INDIANAPOLIS -- Kurt Busch just made his attempt at completing The Double a lot tougher after crashing during Mondays practice at Indianapolis.
[b]Byung-hyun Kim Jersey[/b] . Busch spun coming out of the second turn on the 2.5-mile oval and slammed hard into the outside wall. It was the biggest crash of the month. Andretti Autosport said Monday night the car would not be repaired by the Indy 500 and Busch will drive teammate Marco Andrettis backup car. Busch will still start 12th. Debris flew into the air, there was a small fire and one of the tires rolled dangerously down the track as the car rolled to a stop on the infield grass. But the hardest part for Busch was contemplating all the work that must be done now as he becomes the fourth driver to attempt completing both the Indianapolis Indy 500 and NASCARs Coca-Cola 600, 1,100 total miles, on the same day. Both races will be held Sunday. "This created a lot of work for the Andretti guys. I feel bad for that," he said. "As a rookie, theres things you learn and put it up on the edge and get away with and then theres times when it will bite you. Its just tough." Fortunately, Busch was not seriously hurt. IndyCar medical director Dr. Michael Olinger checked him at the infield medical centre and immediately cleared him to drive. Busch said he was fine and ready to return to racing Friday when the final 1-hour practice sessions will be held. Busch said it wasnt a big deal he had to switch cars because he completed his Indy rookie orientation program earlier this month in a different Andretti Autosport car. "The ability of the Andretti Autosport team to field the car, it doesnt matter how it starts, or where it comes from, theyve been very accurate with everything," Busch said by phone. "Ill get over it quick. Ive wrecked cars before." In the garage area, crew members covered the damaged right side of the car with blankets before moving in into the garage and closing the door. When some fans attempted to take parts from the car, Andretti Autosport team members chased them down and retrieved the parts. The team then took the car back to its Indy shop to determine whether the car could be repaired. "Weve already worked our crews to death, trying to work with this schedule," said Kyle Moyer, Andrettis director of racing operations. "But well get it done." Initially, officials said Busch would start from the back of the field if he used another car in the race. Series officials later clarified that would not be the case, something that should help Busch. He qualified 12th, the outside of Row 4 on the 33-car starting grid. No driver has won Indy after starting 33rd. What happened? "I was starting to feel comfortable," Busch said. "Thats when I made the mistake of just letting my guard down or settling into that long run-type mentality whereas with an Indy car you have to be on edge. You have to keep track of where you are at all times and the adjustments in the car." Other IndyCar drivers thought Busch may have been done in by his NASCAR roots. "It looked like he just got loose in two and it looked to me like he overcorrected, like you would in NASCAR," Josef Newgarden said. "The thing looked like it almost snapped straight, but then it went in on its side." Here are five other things from practice. NEW LEADER: Though the speed chart from Mondays practice means little because teams were working on race setup in traffic, Newgarden, who drives for Sarah Fishers team was the fastest of the day. His best lap was 227.105 mph. Juan Pablo Montoya, the 2000 Indy winner who drives for Roger Penske, was second at 226.532. Scott Dixon, also a previous Indy winner, was third at 226.433, for Target Chip Ganassi and Russias Mikhail Aleshin was the fastest rookie at 226.371. Aleshin was fourth. ACTING PRESIDENTIAL: NCAA President Mark Emmert got a chance to show a different side at Indianapolis. He opened practice waving the green flag and also got a chance to ride around the track with three-time Indy winner Dario Franchitti, who retired last fall. "That was the best ever," Emmert said. "He (Dario) was always my favourite driver. It was a complete surprise that he was driving it. It was wonderful to chat with him, and of course, ride around the track with him." MARRIAGE VOWS: Long-time Indianapolis 500 fans Cory and Linlee Patterson of Lafayette, Indiana, were married Sunday in one of the Tower Terrace suites. They met speedway president Doug Boles, pole-winner Ed Carpenter. They have attended the past five 500s together. OLYMPIC QUEST: Dallas Robinson and Abe Morlu, who worked with the U.S. bobsled and luge team at the Sochi Olympics, were at the track working with Buddy Laziers team Monday. They met Laziers engineer, David Cripps, at the Olympics and were reunited at the track. Robinson and Morlu worked with the team and took a ride in the 2-seater driven by Mario Andretti. THE SWITCHBACK?: NASCAR driver Parker Kligerman started his career in open-wheel cars. Now the 23-year-old is considering a move back. He would replace Busch in the Coca-Cola 600 if Busch doesnt make it back in time. "I have a love for open-wheel cars and its something that me and my manager Bob Perona have talked about," Kligerman said. "Ive been given a bit of a vacation right now, so Im taking the opportunity as a race fan and a racer to see whats out there and what the possibilities are."
