DETROIT -- The Detroit Lions have cut cornerback Chris Houston with four years left on his contract. The Lions say Friday that a "significant medical procedure" led to Houstons release. Houston was limited to 12 games last season because of toe and foot injuries. The ailments appeared to hurt his play when he was on the field. Houston had not attended off-season workouts so far this year under new coach Jim Caldwell. Detroit acquired Houston from Atlanta for a fifth-round pick in 2010. The Lions re-signed him twice, including last year to a five-year deal. Houston had a career-high five interceptions in 2011, helping the Lions reach the playoffs for the first time since the 1999 season. Houston had two interceptions in each of the last two years and has 13 in his career. Joe Harris Nets Jersey . Kevin Durant certainly played like there was on Sunday night, scoring 36 points and grabbing 10 rebounds as the Thunder made quick work of the visiting Pacers with a 118-94 win. Spencer Dinwiddie Jersey . A groundswell for raising the number of playoff qualifiers to seven in each conference figures to get plenty of support from the 32 owners. Most notably, Arizonas Bill Bidwill, who saw his Cardinals go 10-6 and not get in, while Green Bay (8-7-1) qualified by winning the NFC North. https://www.netsrookiesshop.com/Dzanan-M...Edition-Jersey/. In a matchup of teams battling head-to-head for the final playoff spot in Major League Soccers Western Conference, the Whitecaps run to the post-season took a hard hit when FC Dallas blew open a tie game with two goals in the final minutes for a 3-1 victory Saturday night. David Nwaba Jersey . "It was awesome," he said. Coming off an ugly three-game sweep at the hands of the Yankees, Toronto found itself in a deep hole early after the Reds put an eight spot up on starter Liam Hendriks (six runs in 1 2/3 innings pitched) and Todd Redmond in the second. Wilson Chandler Nets Jersey . -- The Minnesota Vikings have signed Jerome Simpson, the former Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver recently convicted on a felony drug charge.DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - A part-time schedule is not ideal, but Pete Shepherd III has gotten practically every ounce of success out of it. In the two NASCAR Canadian Tire Series presented by Mobil 1 starts this season, the Brampton, Ont., driver has a perfect record with June wins at Delaware (Ont.) Speedway and the half-mile oval at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park near Bowmanville, Ont. Add in the final few races of last season and the 27-year-old has three victories in his last four efforts. Despite the limited opportunities, Shepherd is not surprised at the success. "Im not surprised at all," he said. "We work hard on the car and behind the scenes a lot goes on for us to stay in step with the teams that race more often." Five total series wins in just 22 starts is more than staying in step. The results beg the what if question, but Shepherd doesnt spend a lot of time dwelling on that. "I can only do what I can do," he said. "We try to make the most of whats available and weve done pretty well with that recently." However, it doesnt mean that he doesnt get frustrated at times especially when watching television. "It doesnt matter if Im watching a Canadian Tire Series race or a (NASCAR) Sprint Cup Series race, it eats at me that I cant get out there more." Shepherd had some opportunities in the U.S. in his younger years, but the time wasnt right he laments in retrospect. "I was just too young. Today, there are some young guys doing some great things, but that wasnt really the case when I was down there," he said. "Ive matured so much and learned so much as a driver. So, yes, it bugs me." The undefeated driver comes into the Hudco Electric Supply 300 presented by G-Oil at Barrie (Ont.) Speedway as the defending champion and for as physical as the racing is on the .333-mile tri-oval Shepherd likes the fact that early trouble doesnt necessarily spell doom. "Its tough racing there, thats for sure, but youre never out of it there," he said. "I think last year we were down a couple laps early on. As long as you stay with it and protect your equipment as best you can, then you always have a chance there." Having not raced since mid-June, the driver of the National Exhaust/Diamond Material Handling Dodge is ready to get back on the track. "I cant wait," he said. "The crowd at Barrie is always great and the racing is never dull. I wish the race was tomorrow." Race: Hudco Electric Supply 300 presented by G-OilPlace: Barrie (Ont.) SpeedwayDate: Saturday, Sept. 8Time: 7 p.m. ETTV Schedule: TSN2, Sat. Sept. 24, 2 p.m. ET; RDS2, Fri., Oct. 4, 8 p.m. ETTrack Layout: .333-mile asphalt tri-oval2012 Winner: Pete Shepherd III2012 Pole Sitter: Steve MathewsEvent Schedule: Practice 1-1:30 p.m.; Final Practice 