Auto Racing
Hamlin sets a track record with a pole-winning run
BRISTOL, Tenn. – Denny Hamlin ended two weeks of Team Penske dominance by winning the pole at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Hamlin set a track record Friday with a lap at 129.991 mph to earn the top starting spot. It broke the mark of 129.535 set by Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch a year ago and ensured that neither Brad Keselowski or Joey Logano won the pole for the first time since NASCAR’s new knockout qualifying debuted three weeks ago.
Keselowski came up just short, settling for second at 129.965.
Logano was fourth, behind Hamlin’s teammate Matt Kenseth.
Can you hear me now? IndyCar calls on Verizon
INDIANAPOLIS – IndyCar announced a multiyear agreement with Verizon on Friday that will make the telecommunications giant the title sponsor of its series.
Verizon replaces former title sponsor Izod. Its sponsorship of what now will be known as the Verizon IndyCar Series will launch with the season-opening race March 30.
Cycling
Betancur wins back-to-back stages at Paris-Nice
FAYENCE, France – Carlos Betancur outsprinted world champion Rui Costa to win the sixth stage of the Paris-Nice and take the overall lead Friday in the week-long race.
The Colombian rider finished in 5 hours, 12 minutes, 11 seconds on the 221.5-kilometer trek from Saint-Saturnin-les-Avignon to Fayence.
Betancur, who also won the fifth stage Thursday, leads Geraint Thomas by eight seconds in the overall standings and Costa by 18 seconds.
Sagan wins an uphill sprint Stage 3 of the Tirreno
AREZZO, Italy – Peter Sagan showed off his uphill sprinting skills to win the third stage of the weeklong Tirreno-Adriatico race, and Michal Kwiatkowski took the overall lead Friday.
Sagan, a Slovak who rides for Cannondale, took more than 5 hours on the 132-mile leg from Cascina to the Tuscan town of Arezzo.
Kwiatkowski, a Pole with Omega Pharma-Quick Step, finished second, and Simon Clarke of Australia was third, both with the same time as Sagan.
nba
Remember 1973: Jackson likely to return to the Knicks
Phil Jackson is returning to the NBA.
Jackson has agreed to run the New York Knicks’ front office and will be introduced at a news conference Tuesday morning, a person familiar with the negotiations between the 11-time champion coach and the team told The Associated Press on Friday.
The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the Knicks only would confirm that a “major announcement” involving team executives was scheduled. Jackson also did not make any immediate public comment.
The move had been expected for several days, with Knicks star Carmelo Anthony saying earlier in the week that he was told Jackson would be “coming on board” with the team, which has not won an NBA championship since 1973. Jackson played for that team.
World Cup Skiing
Switzerland beats the USA in parallel slalom racing
LENZERHEIDE, Switzerland – Switzerland beat the United States in the final of the parallel slalom racing team event at the World Cup Finals.
The Swiss won on the fastest run-time tiebreaker after the four-racer teams tied 2-2.
Wendy Holdener and Reto Schmidiger won their final heats against Tim Jitloff and Julia Mancuso, respectively. For the Americans, David Chodounsky and Mikaela Shiffrin defeated Luca Aerni and Denise Feierabend.
Austria defeated Italy for third place in the event.
Every contest in the seven-nation competition ended 2-2 and was decided by tiebreakers.
Associated Press
