ude of it until I watched my Facebook jump by the thousands,

LOUDON, N.H. -- Martin Truex Jr. felt a bit uneasy as he settled into a seat in the NASCAR hauler where officials summon drivers accused of rules infractions, bruised from fistfights or found guilty of general poor decorum.Anyone feel like theyre in trouble for being here? he asked.The setting was a bit unfamiliar for one of NASCARs more popular drivers around the garage, but he was here for a chat not because he was in trouble. With a smile, Truex insisted hes been a stock car model citizen through 396 career races where not one has ended with him being called to the sports version of the principals office.Its a good record, he said, laughing.But Truex -- or at least his teams through the years -- have been unable to completely steer clear of NASCAR violations. Truexs win Sunday at Chicagoland Speedway in the Chase opener came under scrutiny when the No. 78 Toyota failed the post-race laser inspection. His car was tagged with infractions that should have drawn a 10-point penalty. Jimmie Johnsons No. 48 Chevrolet failed the same inspection and was subject to the same penalty -- until NASCAR decided not to punish the drivers.Free from any penalty, Truex said he hoped he could escape the accusation the Furniture Row Racing team had cheated its way to victory lane.You dont want people to think youre winning races by what they call `cheating, he said Friday. You have people on social media and they get upset about it. It was such a little thing. It so easily could have went the other way. Its frustrating that it kind of taints your win a little bit.Truex would have kept his win and advanced to the second round of the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship even if NASCAR decided to levy a points fine. NASCAR did make one change for Sundays race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway -- all 16 Chase cars will go through laser inspection after only nine were picked after the Chase opener. The laser inspection station takes a precise look -- down to about 1/1000th of an inch -- to find any potential violation.Carl Edwards, a fellow Chase driver, backed NASCARs decision to reverse course on a points penalty for the drivers.They police this sport the way that we have asked them to police it, he said.Still, the first Chase race was marred by inspection talk instead of whos hot/whos not as NASCARs version of the playoffs heats up.Going forward, I think everybody realizes we dont need to be talking about that after a great race, Truex said. I just feel like it puts a black eye on the sport and on the teams.Truex knows about as well as any driver the nasty effects of the fallout that comes from a cheating scandal. He was booted from the Chase in 2013 and lost his ride at Michael Waltrip Racing when the team tried to manipulate the outcome of a race.What was his professional rock bottom turned into the ride of a lifetime when he landed with the single-car team at Furniture Row. Truex was one of four drivers to race for the championship last season and he has four wins over the last two seasons after winning just twice in almost a decade with other teams.Buoyed by FRRs affiliation with Joe Gibbs Racing and Toyota, Truex has again stamped himself a championship contender.We get everything that Gibbs gets, Truex said. At MWR, we got the same (information) from Toyota that Gibbs got, but we got nothing from Gibbs at all. It was two separate teams.Truexs career has skyrocketed while former MWR teammate Clint Bowyer has suffered through the worst season of his career as part of a one-year stopgap deal with HScott Motorsports.The friends went on a fishing trip in early August where Bowyer bemoaned how much his 2016 sucked. Truex used his own career as a potential path for what could be ahead next season when Bowyer moves to the retiring Tony Stewarts ride at Stewart-Haas Racing: The career rebirth could be as simple as a new team logo on the firesuit.Truex also said he made peace with Kevin Harvick following a post-race accusation that the SHR driver intentionally hit him at Chicagoland.We agreed it was a racing deal and we moved forward, he said. I was mad at him and I didnt know he was mad, also. I guess he thought that I ran into him.With a whopping 1,266 laps led, Truex has few opportunities these days to bump a car out of his way. Cheap Padres Jerseys . 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LOUIS -- St. BANGKOK -- Amanda Carr didnt let the disappointment of missing selection for the 2012 Olympics hold her back for long.She got back on her BMX, changed direction and is now finalizing her packing plans for Rio de Janeiro, and harboring genuine medal ambitions. Just not for the U.S.Carr will be representing Thailand in Rio, having switched allegiance after missing a spot on the U.S. team for London four years ago. She has already won a gold medal for Thailand at the 2014 Asian Games.A dual U.S.