RIO DE JANEIRO -- Think of Olympic beach volleyball like the dance floor of a Rio nightclub: When the samba stops, its time to start looking for a new partner.Kerri Walsh Jennings is going for a fourth straight gold medal, but it would be her first with April Ross. Fellow American Phil Dalhausser, who won gold with Todd Rogers in Beijing, is playing with Nick Lucena now (after an unsuccessful dalliance with Sean Rosenthal).A beach volleyball partnership is often compared to a marriage, and teams all around the world use the years between Olympics to reassess their couplehood.Some stick together -- Walsh Jennings and Misty May-Treanor were the gold standard for three Olympiads -- but, sometimes, their eyes can wander.Its like high school dating, Dalhausser said after beating Tunisia 21-7, 21-13 on Sunday. The middle of the pack on the AVP tour, theyre always trying to move up. (There are) a lot of guys finding out from other guys they got dumped.Walsh Jennings plucked Ross off of the No. 2 U.S. womens pair right there on the sand after the gold medal match in London. (May-Treanor had said she would retire; Rosss partner, Jen Kessy, would be pushing 39 by Rio).Rogers is now 42, and didnt feel like he had another Olympic run in him. But Dalhausser, who is 36, wanted to give it another try.After our last match in London, he was like, `Well, it was nice playing with you. And I was like, `Yeah, we had a good run, Dalhausser said on Sunday. So there were no hard feelings there.Dalhausser formed what was expected to be a superteam with Rosenthal, himself a two-time Olympian, but it never really clicked. After being knocked out of two straight seasons with injuries, Dalhausser turned to Lucena, a longtime friend he left in 2006 to join up with Rogers.That was tough, Dalhausser said.Those arent the only partner-swappers on the Copacabana sand.Jake Gibb was with Rosenthal in Beijing and London but is playing in Rio with Casey Patterson. All four Brazilian teams -- including the mens and womens world champions, and all of them among the top seeds in Rio -- have formed since 2012.In extreme cases, teams are formed by federations or circumstances: When Viktoria Orsi Toth was bounced from the Rio Games last week after failing a drug test, Marta Menegatti needed a new partner with an Italian passport who met the qualifying requirements.She had never played with Laura Giombini before the Olympics began.Some of the other countries, that have a large pool, you see them switching often, said Canadian Heather Bansley, who joined up with indoor volleyball player Sarah Pavan after they each failed to qualify for London.In Canada, there arent a lot of options, she said. But I think theres a lot of value in sticking together.Part of that value is learning each others tendencies on the court, and how to best communicate and do it under pressure. But the partners also spend so much time together on the world tour that they need to get along off the court, too.True, there are tales of partners who cant stand each other but stick together for the good of the team. More often, though, the players use a sort of dating period to see how well they match up both on and off the court.Polands Monika Brzostek and Kinga Kolosinska have been together since 2009, one of the longest-running partnerships in the tournament.We do not have any serious problems. We enjoy each others company, Brzostek said. As far as I know, we do not want to change anything.Then she looked over to her partner for confirmation.They both smiled.Not for me, either, Kolosinska said.---Jimmy Golen covers Olympic beach volleyball for The Associated Press. Follow him at: http://www.twitter.com/jgolen . Custom Juventus Jerseys . 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FORT WORTH, Texas -- Welcome to the bubble.NASCAR finally has a dynamic bubble situation going into an elimination race. It couldnt come at a better time.With Martinsville winner Jimmie Johnson and Texas winner Carl Edwards having clinched two of the four championship finalist spots, two spots remain up for grabs at the race Sunday at Phoenix.Team Penskes Joey Logano and Joe Gibbs Racings Kyle Busch are tied for those two spots, one point ahead of JGRs Matt Kenseth and two points ahead of JGRs Denny Hamlin. Stewart-Haas Racings Kevin Harvick -- who has won six of the past eight Phoenix races -- sits 18 points behind and Kurt Busch is 34 points back.Weve done it I dont know how many times, Harvick said about performing in clutch must-win situations. Well just go there and do what we always do and race as hard as we can.Busch, Kenseth and Hamlin are in the rare position of all