Jeff Hart

Lanier National Speedway brought out the big guns...er, wheels to get the Memorial Day festivities under way Sunday night. The 3/8ths-mile oval concluded a two-day event of Monster Truck racing with a fireworks display jusy before midnight as a huge crowd was on hand.

Tony Stewart suffered his second heartbreaking defeat of the season Sunday night when a flat tire late in the Coca-Cola 600 handed Kasey Kahne the victory in NASCAR's longest race of the year.

Jimmie Johnson sounds like a man ready to take a stand on his Sprint Cup season. And why not? What better place is there for Johnson to start getting on a roll than Lowe's Motor Speedway, the namesake track of the sponsor he has helped make famous in his No. 48 Chevrolet? Johnson, the two-time defending Sprint Cup points champion, has won five times on the 1.5-mile track.

The start of the Indianapolis 500 was once described as driving through a blender set to puree. Thirty-three cars racing in rows of three toward a narrow left turn at more than 200 mph is one of the scariest moments in a fearsome sport.

Joe Gibbs Racing's hold on the Nationwide Series finally has been snapped - by one of its drivers. JGR superstar Kyle Busch drove a Toyota fielded by Braun Racing to victory Saturday night at Lowe's Motor Speedway, snapping a six-race winning streak for Gibbs' cars in the Nationwide Series.

Kevin Garnett led the Boston Celtics to their first win on the road in the playoffs. He had plenty of help. Garnett scored 22 points and was one of six players to make the Celtics' first six baskets, helping them build the first of many big leads en route to a 94-80 victory over the Detroit Pistons on Saturday night and a 2-1 lead in the Eastern Conference finals.

It's no surprise the Detroit Red Wings have a Swede to thank for a prime-time performance, but Mikael Samuelsson? The demoted forward busted out of a slump with two goals, and Chris Osgood stifled the Pittsburgh Penguins' young and talented stable of forwards with 19 saves to lift the Red Wings to a 4-0 victory in the opening game of the Stanley Cup finals on Saturday night.

Jemile Weeks hit a three-run homer in the third inning and Enrique Garcia threw seven scoreless innings to lead top-seeded Miami into the 2008 Atlantic Coast Conference Baseball Championship title game, defeating North Carolina State 5-2 on Saturday at the Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville. The Hurricanes will play Virginia in the title game at 1 p.m. Sunday.

Michael Guerrero hit two home runs and drove in four runs in Mississippi's 8-7 win over Vanderbilt Saturday night, lifting the surprising Rebels into the Southeastern Conference tournament championship game. Eighth-seeded Ole Miss (37-23), which lost 7-4 in the first meeting Saturday, will seek its second SEC tournament title in three seasons against LSU on Sunday.

SEVIERVILLE, TENNESSEE -- The Atlanta Braves still haven't decided how long John Smoltz's minor league rehab assignment will last. But they can certainly be encouraged about the way it started. Smoltz tossed a scoreless eighth inning for Double-A Mississippi in Saturday night's game against the Tennessee Smokies.