miaowang123: third-seeded fellow Spaniard Ferrer and the secon

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LAS VEGAS -- NASCAR announced sweeping changes to the Hall of Fame election process Thursday, including tweaks that make Bill Elliott and Mark Martin immediately eligible for enshrinement. Moussa Sissoko Jersey . Among the six changes: Drivers are now eligible if they have competed for 30 or more years in NASCAR or turned 55 in the calendar year before nominating day. Previously, drivers were not eligible until they had been retired for three years, so drivers can continue to compete and still reach the hall. Martin, winner of 96 races across NASCARs three national divisions, has no plans at this time to race next year after 31 seasons in the Sprint Cup Series. Elliott, winner of the 1988 Cup title, is 58 but raced as recently as 2012. Two-time NASCAR champion Terry Labonte ran in five races in 2013, but is 57 and has competed in Cup for 36 years. Other drivers immediately eligible for Hall of Fame consideration include four-time Truck Series champion Ron Hornaday Jr., who still competes at age 55, and Ken Schrader, who said last months season finale at Homestead was his final race after 30 seasons. The ballot will also include only 20 nominees, down five from the first five classes. Also, any member of the nominating committee or voting panel who appeared on the previous years ballot or current years ballot will now be recused from participation in the nominating or voting process while they are on the ballot. Ned Jarrett, Bud Moore, Junior Johnson are active Hall of Fame voters and were on the panel when they were elected. Jerry Cook is a present voter and has consistently been on the Hall of Fame ballot. Those were the only direct changes to enshrinement as NASCAR passed on forming a veterans committee or if fewer than five should be inducted each year. "We have decided that that time has not yet arrived, but we will give strong consideration to revisiting both of those propositions after the 10th class is seated," said chief communications officer Brett Jewkes. "This year well be seating the fifth class. Long story short, those are viable things. There was a lot of debate, a lot of discussion, but weve made the decision that we wont revisit those until the 10th class is seated." NASCAR has also established the "Landmark Award for Outstanding Contributions" that will begin with the 2015 class. Potential recipients could include competitors or those working in the sport as a member of a racing organization, track facility, race team, sponsor, media partner or being a general ambassador. Landmark Award winners will remain eligible for Hall of Fame induction. Five nominees for the Landmark Award will be selected by the halls nominating committee. The winner must appear on at least 60 per cent of the ballots. Beginning next year, the nominating committee will meet in person to create its ballots for both the Hall of Fame and the Landmark Award. The committee previously submitted nominees via mail to an independent accounting firm. The nominating committee will meet Feb. 21 in Daytona. NASCAR previously announced that the reigning Sprint Cup champion will be an eligible Hall of Fame voter starting with the 2015 class. Six-time champion Jimmie Johnson will be the first active driver to cast a ballot in voting next year. All of the changes were made after NASCAR examined the election process via discussions with current panelists. "A couple things we learned through this process is that our process right now is incredibly strong and comparable to other sports halls of fame," Jewkes said. "We feel very strongly about the strength of our process, and thats been borne out in the fact that we have five classes that we think are an exceptional reflection of the history of the sport. What came out of this process, it really magnified the caution we should take in comparing ourselves to other sports halls of fame. "Bottom line is our sport is very unique, the industry is very unique, the structure of our ownership and competition and the feeder series and everything in our sport is very, very unique, and therefore our process will always be a little bit unique." Fernando Llorente Jersey . As the Winnipeg Blue Bombers opened their main training camp Sunday, Kuale is one of the newcomers brought in to bolster a sagging defence that ranked overall where the Bombers finished 2013, in the CFL cellar with a league high 585 points against. Mousa Dembele Jersey . "I dont know where we would be without him," McClendon said. "Hes done a tremendous job for us and (Wednesday) was no different." Logan Morrison drove in two runs in Seattles big sixth inning, Young pitched seven strong innings and the Mariners beat the Houston Astros 5-2 to complete a three-game sweep.London, England (SportsNetwork.com) - Former finalist Juan Martin del Potro and Swiss slugger Stanislas Wawrinka were Mondays round-robin winners at the $6 million ATP World Tour Finals. The fourth-seeded del Potro was tested mightily by eighth seed Richard Gasquet before prevailing in the Day 1 nightcap, 6-7 (4-7), 6-3, 7-5, in 2 hours, 23 minutes. The tall Argentine broke for a 6-5 lead in the third set and then held his powerful serve to pickup the win. "elpo" broke Gasquet four times, while the nifty Frenchman settled for two breaks in his first Tour Finals match in six years. The world No. 9 Gasquet corralled the final spot for this eight-man tournament last week. World No. 4 Andy Murray is missing the event after undergoing a recent back surgery. Meanwhile, making his debut at this lucrative event, the seventh-seeded world No. 8 Wawrinka knocked off sixth-ranked Tomas Berdych 6-3, 6-7 (0-7), 6-3 in 2 hours, 25 minutes at the prestigious season-ending event at Londons O2 Arena. The big-serving affair featured 27 aces, including 16 from the formidable Berdych. Wawrinka broke the fifth-seeded Berdych on two occasions and held his serve throughout on Monday. "My first impression was really, really nice to be here," Wawrinka said. "I saw that tournament so maany times on TV. Vincent Janssen Jersey. To win my first match here was something really special." This weeks four-player Group A features world No. 1 and U.S. and French Open champion Rafael Nadal, Roland Garros runner-up David Ferrer, the former Wimbledon finalist Berdych (0-1), and Wawrinka (1-0). Group B is comprised of Australian Open titlist Novak Djokovic, the former U.S. Open champ del Potro (1-0), 17-time Grand Slam winner Roger Federer, and Gasquet (0-1). The two-time champion Djokovic was last years big winner at The O2, beating the six-time Tour Finals champ Federer in the final. Djokovic and Federer are the only former champions in this years field. Nadal was the runner-up in 2010, Ferrer was the runner-up in 2007, and del Potro was a runner-up back in 2009. The hot Djokovic beat Ferrer in last weeks final at the Paris Masters and has won his last 17 matches overall. On Tuesday, Nadal will battle his third-seeded fellow Spaniard Ferrer and the second-seeded Djokovic will take on his sixth-seeded fellow former No. 1 Federer. Round-robin play will be staged through Saturday in London, with the semifinals on Sunday, and the final next Monday. The top-two players from each group will qualify for the semis. 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