2-2:30 p.m.; Qualifying 4:45 p.m.; On-Track Autograph Session 5:30 p.m.; Driver Introductions 6:30 p.m.TRACK CONTACT: Diane Cunningham at 705-487-0279 or diane@barriespeedway.comTWITTER: @BarrieSpeedwayEVENT TWITTER HASHTAG: #Hudco300NASCAR IMC CONTACT: John Tejeda, (386) 500-3015 or jtejeda@nascar.com, @OnTheGoJT If photographs or graphics are needed for the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series presented by Mobil 1, please contact Shon Sbarra at (704) 309-5493 or ssbarra@nascar.com FAST FACTS The Race: This is the 11th event of 12 in the 2013 season for the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series presented by Mobil 1 and the seventh of eight oval track events on the schedule. This is the series ninth visit to the Barrie track. The Procedure: The starting field is 24 cars, including provisionals. The first 21 cars will qualify through two-lap time trials while the remaining three spots will be awarded through the provisional process. The race will be 300 laps covering 99.dddddddddddd99 miles. The Track: Barrie Speedway opened in 1965 and has had substantial improvements made since 1999. At that time, the track was widened and lengthened from a .25-mile oval to its current unique .333-mile tri-oval configuration. The tri-oval and pit road are situated on the backstretch. The Records: The one-lap qualifying record for the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series at Barrie is 13.903 seconds (86.226 mph) set by Don Thomson Jr. on June 28, 2008. The 300-lap race record is held by D.J. Kennington at 1 hour, 40 minutes, 8 seconds established on Sept. 11, 2010 for an average speed of 59.860 mph. The History: Barrie Speedway has hosted more NASCAR Canadian Tire Series presented by Mobil 1 events than any other track. Kennington leads all drivers with three wins including both visits in 2007 – the series inaugural season. Last year, Pete Shepherd III won a typically exciting race that was delayed a day due to rain. BARRIE RACE NOTES Dodge Dominant: Dodge has won seven of the eight previous Barrie Speedway events with D.J. Kennington (No. 17 Castrol Edge/Mahindra Tractors Dodge) and Scott Steckly (No. 22 Canadian Tire/Sylvania Dodge) accounting for five of those. The only non-Dodge winner was the Chevrolet of Don Thomson Jr. in Sept. 2009. Little Separation: Barrie Speedway is close quarters competition from start to finish. Kennington holds the series mark for both largest and smallest margin of victory. He outdistanced Dave Whitlock by 1.453 seconds in Sept. 2007 and Thomson by a scant .015 seconds in the 2010 event. Long And Short Of It: The 300-lap Hudco Electric Supply-sponsored event in Barrie is one of three races scheduled for that number of laps. The Canadian Tire Series went 300 laps in July at Motoplex Speedway in Vernon, B.C., and on Aug. 17 at Riverside International Speedway in Antigonish, N.S. Barrie and Riverside are .333-mile tracks while Motoplex is a half-mile circuit. Home Tracks Update: Gord Shepherd leads the Wahta Springs Limited Late Model division by 34 points over Ron Quesnelle. In the Canestoga Property Management Thunder Cars Darryl St. Onge leads Rick Walt by just three points and Dave Doucette, in third, sits only five points back. Mike Gettliffe and Doug Butler are in a dead heat in the St. Onge Recreation Pure Stock division. LAST TIME OUT: Pintys presents the Clarington 200New Leader: With a fourth-place finish at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park D.J. Kennington took over the lead in the championship point standings by three over Scott Steckly. L.P. Dumoulin moved into the third spot – 21 points behind the leader – with the victory. Elite Group: Dumoulin joins J.R. Fitzpatrick and Andrew Ranger as multi-time winners on the road course at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. The three drivers account for seven of the eight series wins at the track with Kennington claiming the remaining victory. High-Water Marks: Martin Roy established a new career-best finish with a runner-up finish on the road course at CTMP. His previous high was fifth on four occasions. Marc-Antoine Camirand (6th) and Gary Klutt (7th) also established new career marks. Long Field: Thirty-six cars started the Pintys presents the Clarington 200. It was the largest field for a series race since 37 cars started at Montreals Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Aug. 2011. NEXT TIME OUT: Pintys 250 at Kawartha SpeedwayAs it has for the past six seasons, the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series presented by Mobil 1 wraps up its season and crowns a new champion at Kawartha Speedway near Peterborough, Ont. The racy .375-mile oval will play host to the Pintys 250. A season ago, D.J. Kennington left nothing to doubt by winning the race to clinch his second series championship in three seasons. ' ' '