LONG POND, Pa. -- With rain pelting the garage roof at Pocono Raceway and knowing hed have to wait another day to race, Mikhail Aleshin just shrugged.No big deal for the first Russian-born driver to win an IndyCar pole.Just one more day sitting on the pole, Aleshin said Sunday. Thats life. I just want to win this race. For me, it doesnt matter if its going to be today, tomorrow, or next month. Im still on the pole.IndyCar officials acted quickly Sunday and postponed the race at the triangular 2.5-mile track until noon Monday because of persistent mid-afternoon rain. With no lights to allow for night racing and no quick end to the downpour in sight, drying the track in time to get in 101 of the 200 laps to make the race official was not possible. The race was scheduled to begin at 3:09 p.m. Sunday.Aleshin turned a fast two-lap average of 220.454 mph on Saturday in his No. 7 Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Honda to edge Josef Newgarden for the pole. Its the third time this season Newgarden has qualified second. He was on the front row at the Indy 500 and at Iowa, just missing the top spot Saturday with a two-lap average of 220.195 mph.Takuma Sato will start third, followed by Helio Castroneves, Carlos Munoz, Aleshins teammate James Hinchcliffe, Alexander Rossi, Will Power, Tony Kanaan and Ed Carpenter. Points leader Simon Pagenaud qualified 14th in windy conditions, while defending race winner Ryan Hunter-Reay crashed in morning practice and did not qualify.Team Penskes Pagenaud and Power are 1-2 in the points standings, separated by 58 points, and sitting around another day wasnt exactly what they wanted to be doing.Its a back-to-back races coming up -- three in a row, Power said. It is what it is. Sit back and relax for the night and get ready to again tomorrow. Nothing really changes. When you wake up in the morning, you get a little bit nervous and butterflies.Both Power and Pagenaud, who was hanging out with his Jack Russell Terrier, Norman, said they were disappointed for the fans.Only three races will remain in the IndyCar season after Pocono -- Texas, Watkins Glen, and the season finale at Sonoma on Sept. 18, which is worth double points. Next weeks Firestone 600 at Texas Motor Speedway is a makeup from a race in mid-June that also was postponed by rain -- after the drivers had completed only 71 of the scheduled 248 laps.Newgarden is fourth in the standings and wont be able to race at Texas because he crashed out of the race. Starting on the front row at Pocono still gives him a glimmer of hope, though he trails Pagenaud by 120 points.Were taking it as it is, Newgarden said. Were going to have a points loss there (Texas). Well push forward from that.Rain at Pocono Raceway three weeks ago pushed the finish of the NASCAR Sprint Cup race until Monday. Rookie Chris Buescher raced to his first Sprint Cup victory as continued bad weather shortened that event.A blue sky and warm temperatures had settled in over Pocono before Sunday and the forecast for Monday was more sunshine.---AP Auto Racing Website: www.racing.ap.org---Follow Kekis on Twitter: www.twitter.com/Greek1947Frank Viola Twins Jersey . - Chris Tierney snapped a tie with a power-play goal late in the third period as the London Knights rallied from a 3-0 deficit to beat the Erie Otters 5-3 in Ontario Hockey League action on Wednesday. Minnesota Twins Pro Shop . LOUIS -- Cardinals cleanup hitter Allen Craig says hes recovered from a foot injury and ready to be put on St. https://www.cheaptwins.com/ . Despite the cost, effort and an improved steroid test, its possible that very few -- if any -- positives will be detected, Dr. Richard Budgett told The Associated Press in an interview. "We just dont know what the results from Torino will be," Budgett said. C. J. Cron Jersey . -- Derrick Rose shook off poor shooting early to hit clutch shots late and Carlos Boozer had 20 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Chicago Bulls to a 104-95 preseason victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday night. Cheap Twins Jerseys . The players spoke Jan. 13 during a Major League Baseball Players Association conference call after Rodriguez sued the union and Major League Baseball to overturn an arbitrators decision suspending him for the 2014 season and post-season. Greater Western Sydney CEO Dave Matthews says an independent investigation vindicated Giants midfielder Lachie Whitfield and found no significant basis to support allegations he had reportedly attempted to avoid illicit drug testing.The AFL has completed an investigation into the allegation, which was made by a member of the public halfway through last year.However, they have yet to release their findings and on Tuesday could not give a time frame for when that would happen.Fairfax media reported on Tuesday it understood there were incriminating text messages between 2012 No.1 draft pick Whitfield and his then girlfriend.It said the AFL was considering what action to take, if any, after completing its own investigation into whether 22-year-old Whitfield stayed at the home of former welfare manager Craig Lambert in May last year in order to avoid a drug test.Whitfield, as well as both Lambert and former football manager Graeme Allan would face the prospect of two-to-four-year bans if it were proven they conspired to evade or were complicit in seeking to evade a drug test.Both Allan and Lambert have since left the Giants - Allan was recently appointed football director at Collingwood and Lambert returned to work at the Brisbane Lions.Matthews said GWS immediately alerted the AFL in July 2015 when they became aware of the allegations and referred the issue to their integrity committee, which commissioned the independent report.Asked why the Giants hadnt taken any action against Whitfield, Matthews said because the allegations that were put forward from a member of the public that were referred to a special counsel to investigate came back and largely were proven to be allegations that there werent sufficient evidence to support.ddddddddddddSo in that regard we didnt see any reason at the time to take any action at all.In fact weve since extended Lachie Whitfields contract. Hes an important player to our club.Weve got a lot of confidence in him and the report that weve received certainly was vindication for Lachie.Matthews was comfortable with the way the Giants had handled the matter.The report that we commissioned that was independent found that there was no really significant basis to support the allegations that were put forward, Mathews said.Were very confident and very comfortable in the report that we received and the action weve taken since our club, in my view, has acted properly every step of the way.Giants coach Leon Cameron expected Whitfield would play in Saturday weeks qualifying final against Sydney, but admitted the timing of the revealed allegation wasnt great.Its obviously not ideal, but hes in the club today, hes OK, Cameron said.Hes got around his teammates and that (the AFL Investigation) will sort itself out in time.But at this stage hell be ready to go next Saturday.Its not going to affect us at all.Whitfield has had a solid season for the Giants, playing 19 out of their 22 home and away games and averaging 20 disposals a match.He missed three matches in the second half of the season after a bout of tonsillitis.Matthews wasnt sure who was responsible for bringing the allegations into the public domain but said he wasnt worried about the source. ' ' '