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Carl Haas, an important figure in American motorsports for nearly 50 years, died June 29 at the age of 86, it was revealed Thursday.A quirky character who became famous for chomping on a huge cigar that he rarely lit, Haas built a business as the North American distributor for Lola cars and Hewland gearboxes in the 1960s and branched into racing team ownership in the early 70s.After dominating the Sports Car Club of Americas Formula 5000 and Can-Am championships, Haas joined forces with actor (and rival Can-Am team owner) Paul Newman to form Newman/Haas Racing in 1983 with driver Mario Andretti.NHR immediately developed into one of the top teams in the CART IndyCar series and expanded to run two cars in 1989 when Andrettis son Michael joined. The Andrettis combined to score 57 of the teams 107 race wins, a total that ranks second only to Team Penskes 183, and each won a CART championship during their time at NHR.Newman/Haas won a total of eight Indy car championships with drivers including Nigel Mansell, Cristiano da Matta and Sebastien Bourdais. The team competed in the Verizon IndyCar Series through the end of 2011, at which time Haas withdrew from public life due to the effects of Alzheimers disease.The thing that I always appreciated always about Carl was the fact that he was 110 percent racer, Mario Andretti said. He depended on racing, on the sport, 100 percent for his financial success. Racing was his only focus every day.In 1985 and 86, Haas was the last American Formula 1 team owner prior to Gene Haas (no relation) entry this year. Carl Haas also served as the chairman of the board of the SCCA and was presented with the Woolf Barnato Award in 2007, when he was inducted into the SCCA Hall of Fame.I have a lot of respect for Carl, Michael Andretti said. This is a very tough business and for him to be successful over so many years is very rare and very impressive. He was a big part of the history of American racing for many years. He sold a lot of cars and parts to a lot of people and made a great living out of it. But he gave a lot to the sport and had a huge impact.In all, Haas-owned cars won a total of 147 races. His other notable drivers included Jackie Stewart, Peter Revson, Brian Redman, Alan Jones and Paul Tracy.The only thing missing from Haas record as an Indy car team owner is a win at the Indianapolis 500. His cars finished second in 1985 and 91.We came close a lot of times with Michael Andretti, Mario and Nigel Mansell, Haas said in 2004. Woulda, coulda, shoulda.Aside from his ever-present cigar, Haas was also known for an elaborate ritual in which he would bless his cars on the starting grid before a race. Mario Andretti recalled one year at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course when he and Bobby Rahal qualified on the front row in similar red Lolas and Haas blessed the wrong car.Carl was very religious, and he was serious about his ritual to bless the cars, Andretti said. At Mid-Ohio, my car hadnt arrived yet, and Carl started going through his ritual on Bobbys car.Early in the race, I fell out with something in the ignition and Bobby won the race. I said, Carl, you blessed his car, and I fell out on the 13th lap. Thanks a lot!True story, but thats the kind of thing you remember about Carl. He was one of a kind.Wholesale Air Max . Detroit and Boston are deadlocked, 1-1, and Tigers manager Jim Leyland could be forgiven if he was caught rationalizing instead of dissecting how his club could blow a 5-1 lead late in Game 2. Cheap Real Air Max . Numbers Game examines the deal that sees Michael Del Zotto and Kevin Klein switch places. The Predators Get: D Michael Del Zotto. https://www.airmaxchina.us/ . The Hall of Fame defenceman told Landsberg that he believes fighting still has a place in todays game, but thinks staged fighting needs be outlawed. Cheap Air Max From China . Pierce was ejected in the third quarter of Indianas 103-86 win Monday. George Hill stole a bad pass and was going in for a layup, and Pierce hustled back and appeared to be trying to wrap him up. Discount Air Max . Paul Pierce couldnt believe he missed at the end. Young scored a season-high 26 points to spark a huge effort from the leagues most productive bench, and Los Angeles beat the Brooklyn Nets 99-94 on Wednesday night after blowing a 27-point lead.HOUSTON -- The playoffs are starting early for the Houston Texans.At least thats what coach Bill OBrien and players are telling themselves after three straight losses capped by Sundays 21-13 defeat at Green Bay has erased their lead in the AFC South.Moving forward, every game is a playoff game, starting next week in Indianapolis, quarterback Brock Osweiler said. We know how important every single week is.The Texans (6-6) have led their division all season, but their first three-game skid since October 2014 has them with the same record as Tennessee.And a win by Indianapolis on Monday night against the New York Jets would leave the Colts at 6-6, too.Despite the matching records, Houston holds the tiebreaker with a 3-0 division mark.Despite that, Houston knows it has to get back on track quickly if it hopes to secure its second consecutive AFC South title.Three of the Texans last four games are within the division with their trip to Indianapolis followed by games against the Jaguars and Bengals before the regular-season finale at Tennessee.We know the type of team that we have in this locker room, receiver DeAndre Hopkins said. We know our goals are still in front of us and we havent accomplished our goals, so we have to put these three losses behind us and move forward.Though the offense stalled at times on Sunday in a game where snow was falling throughout, Osweiler looked better than he did the previous week.He threw two touchdown passes and did not have a turnover after throwing three interceptions in a loss to San Diego.His performance on Sunday gave him 14 touchdowns and 13 interceptions this season, his first in Houston after joining the Texans from Denver in the offseason.The Texans rank 28th in total offense in large part because of a passing game that is the third-worst in the NFL by averaging just 194.9 yards a game.I feel like were very close to exploding as an offense and Ive been saying that all season long, Osweiler said.But its true we are three, four plays away from changing multiple football games. Because of that, I dont think we can get ddiscouraged.dddddddddddd You cant. Theres no time to get discouraged.An encouraging development from Sundays game was Osweiler connecting with Hopkins for a touchdown pass.Many of Osweilers interceptions this season have come when hes tried to force the ball to his star receiver despite him facing near-constant double teams. It was his first touchdown reception since Oct. 9.Hopkins was asked why the offense has struggled this season.I cant pinpoint it, he said. I am just out there doing my job and trying to help this team however I can.Of course the offense wasnt the only problem on Sunday. Houstons pass rush took a hit with 2014 top overall pick Jadeveon Clowney missing his first game this season because of a wrist injury.Its unclear if hell be able to return this week after taking a beating in his first year playing defensive end with J.J. Watt out for the season after back surgery.The secondary also had trouble against the Packers when veteran cornerback Johnathan Joseph injured his ribs in the fourth quarter and was replaced by Charles James.James, who normally plays mostly on special teams, fell on the slippery field allowing Jordy Nelson to get past him on a 32-yard touchdown catch that gave Green Bay the lead for good.Also injured on Sunday was rookie receiver Braxton Miller, who will be day to day this week with a shoulder injury and running back Lamar Miller. OBrien said Miller is dealing with injuries to four different areas of his body.He has been on the injury report with shoulder, ankle and rib injuries, but it is unclear what other problem he has.OBrien said he spoke to the team on Monday about the importance of everyone, including the coaching staff, stepping up to turn things around.Got to do a better job and ... if we dont then were not going to be where we want to be, OBrien said. But if we do well have a shot to win these games.---For more NFL coverage: http://www.pro32.ap.org and http://www.twitter.com/AP-NFL ' ' '