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HOMESTEAD, Fla. -- NASCARs final four, er, sorry, Championship 4, have been jetted from city to city, talk show to talk show and media conference to media conference. Now, finally, it is time for Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards, Jimmie Johnson and Joey Logano to get on with the business of one of those four actually winning that championship.Exactly what that title will mean depends on which one of the four Cup hopefuls youre speaking of -- a spectrum of outcomes that ranges from redemption to validation to history, both the rewriting of the record book and the next step toward possibly rewriting it again years down the road.Weve all known each other for a long time now, Carl Edwards explained Thursday during the foursomes final formal media obligation before getting to Homestead-Miami Speedway for Sundays 400-mile season finale. Our stories are similar because were all racers, but really they are completely different. Were from different places. Weve had really different NASCAR careers. So, we all want to win the championship, but for each of us it might mean something a little different.For Edwards, its the redemption. In 2011 at this track in this event, he missed out on a Sprint Cup title in a manner befitting the victim of a Hitchcock film. He finished a nine-month season by leading the most laps and finishing second in a race twisted by rain, tying Tony Stewart in the point standings but losing the title via a tiebreaker of wins. The onetime wunderkind, now 37, is arguably the best current driver not to win a championship, with 28 Cup wins and a pair of runner-up championship finishes.But, if NASCAR brass is being honest, an Edwards title, while surely overwhelmingly well-received in the garage, wont provide the kind electricity the sanctioning body seeks heading into a crucial offseason.Sorry, Cuz, but thats the truth.If Edwards was once viewed as a wunderkind, then Loganos earmarking was more along the lines of savior. The Sliced Bread title bolted to him as a preteen short tracker served its purpose of providing the spotlight that moved him up the racing ladder in a hurry. He was in a Cup ride at 18 -- the first driver born in the 1990s to hold a steering wheel in NASCARs top division. But when the wins didnt come quickly enough, that spotlight turned into a heat lamp and he nearly withered. At 22, he was labeled by many as washed up.A Cup title would finally fulfill the Sliced Bread promise, the at-long-last christening of the now 26-year-old king of the suddenly large Cup contingent of 20-somethings. And though he politely deflects talk of validation bordering on revenge, the mention of it does spark a smile.I dont really think about that, he said. But I do know who has stuck with me through thick or thin and I know they will be sticking with me Sunday night whether we win the championship or not.NASCAR no doubt will stick by Logano, too. But again, apologies to the kid, because he isnt the driver the suits are likely rooting for.No, to generate headlines here in the depths of the football season, the fine folks in Daytona and Charlotte no doubt have their eyes on the No. 48 Chevrolet. Thats the ride of Jimmie Johnson, the only member of the Championship 4 racing for immortality. A Cup would be his seventh, equaling one of NASCARs two most coveted career records. The only other racers with that many titles are the two greatest in the history of the sport, Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt.Yes, there are those who still try to discount Johnsons championship success to a Chase postseason format that The King and The Intimidator never used. Yes, there are those who continue to paint Johnson as vanilla, a starched-shirt corporate clone.Those people are wrong.They are being handed a chance to see motorsports history achieved by one of the greatest racers ever born. But even if they dont appreciate it now, one day they will. Sometimes thats how history works.I think when he won five [Cups] in a row, he was winning a lot of races and a lot of championships and maybe people got tired of it, his boss, team owner Rick Hendrick, said Friday. I still say that Jimmie is going to get more credit when hes done than hell get when hes driving.That brings us to Kyle Busch. He is a former teammate to Johnson and Logano and a current teammate to Edwards. Like Logano, he was perhaps thrown into a Cup car too soon and, though more successful quicker than his friends, Busch also struggled with the spotlight. Like Edwards, the story of Buschs career was written with lots of individual race wins (38) but dogged by the inability to win a Sprint Cup championship.That changed one year ago. In the four-man, run-for-your-life, beat-the-other-three, win-and-in Chase finale format, he did all of the above. It was a night that included redemption, validation and history. If he does the same on Sunday night, it will further amplify what he did one year ago.A second Cup for Busch, still only 31 years old, would also perhaps signify the start of something much larger. It might very well be the first step toward one day, years from now, running alongside Johnson, Petty and Earnhardt, perhaps even passing them. And thats why, though we -- and NASCAR -- might not realize it now, a Kyle Busch championship might be the most intriguing Sunday night outcome of them all.I think about last year at Homestead racing Jeff Gordon for the championship and all the history that came with his retirement and then Jimmie this year going for seven, Busch said Thursday. Our goal when we all started as racers wasnt to make history. But if youre fortunate enough to have a chance, or even have a chance to see it, thats pretty cool.Well all have that chance Sunday night at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Now we just have to wait and see whos going to write it. 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NEW ORLEANS -- The 15-5 Los Angeles Clippers have one piece of unfinished business before closing out their taxing, six-game road trip Friday night against the resurgent New Orleans Pelicans at the Smoothie King Center.The good news is the Clippers played one of their most complete games of the season on Thursday night in routing the reigning NBA champion Cleveland Cavaliers, 113-94, to snap a season-high, three-game road losing streak.With a victory over New Orleans (7-12) on Friday night, the Clippers would finish their six games on the road at 3-3, quite a salvage job after coach Doc Rivers was tossed from a double-overtime loss, his teams third straight, against the Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday.Rivers was fined $15,000 by the NBA on Thursday for his verbal abuse of referee Ken Mauer, and he accepted the consequences.Obviously, I should have gotten fined, just from the actions afterwards, Rivers said. I had no problem with that at all. Im good with it.On Thursday night, the Clippers forced the Cavs to empty their bench midway through the fourth quarter by moving the ball with ease, recording a season-high 33 assists on 42 made field goals. Blake Griffin had a season-high 11 assists to go with 13 points, and J.J. Redick scored 23 points, including 4-of-6 from 3-point range.The Pelicans have rallied from a horrendous 0-8 start to win seven of their last 11 games, largely based on the spectacular play of forward Anthony Davis, who leads the NBA in points (32.1) and blocked shots (2.8) and ranks seventh in rebounds (11.2).But just as important in the Pelicans recent success has been the return of guard Jrue Holiday, who missed the first month of tthe season while caring for his wife, Lauren, following her surgery to remove a benign brain tumor.dddddddddddd.The Pelicans lost their first five home games and were outscored by an average margin of 9.0 points. With Holiday back on the court, the Pelicans have gone 5-0 at home and won by an average margin of 11.2 points.During the five-game home winning streak, Davis is averaging 37.4 points, 13.4 points and 2.4 blocks. He has shot 57.1 percent in the last seven games. Before Holiday returned, Davis shot just 48.5 percent from the floor.When Jrues on the floor, it changes the dynamics of our entire team, Davis said.The Pelicans also are about to get healthier. Guard Tyreke Evans, a slasher who can penetrate and dish, has missed the entire season rehabbing from knee surgery. Evans has been practicing with few restrictions and likely will return for spot duty next week, but not against the Clippers on Friday night.New Orleans coach Alvin Gentry said although Evans knee is sound, he is still working through a calf injury.When hes healthy enough to get on the floor, well incorporate him into what were doing, Gentry said. The guy hasnt run up and down the basketball court for the last six to eight months. Hes not going to step out and be who he is. What weve got to do is put him in a position where hes not playing long stretches of minutes.The Clippers won three of four from New Orleans last season, but the Pelicans defeated them 109-105 at home on March 20 and took the Clippers to overtime at Los Angeles on Jan. 10. ' ' '