BROOKLYN, Mich. - Kevin Harvick made Michigan International Speedways latest track record look routine. In what is becoming an annual occurrence at MIS, Harvick pushed the tracks qualifying mark a little bit higher Friday, winning the pole for this weekends Sprint Cup race at 204.557 mph. Harvicks pole-winning speed was the fastest since Bill Elliott set the record of 212.809 mph at Talladega Superspeedway in April 1987. "This is one of those racetracks where youre running fast, but you really cant put it all in perspective, I guess, until you hit something," Harvick said. "Its so wide, its so fast and so smooth, but you dont really get that huge sensation of speed." Drivers have broken 200 mph with regularity at Michigan since the track was repaved before the 2012 season. Marcos Ambrose had a speed of 203.241 in 2012, the first time anyone won a pole at over 200 mph since Elliott did it before horsepower-sapping restrictor plates were introduced at Talladega and Daytona. Last August, Joey Logano increased the track record to 203.949. Harvick was even faster in winning his third pole of the year and ninth of his career. Points leader Jeff Gordon was second, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. was third. The top three qualifiers for Sundays 400-mile race were all in Chevrolets. NASCAR overhauled its qualifying process before this season, switching to a knockout format similar to Formula One and IndyCar. NASCAR now uses three rounds of qualifying at tracks 1 1/4 miles in length or larger. The entire field has 25 minutes to post their fastest single lap and the top 24 advance to the second round. The second segment lasts 10 minutes, and the fastest 12 advance to a final, 5-minute round. "This format has obviously been good for me to kind of, I guess, creep up on it as you go through the sessions," Harvick said. "A fast car really solves a lot of problems." Harvick is 12th in the Cup standings, with victories at Phoenix and Darlington. The latter win came from the pole. His impressive performance Friday raised more questions about whether these increased speeds are any cause for concern. "Michigans been fast for a long time. How fast is too fast?" Harvick said. "The cars will slow down a tremendous amount when we get them in race trim and you get them in a pack, and its going to be quite a bit hotter on Sunday. Theyll slow down. Qualifying speeds are high. Its just a matter of whose opinion is taken on whether its too fast or not." Brad Keselowski, the 2012 series champion, outlined a couple of the issues raised by the high speeds. "How do the speeds affect our ability to pass and put on a race that our fans enjoy?" said Keselowski, who qualified sixth. "If were able to go 300 miles an hour and race side by side, that doesnt really matter to me. Its just the ability to do that — to have great side-by-side racing. And at this point, with the way aerodynamics have kind of taken over motorsports, we havent shown that ability." Theres also the issue of safety. "Weve shown time after time that the takeoff speed on these cars is about 185-190 miles an hour," Keselowski said. "As you cross that 210-, 220-mile threshold — certainly, you lose some speed as the car spins out, but wed really prefer to not have to lose any speed before the cars turn into airplanes." Lucius Allen Jersey . -- With Tony Allen back, the Memphis Grizzlies were able to turn up their defence pressure and hold off the Los Angeles Clippers down the stretch. Eric Bledsoe Jersey . Hes just beginning to get similar results. The right-hander struggled after winning the honour in 2008 and 2009, but a retooling of his game has begun to pay off and has the San Francisco Giants thinking about the Lincecum of old. https://www.cheapbucksonline.com/ . After falling 5-0 on home ice in a game that could have tied them for second in the wild card standings, Washington head coach Adam Oates had some strong words for Capitals superstar Alex Ovechkin. Guy Rodgers Jersey .com) - Avery Bradley scored 21 points and the Boston Celtics beat the Brooklyn Nets, 89-81. George Hill Jersey . -- Another baseball tradition is about to largely disappear: a manager, with a crazed look in his eyes, charging the field and getting into a face-to-face shouting match with an umpire.EDMONTON -- Darren Helm was just happy to be on the ice again. Scoring the winning goal was a plus. Helm scored in his first game of the season and just his third game since March 2012 due to a myriad of injury woes as the Detroit Red Wings won their third straight game in four nights, defeating the Edmonton Oilers 5-0 on Saturday. "It was the icing on top of the cake, really," Helm said of his goal. "The relief came after the game, knowing that I could still play. The goal was just a nice addition to that. I was really excited. It