KANSAS CITY -- Maybe weve had it wrong all this time, thinking the restrictor-plate lottery at Talladega Superspeedway is the wild card in the Chase for the Sprint Cup.Charlotte Motor Speedway certainly staked its claim for that honor last weekend. Five of the twelve remaining Chase-eligible drivers finished 30th or worse Sunday, with wrecks or mechanical issues putting their NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship hopes very much in jeopardy.That makes this Sundays Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway ultracritical, especially for those drivers who find themselves in a deep hole in terms of advancing in the Chase. For Kevin Harvick, Austin Dillon, Joey Logano and Chase Elliott, who are all on the outside looking in, and even Denny Hamlin on the bubble, winning is pretty much the only option if they want to make the cut when the Chase field is narrowed from 12 drivers to eight after next weeks race at Talladega.Its exactly the kind of drama NASCAR hoped for when it created the 16-driver elimination format for the Chase in 2014, and it makes a race like Kansas that might have faded into obscurity become vitally important.It drastically changes the dynamic, said Team Penskes Brad Keselowski, who came out of the opening race of the round of 12 in good shape, sitting fourth in the standings with a 25-point cushion over ninth.When I look at this format that we have, theres really two ways you can get in, and thats through consistency and winning. And when you look at the simple math, there are four cars that are going to be eliminated and there are five cars that are in really rough shape that arent going to have the opportunity to be consistent and make their way in.Keselowski didnt have the best of days at Charlotte, but his seventh-place finish was enough to keep him in the top half of the eight drivers who will advance. Barring a disaster at Kansas, he should be able to move on in the Chase through consistency.Easily, he remarked. If we could run top-10 the next two races, I would say its an easy transfer. If youre a car that has any kind of gap right now, youre just going to go and lay up at Kansas.Certainly there are some situations you cant avoid -- you blow a tire or things like what happened to Joey [Logano, at Charlotte], he added. Those arent avoidable situations. You can break down, but the reality is, if you have a pretty good gap, you probably are going to take a log off the fire.The DNF at Charlotte was a major turnaround from a year ago for Logano, who won all three races in the 12-to-eight cutoff round in 2015. Logano was then famously knocked out of the Chase a couple of weeks later when Matt Kenseth intentionally wrecked him at Martinsville in retaliation for the move Logano had made on Kenseth to win the Fall Kansas race.Like the other drivers who are in the danger zone, Logano remains bullish about his chances of advancing. A two-time Kansas winner, the Penske Ford driver knows he cant dwell on the tire problems that ruined his race at Charlotte.Its part of racing, but were not out, Logano said. Were not gonna die. This team is resilient. Weve proved it before, and well just have to go out and prove it again. We just have to have two flawless races. Its something we can make up.Although a multicar wreck at Charlotte affected several Chase contenders, mechanical issues also played a big role. Martin Truex Jr.?and Carl Edwards were lucky to finish 12th and 13th after respectively battling engine and clutch problems in their Toyotas.They lie sixth and seventh on the Chase grid, about 20 points to the good.Im not going to think about having a cushion, Edwards commented. I know what this competition is about, and all these guys can go win the next two races.With half of the 10 Chase races run on 1.5-mile intermediate speedways, perhaps it is appropriate that Charlotte might end up playing such a pivotal role in this years championship. The same potential for drama exists this weekend at Kansas.Among the drivers currently not in the top eight, Harvick probably has the best chance of recovering from a bad weekend at Charlotte. Engine and electrical problems relegated the 2014 Cup champion to a 38th-place finish.Harvick has a previous win at Kansas, though, and nobody has come through in the clutch more frequently since the elimination-style Chase debuted in his championship season. Over the past three years, Harvick has won races three times when facing elimination: Phoenix 2014, Dover 2015 and New Hampshire earlier this year.Logano is a two-time winner at Kansas, a venue where Hamlin has also visited Victory Lane. Hamlin looked in good shape at Charlotte until his engine blew late in the race.Unlucky, but in this format you can still win and advance, and some other guys had some tough days, Hamlin related. I think each race youre going to have a handful of guys that are going to have issues; Kansas I dont think will be any different, and Talladega we know will be crazy.Thats why were not out of it by any means, he added. We just have a little hole we have to dig out of.While several drivers are in a relatively comfortable position in terms of advancing in the Chase, only one man doesnt have anything to worry about: Charlotte winner Jimmie Johnson.But that doesnt mean JJ and the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports team are going to relax.Im so glad Im not one of the teams that had trouble at Charlotte because its just so tough, Johnson said. A victory is a huge boost, theres no way around it. Were definitely building momentum at the right time, though it happened maybe a little later than we would have liked.Were clearly in that round of eight, but ideally I want to keep the pressure on our team and have more exposure to race-winning pressure situations, he added. It would be smart not to change anything because you have to be at ten-tenths for these last few races.I want more trophies this year. Timothy Fosu-Mensah Jersey . The Oilers come in having lost five in a row (0-4-1) and 16 of their last 20 games, dropping a 2-1 decision to the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday. Nemanja Matic Manchester United Jersey . -- Vincent Lecavalier got everything but the desired result in his return to Tampa Bay. http://www.jerseymanchesterunitedsoccer.com/womens-marcus-rashford-manchester-united-jersey/ . PETERSBURG, Fla. Kieran OHara Jersey . -- In one brief spurt, Brazil turned a close game into a rout and proved again it will be a strong World Cup favourite. Romelu Lukaku Manchester United Jersey . In what the team had called a retirement, Ryan said Thursday that he is resigning as chief executive of the Rangers in a move effective at the end of this month. On Nov. 21, 2008, in the midst of their first season in Oklahoma City, the Thunder were 1-12 