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The first half of the Sprint Cup season brought some of the closest finishes in NASCAR history, a surprise manufacturer announcement and a delayed farewell tour that still has epic potential.Denny Hamlin won the Daytona 500 by inches over Martin Truex Jr., Stewart-Haas Racing announced a switch to Ford in 2017 and the team co-owner, Tony Stewart, missed the first eight races of his final Sprint Cup season with a broken back.With 18 races down and 18 races remaining -- eight Sprint Cup races left in the regular season before the 10-week Chase for the Sprint Cup -- the focus wont just remain on the championship battle.What to watch for over the second half of the season:Free agencyThe top free agents, based on points, are Martin Truex Jr., Ryan Newman, Paul Menard and Kyle Larson.Truex and Larson more than likely will stay where they are, although until they sign contracts, their teams have to worry that they might be ripe for the picking if something unexpected happens at another team.Some would think Hendrick Motorsports would want to snap up Larson to replace Kasey Kahne, but Kahnes contract runs through 2018 and support from Great Clips might be too much for Hendrick to want to try to attempt a buyout. And, frankly, the No. 5 team doesnt have the best history. If youre Hendrick, do you wait until Dale Earnhardt Jr. or Jimmie Johnson seems ready to retire before attempting to lure Larson from his current spot at Chip Ganassi Racing? Finally, Hendrick has remained loyal to his drivers in recent years, and he has stuck with them through hard times such as the past couple of years for Kahne.Newman likely will depend on sponsor Caterpillars preference but also RCR must want to get Ty Dillon to Cup. Menard also must renew his deal, and with sponsorship, could take it to another organization, but they also would need to buy a charter to be guaranteed spots in the field.The replacement for SprintThere seems to be plenty flavors of the week and even a few flavors of the month, but so far no one company has emerged publicly as the solid front-runner to replace Sprint. Walk through the garage and every couple of weeks, a new name surfaces of who will serve as title sponsor for 2017 and beyond.Its not the greatest sign for NASCAR that it doesnt have the deal done yet, but it also should not cause panic -- with the heavy drop in ratings the first two races before a more manageable decline for many other events, any company taking a serious look would want to wait and see how things developed this season with a new aero package and without Jeff Gordon.The racing has improved, and while the television and attendance figures raise concern, NASCAR should find a company willing to sponsor the series. It likely needs to get it done at least in principle by the end of August, as companies set their budgets for the upcoming year.NASCAR has wanted a 10-year deal like the original one signed by Nextel, but it probably can get more annually from a three-year or five-year deal.The sponsor not only provides the bulk of the $20 million-plus season-ending points fund but also must make a commitment to promote the sport through advertising and other promotions (not to mention NASCAR likely hoping they sponsor the All-Star Race).Tony StewartStewart has won a race in his final season. Hes in the Chase as long as he remains in the top 30 in points and he would have to have a disastrous next eight weeks to drop out.So now comes the Chase for Stewarts final season. How far can he go?Stewart will try to replicate his 2011 performance in the Chase where he turned a mediocre season into the championship by winning five of the final 10 races.That probably wont happen. But are you going to be the one to doubt the three-time champion in his last 10 races with a zero-cares-given attitude?Hendrick MotorsportsRick Hendrick celebrated his 67th birthday Wednesday. He might not have had room for any cake considering how fed up he was with his team the past couple of weeks.Hendrick Motorsports failed to put any of its drivers in the top 10 at Kentucky. The same was true a week earlier at Daytona. It was the first time since October 2011 that Hendrick failed to have a top-10 driver in back-to-back races.In looking at the past nine races, the Hendrick drivers would rank sixth (Chase Elliott), 18th (Kasey Kahne), 23rd (Dale Earnhardt Jr.) and 25th (Jimmie Johnson) in the standings.Should they be worried? Maybe.The past four races have had little to do with what the drivers will face much of the remainder of the season, as Michigan had the proposed 2017 rules package, followed by a road-course race at Sonoma, the restrictor-plate race at Daytona and another 2017 race at Kentucky.2017 aerodynamic packageNASCAR hopes to have the 2017 rules to teams in August, or at least the main parts of the rules package so teams -- and Goodyear -- can start working toward 2017.The race at Michigan appeared as a good start, and the race at Kentucky gave NASCAR a chance to see the package on a newly paved track.While it might not hurt to get one more race with the 2017 package, NASCAR probably has seen enough to try to implement many of the elements for next year. The key is lowering the corner speed and creating cars where side force is not such a big an issue so that a driver trying to make the pass cant be pinched and lose immediate control.The BrickyardAfter an incredible 100th Indianapolis 500, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway made a big push for renewals. With all that effort, where will the Brickyard 400 sit in the IMS landscape?The 2015 NASCAR race probably had 20 percent of the crowd of the 2016 Indianapolis 500, and no one expects to match it. But if NASCAR only draws 60,000-70,000 at Indianapolis, is that big enough to have an event? Can NASCAR handle being the second, third and fourth fiddle at Indy?The races at Indianapolis havent created the most drama beyond fuel mileage ones. And the Xfinity Series races