Dale Earnhardt Jr. yesterday won his first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race in more than four years, and his checkered flag at the Quicken Loans 400 at Michigan Int'l Speedway "could be the harbinger of a wave of success for NASCAR's most popular driver." The performance snapped a 143-race winless streak and "signified Earnhardt's emergence as a prime threat for his first" Sprint Cup Series championship (USA TODAY, 6/18). NASCAR CMO Steve Phelps said Earnhardt's win shows "that he remains a premier athlete in our sport. It's great for Junior, his fans and NASCAR" (SPORTINGNEWS.com, 6/17).

SI.com's Bruce Martin, noting Earnhardt's No. 88 Chevy was sponsored by "The Dark Knight Rises" for this race, wrote the win "helps elevate NASCAR into the greater mainstream of sports. ... Imagine how big it would be if he won his first Cup title" (SI.com, 6/17). The ORLANDO SENTINEL's George Diaz wrote, "This is huge for NASCAR. It's hard to market the greatest name in the sport when the greatest name in the sport can't win races" (ORLANDOSENTINEL.com, 6/17).

Meanwhile, the resurfaced track at MIS "brought 200-mph qualifying back to stock car racing for the first time in 25 years," with Marcos Ambrose becoming the fourth driver in history to qualify over 200 mph (DETROIT NEWS, 6/18). The start of yesterday's race was delayed by rain from a scheduled start of 1:00pm ET to 3:05pm (Mult., 6/17).

Olympic officials and agents "have been caught selling thousands of top tickets to the London Games on the black market for up to 10 times their face value." A two-month investigation found "widespread corruption among officials and agents controlling the tickets" for at least 54 countries. The IOC called an emergency meeting of its Exec Board and launched its own investigation on Friday (LONDON TIMES, 6/17). IOC member Denis Oswald, who took part in an emergency IOC conference call yesterday, said of anyone found guilty, "These people should no longer belong to the Olympic movement" (Mult., 6/17).

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell today "almost certainly" will hear the appeals of NFL players Jonathan Vilma, Will Smith, Anthony Hargrove and Scott Fujita in the Bountygate case. A source said that it is "possible one or more of the players could boycott" today's hearings. Once Goodell rules, "which could happen by the end of the week, the case will be dead" (CBSSPORTS.com, 6/17). Hargrove's agent, Phil Williams, sent a "lengthy letter to multiple media outlets" arguing that the NFL "has no evidence of a bounty program and payments made to players" (ESPN.com, 6/17).

The Univ. of Memphis and Univ. of Minnesota today welcome new ADs following their predecessors' respective retirements. Tom Bowen, who starts his first full week at Memphis after being introduced in April as R.C. Johnson's successor, said, "The 'priority' question is probably best answered in about two weeks." He added of the move to the Big East: "That preparation has to start now" (Memphis COMMERCIAL APPEAL, 6/18). Minnesota's Norwood Teague, who is replacing Joel Maturi, said, "If football is successful, it can drive the engine to help everybody else" (ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS, 6/18).

The AFL labor dispute is "finally over" after the players and owners came to an agreement on a term sheet and the owners "approved the outline" of a new CBA in a Sunday conference call. Terms have not been released, but Orlando Predators Managing Partner Brett Bouchy said that it is a five-year deal. The CBA "will be signed on Wednesday." The league "was prepared to lock out players" if there was no deal by last night's deadline. Bouchy: "We can focus on rebuilding the brand" (ORLANDO SENTINEL, 6/18).

An estimated crowd of 26,000 yesterday attended a Shadow Mountain Community Church-sponsored Father's Day program at Qualcomm Stadium that featured an appearance by Jets QB Tim Tebow. The event, which was described as "part pop concert, part prayer meeting and part celebrity interview," featured a 35-minute talk with Tebow, delivered interview-style, in which he dicussed "role models, including his own father, and the issue of whether Christians can also be 'real men'" (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 6/18).

Tebow said of athletes serving as role models for children: "You have in today's society so many famous athletes in baseball and basketball and football and golf, every sport there is. ... There are a lot of role models. There just aren't a lot of good ones" (Mult., 6/17).

The Stanley Cup will be on display this afternoon at the Score fan store at the Luxor in Las Vegas. The Kings on Friday celebrated their Stanley Cup win in Vegas and took the trophy to several party locations, including the Palms pool, MGM Grand's Wet Republic and The Venetian's Tao nightclub (LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL, 6/16).

KLSD-AM in San Diego today begins airing Ben Higgins and Chris Ello's show, "The World Of Sports According To Chris and Ben," at 6:00-9:00am PT. The station will shift "The Dan Patrick Show" to Higgins and Ello's old slot, noon-3:00pm (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 6/16).

Sabres broadcaster Kevin Sylvester today will begin hosting a new weekday radio show on WGR-AM entitled "Sabres Hockey Hotline" from 10:00am-noon ET. Sylvester said that "a lot of radio listeners have been congratulating him on knocking ESPN Radio's Colin Cowherd off the air" in Buffalo (BUFFALO NEWS, 6/17).

Boston Univ. is leaving America East “to join the Patriot League beginning” with the '12-13 academic year. BU will compete in eight men’s and 12 women’s sports in the conference (BOSTON HERALD, 6/17).

Daytona Int’l Speedway is looking to hire “more than 1,000 temporary workers for the weekend” of the July 4-7 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Coke Zero 400 (Daytona Beach NEWS-JOURNAL, 6/17).

