very [closely]. I was very proud of those guys. I th

AVONDALE, Ariz. - Matt Kenseth did his best to put on a brave face following his worst performance of the season, which just happened to come at the worst possible time in his championship battle with Jimmie Johnson. Dark sunglasses shielded the disappointment in Kenseths eyes when he climbed from his car. His voice cracked just once during what was clearly a concession speech. Instead of harping on the negatives — he was saddled with an ill-handling car all day at Phoenix International Raceway and every fix crew chief Jason Ratcliff attempted only made it worse — Kenseth focused on the positives. His first season with Joe Gibbs Racing has been the best of his 14 years in the Sprint Cup Series. He won a career-best seven races, added a Southern 500 victory to his resume and crossed Chicago, Darlington, Kentucky and New Hampshire off the list of active tracks where hed never won a Cup race. And at 41 years old, a decade removed from his only Cup championship, Kenseth was in the mix again. Although Kenseth is still mathematically eligible to win the title, his 23rd-place finish at Phoenix sends him into Sundays finale at Homestead trailing Johnson by 28 points. It would take a massive failure for Johnson not to win his sixth championship. "You hope to go down to Homestead and race for it on performance," Kenseth said. "On the other hand, Im extremely happy. Im really, really happy with my team. Its a special group of guys. Weve had just an amazing, incredible season and we still have one week left. Hopefully, we can go to Homestead and go down there and contend for a win." It was an admirable post-race performance on an abominable day for Kenseth and the entire No. 20 team that came out of nowhere at a time when there was zero margin for error. The rest of the garage had noted from the opening practice Friday that Johnson and his Hendrick Motorsports team had shifted into another gear. Coming off a rout of the field at Texas, the No. 48 team gave every indication it was poised to do the same at Phoenix. Joey Logano said Johnson was in "kill mode" and Kenseth teammate Denny Hamlin sounded as if a Johnson title was inevitable. "I think everyone in the garage knows that they can turn it up at will, and this is typically the time of year they start doing that, especially when they are in championship contention," Hamlin said. With the pressure on, Kenseth had to be perfect. Instead, his car was terrible from the start, every adjustment backfired and strategy didnt play into Ratcliffs hands. When the crew chief tried to make a call on the fly, it led to a botched pit stop that put Kenseth down two laps from the leaders. "Itd be great if we came in here and everything worked out like we had on paper, you went out and won the race and go to Homestead tied," Ratcliff shrugged. "Thats why its so hard to win these championships. People work their guts out for them and theyre very rewarding when you do get them." Ratcliff called it "a pretty rough day," but noted the No. 20 team had very few of those this year — Kenseth had two engine failures and a crash that contributed to three of his five finishes worse than 23rd this season — and that on this particular Sunday, things just spiraled out of control quickly in a sport that moves at almost 200 mph. "Everybodys going to say, Oh, the pressure got to them," Ratcliff said. "Just poor execution on a track thats so hard to pass. Youre trying to make up for something that happened earlier and it just snowballs on you." This is a team that led just 190 laps a year ago when Joey Logano drove the car and Ratcliff won his first race as a Sprint Cup crew chief. This is a team that took Kenseth to New Hampshire, where hed led 89 laps in 26 previous races and hadnt finished in the top-five since 2005, and got him to Victory Lane for the first time in his career. The New Hampshire victory marked back-to-back wins to open the Chase and put Johnson on alert. After Johnson moved into the points lead heading into Martinsville, the No. 20 team went into another one of Kenseths weaker tracks and delivered a second-place finish that tied the championship race. Sometimes, people just have bad days. Sunday was one of them for Kenseth and crew. It was the wrong day against the wrong opponent, and behind his sunglasses, Kenseth had to be wondering if hell ever have an opportunity like this again. But deep down, he knew this season itself was one to be treasured. "Disappointing day here, but yet what a great season," he said. "I really appreciate this whole group. Theres not a car out here Id rather be driving than this one. Im a pretty lucky guy." 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The game can be seen live on TSN2 starting at 7pm et/4pm pt.SOCHI, Russia – Even before the Olympic tournament began, before the under-looked and under-appreciated Fins would stun the entire nation of Russia, Olli Jokinen prescribed the formula that would get it done. “I think we have the best goaltending out of all the other countries,” Jokinen said. “We play a good team game. Plus, we feel that at the end of the day it doesnt matter who puts the Finnish jersey on the team is going to play the same game anyways. For us its not so much about the names on the back, its about the good, solid team game and good goaltending.” That was what it took to bring down Alex Ovechkin, Evgeni Malkin and the home country at Bolshoy Ice Dome on Wednesday night: spectacular goaltending from Tuukka Rask, a few timely goals and continued adherence to a team game, despite injury losses that seemed too burdensome to overcome. Ever the underdog, Finland has altered the face of these Games in Russia and reminded the hockey world, yet again, why only one country has medaled in three of the four Olympics involving NHL players. “You know that nobody ever believed that we could win, but it doesnt matter,” said captain Teemu Selanne, who had a goal and an assist in the 3-1 upset over Russia. “The experts are wrong many times. We have to believe in our team.” There was no Ovechkin on this team, no Malkin, not even the injured and more recognizable likes of Mikko and Saku Koivu, Valtteri Filppula, or even Aleksander Barkov, the second overall pick in last summers NHL draft. For star power, it came down to Rask, who was terrific with 37 saves, and Selanne, playing in his final Olympics at age 43. “Weve got good team spirit and our style to play,” said Leo Komarov, who played in the NHL with the Maple Leafs last season. The Finns, who won bronze in 1998 and 2010 and silver in 2006, were a determined and youthful bunch on this night, led, however, by the aging Selanne, the unsolvable Rask and 21-year-old Mikael Granlund, who set up Selannes go-ahead goal and eventual game-winner before scoring the third and finall marker himself.dddddddddddd. “I think this is a great business card for Granlund to show how good he can be,” Selanne said of Granlund, who has 28 points in his second season with the Minnesota Wild. In upsetting the Russians and holding Ovechkin and Malkin off the score-board entirely – the pair combined for two goals all tournament – Finland gets an opportunity to play in Fridays semi-final against Sweden with another medal chance close at hand. Mindful of a rest advantage – Russia was playing for the fourth time in five days – Selanne believes a turning point for his country came in their final preliminary round match against Canada during which they lost 2-1 in overtime, hanging around despite an overwhelming talent disparity. “My young teammates, when they realized that they can compete against the best players in the world it felt great,” said Selanne, who played in his first Olympics in 1992. “I dont know how many people saw that, [but] I saw it very [closely]. I was very proud of those guys. I think thats the carryover from that game. Its a good feeling when you realize that you can compete against the best.” Yet again it was a sum of parts defeating what was ultimately an incredibly talented and yet flawed Russian squad, one that buckled under the strain of a countrys worth of pressure. They fell in the quarterfinals for the second straight Olympics. “It sucks,” said Ovechkin, who had just a single goal all tournament, held to three shots by Finland and singled out by his head coach afterward. Rask was there all night to turn aside whatever Ovechkin and the Russians could muster. The 26-year-old got stronger as the game wore on, stopping all 27 shots in the final 40 minutes, including one on Alexander Radulov in the waning moments of victory. “Tuukka?” said Komarov with a grin. “Hes okay.” And ultimately it was Rask, who summed up the under-looked and under-appreciated Finns. “Even though nobody ever picks us to win medals,” he said, “we always seem to find a way to get there and win one.” ' ' '