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DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- With the famed No. 3 on his car and memories of the late Dale Earnhardt fresh in his mind, Austin Dillon took the fabled number out of hibernation and straight to the top at Daytona. Dillon reawakened the days of The Intimidator and proved he can handle the spotlight thrust on his ride in the 3, winning the pole Sunday for the season-opening Daytona 500. He took the top spot with a lap at 196.019 mph in NASCARs season opener in a car Richard Childress has refused to field at NASCARs top level since Earnhardts fatal accident on the last lap of the 2001 race. But with his 23-year-old grandson ready to move to the Sprint Cup Series, Childress allowed Dillon to use the number widely associated with the seven-time champion. Earnhardt won 67 races, six championships and the 1998 Daytona 500 driving the No. 3. Dillon was a kid when he posed for a picture with Earnhardt in Victory Lane following his breakthough 1998 win. Hell have many more memories from this milestone, like the congratulatory handshake he received from Richard Petty when qualifying ended. NASCARs family roots run deep, so Childress never had to leave the family tree to find the right driver for the number. Dillon has been using it in NASCAR national competition since 2009, when he made his Truck Series debut in the No. 3. He won the Truck championship in 2011 driving the No. 3 for Richard Childress Racing, and the Nationwide title last season in the same number. So Childress knew -- he always knew and has insisted that Earnhardt gave his blessing long before his death -- that Dillon could use the number if he ever made it to Cup. Dillon doesnt take the responsibility lightly. "Everybody wants to see this number perform well, and thats what my goals are," Dillon said. "I love getting in that race car and driving it. I think once we get through some of these races here at the beginning of the year, everything will sink in and Ill get comfortable and be able to have some fun." Its the fourth time the No. 3 has won the pole for the Daytona 500. Buddy Baker did it in 1969, Ricky Rudd in 1983 and Earnhardt in 1996. Martin Truex Jr., driving a Chevrolet for Furniture Row Racing, qualified second with a lap at 195.852 mph. Truexs engine is built by Earnhardt-Childress Racing, giving the company a sweep of the Daytona 500 front row. "Obviously, without that thing under the hood, we wouldnt be where we are," said Truex, who won the Daytona 500 pole in 2009 with an ECR engine when he drove for Earnhardt Ganassi Racing. The rest of the field is set Thursday through a pair of qualifying races, but Childress and the ECR engines are strong: They had five cars in the top 12 on Sunday. Childress knew he had a shot at the pole, if not with Dillon then from another one of his four Richard Childress Racing entries. All were fast in January testing, and again in two Saturday practice sessions. But it was Hendrick Motorsports driver Dale Earnhardt Jr., the first driver to make his qualifying attempt, who set the pace early and held down the provisional pole for most of the session. RCR drivers Brian Scott and Paul Menard failed to bump Earnhardt, and it was surprisingly Ford driver Greg Biffle who finally did it as the 33rd driver to take his turn. Ryan Newman then took his shot for RCR and missed, and Dillon was the next driver out. He shot to the top of the board and his grandfather pumped his fist in celebration. He then nervously watched as the final 10 drivers made their runs, and gave another fist-pump in celebration. "We wanted to come down here and put on a good show with the 3, and to have another ECR engine with Furniture Row on the front row, we couldnt be more proud," Childress said. So could he finally relax? "The pressure is always on when youve got grandsons racing for you," said Childress, who thanked all the sponsors who "believed in this young kid, who took a chance on him." Lou Piniella Jersey . Off-Season Game Plan looks at what the Blue Jackets may do to build upon last seasons success to return to the playoffs again next year. Gerson Bautista Jersey . The Cubs made the moves before Thursdays game against Arizona. They promoted left-hander Zac Rosscup and right-hander Neil Ramirez from Triple-A Iowa and optioned righty Blake Parker to their top minor league team. https://www.cheapmariners.com/.com) - Guard Greivis Vasquez and forward Patrick Patterson, two key pieces to the Toronto Raptors run to an Atlantic Division title in 2013-14, were both given qualifying offers by the team on Saturday. Ichiro Suzuki Jersey . Pospisil, whose season-ending goal is to improve his ATP Tour ranking enough to qualify for one of the 32 seedings at Januarys Australian Open, dominated Karlovic in 59 minutes. The world No. 40 never faced a break point and limited the big mans threatening ace count to a mere eight, while striking five key aces of his own. Yusei Kikuchi Mariners Jersey . Richard Jefferson scored 17 points and Diante Garrett had a career-high 15 points as the Jazz had seven players with 10 points or more in Utahs largest margin of victory this season.BOSTON - With just under 40 seconds to go, the game tied at 105, Kyle Lowry poked the ball away from Celtics rookie Marcus Smart, igniting the signature play of the evening. I just sat on the crossover, said the Raptors point guard. If he got by me he wouldve gotten a layup but I anticipated it well and I know that DeMar [DeRozan] is always going to trail me. So I was just hoping he was hurrying up. Leading the fast break, Lowry flipped the ball back to DeRozan - following behind him as predicted - who finished it off with the go-ahead, one-handed