Earnhardt win completes season sweep at Pocono

By DAN GELSTON

LONG POND, Pa. (AP) -- Dale Earnhardt Jr. put a handy twist on his Victory Lane party.
After he popped champagne, was doused in beer and snapped selfies, Earnhardt reached for the appropriate tool for a bash this big.
A broom.
Earnhardt could have used it to clean up the mess around him. But it was much more fun hoisting it high over his head in celebration. He needed it after he completed a season sweep at Pocono Raceway, the third win in a season that has served as a career renaissance for NASCAR's most popular driver.
"Everything about life right now has been great," Earnhardt said.
Earnhardt now holds the No. 1 seed in the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship.
The legion of Junior Nation fans roared when Earnhardt stormed ahead of the pack off the final restart with three laps left for the lead. His third win, he also won the Daytona 500, tied him for the most in Sprint Cup this season.
Earnhardt held off the hard-charging Kevin Harvick to become the first driver to sweep both races at the track since Denny Hamlin in 2006.
"It's not a bad spot to be in," Earnhardt said. "But definitely the pressure's on that last restart, when you got Kevin lining up beside you. I knew how confident Kevin was going to be going into turn one and I had to have that same confidence in my car."
He tweeted "Lookin for a broom" last week when he landed in Pocono.
He found one in Victory Lane.
"This group all really enjoys each other," Earnhardt said. "We want to see everybody happy."
They had tons of fun inside the Pocono media center.
Steve Letarte acted hurt when his nameplate didn't have the same three winner's stickers that were on Earnhardt's card. Earnhardt also brought a Make-A-Wish Foundation teen to the podium and made sure he'd have his own namecard and stickers.
"This is my buddy, Chris. Does he get one," Earnhardt said.
They all got their stickers - the same ones applied to the No. 88 Chevrolet.
Earnhardt has his most wins since he won six times in 2004. His three wins are one shy of his combined total from 2005-2013. His win Sunday was the 22nd of a career still without a Cup championship.
Earnhardt and Letarte are clicking in their final season together. Hendrick Motorsports named Greg Ives the crew chief for 2015 once Letarte heads to the broadcast booth.
"I think he's going to make me look bad," Letarte said. "Mr. Hendrick has a remarkable talent of matching drivers with crew chiefs."
Harvick, who clinched a spot in the Chase, was second, followed by Joey Logano, Clint Boywer and Greg Biffle.
Here are five things from Pocono Raceway:
GORDON'S MILESTONES: Jeff Gordon followed his record fifth Brickyard 400 victory with a few more milestones. He just couldn't make it back-to-back wins. Gordon had a strong No. 24 Chevrolet for most of Sunday's race at Pocono Raceway and finished sixth. He led a race-high 63 laps and hit 24,000 career laps led and 1,000 laps led at Pocono. He does hold a 17-point lead over Hendrick Motorsports teammate and winner Dale Earnhardt Jr. Earnhardt, though, would hold the No. 1 seed in the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship because he has three wins to Gordon's two. Gordon had his sixth top-10 finish in the last eight races. "It's just so awesome and encouraging and has got my confidence sky high," he said. "I just can't wait to get to the next race."
THE BIG ONE: Dale Earnhardt Jr. had few cars left to hold off on the lead lap after several potential contenders got knocked out. Denny Hamlin triggered a 13-car wreck with 43 laps after he got sideways coming out of a turn. Brian Vickers tried to avoid Hamlin and slammed into Matt Kenseth to send cars all over the track. Tony Stewart's No. 14 Chevrolet rested atop Paul Menard's No. 27 Chevy. Aric Almirola said he slammed on the breaks as hard as he could, but still got "creamed from behind and pushed into the wreck."
TIRE WOES: Danica Patrick hit the wall with a right rear flat and finished 30th. Six-time champion Jimmie Johnson finished outside the top 10 for the fourth straight race. He fell a lap down after his rear right tire smacked the wall, rebounded to run fifth, then a second blown tire forced him to the garage. "It wasn't the best weekend but we still gave ourselves a chance at a win, if not a top five, today and came up a little short," Johnson said.
NEW CHIEF: Denny Hamlin finished ninth in his first race with an interim crew chief. Team engineer Mike Wheeler filled in for the suspended Darian Grubb. Grubb was suspended for six races for rules violations last week at the Brickyard. "He called the race nice," Hamlin said. "Good communication and we were on the same strategy as far as what I was thinking and what he was thinking, so that was good. Pretty seamless for the most part."
YOU AGAIN? Dale Earnhardt Jr. was the fifth straight Hendrick Motorsports driver to win at Pocono. Owner Rick Hendrick was not at the race, though he did talk to his winning driver on the phone on pit road. "I told him thanks for believing in me and making my life better," Earnhardt said. Earnhardt's sweep followed Kasey Kahne and Jimmie Johnson last year and Jeff Gordon in the August 2012 race.

