No shootout winner has gone on to win the Daytona 500 that season since Dale Jarrett did it in 2000. Also, let's not forget that Saturday's race featured only 23 cars for 70 laps. Among those not eligible for the race since they didn't win a pole last year or have never won this race were: Defending Daytona 500 champ Kevin Harvick, Matt Kenseth, Kyle Busch and Jeff Burton, among others.

No doubt these cars don't handle as well. It will be interseting to see what happens with a 43-car field but the worries about a chaotic race went unfulfilled. There was a four-car crash but you're going to have that in restrictor-plate race.

Food Industry 1991-2000

According to some data, the food industry accounts for up to 60% of all direct foreign investments made in Russia after the crisis. This is not surprising, since market capacity, and hence food production, is growing steadily. Today, the domestic food industry is growing by 5-7% annually; in some sectors, this figure is 15-20%. In addition, the investment cycle of an average food-industry project is one and a half times shorter than for similar-sized investments in any other industry. Finally, food production (except for vodka) is not as politicized as the gas or oil industries. The result is the successful operation of tens of thousands of Russian and Western companies in their combined efforts to feed Russia.
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McCain supporters take bar seats for the big debate

During a discussion on immigration policy, McCain invited Romney to "spend your whole fortune on attack ads," and the room erupted. Robbie Cohen, a medical student from San Diego and a McCain volunteer, said watching the ABC News/Facebook forum among supporters was like watching a football game at the home ground.

"We're all united in one purpose," he said.

Eileen Sweeney, an undecided Chicago resident in town on business, said she learned a lot about McCain from watching the debate, including his supporters' passionate support for his immigration policy. "I didn't have an allegiance but I didn't want to be alone by myself," she said. "I thought this was great fun."

After the debate, McCain stopped by and thanked the people in the bar. "The momentum is there, the enthusiasm is there, all we need to do now is get out the vote," he said.

A look at Detroit's 2008 pitching lineup and rotation

Most spots on the Tigers' 25-man roster seem solidified as spring training nears. Still, the precise makeup of the bench and bullpen is uncertain. Free Press sports writer Jon Paul Morosi examines the dynamics at work as club officials shape the roster:

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Cruel defeat snuffs out European dream

IN THE end, the emotions were not so much mixed as scrambled to the four corners of Hampden. We had seen Italy score in 70 seconds, we had seen them dominate the early minutes with some chilling football that not only took the fire out of the home support but also shocked Alex McLeish's team to the core. But in the final stages of the game it was the world champions who had the heat coming on them, their lead wiped-out by a scrambled Barry Ferguson goal just after the hour, their assurance of before in danger of being stripped away. With ten minutes remaining, Scotland drove forward once again, the substitute Kenny Miller linking with James McFadden and sending the most delicious ball across the Italian penalty area. The Azzurri were at sixes and sevens, Fabio Cannavaro and Gianluca Zambrotta, two of the game's pre-eminent defenders from two of the world's most glamorous clubs, were over-run.