slam. Thats our thing, DeRozan boasted. Whenever hes on the fast break he knows Im trailing and Im finding an opening gap where I can catch it and go through and try to get a foul or something. So thats just how we play. He knew I was coming. The play of the game was the steal [Lowry] had at the end, Dwane Casey said. As the whistle blew - DeRozan would go to the line to cap off a three-point play - Lowry turned to face the Garden crowd, arms spread at waist level, and let out a roar. At the moment, he had that look in his eyes. He had that same look, or variations of it, from the second quarter on. Most of the NBA is familiar with it by now and it doesnt usually bode well for whomever is on the other side. Hes got that angry face, said Patrick Patterson. Thats what he always looks like. There was no way Lowry was letting his team lose that game. Yesterday they said I wasnt aggressive enough and with us missing [Jonas Valanciunas] and [Amir Johnson] I had to be more aggressive tonight, said Lowry after scoring 35 points - his highest as a Raptor - on just 17 shots in Torontos comeback 110-107 road win over the Boston Celtics Wednesday. The Raptors were without their starting frontcourt. Valanciunas sat out nursing a couple injuries - namely a sore hand - after taking a beating in a game the night before. Johnson stayed back in Toronto, missing his third straight contest with an ankle injury. For Lowry and the rest of Wednesdays starters it was the same story on a different night. Plagued by slow starts to begin the season, Toronto allowed the host Celtics to shoot a whopping 79 per cent in a 35-point first quarter. It got ugly, and fast. Boston hit its first eight shots, going nearly half the period without a miss. They made 11 of their first 12 until, before you knew it, the Raptors were stuck in a 16-point hole and Lowry was having deja vu. Our starting unit, we havent been playing up to par, he had said after a similarly crushing slow start soured Tuesday nights win over the Thunder. I think… I know we need to play a lot better. Its one of them things weve got to fix internally. Midway through the second quarter, Lowry and company finally delivered on that promise. With that same starting unit on the floor, the Raptors closed the opening half on a 20-7 run putting a dent in their well-earned deficit. They decided to compete, said Casey. Thats the thing. You take the whip out in the derby and just keep cracking the whip, cracking the whip, cracking the whip. We cant be that way. It shouldnt have to come from me to crack the whip at every turn to get us gooing.ddddddddddddBut they decided to get going. To be a playoff or championship calibre team we shouldnt have to say giddy up. As the half ended, with momentum starting to turn in favour of the visitors, the ball was in Lowrys hands once again. Unhappy with a foul he committed on the other end, sending Rajon Rondo to the line, he drove into the body of the Celtics All-Star point guard, took a step back and drained the buzzer-beating jumper. Without breaking stride or watching the ball splash through the mesh, Lowry walked straight to the locker room. No roar that time. Just business. Rajon, hes got good hands so I had to get my step back and get freed up, he said. It was kind of a momentum push for us. He just got the two free throws so I wanted to make up for the dumb foul I did. Lowry was pissed off. Competition, as it usually does, fuelled him. A battle with Rondo, who finished with a triple-double of 13 points, 10 rebounds and 15 assists. A dog fight with Smart, who he went head-to-head with a couple occasions in the pre-season. But more than anything else he was ticked off at himself and at his team. They had let themselves down again. Toronto has allowed 30 or more points in the first quarter of each of its last three games. Opponents are shooting 71 per cent over that span. I call us drama queens, honestly, DeRozan said of the slow starts. Were like a suspenseful movie. Weve got to get out of that habit. I dont know. Were just a group of guys that love a challenge for some reason. I dont know why. Despite their 4-1 start to the campaign - Torontos finest in 10 years - weve yet to see the Raptors at their best for anything even close to a 48-minute interval. Theyve yet to face elite competition, sure, but theyre also coming off a stretch of four games in five nights without their two most important defenders and interior players for the second half of it. We cant be satisfied with that, Casey said. Im happy we won but were trying to build something here. Weve got to develop a playing personality starting the game. Starting the game. We cant wait till we get punched in the mouth. [We have to] understand that teams are coming after our necks and respond accordingly. The good news, and its not insignificant, is that Lowry is already looking like the All-Star that the Raptors hoped he would be when they committed to him this summer. Prior to Wednesdays contest, the Raptors became the first team to record 10 or fewer turnovers in four straight games to open a season since the NBA began tracking the stat in 1970. They gave the ball away just seven times in Boston, forcing the Celtics into 28 turnovers. Lowry has been the catalyst, with the ball in his hands more than any other Raptor player. The point guard did not commit a turnover on Wednesday. Its the fourth time in five games hes gone without one. Hes committed just two in 171 minutes. Help is also on the way. Although the Raptors have decided to err on the side of caution in regards to Valanciunas and Johnson, Casey believes theres a reasonable chance one or both could be back in the lineup to face the Wizards at home on Friday. ' ' '