Aces have no answer for Taurasi’s hot hand
Playoff chances take hit as Phoenix star scores 37 points
Aces guard Kayla Mcbride calls it the “Midnight Rule” — no lamenting a loss after midnight.
It was in full effect Wednesday night. Las Vegas succumbed to the incomparable greatness of the legendary Diana Taurasi and stumbled to a 104-93 loss to her Phoenix Mercury at Mandalay Bay Events Center before an announced crowd of 5,129.
The Aces (12-14) are two games behind the Dallas Wings for the eighth and final playoff spot with eight
ACES
But four days later the goal was gone, and his career at a crossroads.
Gallagher was indefinitely suspended from driving around in circles, and on historic road circuits, on May 2 for having violated NASCAR’S substance abuse policy. He would have to participate in the sanctioning body’s Road to Recovery Program before he would be eligible for reinstatement.
He had thrown away a chance to race for the championship and received a scarlet letter.
Instead of Dale Earnhardt Jr., Spencer Gallagher had become Hester Prynne.
Hero to zero
“A lot of people go from zero to 100,” Gallagher said Tuesday about a reversal of fate that seemed almost unfathomable. “I went from 100 to zero.”
He spoke on a cellphone and was out of breath — not because it had been only a day since he had been named to drive the No. 23 BK Racing Toyota at Watkins Glen, but because he was riding an exercise bike preparing for what is always a physical race.
“From the start it has been my aim and ambition to race on Sunday in the Cup Series,” Gallagher said. “To get my first start at a historic place like Watkins Glen, I couldn’t be more excited.”
How he went from the seat of an exercise bike to a seat in one of the 40 Cup Series cars was just another signpost on the strange trip.
Gallagher has driven in only one Xfinity Series race since being reinstated. The GMS Racing team founded by his father, Maury, is still honoring commitments made to other drivers during the younger Gallagher’s suspension.
The BK Cup car has been shared by part-time drivers Gray Gaulding,
J.J. Yeley and Blake Jones. It’s a small, struggling team that filed for bankruptcy in February.
GMS president and longtime crew chief Mike Beam recently made an offer to purchase the team with the hope of running it under the GMS umbrella. That scenario, combined with sponsorship from Allegiant Air, led to Gallagher getting a surprise phone call Monday morning.
“They said, ‘We have this opportunity. Do you want to take it?’
“I said, ‘Hell, yes.’ ”
Focused on future
Before his suspension it appeared Gallagher might ascend to the Cup Series via the traditional method of winning races and achieving results. He sped to three top 10s in the first eight races of 2018, including a fifth at Bristol Motor Speedway, and then came the breakthrough victory at Talladega.
Racing people seemed happy for him. “That gave me chills,” wrote Cup Series veteran Clint Bowyer on his Twitter account after Gallagher won at Talladega. The same racing people were just as stunned when the lab reports came back.
Gallagher issued the perfunctory statement apologizing to NASCAR, Chevrolet, his race team and his fans. He called it a “one-time error in judgment that will never happen again.”
On Tuesday he politely declined to discuss the nature of the violation. His idea, he said. Not NASCAR’S edict.
“I choose not to,” Gallagher said when asked if he was at liberty to address specifics. “It’s part of my past, and I leave it there. I’m focused on the future.”
He knew the question was coming. He answered his cellphone anyway. I told him that was much appreciated.
Reinstated, repentant and re-energized, Spencer Gallagher will be driving against NASCAR’S best at historic Watkins Glen International this weekend.
What a long, strange trip it’s been. Contact Ron Kantowski at rkantowski@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0352. Follow @ronkantowski on Twitter.