MIAMI - Theres no Jeff, Jimmie or Junior. Bad Brad missed the cut and Smoke never contended.NASCARs biggest stars are all absent from this final field of four racing for the Sprint Cup championship at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Sunday.The new elimination format introduced by NASCAR this season was designed to emphasize wins over points and create a survival-of-the-fastest finale. Jeff Gordon and Brad Keselowski were eliminated last week. Six-time and defending champion Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt Jr., NASCARs most popular driver, were knocked out in the second round. Three-time series champion Tony Stewart didnt even make the 16-driver field.It was a startling development for NASCAR, particularly since Earnhardt, Gordon, Johnson and Keselowski combined to win 18 of 35 races this season. They will be racing only for pride and a trophy on Sunday while Kevin Harvick, Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano and Ryan Newman will be chasing the Sprint Cup championship.The quartet lacks star power. But it is a formidable field and all four drivers have their share of tangled histories and compelling journeys that have them within reach of what will be the first NASCAR title for one of them.Harvick spent 13 seasons driving for Richard Childress, who hastily called him up to the big leagues to drive Dale Earnhardts car just five days after the Hall of Famer was killed in the 2001 Daytona 500. He had raw talent to go with his hair-trigger temper.But Richard Childress Racing could never get him close enough — he finished a career-best third in the standings three times — and he began talking to good friend Stewart about his future in 2012. Stewart told Harvick if he left RCR to drive for Stewart-Haas Racing, he could get Harvick a title.Harvick joined SHR at the end of 2013 and this first season has been nothing short of magical. Harvick has four wins — including last weeks version of a walk-off home run to race his way into the finale — and his 2,083 laps led are tops in the series this season.These moments are what you live for when youre racing or a professional athlete, he said of his first true chance to win a championship. You want these moments.To make room for Harvick, Stewart had to jettison Newman, the driver he brought with him in 2009 when he became part-owner of Stewart-Haas.Newman got his pink slip last July and promptly won the Brickyard 400 the next race out. That victory raised his stock and Childress brought him on board. He drives Jeff Burtons old car, but in many senses it was a bit of a seat swap with Harvick.Newman, who won a Daytona 500 driving for Roger Penske and at Indianapolis Motor Speedway driving for Stewart, was the final seed in the 16-driver field after a steady if unspectacular run in the playoffs. Last week, he moved Kyle Larson out of his way to snag the last spot in the finale and bumped Gordon.Despite just 41 laps led all year and no wins, he has a chance to end the 20-year championship drought for Childress.Were in this hunt, Newman said. Just to have this opportunity, this is a chance for a dream to come true.Of the foursome, only Hamlin has been in this position before.He was the points leader headed into the finale under a different format in 2010. But his nerves were shaky before he even got in the car and he lost the championship to Johnson. Hamlin hasnt been the same driver since.Last season, Hamlin feuded for more than a month with Logano, his former Joe Gibbs Racing teammate. Things boiled over at California when they raced each other hard and contact sent Hamlin hard into the wall. He broke his back, missed five races and failed to make the Chase for the first time in his career.Logano, meanwhile, was on a career resurgence at Team Penske after failing to meet expectations in four seasons with Gibbs. The former 18-year-old phenom dubbed Sliced Bread was pushed into Stewarts ride before he was ready when Stewart left for SHR.Cast aside so Gibbs could add Matt Kenseth last year, the fit with Penske has been spectacular as Logano made the Chase for the first time last year, then held his own with five wins against the big dogs this season.Now 24 and the youngest of the title contenders, Logano is racing for a championship against his old team and two drivers he has clashed with in Hamlin and Harvick, who relentlessly picked on him when he first came into the series.Logano has never before been in such a high-stakes situation, but hes done it by listening to the advice of crew chief Todd Gordon.Todd said to me, Dont reinvent the wheel at this point. You just polish the wheel a little bit and just become a little better in every area, Logano said. Thats what weve been able to do. Its been a fun ride so far. Cheap Vapormax 2 . As each game passes (each has played close with the exception of last night) it becomes clearer just how evenly matched these two teams are and how one mistake, or one bad inning, is likely to sway the result. Nike VaporMax Plus Sunset Black+Total Orange+Yellow . - Aaron Rodgers makes tough throws that can leave fans of the Green Bay Packers speechless. http://www.clearancevapormax.com/cheap-v...