Fast Break
Men’s basketball
Cougars open against Devils
Washington State officially starts the season tonight on Friel Court against Mississippi Valley State at 7:30.
Senior center Aron Baynes and senior point guard Taylor Rochestie (above) are returning starters from last year’s Sweet 16 team. The Delta Devils are led by first-year head coach Sean Woods.
They made the NCAA tournament last season after winning the Southwestern Athletic Conference tournament championship.
WSU beat Mississippi Valley State 71-26 in the first meeting between the schools last season in Spokane.
The Delta Devils may be a bit travel weary, having played in Tempe, Ariz., on Friday during an 80-64 loss to Arizona State.
State volleyball
Colfax wins 5th straight title
Nothing has changed except the classification.
The Colfax Bulldogs, in their first year in Class 2B, came up with their fifth consecutive state title, defeating the La Conner Braves 27-25, 25-12, 25-12 for the crown Friday night at the Yakima SunDome.
Colfax won its last four championships at the 1A level before moving to 2B this year. La Conner was the defending 2B champion.
Tekoa-Oakesdale defeated Davenport for third place.
Auto racing
NASCAR shelves costly testing
NASCAR has suspended all testing at its sanctioned tracks next season in a cost-cutting measure that should help teams save several million dollars in their 2009 budgets.
The moratorium, announced at Homestead-Miami Speedway, bans testing at any NASCAR-sanctioned track, including facilities where its low-level Camping World East and West series races.
“Hopefully, it’s a temporary situation,” said NASCAR president Mike Helton, who estimated the move will save “in the range of 10s of millions (of dollars) to the industry.”
The testing ban comes as NASCAR is trying to cut costs to save struggling teams. Sponsorship dollars are extremely difficult to find, and several teams are in danger of folding if they can’t find a miracle or a merger.
Carl Edwards, who drives for Roush Fenway Racing’s five-car team, applauded the decision because of the immediate cost relief it will give teams.
“I think it gives a little bit of relief to the teams as far as expenses and the team owners,” Edwards said. “As long as everyone operates on the same rules, you are going to have nearly the same competition whether you can test every day of the year or not test at all.”
Estimates vary on how much testing actually costs. Rick Hendrick said it can run about a $1 million per car, while Ray Evernham said every test costs around $70,000.