HOMESTEAD, Fla. -- Joey Logano leaned in toward Jimmie Johnson and offered a few words of comfort.At least we all sucked, Logano said.The four NASCAR Sprint Cup championship drivers all failed to get that one final boost they needed to better position themselves to win it all Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway.Logano, Carl Edwards, 2015 Sprint Cup champion Kyle Busch and Johnson all will start outside the top five. Busch will start ninth, Edwards 10th, Logano 13th and Johnson 14th. Johnson would match Dale Earnhardt Sr. and Richard Petty for the NASCAR record with his seventh career Cup championship.I dont think any of us want to start that far back, Edwards said.But they are bunched close enough that one TV camera can probably catch them all as they head into the first turn on the 1.5-mile track. Busch started third in the finale last season, won the race and his first career Cup title.The foursome likely wont lag behind the front of the field for long.This is a place you can pass, Logano said.The highest-finishing driver among the four is the 2016 champion. Under the revamped Chase format, the Homestead winner the last two years won the championship.Kevin Harvick and Brad Keselowski, eliminated from title contention in earlier rounds of NASCARs playoffs, played spoiler and swept the front row.I think weve been the two best cars all year, Keselowski said.Ryan Newman, Denny Hamlin, Chase Elliott, Martin Truex Jr., Matt Kenseth and Ryan Blaney all will start ahead of the championship drivers.The drivers out of the championship picture traditionally part to let the contenders race each other hard in the meat of the race.You get a little more respect from those guys, Busch said.Amid a heap of tributes, Tony Stewart starts 11th in the final race of his NASCAR career. Stewart is trying to race to his 50th career Cup victory and end a triumphant career in victory lane.There hasnt been any part of my career that I didnt enjoy, Stewart said. There are things about everything that Ive done that Ive liked more than others and disliked more than others. But as a whole, Ive enjoyed everything Ive done and the road that Ive taken to get here.Edwards and Busch are each vying to win a second straight championship for Joe Gibbs Racing. Johnson could bring a 12th title to Hendrick Motorsports. Logano wants to reward Roger Penskes 50th season in racing with another championship.Asked what keeps him going after all these years, Penske quipped, Trying to beat these guys.Harvick, the 2014 Homestead winner and Cup champion, won his second pole of the season. The Stewart-Haas Racing driver could also deliver a victory celebration for Stewart.Johnson was antsy to chase history.Qualifying isnt my strong suit, Im much better at racing, he said. 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Following a lopsided 5-2 loss against the New Jersey Devils on Wednesday night, Paul MacLean told reporters that "theres a lack of focus, theres a lack of leadership and theres a lack of preparation" with his struggling team. That came on the heels of Bryan Murray taking the unusual step of going into the locker room at the Prudential Center and addressing the players himself. Steve Bartkowski Jersey . Roman Josi had a goal and an assist to lead the Predators to a 4-1 victory over the Dallas Stars on Monday night.SAN ANTONIO - At their best in the NBA Finals, the Miami Heat have forced turnover after turnover, finding a gear the San Antonio Spurs just cant reach. Play in Game 5 as they have during their two easy victories in the series, and LeBron James defending champs will head home just one win away from another title. But Miamis best hasnt been carrying over from game to game, not just in this series but for a while now. So its anybodys guess what happens Sunday in a finals thats dead even, though the games havent been. "I think Game 5 should be the best game of the series," Dwyane Wade said. "Both teams should come out knowing each other, knowing what each other want to do, and it should be a very good game." Not the way this series has been going. Game 1 was a thriller, neither team able to build a double-digit lead over four back-and-fourth quarters before Tony Parkers clinching basket helped the Spurs pull out a 92-88 victory. The teams havent delivered a classic since. The Heat won by 19, lost by 36 and cruised by 16. The last few minutes of each have looked more like an October exhibition than a mid-June championship clash. "You lose a game like we did in Game 2 and we come back and beat them in Game 3 and look like they looked last night, thats what drives me crazy, because as coaches you try to prevent that," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said Friday during a conference call. Neither team practiced. "You like to be on a little bit more of an even keel and perform the same way each night, and the only thing I can tell myself after all these years is, youre dealing with people, with emotions and not robots," Popovich said. "They come out and they all play hard, but theres that little intangible, that little spark of intensity or back against the wall, or a little bit of fear that just seems to kick in when youve lost the previous game. And when you find teams that can get over that, those are the championship teams." Its the most uneven stretch of the NBA Finals since 2005, according to STATS, when San Antonio and the Detroit Pistons swapped four straight games decided by 15 or more points to open the series. Back then, the Spurs could depend on Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili to get them righted. But now Parker has a shaky hamstring, Ginobilis shot and confidence are even shakier, and San Antonio might need a throwback performance from Duncan in what could be his last home game in a storied finals career. "If they dont get more from Tim Duncan, Sunday is the Spurs last stand," Hall of Famer Charles Barkley said on NBA TVs postgame show. Duncan knows that what the Spurs rreally need is to take better care of the basketball.dddddddddddd Their 17 turnovers led to 19 Miami points in Game 2, and they gave the Heat 23 points with their 19 turnovers Thursday. "Thats a big problem," Duncan said. "When we lose, thats the big deal right there." A healthy Parker would help. He started strong in Game 4 while playing with a strained right hamstring but couldnt maintain it in the second half. Hes hoping the two-day break between games will strengthen his stamina. "Its going to be huge for me," Parker said after the game. "Obviously, definitely got fatigued in the second half. Those two days Im going to make sure I do a lot of treatment and to get 100 per cent. Tonight, I was not 100 per cent. By Sunday, thats my goal, to be good to go." The Spurs can only help their Big Three looks as good as Miamis was on Thursday. With 33 points and 11 rebounds from James, 32 points from Wade, and 20 points and 13 rebounds from Chris Bosh, the Heat rode the top-heavy balance thats supposed to deliver multiple titles to Miami. But the team that sustained its excellence for 27 straight victories during the regular season hasnt even been able to do it for consecutive games lately. Double-digit victories in Games 3 and 5 of the Eastern Conference finals were followed by losses, as was their first victory in this series. "Well, Game 5 is going to be a big game," Bosh said. "I think we just have to stay in the place that were in." As usual, that may depend on James. After taking unusually long to get going in Games 2 and 3, he was out quick Thursday, making it clear the game was not going to be played on the Spurs terms. "I gave it everything I had," James said. "I was just playing as hard as I could until the tank was empty and thats how its going to have to be for the rest of this series." Of the previous 27 times the finals were tied at 2-2, the Game 5 winner went on to take the series 20 times. The Heat lost in this situation two years ago in Dallas, and the Mavericks finished them off in Game 6 in Miami. Wade has never gone the distance in his three previous NBA Finals, but kept mentioning Thursday that there were three games left, as if expecting this series to reach a Game 7. The Heat could make that less likely with a victory Sunday. "Its going to be hard, the hardest thing were going to do as a group is to try to repeat," Wade said. "And this team over here is not going to quit, no matter what. So we have to prepare for their best effort." ___ Follow Brian Mahoney on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/Briancmahoney ' ' '