-clearance.html. Ribery, who won UEFAs best player in Europe award for the 2012-13 season, helped Bayern Munich win the Champions League and Bundesliga and German Cup titles. Messi, winner of the last four Ballon dOr awards in voting by coaches, team captains and media, was injured late in the season and could not prevent Barcelona from being beaten by Bayern in the Champions League semifinals. Wholesale Vapormax 2020 . Terry came from Boston along with Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce but has appeared in just 35 games after a knee injury, averaging 4.5 points on 36 per cent shooting. Evans was a favourite of fans but not coach Jason Kidd, who used him in just 30 of their 51 games. Fake Off White Vapormax . Wheeler said Kane was just making a joke that was misunderstood and misinterpreted by "Winnipeg folks" and the media once again. Wheeler repeated that he believes Kane is a player who has the ability to help the Jets get to the next level as they try once again to reach the playoffs in 2014. He made the comments initially in an interview, when asked how the Jets could compete in the Central Division with teams that have made some high-profile off-season signings.TORONTO - In one of the NBAs most unexpected role reversals, the Raptors find themselves sitting atop the East, looking down on a paper-thin conference that includes the hard-luck Pacers, a 56-win team that has hit rock bottom in the absence of their best player. For years, the Indiana Pacers had been a model for the Raptors and most of the NBAs rebuilding teams seeking sustainable success in a league that is generally dominated by superstar players and big basketball markets. Dwane Casey and former general manager Bryan Colangelo would point to the way the Pacers built up their roster, without a top pick or big money free agent import. They would point to Indianas rise to the top of the Eastern Conference - qualifying for the playoffs in each of the last four seasons, improving by at least five wins every year. Continuity and internal growth helped turn Frank Vogels club from a middling team to powerhouse in the East, but theyve fallen on hard times in the aftermath of a season-ending injury to Paul George, one of the NBAs elite two-way players. The Raptors share a similar affliction, also playing without their leading scorer, albeit less permanently. Granted, DeMar DeRozan is not at Georges level, nor are the Raptors as dependant on him as the Pacers are on their All-Star. But the biggest reason theyve been able to tread water in his absence - improving to 4-3 without him - was ultimately the difference in their latest win over wounded Indiana. One of our weapons that we have is our bench, said Patrick Patterson, a member of Torontos second unit, a group that poured in 64 points, fuelling the teams 106-94 victory Friday night. We feel like we have one of the best benches in the league. The Pacers have also been without starting point guard George Hill - out indefinitely with a knee injury. Meanwhile, 34-year-old David West still looks out of sync working his way back from an extended absence. The result has been a seven-game losing streak - their worst since 2009 - and an eight-point (per contest) swing from last year (scoring 3.2 points less, allowing 4.8 more). Toronto, on the other hand, is better suited for life without its top point producer. Unlike the Pacers, they have a second star in Kyle Lowry - hes taken his game to another level with his backcourt partner sidelined - in addition to a strong and diverse bench to pick up the slack. With their starters struggling - Terrence Ross and Jonas Valanciunas combined to go 6-for-23 from the field - the Raptors reserves took over, led by the hot shooting of Lou Williams. Lou is a born scorer, Casey said of Williams, who had a game-high 26 points in 29 minutes. Hes done iit in big games, hes done it in playoff situations.dddddddddddd Thank goodness hes back healthy again. We have to make sure we get him good looks. Four reserves scored in double figures for the Raptors - James Johnson had 13 points, Patterson added 11 and Greivis Vasquez overcame a slow start to score 10. Tyler Hansbrough took just one shot but changed the game with his energy in a spirited 18 minutes off the pine. Together, they stretched an eight-point lead to start the fourth quarter to a 19-point advantage, allowing Casey to rest Lowry - who logged just 26 minutes after exceeding 40 in each of his last three outings. We have pretty much the sixth man of the year in my opinion with Lou Williams, Patterson said. Then you have myself, Tyler, Greivis, JJ. We have so many guys, so many different pieces who can come off the bench and contribute game in and game out and it can be anybodys night and tonight it seemed like it was a total team effort from the starters to the second unit. Its good for teams to have a second group, to give the first group relief, Williams added. We have a lot of guys that can start on other teams and weve accepted the role of being backups and we take that in pride, we take that in pride that we know were going into games and going to change the pace of the game. I think thats a major plus. Without George, the Pacers already lacklustre offence has fallen even further. They scored 94 points on Friday becoming the first Raptors opponent to be held under the century mark over Torontos last 10 games. Well, its been a struggle, obviously, said Vogel. If you look at where our record is, we havent had that. Were trying to establish that. Were trying to work through the changes in bodies that we have out there and working guys back from injuries. Its obviously a different dynamic. Indiana simply doesnt have the offensive talent to make up for what theyve lost, but they still present a challenge on the defensive end and on the boards, where they rank second in the NBA. One of our main emphasis going in was to talk about rebounding, said Casey, whos team bested the Pacers on the boards, 52-39, including 16-6 on the offensive glass. And to out-rebound a team like Indiana, which is very physical and a paint-oriented team, my hats off to our guys. Overall, it was just a team effort keeping them off the glass, said Patterson, who contributed eight rebounds. We know theyre a great rebounding team and we know rebounding hasnt been our forte these past couple of games and its something we need to improve on and I think tonight was a step in the right direction. It seemed like everybody was on the glass. ' ' '