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Jeff Gordon had a moment in practice Saturday at Darlington Raceway that hed never experienced before. At least not like this. It was a little bit of shock, a little bit of savoring the moment.Im out there running laps, and I had a moment where I was like, Wow, Im out here at Darlington. What in the world am I doing here at Darlington? Gordon said Saturday afternoon. But it was a cool moment. I was excited about it.So things are going well. Im having fun here.Having fun at the track was part of the reason Gordon will run just three more races while Alex Bowman will do eight races in place of Dale Earnhardt Jr. (concussion) for the remainder of the season.Its no surprise Gordon, who has competed in five races in place of Earnhardt while Bowman has been in two, agreed to do more short-track races as he will run the 0.75-mile Richmond, 1-mile Dover and 0.5-mile Martinsville tracks.Bowman, 23, will take care of all the 1.5-mile tracks left -- Chicagoland, Charlotte, Kansas, Texas and Homestead -- as well as the 1-milers New Hampshire and Phoenix and the superspeedway race at Talladega.Gordon said he had some conflicts with some of the intermediate-track races, so Hendrick Motorsports opted for Bowman to take care of all of them. Bowman also did the race earlier this year at New Hampshire and it made sense for him to go back there a second time.The four-time Cup champion Gordon had come out of retirement to substitute for Earnhardt but never really wanted to be in the car full time on a substitute basis. When Earnhardt learned a couple weeks ago he would be out the rest of the year, the team took about 10 days to set the schedule for the remainder of the season.Its a combination of whats best for the team, whats best for the sponsors and sort of Juniors wishes as well, Gordon said. Hes big on Alex Bowman, and the team has really enjoyed having him in the car.We want to make sure our sponsors are getting everything out of it as well. ...I was just happy to do whatever they wanted me to do.Gordon remains an equity owner at Hendrick and his time in the car will help the team as it seeks to improve performance.It also will give Gordon an opportunity to run Martinsville again, a track where he has nine career wins, including a victory in November 2015 that vaulted him into having a shot at the title at Homestead.When you leave there as a winner, you kind of dont want to mess that up, Gordon said. But its also a track that I like a lot, and I feel confident at.Gordon also knows that it could be possible the Hendrick No. 88 team is still eligible for the owners championship, although it enters this weekend at Richmond at 24 points behind the current cutoff. If Ryan Newman is penalized, though, that could cut the gap between the No. 88 and Newmans Richard Childress Racing team for the last spot -- the owners (team) championship is determined in the same format as the drivers Chase.Whether they advance into the owners championship or not, Gordon will view this as a valuable experience. The Hendrick organization is split a little bit into two two-car teams, with the Jimmie Johnson and Earnhardt teams sharing one shop and the Chase Elliott-Kasey Kahne teams sharing the other. This is Gordons first experience working with the 48-88 shop.Gordon has finished from 11th to 14th in four of his five starts. He still seeks his first top-10 of 2016.Its really been a great experience for me because Ive spent so much time with the 24 team over the last 23 years, that going into the shop of the 48-88 guys, spending time with [crew chief Greg Ives] and their team, its been great for my new role at Hendrick, Gordon said.Its really allowed me to bond with those guys as well as the bond that I have with my [former 24] guys and see kind of how the teams work separately and together.With Earnhardt out the rest of the year, the Hendrick team has the challenge of keeping focus while its driver remains sidelined.This team cares about Junior so much, Gordon said. They love him. They want him back. But theyre handling it amazing. They really are.Theyre in a really tough situation because not only is Junior not coming back this year, but theyve got two different drivers theyve got to work with. ... Their demeanor and attitude about it has been phenomenal. Donte Jackson Youth Jersey . It was the second consecutive win for the Pacers (2-5), who lost their first five preseason games. Jeff Teague led the Hawks (1-5) with 17 points and eight assists and Al Horford had 12 points and seven rebounds. Mike Scott scored 15 of his 17 points in the second half. Will Grier Jersey . Note: The Calgary Flames announced Tuesday that Sean Monahan would not be made available to Canadas World Junior team. http://www.thepanthersofficialstore.com/authentic-cam-newton-panthers-jersey/ . Clarke was injured while practicing on the Doha Golf Club range after the pro-am on Tuesday. The Northern Irishman arrived at the course on Wednesday hoping to start, but after hitting a few balls on the practice putting green Clarke advised officials he was not fit to play. Greg Little Panthers Jersey . They hope to persuade the other team owners and commissioner Roger Goodell to put pressure on Redskins owner Daniel Snyder to drop the nickname they find offensive. "Given the way the meeting transpired," Ray Halbritter, an Oneida representative and leader of the "Change the Mascot Campaign," said Wednesday, "it became somewhat evident they were defending the continued use of the name. Brian Burns Jersey .J. -- Seven games into a disappointing season, New York Giants defensive catalyst Jason Pierre-Paul is getting the feeling hes back. WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. -- Joey Logano has won his second straight the pole for the Xfinity race at Watkins Glen International.Logano turned a track-record fast lap of 124.552 mph on Friday to edge Team Penske teammate Brad Keselowski. The pole for Logano, the defending champion of the Zippo 200, was the 31st of his career, breaking a tie with Mark Martin for second place. Its also the fifth straight pole for Penske at Watkins Glen and marks the second straight year the teammates will start on tthe front row.ddddddddddddPaul Menard will start third, followed by Kyle Larson and Kyle Busch as Sprint Cup regulars dominated on the newly paved track.Daniel Suarez, Trevor Bayne, Ty Dillon, Justin Allgaier, and Elliott Sadler rounded out the top 10.Rookie Erik Jones, who has a series-leading three wins, failed to make the final round of 12 and will start 13th. ' ' '