being teammates vying for championship spots. They will not be able to work together in order to advance, and they might have to move each other for a spot at the end of the race.I think we need to run top-two to make it, Hamlin said. We can do that. We finished third [at Phoenix] in the spring, so theres no reason why we cant go out there and contend for a win.Maybe the most disappointed after Texas was Logano, who led 178 laps only to finish second.Of course Im mad, Logano said. I didnt win, so Im going to be mad. ... Knowing how good our car was and how close we were, we just came close and didnt get it. Oh well.Weve just got to do what we do [at Phoenix]. Were not going to change what we typically do. Were going to fight all week and make sure our car is the best that we can get it, and then were going to race as hard as we possibly can.Last year, Kyle Busch never won during the Chase until Homestead. He might employ the same path in trying to defend his title.Weve had all the finishes that we need thus far, Busch said. We just have to be able to go out there one more week and be able to get another one. ... Its been a struggle track for us the last few years, but the last couple of times weve been there, we actually have gotten a lot better.While it sounds as if it should be a nerve-wracking week, Hamlin said he wont have the sweats over whether he will advance. The three-race elimination-style rounds create somewhat of a resigned feeling that a driver can only do so much.I dont put any pressure on this deal anymore, Hamlin said. I go out there and try to do the best I can every week.Xfinity Series: Chase bubbleXfinity has a true underdog story as its Chase bubble is set going into Phoenix. No driver has won a race.Daniel Suarez?leads the points and has a 17-point lead on fifth-place Justin Allgaier. Elliott Sadler (16-point cushion over next spot), Erik Jones (seven points) and Blake Koch (one point) are currently in the spots to advance.ddddddddddddllgaier (behind Koch by one point), Ryan Reed (five points behind), Darrell Wallace Jr. (20 points) and Brendan Gaughan (23 points) currently are on the outside looking in.We knew when it got down to this point, it would be elbows up [on the wheel] and dig deep, said Allgaier, fourth at Phoenix earlier this year. We have to go to Phoenix and do what we know how to do and have a good solid run.Koch, who drives for the single-car, new-in-2016 Kaulig Racing, said he feels little pressure. The pressure he felt was to make the Chase, not make it to the championship round.Once the Chase started, [team owner] Matt Kaulig said, Dude, have fun, no pressure, anything from here is just icing on the cake, Koch said. Its been a good mindset to have and just improve as a driver ... and not think about the points. When we keep doing that, were still in the Chase, so its working.The four other drivers in the top five -- Suarez (two wins this year), Sadler (three wins), Jones (four wins) and Allgaier (12 top-5s) -- compete for the series top teams in Joe Gibbs Racing and JR Motorsports.We dont have to hit a grand slam to make it to Homestead, Sadler said. Weve just got to maybe hit a few singles. And its a lot easier doing that than hitting a grand slam.We like the position that were in. ... We just need to go to Phoenix and do our job and do what weve been doing -- if we stay focused to ourselves, well be fine.Suarez, Jones and Sadler know if they perform the way they are capable of performing, they should advance.Its still going to be stressful, Jones said. I dont know how far ahead we are, and youre never far enough ahead. I dont think anybody is locked in by any means.Camping World Truck Series: Chase bubbleJust as in Xfinity, the truck bubble is one point, with a pair of veterans potentially battling for the final spot as its field gets cut from six drivers to four.Johnny Sauter, who is 2-for-2 in the semifinal round with victories at Martinsville and Texas, is locked in. William Byron has a five-point cushion on Timothy Peters while Christopher Bell is four points up and past champion Matt Crafton one point up. Ben Kennedy is 13 points behind in sixth.Peters won the Phoenix race last year.It is what it is, experience, no experience -- when its your day, it is your day, Peters said.Byron won six races this year and might have the most pressure.Weve had a good year but we definitely want this championship, Byron said. Were just trying to plug away with good, solid finishes to get us to Homestead. ... We just need one more of those [solid finishes] next week and well be in a good position. 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