What Dowd attributes to Bertolini is false: Bertolini states he never

CONCORD, N.C. -- Kevin Harvick has already proven hes a factor at Charlotte Motor Speedway, especially during night races. With the top starting spot Saturday night, hell be tough to beat in the opening race of the second round of NASCARs playoffs.Harvick turned a lap at 196.029 mph in a Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet to earn the top starting spot in Thursday night qualifying. He edged Alex Bowman, the replacement driver for Dale Earnhardt Jr., who is not racing for the championship.Chase Elliott qualified third and was followed by Kyle Busch, the highest-qualifying Toyota driver, Tony Stewart and AJ Allmendinger.Martin Truex Jr., winner of two of the first three Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup races, qualified seventh.He was followed by Carl Edwards, Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano, the top qualifying Ford driver, and Jimmie Johnson.?Chase drivers took eight of the top 11 spots in Thursday night qualifying.Kasey Kahne qualified 12th, as all four Hendrick Motorsports drivers made the final round of qualifying.But it was Harvick, with his fast lap, who stole the spotlight.Harvick, the 2014 champion, has been looking forward to racing at Charlotte and earning a potential automatic berth into the third round of the Chase. Harvick has three career points victories at Charlotte, including the October race during his championship season. That victory pushed Harvick into the round of eight of the Chase.He has also had success racing at night, and Charlotte Motor Speedway President Marcus Smith dubbed Harvick Nighthawk because he has not finished outside the top 10 at night in the past seven races. He has been outside the top five only twice in that span.Harvick has also won six times in night races on the NASCAR schedule since 2012.DIDNT MOVE ON: Starting position isnt all that critical in a 500-mile race, but the drivers competing for the championship dont want the competition to get too big of a jump on them.Four of the drivers in the field failed to make it out of the second round of qualifying. Matt Kenseth will start 17th, Austin Dillon will start 19th, Brad Keselowski 20th and Kurt Busch 23rd.We just lacked a little bit of speed in qualifying trim, Keselowski said. You want to qualify and race good, and I think weve got a great Ford Fusion to do that.Dillon was similarly optimistic.We had a good car in practice; were going to be fine, he said.BOWMAN COMES CLOSE: Bowman set the standard for qualifying and appeared to have the car to win the pole for Saturday nights race.The replacement driver for Dale Earnhardt Jr. was fast in practice and topped the speed chart in the second round of qualifying. Then he went out first to set the tone for the final round, only to be knocked off the pole by Harvick.Harvick bumped Bowman by .029 seconds.We didnt put the greatest lap together in the last round, Bowman said.Its the best starting spot of Bowmans career and comes in his fifth race as Earnhardts replacement. Hes hopeful it leads to more work, either with Hendrick Motorsports or elsewhere.I dont know what the future holds, Bowman said. There arent very many rides open for next year, so these rides might be the last of my Cup career.LARSON MISCUE: Kyle Larson thought hed posted a fast enough lap to advance into the second round of qualifying.Then Matt DiBenedetto posted a late fast lap that knocked Larson out of the top 24.DiBenedetto scrambled to get back on track and run another qualifying lap, but Larson didnt beat the clock. Hell start 25th in Saturday nights race.We were just kind of waiting, and we ended up waiting too long, Larson said. Its a bummer we didnt get to go out there and make another lap.Larson was eliminated from the Chase last week at Dover.Christian Wilkins Jersey . -- The boos poured down on Tom Brady and the New England Patriots at the end of a horrible first half. Michael Deiter Dolphins Jersey . The Hall of Fame defenceman told Landsberg that he believes fighting still has a place in todays game, but thinks staged fighting needs be outlawed. http://www.dolphinsrookiestore.com/Dolphins-Cameron-Wake-Jersey/ . Houston won 3-0 to advance to face New York in the Eastern Conference semifinals. Last in the game, Di Vaio and Romero got into a shoving match with several Houston players. Romero appeared to elbow and kick Houston defender Kofi Sarkodie. Josh Rosen Dolphins Jersey . Newcastle dominated in the early stages but City weathered the storm and then raised its game in extra time. Negredo broke the deadlock from close range after a simple move in the 99th minute before Dzeko took the ball round goalkeeper Tim Krul to seal the victory in the 105th. Nat Moore Womens Jersey . - After leading the Saints to a fourth playoff appearance in five seasons, Drew Brees expressed confidence in the direction of his team and, perhaps more importantly, showed a willingness to listen to contract proposals if the team needs his help getting under the NFLs salary cap.Former baseball star Pete Rose on Wednesday sued the lawyer whose investigative report got him kicked out of baseball for gambling, alleging the lawyer defamed him last year by saying on the radio that Rose raped young teen girls during spring training.Rose said in the federal lawsuit that John M. Dowd damaged his reputation and endorsement deals during a July 2015 interview on WCHE-AM in West Chester, Pennsylvania.Dowd investigated Rose for Major League Baseball in 1989, leading the leagues all-time hits leader to be declared ineligible for the Hall of Fame.The lawsuit states Dowd said during the radio appearance that Rose associate Michael Bertolini told investigators he ran young girls to Rose during spring training, which Dowd called statutory rape every time. Bertolinis lawyers issued a categorical denial last summer.Rose never did any such thing and until the Dowd accusations, no one had ever claimed he did, Roses lawyers wrote in the complaint. What Dowd attributes to Bertolini is false: Bertolini states he never told Dowd any such thing.A man answering a phone listed for Dowd in Massachusettts did not identify himself, would not take a message and abruptly hung up on a reporter seeking comment.ddddddddddddA portion of Dowds 1989 report for Major League Baseball was headed, Rose-Bertolini Betting.Rose, who lives in Las Vegas, had applied for reinstatement to the game last year and was about to appear at an All-Star Game in Cincinnati, where he coached and played, when Dowd said on Jim Romes radio show on June 23, 2015, that Rose had Bertolini running young women down in Florida for his satisfaction, the lawsuit said.On July 13, Dowd was asked on WCHE-AM whether he found Rose to be a likable person.Michael Bertolini, you know, told us that he not only ran bets but he ran young girls for him down at spring training, ages 12 to 14, Dowd responded last year. Isnt that lovely. So thats statutory rape every time you do that.Dowd subsequently told NJ.com that he did not want to discuss the Bertolini allegation any longer, saying it had been blown out of proportion. ' ' '