Auto Racing

Busch saves his best for last to win Sprint Cup pole

LOUDON, N.H. – Kyle Busch won his first pole position of the season by edging Kasey Kahne.

Busch, the last driver in Friday’s qualifying for the NASCAR Sprint Cup race today at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway, had a 133.417-mph lap to capture the ninth pole of his career. Kahne, who drove 133.403 mph on the fastest of his two laps, will start alongside Busch.

Busch nearly brushed the wall near the end of his qualifying run.

Denny Hamlin had held the second spot with a lap of 133.399 mph until Kahne knocked him back to third in the 44-car field.

From the pole, Keselowski wins Nationwide race in N.H.

LOUDON, N.H. – Brad Keselowski won the Nationwide race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

The polesitter passed Kevin Harvick with about 21 laps left in the 200-lap race on the one-mile oval when Harvick got caught in traffic with Amber Cope, who was 30 laps down.

Keselowski, also entered in today’s Sprint Cup race, stretched it from there and won by just more than seven-tenths of a second. He also won the pole the last two years in Nationwide races in New Hampshire, but Kyle Busch won both times.

Austin Dillon finished third.

Cycling

CDOT hopes highway hole will be fixed by Stage 3

LEADVILLE – Colorado officials hope to repair a deep hole in a mountain highway in time for the USA Pro Challenge bicycle race to use the route as planned.

A 20-foot-wide, 100-foot-deep hole opened beside U.S. 24 over Tennessee Pass on Monday, prompting officials to close a one-mile stretch of the highway in both directions to all vehicles, including bicycles.

The Colorado Department of Transportation said Friday it hopes to award a repair bid by Tuesday and have the hole filled in a month, in time for Stage 4 of the USA Pro Challenge on Aug. 23.

The race will start Aug. 20 in Durango.

CDOT said the hole opened after soil gave way above an abandoned railroad tunnel.

The inaugural USA Pro Challenge last year attracted more than 1 million spectators. Organizers hope to nearly double that this year.

Tennis

Through a tumultous career, Capriati enters the Hall

NEWPORT, R.I. – Jennifer Capriati’s tennis career – and her teenage life – took a number of twists and turns.

She started as a teenage prodigy, later was sidetracked with off-court troubles, rebounded to become a three-time Grand Slam champion, and now her journey is complete with her induction into the International Tennis Hall of Fame.

Capriati and several others were inducted into the Hall during a 90-minute ceremony Saturday.

Joining Capriati were recently retired player Gustavo Kuerten, master player Manuel Orantes, tennis industry executive Mike Davies and wheelchair champion Randy Snow, who was honored posthumously.

Soccer

Chelsea announces its roster for its U.S. exhibition tour

NEW YORK – Chelsea of the English Premier League announced its roster for its exhibition tour of the United States.

Among the 30 players set to take part in the four-match tour are veteran midfielder Frank Lampard, goalkeeper Peter Cech and former England captain John Terry, a defenseman who was acquitted Friday of racially abusing an opponent in a league match in October.

The tour will feature the first soccer match at the new Yankee Stadium, with Chelsea taking on Paris Saint-Germain on July 22 after opening the tour in Seattle against Sounders FC of Major League Soccer on July 18.

The Champions League winners also will face the MLS All-Stars in Philadelphia on July 25 and head to Miami for a July 28 match against AC Milan.

Associated Press