ELKHART LAKE, Wis. -- Tiptoeing at high speed around a rain-slicked track under the pressure of a two-lap overtime, Brendan Gaughan handed away the lead to Chase Elliott. Then he snatched it right back a few corners later. Hed still have two more drivers to hold off on the final lap -- including a last-ditch charge from Alex Tagliani of Lachenaie, Que., the man who appeared to have the race all but won with a little more than a lap left in regulation. Gaughan already had gone sliding off the track a couple of times earlier. Oh, and his team forgot to bring a windshield wiper to install on his car. Through all that, Gaughan held on to win a rainy and wild NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Road America on Saturday. "I love racing in the rain," Gaughan said. "Its fun. And when youre good at it, it makes it even more fun. I havent smelled blood in a long time. Thats been something Ive been lacking lately is that killer attitude. When it started to rain, even without the wiper blade, I started to smell blood and said, Im coming." Gaughan won for the first time in the series, breaking through in his 98th career start. Tagliani was second, followed by Kevin OConnell, Elliott and J.J. Yeley as NASCAR drivers got a rare opportunity to race in the rain. It was the third time in Nationwide history that grooved rain tires have been used in a race; the previous two were in Montreal. NASCAR only uses rain tires on winding road courses, not on oval tracks. The rain added a tense new dimension to racing at Road America, a four-mile road course where the Nationwide Series already had shown an ability to put on a good show. "As we showed today, you can put on a hell of a race in the rain," Gaughan said. After watching his chance to win the race in regulation fizzle out, Tagliani -- who was leading when a late caution came out, ran out of gas and refuelled his car -- nearly charged all the way back to the lead when his crew put him back on slick tires to attack the drying track. "It was pretty intense," Tagliani said. "The wet was tricky, but obviously we were good. So I dont know. Maybe I threw a bad spell on myself because I was saying, Its impossible that Im going to win this race. Somethings going to happen. On the white flag, something happened." Added Gaughan: "(Give) Tagliani one more lap, the track was dry enough that he would have probably got to us. It worked out in our favour." It was an impressive finish for Elliott, an 18-year-old rookie and the son of NASCAR icon Bill Elliott. But he wasnt exactly patting himself on the back after the race. He missed most of Fridays practice after missing a shift and causing his crew to change engines, briefly slid off the track earlier in Saturdays race, then felt like the threw away a shot at a win. "Failure No. 3 on the weekend for me," Elliott said in a radio interview. "Missed shift yesterday, ran off the track, and then couldnt get the job done. Im going to have to step up." The race started a little more than an hour late, as NASCAR officials waited for a slightly damp track to dry out; the grooved rain tires are designed to work best in full wet conditions. Slightly heavier rain then began to fall just before the races halfway mark, causing the race to go under caution for a few laps before instructing teams to put on rain tires -- resulting in a rare test of NASCAR drivers skills in the rain. "It was ridiculous," Elliott said. "It really was. It was a handful." Kurt Suzuki Nationals Jersey . Winnipeg trailed by five points in the final minute when quarterback Drew Willy completed a 13-play, 75-yard drive with Feoli-Gudinos 18-yard touchdown catch on third down to lift the Bombers to a 34-33 victory over the Montreal Alouettes on Friday night. Brian Dozier Nationals Jersey . The Reds will host the Los Angeles Dodgers tonight in the opener of a four-game series at Great American Ball Park, and the debut matchup will feature a pair of pitchers whose recent resumes have included a fair number of bases-clearing hits. https://www.cheapnationals.com/387r-jays...-nationals.html. Edwin Encarnacion carried the torch for two days at Fenway Park this week; Melky Cabrera and Jose Bautista have had their moments; lately Anthony Gose has contributed. Washington Nationals Gear . Cabrera-Bello shot a 1-over-par 73 and was caught by Webster, who carded 70 at Doha Golf Club for three-round totals of 12-under 204. They were only one stroke ahead of Adrien Saddier of France, the biggest mover with six birdies in his opening seven holes in a round of 64, South African Thomas Aiken (70) and Denmarks Thorbjorn Olesen (68) on a packed leaderboard. Daniel Hudson Jersey . Riethers apparent stamp on Manchester United midfielder Adnan Januzaj during Saturdays Premier League match at Craven Cottage was missed by the match officials. A three-man panel of former referees reviewed the incident and all agreed that it was a sending-off offence.Gerrie Nel, lawyer for the prosecution, finally got the opportunity hes been