was one of the nicest moments I have had in a while, since this injury bug started. I was pretty nervous. I was pretty anxious and eager to get out there." Detroit head coach Mike Babcock was happy to see Helm on the bench again. "Helmer gives a huge dimension of talent that we can take advantage of if he is healthy," he said. "He can be dominant. To see him do what he did tonight, I thought he played very well." Tomas Tatar, Jakub Kindl, Joakim Andersson and Todd Bertuzzi also scored for the Red Wings (9-4-2), who have gone 3-1-2 in their last six games. Petr Mrazek was called on to make just 14 saves to earn his first career shutout in his third NHL game. "Its a great moment for me right now," said the 21-year-old netminder. "Sometimes seeing that few shots is harder than facing 30. I really had to be focused on every shot that I had." Added Babcock: "Thats good for him. Hes a kid who, I told someone the other day, he thinks he is here to take (Jimmy) Howards job, not (Jonas) Gustavssons job. Hes just got that kind of attitude. He has won everywhere he has been and there is obviously something to it." The Oilers (3-10-2) are in the midst of yet another disappointing season, now with five consecutive losses before heading out on a four-game trip. Edmonton has been shut out in its last two home games and outscored 9-0. "Its tough, it was embarrassing, I have no words for it and there is no excuses for us," said Oilers defenceman Ladislav Smid. "People talk about injuries and back luck and stuff and we cant talk about that anymore. We all have to wake up in here. I dont think there is one person that can be proud of what he did on the ice." Detroit staked itself an early 2-0 lead on goals just 27 seconds apart five minutes into the contest. An Edmonton miscue allowed Daniel Cleary to send Helm in on a breakaway and he managed to beat Oilers goalie Richard Bachman through the legs, scoring in his first game this season as he made his return from a groin injury. Less than 30 seconds later it was a two-goal Wings lead as Bachman allowed a big rebound on an Andersson shot and Tatar wwas there to pounce on it for his third of the year.dddddddddddd Bachman injured his groin lunging for a puck with six minutes to play in the opening frame and had to be helped off the ice. Backup Jason LaBarbera came in to take his place in the Edmonton net. Detroit made it 3-0 seven minutes into the second period as Daniel Alfredsson dished the puck to Kindl at the top of the right face-off circle and he unleashed a howitzer of a shot that blew past LaBarbera. The Red Wings outshot the Oilers 21-10 through the first 40 minutes. Detroit went up by four goals eight minutes into the third period as a wrap-around attempt popped free in front of the net and Andersson was there to pounce on it and score his second of the season. Two minutes late it was 5-0 as Henrik Zetterberg hooked behind the net on the power play and fed it to Bertuzzi at the backdoor. Bertuzzis 21 career goals against Edmonton are the most he has scored in his career against any team. "Its frustrating, there is not much else to be said," said Oilers centre Sam Gagner. "Our compete level wasnt high enough and we werent sharp to start the game." The Red Wings wrap up a four-game Western Canada swing in Winnipeg on Monday. Edmonton begins a four-game trip in Florida against the Panthers on Tuesday. Notes: Now that Detroit has switched conferences, the game was the first of only two meetings between the Oilers and Red Wings this season. Detroit won all three meetings last season and came into the game with a 6-0-5 in its previous 11 visits to Edmonton ... With Gustavsson out with a neck injury, Mrazek got the call. Normal starter Howard was being spelled after playing on Friday night against Calgary ... Edmonton third-string goalie Bachman got his third consecutive start in net for the Oilers, despite Devan Dubnyk being ready to return from an ankle injury. Bachman had a 2.40 goals-against average in his first two games ... Edmonton defenceman Justin Schultz was out with a groin injury and forward David Perron missed his second contest with a neck injury. Coming to replace them in the lineup were defenceman Philip Larsen, who made his Oilers debut and forward Ryan Hamilton, who returned for the first time since suffering a knee injury on October 7 ... Remaining on the Oilers lengthy list of injured players were forwards Jesse Joensuu (undisclosed), Ryan Smyth (groin), Tyler Pitlick (knee) and Taylor Hall (knee), who has at least started skating ... Red Wings forward Johan Franzen (illness) left the game in Calgary and was not able to recover enough to play the Oilers. Also out for Detroit was Jonathan Ericsson (shoulder) ... The Red Wings top six scorers this season range in age from 33 to 41 years old. ' ' '