Seth Russell threw for 337 yards and three touchdowns and No. 21 Baylor shrugged off a slow start to beat Rice 38-10 on Friday night after the Rice band mocked the Bears at halftime.The band formed a Roman numeral IX on the field to represent Title IX, the federal law Baylor is accused of violating in sexual assault scandal, and a shifted to a star formation in reference to Ken Starr, the former Baylor president was demoted and eventually resigned amid the scandal.Russell was 22 of 38 to help the Bears win their 19th straight regular-season nonconference game and improve to 3-0 for the sixth straight season, a program first.Weve preached start fast, and we havent done that the past three games, Russell said. Its pretty disappointing. Its just something that we can grow on. Its an aspect of the game we need to get better at.KD Cannon caught nine passes for 213 yards and two touchdowns. Cannon cited the Bears youth as a reason for the slow starts.Just being young and not knowing what to do, Cannon said. Its something we have to get better at.Rice (0-3) led 3-0 after the first quarter before JaMychal Hasty scored on a 16-yard run, and Cannon caught a 10-yard pass from Russell to put the Bears up 14-3 midway through the second quarter.We arent very consistent right now, Baylor interim coach Jim Grobe said. Thats our problem. Its obvious we have some talent, and I think we can be a good football team, but right now we are just so inconsistent.The Owls closed to 14-10 with 3 minutes left before halftime, but that would be as close as they would get.Darik Dillard ran for 124 yards on 14 carries for the Owls. Emmanuel Esukpa had Rices lone touchdown.The Owls fell to 0-3 for the second time in three seasons.Standing up here, were 0-3, but all our goals are still intact, Rice coach David Bailiff said. If we have that same type of effort, well keep growing those young ones up, and we ought to be in great shape.KEY TAKEAWAYSBAYLOR: The Bears were able to gain yards, but struggled to put points on tthe board early.dddddddddddd Russell had a pass intercepted, and Chris Callahan missed field goals from 47 and 37 yards. The defense played well, holding the Owls to 265 yards.RICE: The Owls hung with Baylor and kept it a two-score game until 45 seconds left in the third quarter. Rice still struggled defensively as the Bears put up 638 yards. The Owls offense was able to run well, but could not get anything going passing, gaining just 31 passing yards.POLL IMPLICATIONSBAYLOR: The Bears should at least remain where they are but could move up a couple spots with the 28-point win. Baylors stats were impressive, but they should have scored more. Nonetheless, they earned a win on the road by a comfortable margin.BRILES MAKES AN APPEARANCEFormer Baylor head coach Art Briles was in the stands for the game. Fired at the end of May for Baylors sexual assault scandal, Briles sat behind the Baylor bench about 20 rows up from the field. Briles son, Kendal, is still the Bears offensive coordinator.I did not know he was here, Russell said. I wish I had seen him. Hes a guy thats what I came here for. I came here for coach Briles. Hes a top notch guy. A lot of bad things are being said about him now, but I know in my heart that hes one of the best guys Ive ever been around.Hes a father figure. For sure, he does the right things when he needs to. He just got caught up in the wrong situation. Hes going to support us any way he can. I love him to death. Hes a great coach and a great guy.SHOCK BREAKS RECORDRB Shock Linwood had 57 rushing yards to set a new school record with 3.676 yards over his career. Walter Abercrombie had 3.665 yards from 1978-81.Its just something I can look back on and say I am one of the legends and one of the all-time leading rushers, Linwood said.UP NEXTBAYLOR: The Bears start Big 12 play against Oklahoma State in Waco on Sept. 24.RICE: The Owls will look for their first win of the season as they play their second Conference USA game against North Texas on Sept. 24. ' ' '