[b]Matt Mantei Jersey[/b] . Hawkins severely sprained his left ankle while making a diving catch during training camp and went on injured reserve with a designation he could return midway through the season. He was back at practice Wednesday.
[b]Tony Womack Jersey[/b] . Toronto FC hosts the three-time Italian league champions in a friendly Aug. 7 at BMO Field, a game that Roma CEO Italo Zanzi said falls within a key part of their pre-season.Curtis Lazar will make his NHL debut tonight when the Ottawa Senators open the regular season in Nashville. The 19-year-old Lazar will be the only teenager on the Sens roster this evening, but hes certainly not the only one to play for the team at such a young age. Some teenagers -- like Martin Havlat and Wade Redden -- enjoyed immediate success as teenagers in Ottawa. And perhaps surprisingly to some, others like Marian Hossa, Erik Karlsson and Mika Zibanejad actually struggled in their first NHL auditions as teenagers. With Lazar making his debut tonight, heres a look at how the previous teenagers fared with the Ottawa Senators: Alexandre Daigle Total games as teenager: 93 Nobody played more games as a teenager for the Ottawa Senators than Daigle, who ended up playing a total of 93 games as a teen. In his rookie season in 1993-94, Daigle started the campaign as an 18-year-old and actually got off to an amazing start by racking up 12 points in his first seven games in the NHL. Unfortunately for Daigle, that was his best stretch as a teenager and some would argue his best stretch - period - in the league. Wade Redden Total games as a teenager: 89 They say the toughest position to break into in the NHL as a teenager is as a defenseman, but Redden acclimated himself quite nicely in his first season in the league. As a 19-year-old, Redden appeared in all 82 regular season games, finishing with a respectable plus-1 rating on a team that had some players (like Daigle) as low as minus-33. Redden also appeared in all seven playoff games against the Sabres that season and even scored a goal in Game 7 at Buffalo - before the Sens ended up losing a heartbreaker in overtime. Stan Neckar Total games as a teenager: 80 Stan Neckars will go down in Sens history as the guy with the toughest name to pronounce -- making Alex Chiasson look like childs play. Neckar ended up playing the entire lockout-shortened 1994-95 campaign as a 19-year-old, appearing in every single game on the 48-game schedule. And he ended up scoring his first NHL goal on April 10, 1995 against Penguins goalie Phillipe DeRouville in a piece of trivia that you will never use in your life. Radek Bonk Total games as a teenager: 77 A few months after the Sens made him the third overall choice in the 1994 NHL Draft, Bonk suited up for his first NHL game with the club. He ended up spending most of that lockout-shortened year with the Sens, appearing in 42 of the 48 games - but collecting just three goals and 11 points. Martin Havlat Total games as a teenager: 77 Havlat ended up playing the exact same number of games in the NHL as a teenager as Bonk, but he enjoyed a much greater deal of success. In the 2000-01 season, a 19-year-old Havlat provided a number of electrifying moments en route to a season in which he scored 19 goals and finished third in the Calder Trophy voting. Havlats rookie campaign was as impressive as any teenager the Sens have ever seen in their brief history. Erik Karlsson Total games as a teenager: 66 Some people forget this, but Karlsson was sent down to Binghamton of the AHL after playing his first nine games in the NHL. The Senators felt like he needed a little more seasoning, but Karlsson was back up with the big club about a month later and never looked back. He finished his rookie campaign with 26 points in 60 games, but saved his best for last - as he was arguably Ottawas best player in a first-round playoff loss to the Penguins. In that series, he collected six points in six games and saw the ice more than any other player on the team. Chris Phillips Total games as a teenager: 54 One year after he was made the first overall pick by the Senators in 1996, Phillips made his NHL debut as a 19-year-old on October 1, 1997 in Montreal. The most interesting talk around Phillips in his rookie season - and in his first couple of years in the league - is that maybe the club was thinking about using him as a forward rather than a defenceman. Mika Zibanejad Total games as a teenager: 45 Just a couple of months after the Sens made him the sixth overall pick at the NHL Draft, Zibanejad was in the Senators opening night lineup as an 18-year-old against the Red Wings. However, after his nine-game trial was up, the Senators felt like he wasnt ready to compete against men, as he collected only one assist and was playing around 12 minutes per night. He was returned to Djurgardens in the Swedish Elite League and then helped clinch a gold medal for his home country at the IIHF World Junior Championship. He came back the following season after Jason Spezza suffered a serious injury at the start of the lockout-shortened season of 2012-13 and he looked a lot more comfortable as a 19-year-old. Jason Spezza Total games as a teenager: 36 Spezza was a polarizing figure from the moment he broke into the NHL, especially after Jacques Martin and Marshall Johnston made him the final cut from the main roster before the 2001-02 season as an 18-year-old. The following year, however, Spezza made his NHL debut as a 19-year-old in Boston on Occtober 24, 2002.