after being embarrassed on national television by the New Orleans Hornets. A young roster full of raw talent was stalling.So general manager Sam Presti made a change.?He walked into P.J. Carlesimos office and fired him, and promoted assistant Scott Brooks on the spot, informing Brooks after the team plane had taken off without Carlesimo on board.Our team needs direction, Brooks said after taking over. I have clear plans to make this team play with much more energy and passion.On Wednesday, Brooks, now head coach of Washington, will make his first return to Oklahoma City after being fired a year and a half ago.Brooks was never really supposed to be the Thunders coach. Presti had hired Carlesimo only a year earlier and when the decision was made to fire him and promote Brooks, the thinking was to get through the season and find a new coach. But as he did during his 11-year career, Brooks earned his job.He quickly installed Russell Westbrook as his starting point guard, and while their record dipped to 3-29 -- a mark that remains a touchstone for players and personnel -- the response from the team was clear. The turnaround began on New Years Eve in 2008, a 107-100 win over the Warriors.The young Thunder finished the season winning 20 of their final 50, and were competitive almost every night. The final day of the season, Brooks was officially named head coach. The Thunder responded with a 41-point blowout win over the Clippers.Under Brooks, the Thunder rapidly grew into an NBA power. His first full season they won 50 games and pushed the eventual champion Lakers to six games as Brooks won Coach of the Year. That kicked off a run of three conference finals in four years, including an NBA Finals appearance in 2012.The Thunder were all about establishing a culture and an identity, and Brooks was determined to help a young roster grow. His message was always energy-centric, and not so much about Xs and Os. It was about learning how to be professional basketball players. How to practice. How to work together. How to get along in a locker room.And most importantly, how to win.He took pride in his ability to foster chemistry, and his Thunder teams reflected his personality. He would routinely put things into scout tapes to try to keep things loose and fun. For example: He spliced in security camera footage of practice facility manager, Johnny Schults, walking backwards while putting the cover on the exterior swimming pool. You can guess what happened.He embraced mistakes and encouraged his young players to learn through making them -- specifically with Westbrook, who Brooks religiously defended. In many ways, the Russell Westbrook were watching today is a result of Brooks dedicated commitment to letting Westbrook figure it out on his own. Brooks was the original #LetWestbrookBeWestbrook apostle.Scottys my guy, Westbrook said Tuesday. He gave me a real shot to be able to do some of the things [I do] and make mistakes and he always had my back in that situation. Especially when I first got here. He was always the one who had my back through those times, and hes obviously a good coach as well.Some saw Brooks as an enabler for Westbrook, with his unwillingness to rebuke bad shots and turnovers as a potential undoing for the Thunder. That was one of the primary whispers around Brooks during his tenure: Accountability was an issue, and he had no idea how to rein in Westbrook.Maybe so, but the resullts were tangible, and impressive.dddddddddddd Westbrook blossomed into one of the leagues elites. Durant won an MVP. And despite their blemishes, the Thunder produced five remarkable seasons, with untimely injuries at the center of most of their playoff failings.Brooks was fired on April 22, 2015, two weeks after the 2014-15 season ended, a campaign from hell that featured 55 missed games for Kevin Durant, 15 missed by Westbrook and 18 missed by Serge Ibaka. The Thunder failed to make the playoffs on the final day of the season by virtue of a tiebreaker.When Brooks took over, his vision was for a young roster to grow, develop and improve. But what ultimately got Brooks fired is a failure to do that himself. Anyone that watched the Thunder could see the problems his teams faced. They were predictable, stale and simple. They didnt take full advantage of the talent the roster had. Brooks solution to most issues was just to play harder.He was resistant to embrace advanced numbers. He prioritized intangibles and chemistry over data, sticking with veterans like Derek Fisher and Kendrick Perkins, almost to the point of insanity. When the Thunder fell behind 2-1 to the Heat in the Finals, with an obvious matchup issue being a primary culprit, he refused to adjust for fear it would upset the locker room.Instead, he said they needed to play harder. With the team ranking dead last in assists per game in 2012, and remaining near the bottom the next two seasons, the Thunder worked in the summer of 2014 to reconfigure the offense. Less isolation, more ball and player movement. Injuries derailed a lot of their well-intentioned plans, but the front office saw the issues persisting, with no improvement on the horizon.And with the most important season of the Thunders franchise ahead, they pulled the plug on Brooks. It was an excruciating decision for Presti, one he made with no joy, because of the respect and admiration he had for Brooks. He flew to Los Angeles to tell Brooks personally, and began a coaching search shortly after.The talking points following Brooks firing centered around transition and not reacting to an unknown future, but instead shaping it themselves. Durant would be a free agent in a year and the Thunder wanted to bring in a new coach he could learn and bond with. It seemed to work, with Durant saying during training camp it felt like a new era of Thunder basketball. Even with obvious improvement happening, eventually those good vibes ran out and Durant departed.There was a certain innocence to the Brooks era. It was the best of the Thunder, the up-and-comers with all the talent and all the flaws. Fans continue to have a deep appreciation for Brooks, not just because he was at the heart of the rise of the franchise, but because of his humanity.Youre not going to find anybody with anything bad to say about that guy, Nick Collison said. He had a way with people.When Brooks walks into Chesapeake Energy Arena on Wednesday, hell face an opposing roster with only seven players he coached, and only two he coached for more than two years. Its a far different franchise than the one he was fired from, with only Westbrook and Collison remaining from the team he coached in the Finals. Itll be another glimpse of days gone by, a reminder of the purity and the promise those young Thunder had.As Collison said simply: We had a lot of really good years here. ' ' '