urth in a stretch for the Pacers that has them playing eight of nine games at home.REMEMBERING HOOSIERS:Ho

After an open first half of the Supercars championship, the cream is rising to the top in this years title race.Six-time champion Jamie Whincup heads into this weekends Ipswich SuperSprint at Queensland Raceway holding a narrow 53-point lead over Red Bull Racing teammate Shane Van Gisbergen.Just behind them is reigning champion Mark Winterbottom, with the Ford ace only 22 points adrift of Van Gisbergen.It means despite a season featuring 10 different race winners and multiple championship leaders the top trio are starting to take a stranglehold on this years title battle.Holden veteran Craig Lowndes and Volvos Scott McLaughlin are hanging into the title race but are already 153 and 171 points behind Whincup respectively.Winterbottom, who won both races at Ipswich last year on his way to his maiden Supercars title, says the fact the track is the home of his Red Bull Racing rivals could be as much of a hindrance as a help.Going to your test track doesnt always work for you, the Prodrive Racing Australia star said.Conditions can change and youve tested all these items and then you dont get on top of it and a fresh team has new challenges.It will make for good racing at that track, it is always a tough one and I just hope we can win again because it does feel better when you can beat them on their home turf.Winterbottom will make his 400th Supercars race start on Saturday but Holden ace Whincup is also chasing a major milestone.Whincup posted his 99th career race win at Townsville earlier this month and victory in either of the two races this weekend will make him the second driver in Supercars history after Lowndes to win 100 races.Lowndes himself will be hoping to add to his 11 race wins at the venue in a bid to reignite his flagging championship tilt.The Ipswich SuperSprint begins on Friday with practice before a 39-lap race on Saturday and a 65-lap race on Sunday.MILESTONES AND FORM FOR THE SUPERCARS CHAMPIONSHIP CHASERS* Championship leader Jamie Whincup is chasing a 100th career race win after his 99th victory in Townsville earlier this month.* Red Bull Racings Shane Van Gisbergen has the most wins this season with three and has finished in the top 10 in 28 of his last 30 races.* Fords Mark Winterbottom will make his 400th race start in Saturdays 39-lap event. He has 37 of those races.Fernando Tatis Jr. Padres Jersey .ca looks back at the stories and moments that made the year memorable. Trevor Hoffman Jersey . That gave fans outside Joe Louis Arena another chance to ask for autographs from the 19-year-old whose stardom in the NHL has arrived earlier than most expected. http://www.padressale.com/padres-dave-winfield-jersey/ . Louis Rams wide receiver Stedman Bailey last Sunday. The fine is the fourth this season for Goldson. He was fined $30,000 for a hit on the New York Jets Jeff Cumberland in Week 1. Austin Hedges Padres Jersey . -- Charlie Graham stopped 67 shots as the Belleville Bulls edged the visiting Guelph Storm 6-5 on Saturday in Ontario Hockey League action. Aaron Loup Padres Jersey . -- Charline Labonte couldnt have asked for a better homecoming.INDIANAPOLIS -- Brandon Knight and the Phoenix Suns backups outlasted the Indiana Pacers on Friday night.Knight scored 17 points and helped the bench players combine for an NBA season-best 78 points in the Suns 116-96 victory over the Pacers.Jared Dudley added 16 points, Alan Williams had 15 points, and Devin Booker and Leandro Barbosa 13 each. The Suns improved to 4-9 with their second road victory.Every day is like a blank canvas for us, coach Earl Watson said. The good thing is, were the artists of that blank canvas. The mindset in getting our guys to learn to bring it every night is the process, the journey for us.Myles Turner led the Pacers with 22 points, and Jeff Teague had 21 points and seven assists.We went through the motions. We were on our heels, Indiana coach Nate McMillan said. It was bad out there. The game should fire you up. When they toss the ball up, you should be ready to go and (on Friday) we werent.The Pacers rallied to take their first lead with 7:46 left in the third quarter on Turners basket. But the Suns pulled ahead again, with Knight scoring all 12 points of his points in the period in a 2 1/2-minute stretch. Phoenix outscored Indiana 27-14 in the fourth.Basketball is a game of runs and we were able to get stops eventually, Knight said. They started making a lot of shots and when we got consecutive stops, it led to us getting baskets.Pacers All-Star Paul George did not play for the second time in four games. Hes battling soreness in his left ankle after turning his ankle in Indianas overtime loss at Philadelphia on Nov. 11. Hes scheduled for an MRI on Saturday to assess the severity of the injury.TIP-INS:Phoenix: The game wass the fourth back-to-back Phoenix has played through 13 games .dddddddddddd... Eric Bledsoe and Alex Len were both called for technical fouls for arguing foul calls with official Dan Crawford. ... Phoenix is 2-1 against the Eastern Conference. ... The Suns have won 16 of the last 22 meetings with the Pacers and nine of the last 12 at Indiana.Indiana: Rodney Stuckey played for the first time since opening night after missing 10 games with strained right hamstring. ... CJ Miles left the game with three minutes left in the first quarter with a left knee injury and did not return to the game ... The contest was the fourth in a stretch for the Pacers that has them playing eight of nine games at home.REMEMBERING HOOSIERS:Hoosiers screenwriter Angelo Pizzo and director David Anspaugh, along with actors who portrayed fictional Hickory High School in the 1986 basketball classic -- including Maris Valainis, who played Jimmy Chitwood -- were in attendance. The Pacers first Hickory Night coincides with the 30th anniversary of the movies release.BLUEGRASS STATE SUPPORTWith four Kentucky products on the roster, the Suns had a contingency of about 75 fans cheering behind their bench Friday. Lexington is roughly 190 miles from Indianapolis, and the Kentucky fans watched solid performances from Knight, Booker, Bledsoe and rookie Tyler Ulis.UP NEXT:Phoenix visits Philadelphia on Saturday in the fourth game of a six-game trip.Indiana is on the road Sunday at Oklahoma City, then hosts defending Western Conference champion Golden State on Monday. ' ' '