[b]Wholesale Diamondbacks Jerseys[/b]. After appearing in 33 games - and being shuttled between Ottawa and Binghamton - Spezza saved his best work for the playoffs. Called upon to help his team get out of a 3-1 series deficit against the Devils in the Eastern Conference Final, a 19-year-old Spezza delivered with a goal and an assist to help stave off elimination. Mike Fisher Total games as a teenager: 32 Fisher surprised a lot of people by making the Sens team as a 19-year-old to start the 1999-2000 season after he had a very impressive training camp. Fisher was playing about 13 minutes a night, but had his season cut short when he suffered a major knee injury against the Bruins at the end of December. Marian Hossa Total games as a teenager: 25 Just like Karlsson and Zibanejad, Hossa was actually somewhat unimpressive in his first stint in the NHL as a teenager. He was only 18 at the time, but after just seven games (with only one assist) the Sens opted to send him to Portland of the WHL. Hossa had an impressive season with the Winterhawks before suffering a major knee injury during the Memorial Cup. Several months of rehab ensued, but Hossa returned to the NHL in December of 1998 as a 19-year-old and never looked back. Pavol Demitra Total games as a teenager: 12 Demitra will always be known as the one that got away for the Sens organization. In his first game in the NHL on October 9, 1993, an 18-year-old Demitra scored his first-ever goal against the St. Louis Blues. But Demitra spent most of that season playing for the Sens AHL affiliate in PEI and he didnt register another goal in 11 other NHL games that season. A couple of years later the Sens dealt him to the Blues for Christer Olsson in one of the most regrettable moves for the franchise. Radek Hamr Total games as a teenager: 11 Its strange that the first Radek to play for the Sens was actually a Hamr and not a Bonk. But 18-year-old Radek Hamr appeared in four games as an 18-year-old for the Sens in 1992-93 and another seven the following season. He never registered a point and carried a minus-14 rating - which made him fit right in with the expansion-era Senators. Alexei Yashin Total games as a teenager: 11 In his rookie season in 1993-94, Yashin played 11 games before his 20th birthday. He actually picked up 15 points in his 11 games as a teenager - the best stretch for anyone on this list. And in his final game as a teenager on November 3, 1993 against Edmonton, Yashin posted a hat trick with two assists for the only five-point game for any teen in Sens franchise history. Nick Foligno Total games as a teenager: 10 Before turning 20 on Halloween in 2007, Foligno spent the first 10 games of the season playing as a 19-year-old. He collected only one goal - the first of his NHL career against Montreal - as a teenager. He ended up spending about half of that season with the Senators and the other half in Binghamton in the AHL. Robin Lehner Total games as a teenager: 8 Teenaged goalies are a pretty rare commodity, but Lehner actually appeared in eight games as a 19-year-old during the Senators abysmal 2010-11 campaign. His NHL debut was actually in relief on October 16, 2010 at the Bell Centre in Montreal. Lehner was just supposed to serve as the back-up to Brian Elliott, but when he had a problem with his skate, Lehner was forced into the nets for 4:42 of action in which he made his first three saves in the NHL. Cody Ceci Total games as a teenager: 5 Ceci was a surprise call-up to the Sens in early December last season, just a couple of weeks before his 20th birthday. He ended up playing five games as a 19-year-old, including one of the most memorable games of last season. Ceci scored his first-ever NHL goal in overtime of his third career game, giving the Sens a win over the St. Louis Blues. Andrej Meszaros Total games as a teenager: 4 Meszaros had a terrific rookie season in the NHL in 2005-06, ending the season with 39 points and a plus-39 rating after appearing in all 82 games. And in the first four games that season, Meszaros was still technically a 19-year-old -- and he picked up three assists in those games as a teenager. Mark Stone Total games as a teenager: 1 Stones NHL debut was probably the most memorable for any of the teens on this list. He was thrust into the pressure of the NHL playoffs in 2012 in the Senators series against the Rangers. In Game 5, Stone appeared in his first NHL game and picked up an assist on the eventual game-winning goal from Jason Spezza. Oddly enough, Stone would be benched for Games 6 and 7 in that series in favour of Jakob Silfverberg. Jared Cowen Total games as a teenager: 1 Shortly after his Spokane Chiefs were eliminated from the WHL playoffs in the first round, Cowen joined the Senators in time to appear in their next-to-last game of the regular season in Tampa Bay. Cowen had just 11 shifts in the game, playing a total of only 6:46. And oddly enough, Cowen actually wore jersey No. 48 in that game - before switching to his familiar No. 2 for the start of the next season. ' ' '
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