waiting for: cross-examining Oscar Pistorius. And he didnt waste any time getting down to business. In what was a relentless cross-examination, Nel set the stage early: Nel: "You killed a person. You killed Reeva Steenkamp, thats what you did. You shot and killed her. "Say Yes - say I killed Reeva Steenkamp." Pistorius: "I have a responsibility to Reeva and myself to tell the truth." Nel: "You will not hide things from the court." Pistorius: "Im human, I have faults, I have sins. Im a Christian. The Lord came down to this world for people who have sinned." Nel: "As a Christian you will not lie." And so the most critical confrontation of this trial began: seasoned litigator Nel versus Olympic double amputee Pistorius. Here are the key points covered in this first day of cross-examination. Pistorius: Intent To Kill Pistorius testified that not only did he not intend to shoot Steenkamp, he didnt intend to shoot anyone. Heres what he said, and as youll see, he made sure he was clear about it: Pistorius: "The discharge was accidental. I believed there was someone in the toilet coming out to attack me. I never intended to shoot anyone ... I went to the bathroom and felt in danger. I didnt have much time to think. I just discharged my firearm. I didnt intend to shoot someone. I shot out of fear. I didnt shoot at someone. I didnt intend to kill anyone...I didnt have time to think about what I was doing. I had finger on my trigger. I didnt intend to shoot anyone. I fired before I had a moment to comprehend what was happening." Nel: "Was the only way out for you to shoot an intruder?" Pistorius: "I didnt have time to think or not think about shooting an intruder. My life was in danger and I was worried what could happen to Reeva. People had been tied up on the estate before. Before thinking I fired four shots. When I realised the scale of what was happening I stopped firing. It was an accident, the way I discharged the firearm. I didnt intend to shoot." This is a massively important piece of testimony for Pistorius and a critical component of the trial. Heres why. Pistorius can still be convicted of murder if it can be shown that he intended to kill - period. It doesnt matter who - just that he intended to kill someone and that the force he used was disproportionately excessive given the circumstances. Remember, in order to make out the charge of murder against Pistorius, it must be shown that he had the requisite intent to kill and followed through on tthat intent.dddddddddddd If convicted of murder, he would face 15 years in prison. So he wants to avoid a murder conviction and look to settle on a lesser charge of culpable homicide, which means killing someone by accident. If convicted on culpable homicide, he would likely only go to jail for five to 10 years. So despite firing four shots through a locked bathroom door at 3am, Pistorius repeatedly declared that he "didnt intend to shoot anyone" and the discharge was an "accident". These statements are designed to establish that Pistorius lacked the intent needed to make out a conviction of murder. Its not enough to say he didnt intend to shoot Steenkamp; he needs to say that he didnt intend to shoot anyone. Pistorius testimony shows that he was well prepared by his lawyers. He hit on the key legal points in ordinary English. However, the issue of plausibility remains. As Nel pointed out, "was the only way out for you to shoot the intruder?". For example, he could have grabbed Steenkamp and fled. This is the most important element from Day 1 of the cross-examination of Pistorius. Zombie Stopper Nel was relentless in his cross-examination. In part, that was designed to try and break Pistorius and push him to admit he intended to kill Steenkamp. One way Nel tried to apply pressure on Pistorius was by presenting the Melon Video. The video was also produced because it helped paint Pistorius as reckless and gun-crazed. In the video, Pistorius and friends blow up melons with guns and Pistorius is heard saying this: "Its a lot softer than brain but its like a zombie stopper." This was followed by Nels blunt question: Nel: "One can see the effect the ammunition had on a water melon. It exploded. You know the same thing happened to Reevas head?" Reconstruction or Reworked Evidence Nel also focused on inconsistencies in Pistorius statement to police right after the death of Steenkamp. Nel accused Pistorius of "reconstructing" or "reworking" his evidence. For example, in Pistorius bail application, he said that he went to the balcony to retrieve a fan. However, on the stand today he denied that. While some of these inconsistencies may not seem important, Nel told Pistorius they were in fact not "insignificant" as they show "you are lying." Before the trial was adjourned for the day, Nel made a point of referring to todays testimony as "Day 1" of the cross-examination of Pistorius. This suggests that the cross may continue for days. Indeed, there is more in store for the most critical witness of this trial. ' ' '