“It’s not a national holiday” – NASCAR team owner/driver Tony Stewart, on driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. winning Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Quicken Loans 400 at Michigan Int’l Speedway (USA TODAY, 6/18).

“For me it is” – Dale Earnhardt Jr., on hearing Stewart’s comments (USA TODAY, 6/18).

“Had Chicago and Illinois built the McDome (in 1996), the original domed stadium planned for next to McCormick Place, I suspect we would have had at least two Super Bowls already” – SportsCorp. President Marc Ganis, on the city’s efforts to host its first Super Bowl (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 6/16).

"I think things are going well in the Big East now. We have a lot of new members. Everyone is getting to know each other. I feel good about the teams we have brought in" – Univ. of Connecticut President Susan Herbst, on monitoring the conference's landscape after it nearly collapsed last fall with the defections of Syracuse and Pitt to the ACC (STAMFORD ADVOCATE, 6/17).

"One of my thoughts on the back nine was, 'I don't know how Tiger has won 14 of these things' – because of the pressure. I couldn't feel my legs most of the back nine" – Golfer Webb Simpson, after winning the U.S. Open at The Olympic Club in S.F. (CONTRA COSTA TIMES, 6/18).

PepsiCo Global Beverage Group President Brad Jakeman: "Not sure why the advertising industry is still obsessed with why efficacy and creativity is an either/or debate. #Cannes_Lions. … Why is it 2012 and still talking about whether TV advertising is measurable. That was Cannes in 2001."

NHL Panthers President & COO Michael Yormark: "Love the heat golden oldies. Great entertainment."

Ticketmaster CEO Nathan Hubbard: "D-Wade pocket square explosion puts Westbrook nerd shirt/goggles shtick to shame. (The finger wrap matches the square)."

Toronto Star's Damien Cox: "Gradually, but steadily, NHL awards have managed to lose any buzz they ever had by moving the entire show to Vegas. Not smart."

SMI Senior VP Donald Hawk: "Congratulations Dale Jr, just what the sport needed! Great Day to do it. … Still think it great day for sport,Dale Jr wins yep Tonys right,not a National Holiday but made my Monday workout&upcoming races seem Bigger."

Golfer Michelle Wie: "Its official!!! I am a Stanford graduate!!!!"

If you see a tweet we will not want to miss, send it to us at editorial@sportsbusinessdaily.com. 

The Lions' official Twitter feed posted this image of C Dominic Raiola serving as the honorary starter for yesterday's NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Quicken Loans 400 in Michigan.

After winning the U.S. Open on Sunday, golfer Webb Simpson was interviewed by NBC’s Bob Costas and in the middle of the interview a fan walked in front of the camera and started making bird calls before being dragged away. Costas noted, “Always something to spice matters up.” Simpson added, “Enjoy the jail cell, pal” (“U.S. Open,” NBC, 6/17).

IOC TV & Marketing Dir Timo Lumme, Visa CMO Antonio Lucio, TBWA\Chiat\Day, L.A., Exec Creative Officer Patrick O'Neill and former Olympian Nadia Comaneci will take part in a marketing panel at the Cannes Int'l Festival of Creativity.

The USS Yorktown will host the opening round of the Single-A South Atlantic League home run derby. The ship is stationed in Charleston Harbor in S.C.

The NBA and the Heat will open an NBA Cares Learn & Play Center presented by HP and State Farm at the Miami Springs Community Center. NBA Commissioner David Stern, Heat Owner Micky Arison and G Mario Chalmers will take part in the ribbon-cutting ceremony.

The Bears and Packers will hold the inaugural Rivalry Cup golf event at Medinah Country Club outside Chicago. The event will feature current and former players, coaches and execs from both teams competing in a Ryder Cup-formatted event, which will raise money for Bears and Packers charities.

See a full list of events in THE DAILY’s week ahead.

Friday’s “Final Jeopardy!” category was “Islands.”

“This nation independent since 1960 is the largest island in the world with French as one of its official languages.”

Prior to tipoff of Game Three of the Thunder-Heat NBA Finals last night, ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel aired a special NBA Finals edition of “Jimmy Kimmel Live! Game Night” and he told the audience, “Game Three is critical because the team that wins Game Three goes on to win the Finals sometimes. The Thunder won Game One, the Heat won Game Two so they’re even, which means it’s almost as if the last week of our lives meant absolutely nothing at all. Miami is looking to win their first title for the thousands of elderly fans who are scheduled to pass away over the offseason. Game Two was exciting. The Heat held off a late Thunder comeback (and) they won it in the final seconds. LeBron had a Finals career-high of 32 points and whatever you think of LeBron James, at this point you have to admit he’s the best player with a capital ‘B’ in the middle of his name, maybe in the history of the game” (“Jimmy Kimmel Live! Game Night,” ABC, 6/17).

NBCs Jay Leno: “Congratulations to Alex Rodriguez. This week he tied Lou Gehrig’s all-time grand slam record of 23. Pretty good! If you’re a baseball fan, you know this: Rodriguez and Lou Gehrig have a lot in common. They’re both great Yankees, both solid infielders and surprisingly, both have dated Madonna. … Republican Senator John McCain and Democrat Harry Reid have called for the federal government to regulate the sport of boxing. The federal government? How many people have more faith in Don King? … They’ve been having huge hailstorms down in Texas and in some cases, the hailstones were the size of baseballs and here’s the sad part: The Astros couldn’t hit any of those either” (“The Tonight Show,” NBC, 6/15). 

“What is Madagascar?”