Auto Racing
Earnhardt Jr. and Kenseth will sit the front row
DOVER, Del. – Dale Earnhardt Jr. can pick up his pursuit of Matt Kenseth from out front.
Earnhardt showed a rare burst of top qualifying speed, turning a track-record lap of 161.849 mph to win the pole Friday at Dover International Speedway – his second pole of the season and the first time he has won multiple poles since 2002.
Chase for the Sprint Cup championship drivers filled the top four spots and eight of the top 12. Kenseth, the points leader and winner of the first two Chase races, joins Earnhardt on the front row. Ryan Newman is third and Carl Edwards fourth.
Earnhardt’s run marked the 17th time this season drivers have set qualifying records in the new Gen-6 car.
Earnhardt is in 11th place in the 13-driver field.
Cycling
Armstrong cries ‘Hallelujah’ as UCI elects Cookson
FLORENCE, Italy – Cycling’s governing body took another step toward clearing up its doping-tainted past by electing a president who hopes to usher in a new era of transparency.
One of his first challenges will be getting Lance Armstrong to come forward and fully explain how he got away with doping for so long.
Brian Cookson won a heated vote Friday to become president of the International Cycling Union, defeating incumbent Pat McQuaid after a contentious election in the wake of the Armstrong scandal.
The British Cycling president edged McQuaid 24-18 in a secret ballot, after which Armstrong quickly issued a one-word tweet that said, “Hallelujah.”
Armstrong previously has indicated he would be willing to talk to any so-called “truth and reconciliation” commission, which Cookson wants to set up to encourage riders, team officials and others with knowledge of cycling’s doping past to come forward.
McQuaid was first elected in 2005 and was seeking a third-four year term despite accusations that the UCI covered up Armstrong’s doping during his tenure.
MLB
Wedge removes himself; Loria fires two in Miami
SEATTLE – Seattle manager Eric Wedge told the Mariners he will not return for next season.
The team said Friday that Wedge will manage the final three games of the season against Oakland.
Wedge, who suffered a stroke midseason and missed a month, managed Cleveland from 2003 to 2009 and was hired by Seattle in October 2010.
Seattle, which never has reached the World Series, entered the final weekend 70-89, assured of its fourth consecutive losing season.
MIAMI – The latest purge by Miami Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria targeted the personnel department rather than the dugout.
President of baseball operations Larry Beinfest was fired Friday after 12 years with the Marlins. The move came as the team neared the end of its third consecutive last-place season in the NL East.
Loria also fired Jim Fleming, who also had been with the Marlins for 12 seasons and was Beinfest’s special assistant.
NFL
Hernandez’s girlfriend latest to be indicted by grand jury
FALL RIVER, Mass. – The girlfriend of former New England Patriot Aaron Hernandez was indicted on a perjury charge in connection with the killing of his friend, a Massachusetts prosecutor said Friday, bringing to five the number of people facing charges in the case.
A grand jury indicted Shayanna Jenkins, 24, on a single count in relation to the investigation into the June 17 killing of Odin Lloyd, Bristol County District Attorney Samuel Sutter said.
Lloyd, a 27-year-old semiprofessional football player from Boston, was found shot to death in an industrial park in North Attleborough, Mass., near Hernandez’s home, where Jenkins also lives. Lloyd had been dating Jenkins’ sister.
Associated Press
