Earnhardt Jr. Finally Wins

• A momentous occasion occurred in the NASCAR world which warrants attention from the Sportico newsroom. Dale Earnhardt Jr, the wildly popular son of Dale Earnhardt Sr, won his first race in four years (143 starts) by defeating the pack at the Michigan Motor Speedway (which happened to be the location of his last victory on June 15th, 2008).
• Earnhardt, also known as Little E, has one of the biggest, most vocal, fan bases despite his recent struggles on the asphalt. He may be turning the corner though, winning this week and leading 36 laps the previous week at Pocono.
• With the victory, Earnhardt moves to second in the overall NASCAR standings. The top 12 drivers enter the "Chase for the Sprint Cup," a postseason tournament that determines the championship.


Heat take 2-1 lead

• Lebron James and the Miami Heat won Game 3 of the NBA Finals 91-85 Sunday night in a game that was closer than the final score indicated.  Oklahoma City led for a decent portion of the game and only trailed by 1 point with 1:30 left after Russell Westbrook's jumper went through, but they would not score again. 
• Kevin Durant led the Thunder with 25 points but got into foul trouble for the second straight game.  When he picked up his 4th foul halfway through the third quarter, the Thunder were pulling away, leading by 9, but after he sat they almost immediately gave the lead up, trailing by the time the quarter ended.
• A big difference in the game was Free Throw shooting, as Miami shot a sizzling 31-35 (89%) while Oklahoma City only shot 15-24 (63%). Lebron scored 29 and had 14 rebounds for the Heat while Dwyane Wade had 25 points and 7 assists.
• The Heat led the NBA Finals over Dallas 2-1 last year but lost the next 3 games as Dallas won their first ever title. 
• Game 3 is in Miami on Tuesday at 9:00.



Webb Simpson Wins U.S. Open

• Webb Simpson won the U.S. Open yesterday, becoming the 15th different golfer to win the last 15 majors. Tiger Woods faded after a very poor Saturday and a less than stellar Sunday that kept him out of contention. This was Simpson’s third victory on the PGA tour, his second time playing the U.S. Open and he finished the tournament at +1.
• Jim Furyk held the lead coming into the Sunday round, but after bogeying two of his last three holes he fell into a tie for fourth. Even though Furyk had the lead coming into the final round, it was Graeme McDowell and Michael Thompson that Simpson had to hold off toward the end of the final round to secure his victory. The three players took turns holding the lead but in the end Simpson was the one holding the career-changing trophy.