at Indianapolis will have heat races. That should be, well, gulp, interesting.Daniel Suarez impactDaniel Suarez became the first Mexican-born driver to win a NASCAR national series race when he captured the Xfinity Series race victory last month at Michigan.So whats next?It is unlikely Suarez will have a spot at Joe Gibbs Racing in a Sprint Cup car. Will someone else give him a chance in the next few years? It probably depends on if he wins again as well as the sponsorship he could bring with him.And the other question is what will happen to the NASCAR Mexico Series, where Suarez ran before coming to the United States? NASCAR has not released a schedule yet for the series in 2016, and while NASCAR still works to come up with some sort of abbreviated 2016 schedule, time is running out for any races to happen this year.Donald and HillaryIts an election year and there are 16 races remaining before the 2016 U.S. presidential election.Will Donald Trump, BFF of BZF (NASCAR Chairman Brian Z. France), show up at a race? Hillary Clinton? Or their running mates?Fans dont like it when their sports get political. But with NASCAR races in swing states such as Michigan, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Virginia between now and mid-October, it makes NASCAR a likely candidate for candidates.If they dont make it, locals can still expect others running for federal office or governorships to use NASCAR to meet and greet and ask for votes.Dont say we didnt warn you. Custom Vegas Golden Knights Jerseys .ca looks back at the stories and moments that made the year memorable. Vegas Golden Knights Pro Shop . Their experience showed Tuesday as the No. 10 Badgers blunted a Saint Louis surge to win 63-57 and advance to face West Virginia in Wednesdays finals of the Cancun Challenge. https://www.cheapgoldenknights.com/ . "It doesnt get any better than that," Giambi said. "Im speechless." The Indians are roaring toward October. Giambi belted a two-run, pinch-hit homer with two outs in the ninth inning to give Cleveland a shocking 5-4 win over the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday night, keeping the Indians up with the lead pack in the AL wild-card race. Stitched Golden Knights Jerseys . -- The Bishops Gaiters are showing they belong among the countrys top varsity football teams. Vegas Golden Knights Shirts . It was Kerbers third final of the year after losing to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia in Monterrey in April and to Petra Kvitova of Czech Republic in Tokyo two weeks ago. The 10th-ranked German improved her record in finals to 3-5. RIO DE JANEIRO -- Several swimmers were listed with the wrong qualifying times coming into the Rio Olympics.World governing body FINA was able to correct some mistakes, including that of a Kuwaiti swimmer competing under the International Olympic Committee flag because her countrys national committee has been suspended from taking part in the games.The Guardian newspaper in Britain reported that 17 swimmers from 16 countries still had qualifying times that didnt match the actual results from last years world championships in Kazan, Russia. All were admitted to the games under the universality rule, which is designed to spread the sport to developing countries that would not otherwise have qualified.FINA said the Olympic competition was not affected by the botched times, but there were renewed questions about the murky way swimming is governed and organized.For us, there is no question over the eligibility of the swimmers to compete and we have even gone slightly over the 900-swimmer quota, FINA said in a statement early Friday. The mistakes, if any, did not have any impact whatsoever to the outcome of the competition and to the athletes participation.FINA did change the qualifying times for several dozen swimmers, as well as some relay times for major teams such as Italy and Hungary. The times determine heats and lane assignments during the preliminaries.Further confusing matters, FINA hastily added seven Russian swimmers to its entry list just before the start of competition last Saturday, after they were initially barred from the games over their countrys massive doping scandal. No explanation was given for why the swimmers were allowed to compete, but the decision sparked heated criticism from several athletes, most notably American Lillly King.ddddddddddddOne swimmer initially listed without a time was Kuwaits Faye Husain, who is competing as an independent athlete in Rio because her countrys national Olympic committee was suspended by the IOC for alleged government interference in several sports federations.The 21-year-old Husain, who recently graduated from Williams College in the United States, competed last year at worlds and posted a time of 27.63 seconds in the 50-meter freestyle. But when that wasnt listed in her Rio entry, she was assigned to the opening heat with less-accomplished swimmers.The mistake was initially missed because she didnt have a representative at the team leader meeting held before the start of the games, where mistakes are supposed to be rectified. As an independent athlete, shes being coached by her college coach, Steve Kuster, who arrived in Rio after the meeting.She had gotten here a day or two before me and noticed that she was entered with no time, Kuster said. She was in the very first heat.From there, the coach said, it was a very long trek to get it right. Finally, the issue was resolved and Husain will be in the fifth of 12 heats when she competes Friday.Kuster believes the proper lane assignment will help her put up a much better time than she would have swimming against much-slower swimmers, even though shes got little chance of advancing out of the preliminaries either way. She tied for 64th at worlds.It was more about being where she rightfully belongs, Kuster said.---Follow Paul Newberry on Twitter at www.twitter.com/pnewberry1963 . His work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/paul-newberry . ' ' '