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CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Tony Stewart does not consider the Daytona 500 a disaster, despite the engine problems that spoiled his return to racing from a broken right leg. The three-time NASCAR champion wound up 35th in the season-opening race, but he logged enough laps during Speedweeks that he feels good going into the upcoming stretch of seven consecutive races. Stewart missed the final 15 races last year after breaking his leg in two places during a sprint car crash in Iowa. His first time back in a race car was Feb. 14, the day before he competed -- and was crashed out of -- the exhibition Sprint Unlimited. He also raced in the Budweiser Duel before the 500, giving him 672 miles of racing in three events. Stewart goes to Sundays race at Phoenix International Raceway "a lot more confident than I was before we got to Daytona." "I think having all the races that we ran, and actually getting in a crash, while not a great thing, allowed me to sort of test my leg and it felt good," Stewart said in a Stewart-Haas Racing team release. "There have been some little things that have felt a little different, but for the most part, its felt like an old pair of tennis shoes that youre just comfortable with. I think the whole time in Daytona exceeded my expectations of what I hoped it would be like." But the 500 itself was a letdown for SHR. Stewart had the engine issue and Danica Patrick was involved in a crash and finished 40th. It left only Kevin Harvick and Kurt Busch, the two newcomers to the organization, in contention for a solid finish and both had difficulties at the end. Busch wound up 21st and Harvick was involved in the final accident of the race and finished a team-best 13th. Stewart said Sundays race at Phoenix will be a better indicator of where the team is than Daytona, one of only four restrictor-plate races on the schedule. "Daytona and Talladega have always just been two different forms of racing," Stewart said, referring to the necessary teamwork and drafting. "What happens at Phoenix and the races after that has to be done on your own. You cant help each other at Phoenix. You just have to go race." He likes his chances at Phoenix, where he has one win, eight top-fives and 12 top-10s in 23 career starts. Hes completed all but 14 of 7,257 laps on the 1-mile oval. But PIR is also the place that pushed Stewart into becoming a full-time race car driver in 1993. Still working eight-hour days at $5-an-hour at a machine shop in Columbus, Ind., Stewart headed West to run USAC Silver Crown season-opening Copper World Classic. He qualified second to Davey Hamilton, then led 31 of 50 laps before finishing second to Mike Bliss. Stewart earned $3,500 that day -- a payout that convinced him running the Silver Crown, Sprint and Midget races across the nation that year sounded a lot better than returning to the machine shop. He never looked back, learning how to adapt in every kind of car he drove out of "fear that Im going to have to get a real job if Im not successful. "To think that it all kind of started at Phoenix, I guess you could say its the place where my career came full-circle," he said. Authentic Soccer Jerseys . -- Washington Capitals forward Brooks Laich is expected to miss the rest of the regular season after having an operation on a groin muscle. Cheap NFL Jerseys . It took five games, but the Celtics finally helped Stevens earn his first NBA victory. "Im going to celebrate for a whole 12 minutes, and then Im going to start watching Orlando and trying to figure them out," the first-year Celtics coach said after Boston beat the Utah Jazz, one of the leagues other winless teams, 97-87 on Wednesday night. http://www.cheapsoccerjerseysauthentic.net/. Eller said the Oilers were a "junior team" that was "all over the place" before Edmontons 4-3 victory over Montreal on Tuesday night, Oilers head coach Dallas Eakins took offence to Ellers comments and used it to motivate his youthful team. NFL Jerseys China Authentic . The Mercedes duo of three-time Canadian Grand Prix champion Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg has won all six races to start the season, finishing one-two in the last five. Cheap Jerseys Free Shipping .com) - Eric Fehrs goal 42 seconds into overtime lifted the Washington Capitals to a 5-4 come-from-behind victory over Columbus, halting the Blue Jackets seven-game win streak.DAVIE, Fla. - Judging by the stat that matters most to Ryan Tannehill, hes doing only so-so.The Miami Dolphins quarterback is always quick to say wins are his priority, and his team is 6-5 heading into Monday nights game at the New York Jets. Tannehill has a 21-22 record in three NFL seasons, and the Dolphins will need a late-season surge to avoid a sixth consecutive year out of the playoffs.But the past two months have been the best stretch of Tannehills brief career, and he has been especially good lately, completing over 70 per cent of his passes in four consecutive games. No previous Dolphins quarterback ever had such a streak, not even Pro Football Hall of Famers Dan Marino or Bob Griese.He has been playing better, coach Joe Philbin said Wednesday. Certainly he has been throwing the ball accurately and doing a good job running the offence.In the past two games, Tannehill has posted back-to-back passer ratings above 100, a first for him. Those performances pushed his rating for the season to 93.4, which ranks ninth among quarterbacks with eight or more starts.Tannehill ranks eighth in the league with a completion percentage of 66.1, and his touchdown-interception ratio of 20 to six is tied for ninth-best, which puts him ahead of Russell Wilson, Joe Flacco and Colin Kaepernick, among others. The athletic Tannehill also has 276 yards rushing, 45 shy of the franchise record for a quarterback.Thats better than so-so.I feel more comfortable the more games we play, Tannehill said. I feel like Im improving, and I just want to keep improving. There is still a lot of room for growth, and I just want to take those strides.For starters, Tannehill and the Dolphins need to improve in close games. He said it feels as though the Dolphins are better than 6-5, but theyre 0-3 in games decided by four points or less.Youve got to be able to win those tough games, he said. If we make one more play on offence or defence, were going to win thhose games.ddddddddddddBut its hard to find too much fault with an offence on pace for the Dolphins highest-scoring season since 1986.Tannehills accuracy on long passes remains problematic, so the Dolphins have stopped throwing deep much. He ranks only 29th in the NFL in yards per attempt, but has become adept at spreading the ball around and keeping defences off balance with short throws.He has also clicked with rookie Jarvis Landry, whose 49 catches lead the Dolphins.Each week you have seen Ryan progress, Landry said. He is still on a constant rise, and were excited about what the future holds.Along with deep passes, consistency was another issue during Tannehills first two-plus seasons, which makes his recent performances encouraging. He has had a passer rating above 100 in five of the past eight games, squelching early-season speculation that his status as a starter might be in jeopardy.His recent play has validated his selection in the first round in 2012.I want to be here for a long time, Tannehill said. Obviously I understand that in order to do that, you have to play well. At the end of the day I just want to win and take us into the playoffs.The Dolphins will likely to need to win at least four of their final five games to have a shot at the post-season. That makes a victory Monday against the lowly Jets mandatory.But Tannehill remembers all too well how the Jets kept the Dolphins out of the playoffs a year ago with an upset victory in Miami in the season finale. Tannehill threw three interceptions and the Dolphins lost 20-7.Its not a good memory, he said. We didnt play well, and the Jets always find a way to play us well.Tannehill has indeed struggled in his four games against the Jets. Monday night offers a prime-time chance for him to show them how much he has improved.___AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and http://twitter.com/AP_NFL___Follow Steven Wine on Twitter: http://twitter.com/Steve_Wine ' ' '