Auto Racing
Gibbs finds Vickers’ drivers for the Nationwide Series
TALLADEGA, Ala. – Denny Hamlin and Drew Herring will replace ailing Brian Vickers in the No. 20 car for the final three races of the NASCAR Nationwide season.
Joe Gibbs Racing announced Friday that Cup regular Hamlin will make his first Nationwide start of the season at Texas on Nov. 2. Herring will be behind the wheel Nov. 9 at Phoenix and the finale at Homestead on Nov. 16.
Vickers is sidelined for the rest of the season undergoing treatment for a blood clot. He also drove the No. 55 Sprint Cup car for Michael Waltrip Racing; Elliott Sadler will fill in for the final four races in the top-level series.
Penske sweeps the IndyCar’s front row in Fontana, Calif.
FONTANA, Calif. – Penske Racing swept the first three spots in qualifying for the season finale at Auto Club Speedway, where Helio Castroneves is chasing Scott Dixon in the race for the IndyCar championship.
Will Power won the pole for Saturday night’s race, and Castroneves was second. AJ Allmendinger, brought in by team owner Roger Penske to aid Castroneves’ title bid, qualified third.
But in snatching the pole away from his teammate, Power grabbed a point that could have gone to Castroneves. He trails Dixon by 25 points heading into the final race.
Dixon qualified seventh.
Both Castroneves and Dixon made engine changes before the weekend and will take 10-spot penalties on the starting grid. It means both will have to drive through early traffic in their championship race.
MLB
White Sox sign Cuba’s Abreu for 6 years, $68M deal
CHICAGO – Cuban slugger Jose Abreu agreed to a six-year, $68-million contract with the Chicago White Sox, a person familiar with the situation said Friday.
The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because the deal had not been announced and was pending a physical. Several outlets earlier reported the agreement.
The 6-3, 250-pound Abreu could play first base or serve as the designated hitter. He batted .360 (9-for-25) with three home runs and nine runs batted in at the World Baseball Classic last spring, and he defected over the summer.
Abreu joins a team that went 63-99 after finishing second in the AL Central. The White Sox believe they can turn things around quickly because of their pitching, but defense and hitting were huge problems for them last season.
Soccer
Wambach’s same-sex union isn’t a political statement
SAN ANTONIO – For Abby Wambach, marrying partner and professional teammate Sarah Huffman purely was a statement of love, not politics.
Yet the star of the U.S. women’s national soccer team understands that as soon as news broke of their Oct. 5 ceremony in Hawaii, she became perhaps the highest-profile athlete in the national debate over same-sex marriage and a role model for advocates.
Wambach and the national team will play Australia on Sunday in San Antonio.
Wambach and Huffman are teammates on the Western New York Flash in the National Women’s Soccer League.
Mexico hires its 4th coach in 6 weeks and 8th in 7 years
MEXICO CITY – Mexico’s national soccer team has its fourth coach in six weeks.
Miguel Herrera was hired as coach of El Tri on Friday in place of Victor Manuel Vucetich and will guide the team in next month’s two-game playoff against New Zealand for a World Cup berth.
Jose Manuel De la Torre was fired after a 2-1 home loss to Honduras on Sept. 6, and Luis Fernando Tena was let go after a 2-0 loss at the United States on Sept. 10. Vucetich coached El Tri in a 2-1 home win over Panama last week and a 2-1 loss to Costa Rica on Tuesday.
Herrera is the eighth coach in the last seven years.
Associated Press
