surely have circled this stage for special attention.

HOMESTEAD, Fla. -- As Jimmie Johnson struggled through the longest winless drought of his Sprint Cup career, team owner Rick Hendrick wondered whether it was time to split up the band.Johnson and crew chief Chad Knaus have won six Sprint Cup titles together, and Knaus has overseen the cars for Johnsons 79 victories. But after 15 seasons together, Hendrick at least wondered a little bit whether they needed a change as Johnson went on a 24-race winless streak with 11 finishes outside the top 15.He didnt act on those thoughts, and Johnson is one of the four drivers vying for the Cup title Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway.When you have two guys that have been so good and you try to decide is it time, and this year we started off really well, and then we hit a lull in the summer, and it was -- we asked ourselves then, Is this time, do we need to make a change? Hendrick said Friday at Homestead-Miami Speedway.But when you see things that are so close [to turning around], I think thats when they work harder. We really just sit down and work hard together and try to identify weaknesses, and I think they have both made a commitment -- they want to retire together. They want to finish their careers together.If Johnson wins a seventh title -- tying Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt?Sr. for the most championships in a career -- it will be the first time a driver has won seven titles with the same crew chief.Jimmie personally, obviously, he is by far one of my best friends, and to be able to have seen him grow and mature into the driver and the family man that he is has been awesome, Knaus said Wednesday. Its been a great ride.It hasnt been all milk and cookies -- though Hendrick once had them snack that way to get over a rough patch -- but racing rarely is so peaceful.That could be said for Joe Gibbs Racing, which has two drivers in the championship hunt. For the first time in three years of the elimination-style format, two of the drivers --?Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards?-- come from one team.Theyre not sharing a lot of stuff, Gibbs said. Its going to be up to them individually, and I think both of our guys ... its such a big deal for them. We kind of felt like obviously theyre going to be kind of individually going for it. ... Theyll both kind of be on their own here.Busch and Edwards dismissed the notion they arent working together after they posted the top speeds among the Chase finalists in qualifying.Joe is not in our meetings, Busch said about the work among the four JGR teams as well as affiliate Furniture Row Racing. Dont listen to Joe. Were not sharing with him.Everything right now is all the same -- open notebook. Ive been looking at Carls stuff all day. Carl has probably been looking at [notes from] everybody else as well as I have. Nike Air Max 90 Cheap Wholesale .J. -- Marty Brodeur beat the Pittsburgh Penguins yet again. Air Max 90 For Sale Cheap . Aaron Harrison scored a 22 points for Kentucky (6-1), which has won four in a row following a Nov. 12 loss to current No. 1 Michigan State. Julius Randle overcame a scoreless first half and added his sixth double-double in as many games with 14 points and 10 rebounds. http://www.airmax90cheap.net/ . After Gasquet beat fifth-seeded Ivan Dodig of Croatia 7-5, 6-3, Tsonga followed up with a 6-7 (3), 6-2, 6-2 win against sixth-seeded Edouard Roger-Vasselin in an all-French match. Air Max 90 Cheap Online . Now, with Game 6 set for Fenway Park and an 8:07 p.m. ET first pitch, the Detroit Tigers face the unenviable task of having to beat the Boston Red Sox twice, on the road, to advance to the World Series. Cheap Air Max 90 Free Shipping . Brett Kulak and Jackson Houck of the Vancouver Giants were each charged with assault causing bodily harm on Aug. 18, according to the B.C. court services. Five stages to watch in the 21-leg Tour de France, which starts on Saturday at Mont-Saint-Michel and ends on July 24 in Paris:---STAGE 1, July 2, 188 kilometers (117 miles) from Mont-Saint-Michel to Utah Beach (Sainte-Marie-du-Mont) in the Normandy region:The Mont-Saint-Michel, a World Heritage Benedictine abbey perched on a rock off the Normandy coast, will provide a picture-postcard start for the race as the Grand Depart returns to home roads after visits to Britain and the Netherlands in the last two years.The first stage ends at Utah Beach, where Allied troops landed on D-Day in 1944.Following the coastline for long stretches, wind could play a big role, with the possibility of splitting the peleton. In the end, though, sprinters are expected to vie for the stage win and the honor of wearing the first yellow jersey.Germanys Marcel Kittel and Britains Mark Cavendish are the pick of the bunch.---STAGE 5, July 6, 216 kilometers (134 miles) from Limoges to Le Lioran in the Massif Central:After the sprinters have the spotlight in the opening four legs, this should be the stage where the race really starts.Featuring five climbs in a constant up-and-down finish, including the 1,589-meter (5,213-foot) Pas de Peyrol, it will mark the first time that the Tour has gone above 1,500 meters this early in the race since the leg-breaking start in 1979, when there were three stages in the Pyrenees over the first four days.Look for overall contenders Chris Froome, Nairo Quintana and Alberto Contador to spring into action for the first time.The Tour wont be won here but it could be lost.---STAGE 8, July 9, 183 kilometers (114 miles) from Pau to Bagneres-de-Luchon in the Pyrenees:The most difficult stage on paper, featuring the legendary Col du Tourmalet plus three moree serious climbs in quick succession -- the Hourquette dAncizan, the Val Louron-Azet and the Col de Peyresourde.ddddddddddddAfter hours in the saddle, the leaders will be pleased to take on the high-speed descent from the Peyresourde into the finish in Luchon, which is not highly technical.Whoever holds the yellow jersey after this stage will have taken a major step toward overall victory.---STAGE 12, July 14, 184 kilometers (114 miles) from Montpellier to Mont Ventoux in the Provence region:French climbing specialists Romain Bardet and Thibaut Pinot surely have circled this stage for special attention. Besides containing one of the races most famous climbs, the stage will be held on Bastille Day.Defending champion Chris Froome was the stage winner when the Tour last scaled Ventouxs barren, 1,909-meter (6,263-foot) peak in 2013.Ventoux was also the site of an epic contest between Lance Armstrong and Marco Pantani in 2000, and where British rider Tom Simpson died in 1967 after he used a lethal cocktail of amphetamines and alcohol.Heat is usually a factor on the grueling climb up Ventoux and there will be the added factor of wanting to keep something in reserve for the races first -- and longest -- time trial a day later.---STAGE 18, July 21, 17-kilometer individual time trial from Sallanches to Megeve in the Rhone-Alps region:Its the Tours first mountain time trial since the 2004 race against the clock up lAlpe dHuez.Besides the flat opening four kilometers (2 1/2 miles) and a short descent at the finish, its entirely uphill.While there will still be two more stages in the Alps, this leg could be decisive for overall victory. 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