Auto Racing
NASCAR adjusts qualifying to a knockout format
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – NASCAR overhauled its qualifying process Wednesday, switching to a knockout format similar to Formula One and IndyCar.
Drivers and track owners applauded the change, saying it will bring excitement to what had been a somewhat monotonous and often meaningless event.
The new format will not be used for the Daytona 500, nonpoints events in the Sprint Cup Series and the Truck Series event at Eldora Speedway in Ohio.
NASCAR will use three rounds of qualifying at tracks 1-1/4 miles in length or larger. The entire field will have 25 minutes to post their fastest single lap, and the top 24 will advance to the second round.
The second segment will last 10 minutes, and the fastest 12 will advance to a final, five-minute round. At tracks smaller than 1-1/4 miles, qualifying will be in two segments. The first will be 30 minutes, with the top 12 advancing to a 10-minute final session.
NASCAR reportedly is considering a 16-driver championship field that would be whittled down to create a winner-take-all season finale.
Cycling
Ulissi outsprints Gerrans, who leads Tour Down Under
ADELAIDE, Australia – Italy’s Diego Ulissi beat Australian Simon Gerrans in a sprint finish to Wednesday’s second stage of cycling’s Tour Down Under, though Gerrans retained the tour lead on general classification.
The 24-year-old Ulissi, a two-time winner of the world junior road race title, emerged in a bunch sprint to beat Gerrans and 2011 Tour de France winner Cadel Evans on the 94-mile stage from Prospect to Stirling.
Gerrans won Tuesday’s opening stage, in which Ulissi was fifth, and now leads the season-opening ProTour event by seven seconds from Ulissi, with Andre Greipel third and Evans fourth.
MLB
Tanaka and the Yankees sign richest international deal
NEW YORK – The New York Yankees and prized Japanese pitcher Masahiro Tanaka agreed Wednesday to a $155-million, seven-year contract.
In addition to the deal with the 25-year-old right-hander, the Yankees must pay a $20-million fee to his Japanese team, the Rakuten Golden Eagles.
After missing the playoffs for just the second time in 19 years, the Yankees went on a free-agent spending spree this offseason, also adding catcher Brian McCann and outfielders Carlos Beltran and Jacoby Ellsbury. The four big deals totaled $438 million.
Big league teams had until Friday to reach an agreement with Tanaka, who was 24-0 with a 1.27 earned-run average last year as the Golden Eagles won the Japan Series title.
Tanaka’s deal is the highest for an international free agent and the fifth-largest for a pitcher.
NFL
Brent, ex-Cowboy convicted of killing friend, teammate
DALLAS – Former Dallas Cowboys player Josh Brent was convicted of intoxication manslaughter Wednesday for a fiery wreck that killed his teammate and close friend, Jerry Brown.
Brent faces up to 20 years in prison for a December 2012 wreck after a night of partying with fellow Cowboys players. He also could get probation.
Jurors took about nine hours over two days to convict Brent, who was led from the courtroom in handcuffs as family members sitting in the front row of the gallery sobbed.
Prosecutors said Brent, a defensive tackle, was drunk when he crashed his Mercedes on a suburban Dallas highway in December 2012, killing Brown, a linebacker on the Cowboys’ practice squad who also had been Brent’s teammate at the University of Illinois. Officers who arrived on scene saw Brent, a 320-pound lineman, trying to pull Brown’s body from the wreckage.
Police say Brent’s blood alcohol level was tested shortly after the crash at 0.18 percent, more than twice the legal limit for drivers in Texas.
Associated Press
