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WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. -- IndyCar racing returned to Watkins Glen International on Friday after a six-year hiatus, and New Yorks Thunder Road didnt disappoint as the teams practiced in earnest for the first time.Its great to be back, great to be going around here, Helio Castroneves said. This is the DNA of open-wheel racing, and the history behind this place. It suits perfectly the series.Most of the teams were permitted to test earlier for this weekends race, which replaced a street event in Boston that was canceled. WGI was repaved after last season, and it created a smooth-as-silk surface with gobs of grip that opened a lot of eyes in Fridays two practices on a sunny day.In morning practice around the 3.37-mile, 11-turn layout, all 22 drivers eclipsed Ryan Briscoes track record of 1 minute, 28.1322 seconds at 137.657 mph set in 2009 in a Honda V-8. Scott Dixon, a three-time winner at The Glen, topped the charts in the No. 9 Target Chevrolet in both sessions: he turned a fast lap of 1:23.8921 seconds at 144.614 mph in the morning session and 1:22.8740 at 146.391 mph in the two-hour afternoon session to edge Castroneves and Will Power of Team Penske.Theres no other track where you commit like here, said Power, second in the standings, 28 points behind teammate Simon Pagenaud with two races left in the season. Its so different. Theres no comparison. Its so much faster.Pagenauds first extended time on the track in his career ended on a sour note. He was 11th fastest in the afternoon but crashed into a tire barrier in the waning moments.Watkins Glen was the birthplace of road racing in America after World War II. A 6.6-mile course using mostly paved roads with a short dirt and gravel stretch served as the layout for the first race at Watkins Glen in 1948.In 1961, Formula One came to The Glen and the race became a fall tradition, remaining through 1980. Financial difficulties helped lead to The Glens departure from the Formula One calendar after Alan Jones won the 1980 race. The last open-wheel race of that era was the Watkins Glen 200, a CART event in 1981 -- Mario Andretti started on the pole and Rick Mears won the race.For the next two years, the track was not well maintained. Then, in 1983, Corning Enterprises, a subsidiary of Corning Glass, partnered with International Speedway Corporation to buy the track and rename it Watkins Glen International.NASCAR has raced each year at Watkins Glen since 1986, and IndyCar began a five-year run in September 2005 before the track parted ways with the series when the finances didnt add up.The departure of open-wheel racing didnt sit well with track president Michael Printup, a devotee of Formula One, and when Boston organizers pulled out of their deal in May, IndyCar and WGI worked out a deal to move the race to upstate New Yorks Finger Lakes region. That turned into a three-year commitment when a two-year contract extension was agreed to last week, ahead of original plans to talk after Sundays 60-lap, 202.2- mile race.The short time to promote Sunday afternoons race means attendance wont turn any heads. Its a start, though, at the very least.Were not going to hit a home run. You cant plan a birthday party in 90 days, Printup said. We sold just under 10,000 tickets in corporate in 2010. We have 200 this race. Its too hard to call a company in June and say, `Hey, our race is the first week of September. Budgets are done. Even family budgets are done.The track sold all of its grandstand seats for the last two Sprint Cup races as sizable crowds streamed through the gates in spectacular weather conditions. Attendance figures are not released, but those two NASCAR crowds were estimated at around 100,000.Printup estimated the track would end up with 40,000-50,000 fans for IndyCars race weekend, an average of around 15,000 or more per day. He said next years race would be held the same weekend, but a 2018 date had not yet been agreed upon.It might be the best weekend for TV, Printup said. College football on Saturday, no NFL on Sunday. You want TV for all your sponsors, but you want your on-track attendance. I think if we give people a year to plan, this could be their family vacation next year.Just the thought of that left Printup wearing a big smile.This is awesome. This is the place for those cars, he said. They belong here. They need to stay here.---AP Auto Racing Website: www.racing.ap.org---Follow Kekis on Twitter: www.twitter.com/Greek1947 Custom Cincinnati Reds Jerseys . Only three players drafted by NHL clubs were included on the Czech selection camp roster on Wednesday. Those players were Dallas Stars 2012 first-rounder Radek Faksa, Winnipeg Jets 2013 fourth-rounder Jan Kostalek and Phoenix Coyotes 2012 seventh-rounder Marek Langhamer. 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Cheap Custom Baseball Jerseys . -- On the field, it was business as usual for Jameis Winston and No. World champion Peter Sagan will race for ambitious German team Bora-Hansgrohe next season as they make the move to the WorldTour level.The 26-year-old Slovakian, who won the points leaders green jersey for a fifth straight year in last months Tour de France, won the World Road Race Championships in Richmond, Virginia last year and will hope to defend his crown in Doha, Qatar with his current employers before switching teams.Sagans move to the German squad -- on a three-year contract -- has been rumoured for a month, following the announcement that his current employers Tinkoff would be closing their doors at the end of the season as Russian businessman Oleg Tinkov withdraws his backing.Sagans Tinkoff teammates Maciej Bodnar, Michael Kolar and Erik Baska, and his brother Juraj, are also moving to Bora-Hansgrohe, whose team manager Ralph Denk said: It is a great honour to welcome one of the most popular cyclists of our time into our team.Thats why we tried to provide familiar surroundings as far as possible. I thhink Peters trust in us proves that we did a good job in recent years and have a solid reputation in the peloton.ddddddddddddOur partners Bora and Hansgrohe are also two big, German, quality brands. This combination convinced Peter that we are the right team for him and his chase for even more success in the coming years. I am very happy and certain that this partnership will be a successful one.Denk admitted Sagan has been recruited for his experience in the classics, which include Milan-San Remo, the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix.My goal is a well-balanced roster for the 2017 season, Denk added. With Peter the classics will be a big highlight for us. But we also want to play a role in the grand tours, therefore we are still looking for new signings.Zilina-born Sagan currently leads the WorldTour rankings ahead of Nairo Quintana and Britains Tour de France-winner Chris Froome. ' ' '