-Thai citizen from Punta Gorda, Florida, Carr been racing BMX since she was five.She won her age-group events at the BMX World Championships in 2005 and 2006 but, realizing she would not be quite old enough to be eligible for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, she put the sport aside and decided to work toward becoming a student athlete. She won a soccer scholarship to North Carolina State. After a transfer to Florida State she trained in heptathlon.It was in her dorm room in North Carolina, watching the Beijing Olympics on TV, when she had a sudden realization.Thats when I saw BMX and thought `Ive raced all those girls before, I can do this, she told The Associated Press during a recent visit to Thailand. From there, that was when the path came back to BMX and to the Olympics.Carr joined the U.S. national team training program and, with her years of top-level experience and elite fitness standards, she had a strong chance at qualifying for London. Final selection came down to performances at the world championships in Birmingham, England.I really did have a fighting shot, Carr recalled. In the quarterfinals the top four would transfer on to the semifinals. I was top four going into the first turn, and the first person fell. One person lost a little bit of control, and it caused us to domino.After years of preparation, her London Olympic dream was over because of a collision in which she was blameless.It is ruthless, and thats what a lot of us love and hate about it at the same time, Carr said. Growing up, we just understood thats what the sport entails. You just have to roll with the punches.It was a mature response, but reflects a sense of perspective that she developed after witnessing the family home burn down in 2007.We lost everything in the fire, I lost trophies, Carr said. We were very lucky to walk away from the fire. I was only 17, so I didnt process it like my parents did because I didnt go through the financial sacrifices of building it. But I have learnt all the material things can be replaced but family things cant be replaced.So despite the disappointment of missing the 2012 Olympics, she wasnt surprised when the same competition presented her with an alternative direction.I saw a gentleman sitting there -- the Thai national coach, she said. Under Thaai culture, if you see another Thai you walk up and politely say hello.ddddddddddddHe looked at me and said `Youre half Thai? You should consider racing for Thailand.Within months, she followed up the offer.Switching allegiance was a pragmatic decision for Carr. Olympic berths are allocated on the basis of countrys ranking points, not those of individuals. Rather than face the intense competition for the spots reserved for the U.S., she had a much easier path and less competition under the Thai flag.I have no hard feelings toward the U.S. team, Carr said. My chances of making the U.S. team for 2016 were still very high, but I knew I would have a better chance of making the Olympics if I competed for Thailand.It was no flag of convenience, though. Carr has strong connections to Southeast Asia.He mother Lamoon is from Udon Thani, in northeast Thailand near the Laos border. It was there Lamoon met Amandas father, Darol, who was stationed at the U.S. Air Force base during the Vietnam War.Lamoon moved to Florida at age 26 and was 39 when Amanda was born.Regular visits home with her daughter followed. And Carr, since officially becoming a Thai athlete, now visits two or three times a year and has become fluent in the language. Her affection for the country and its people is more than reciprocated, especially since the Asian Games.That was a very cool moment, Carr said. I won the race, but didnt understand the magnitude of it until I watched my Facebook jump by the thousands, and thats when I thought `this is a really big deal.Flying back to Thailand, walking through the airport, we came out and there was an orchid arch, and we met the minister for the airport and there was all this media. I was like `Ok, that was really important for the country.The switch of allegiance to Thailand, she insists, was no snub to the U.S. program or people.The U.S. girls, I see them almost more than I see my own family because Im on the U.S. circuit, Carr said. Now I show up at a race and its like `Whats up, whats up, fist bump, lets roll. Before it was like `Oh God, Ive got to do better than her because that determines funding for the next race. Now we can just enjoy racing each other.That camaraderie will be tested in Rio, with the frantic nature of BMX competition creating a very level field.Of all the girls at this Olympic Games, there is not one without a chance, Carr said. Being an extreme sport, anything can happen. Id love to be in the final, and once Im in the final, Ill let it all hang and roll with it.Its obvious to say `Ill go for gold, but the realistic and honest answer for me is to be in the final, enjoy it, and keep Thailand proud. ' ' '