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Mom: I didn't know boy was dead until smell set in

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) -- The mother of an 8-year-old Pennsylvania boy whose decomposing body was found on the third floor of their home said Saturday she didn't know he had died until noticing the smell.
Kimberly Tutko said her husband was the primary caretaker of their mentally disabled son, and he waited several days to tell her the boy had died, Pennlive.com ( http://bit.ly/1rXiJbV ) reported. Police were called to the home Friday and found the boy's body.
Police charged Jarrod Tutko, 38, on Saturday with child endangerment, concealing the death of a child and abuse of a corpse. Court records do not list an attorney for him.
Harrisburg police said in a statement that Tutko informed his wife about the death of their son, Jarrod Tutko Jr., "when the odor of decomposition became too strong."
It's not clear how the boy died. An autopsy is scheduled for next week.
The couple's five other children were placed in protective custody.
Kimberly Tutko told Pennlive she understands people will find it difficult to believe she did not know her son was dead.
She said her son was severely mentally disabled and often difficult to control. He would rip up the flooring and carpeting of his bedroom, smear his feces on the floor and walls, and refuse to wear a diaper, she said.
He lived on the third floor and was primarily cared for by his father, while she looked after another disabled child who requires round-the-clock care and stays on the second floor, she said.
"My daughter relies on me," Kimberly Tutko said. "I take care of her and my husband takes care of Jarrod Jr."
Kimberly Tutko said her husband told her their son died Tuesday.
"I said to him `Why didn't you say anything?'" she said. "He said he was too afraid to say anything because of other kids in the house."

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Celebrate President Obama's 53rd birthday with 53 photos of him throughout his life and presidency

Dear President Obama,

A critical part of being President of the United States is having the unique ability to take one on the chin, because, quite frankly, the hits just keep on coming. Whether it's some cute tot landing a stiff-arm as the White House photographer snaps pictures, or House Republicans trying to sue you and repeal the laws you signed, or the Drudge Report taking shots at Obamacare and your citizenship -- it's tough work.

But you'd expect that sort of stuff from babies, John Boehner and Matt Drudge. What you might not expect is that when you try to do something nice for African-American boys, there's a snarky Ivy League law professor who writes an article in the New York Times complaining that you haven't done anything for African-American girls.

It's certainly not easy being president. In fact, it's hard to believe anyone wants the job.

But you signed up for it -- twice -- so, on your 53rd birthday, we want to let you know we appreciate how tough the job is. Not only is it hard work, Mr. President, but you are constantly being photographed while doing it. You're probably the most photographed man in the world. (We can't imagine having to do our jobs each day while dozens of shutterbugs snapped pics of us.)

It's like you're the world's little goldfish, swimming around your bowl, while we all take photos and make judgments all the time. Since there is such a vast archive of photos, as a show of our appreciation and in honor of your 53rd birthday, we've collected 53 of the most memorable photos of your throughout your life we could find. There are some classic shots of you in there that you will no doubt recognize. You were an adorable kid.

There are some that you may have never seen (or haven't seen in a while). There's a great one of what looks like you magically holding a glowing ball as you delivered a speech in Iowa two years ago. And Matt Drudge's go-to photo for whenever he thinks he has some dirt on you (the one of you winking at the 2012 White House Correspondents Dinner) is in there, too.

Some of the photos you may want to forget. Remember that time an errant elbow busted your lip during a basketball game and it took 12 stitches to stop the bleeding? Well, in case you didn't, there were news photographers on hand to document the injury with super zoomed in close-up shots. And some photographer from Getty once snapped an extreme close-up of the back of your head -- perfect for anyone who might want to count your gray hairs. Both of those are in our collection.

In case you're feeling old today, we've included several other photos of you with babies and kids (nothing is as invigorating as the youth of America, Mr. President.) But, you honestly don't look like someone who feels old. We've got a handful of shots of you throwing balls, looking rather spry.

In addition, you seem to have been able to adopt the youth culture, posing for selfies and doing it deftly -- you've managed to avoid tweeting a photo with a scandalous wardrobe malfunction thus far. Trust us, that's not as easy as it might seem, so good work on that front.

And hey, you've got two years left in office. When you finish up your term, you'll only be 55 and likely looking for part-time work to keep you busy. There's an AP photo of you showing some remarkable promise for selling salsa that you may want to check out. It's never too soon to start thinking about your next career move.

Back in May, alluding to the oppressiveness of living in the presidential fishbowl, you exclaimed, 'The bear is loose!' as you dispensed with procedure and walked from the White House through the streets of D.C. to a meeting at the Department of Interior. Well, here's to letting loose in whatever way you can on your birthday. If anyone deserves the opportunity to do so, it's you.

There are some really great pics above, and we saved the best one for last: a nice black-and-white image of Michelle, the kids and you. After all, more important than being the American president, you're an American family man. That's something almost everyone can identify with.


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