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BROOKLYN, Mich. -- Joey Logano was only a few laps away from victory when suddenly, holding off Paul Menard wasnt his main problem. "I could tell something was wrong on the back straightaway," Logano said. Loganos flat tire with about five laps remaining allowed Menard to win the NASCAR Nationwide Series race Saturday at Michigan International Speedway. It was Menards second victory on that circuit and first since 2006, and Logano was left trying to come to terms with a race that was going well until the final moments. "I hate to give them away like that," Logano said. "You look at the silver lining I guess, which is we had a fast race car and should have won the race. You win some this way and lose some this way." Logano was leading when he was derailed by the tire problem. Menard took advantage of his good fortune, holding off Sam Hornish Jr. by 0.468 seconds. It was Menards first Nationwide start of the season. Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished third, followed by pole-winner Kyle Busch and Brian Scott. Regan Smith finished seventh and remained atop the points list. Menard, one of several Sprint Cup drivers in contention in the event, won the 250-mile, 125-lap race in his No. 33 Chevrolet. He figures he might have had a shot to win even without Loganos mishap. "I would have liked to have lined up nose to tail with Joey," he said. "It would have been a hell of a race." Logano wasnt disputing that, but the point became moot when he ran over something in his No. 22 Ford and dropped all the way back to 16th place because of the cut tire. "The 33 was quick and had a fast race car also. We were going to have a race because he was catching me a little bit," Logano said. "Sometimes you are the bug, sometimes you are the windshield. It is never over until it is over. You think you are in good shape and you are worried about a caution more than anything else and then the next thing you know you hear it starting to come apart." Busch won his third Nationwide pole of the year but was unable to repeat his victory two weeks ago at Dover. Scott was the highest finisher among this years Nationwide regulars, holding his own among several Cup drivers. "Ive been fortunate to run a couple Cup Series races, and I felt like it was a huge benefit to me and my team in the Nationwide Series," said Scott, who along with Menard was part of a big day for Richard Childress Racing. "The added track time, just driving something with more horsepower. You actually figure out ... the grip threshold, and you realize just how high it is. Then you can get in your Nationwide car and you know that youre nowhere near it or youre at it, and how to approach that." Hornish nearly won the Nationwide Series in 2013, but his sponsorship money dried up and he parted ways with owner Roger Penske. Hes made only three Nationwide starts this year, but the irregular schedule doesnt seem to be affecting his performance. Hes finished in the top five in all three races, including a victory at Iowa in May. He was in the No. 20 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing on Saturday. "Its not really a knocking-off-the-rust thing, because Im at the shop every week," Hornish said. "I feel like Im keeping from being rusty by the amount of things that Im doing as far as that. Gotten to do a little bit of testing, and theyve given me good cars. Everybody at Joe Gibbs Racing has been super nice to me so far -- glad that we could come out and have another good day for them." Cheap Jerseys From China . Kelli Stack and Alex Carpenter also scored for the Americans, who avoided a repeat of Finlands upset at the Four Nations Cup in Lake Placid, N.Y., in November. Finnish goalie Noora Raty made 58 saves in that one, but the three-time Olympian could stop just 40 of 43 U. Fake China Jerseys . -- Its been 21 years since Joe Gibbs Racing celebrated its only Daytona 500 victory. https://www.chinajerseyscheap.us/ .com) - Even-money favorite Liams Map proved a little too tough down the stretch and won Saturdays $100,000 Harlans Holiday Stakes at Gulfstream Park. China Jerseys Cheap .com) - The Carolina Panthers won for the first time in seven games last week, were without Cam Newton due to a car accident this week, but somehow sit atop the much-maligned NFC South. China Jerseys Stitched . Portland won Game 4 Sunday night at the Moda Center and are now up 3-1. The last time the Blazers won a playoff series came in the 2000 Western Conference semifinals against the Utah Jazz. SAN DIEGO -- A front-office shakeup had no impact on the San Diego Padres performance. After the team announced general manager Josh Byrnes was fired minutes before the first pitch with the Los Angeles Dodgers on Sunday, the Padres put up another punchless performance in a 2-1 loss against Hyun-Jin Ryu. Although Padres President and CEO Mike Dee said there were a number of factors that figured into the firing, Padres Executive Chairman Ron Fowler made it clear that the ownership group was not happy with the product on the field. "When you invest 50 per cent more money over the last two years, in terms of payroll, you expect better performance," Fowler said. "We gave baseball ops a clean slate as far as who did they want, what did they want to do. For my perspective, we are standing here as a consequence of that not working." Byrnes off-season moves included free agent signings of starting pitcher Josh Johnson, who has yet to pitch for San Diego since straining his right forearm in spring training, reliever Joaquin Benoit and outfielder Seth Smith. "We were led to believe, and I think its fair to say we believed, based upon the investment that we made, the additions we made in the off-season, the addition of certain players during the off-season, that would put us over the top," Dee said. "We felt confident that we would be in a position to compete for post-season baseball." Dee added that manager Bud Black has been told that his job is safe at least through the end of the season. Until the club hires a new general manager, senior vice-president for baseball operations Omar Minaya and assistant general managers A.J. Hinch and Fred Uhlman, Jr. will assume the GM duties. Minaya was the general manager of the New York Mets from 2005-10. Byrnes was hired by the Padres as their senior vice-president for baseball operations in December 2010 after he was let go as general manager of the Arizona Diamondbacks, where he was in the middle of an eight-year deal. He was promoted 10 months later to GM and was given a five-year contract. Under Byrnes, the Padres payroll increased nearly $400 million to $89,881,696 on opening this season -- 23rd overall -- but the team has made little progress.dddddddddddd After finishing with 76-86 records in his first two seasons, the Padres are 32-43 and 12 1/2 games back in the NL West during an injury-plagued season. Byrnes was touted by the Padres as excelling at scouting and player development, but his biggest moves came through trades. He sent first base prospect Anthony Rizzo to the Cubs for top-line starter Andrew Cashner, and he dealt starting pitcher Mat Latos for infielder Yasmani Grandal, catcher Yonder Alonso, and right-handers Edinson Volquez and Brad Boxberger. Byrnes also acquired starter Tyson Ross, closer Huston Street, outfielder Carlos Quentin and right-hander Ian Kennedy. Ryu (9-3) had few problems against the light-hitting Padres, as he won for the sixth time in seven starts since missing more than three weeks with shoulder inflammation. The left-handed Ryu gave up one runs and four hits in six innings, and he did not allow San Diego to get its first hit until the fourth inning. The Dodgers, winners of 10 of 14, took two of three games in the series and have either won or split their last 11 series in San Diego. The last time they lost a series in San Diego was a three-game sweep in September 2010. Adrian Gonzalez and Dee Gordon drove in runs against Eric Stults (2-10). J.P. Howell pitched 1 1-3 perfect innings and Brian Wilson got two outs before Kenley Jansen finished off the four-hitter by pitching the ninth for his 22nd save in 25 chances. NOTES: Dodgers LF Matt Kemp extended his hitting streak to 10 games, while Ramirez increased his to nine games. ... San Diego has scored 23 runs in Stults 16 starts. ... Padres 3B Chase Headley (back) missed his fourth straight game. ... Dodgers RHP Zack Greinke (9-3, 2.57 ERA) faces Royals RP Jeremy Guthrie (4-6, 3.86) Monday in the opener of a three-game series at Kansas City. The Padres travel to San Francisco on Monday with RHP Andrew Cashner (2-6, 2.36) squaring off against Matt Cain (1-3, 3.66). ' ' '