Auto Racing
Gordon wins his 9th pole at Charlotte Motor Speedway
CONCORD, N.C. – Jeff Gordon won the pole Thursday night for the NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Gordon turned a lap at 194.308 mph to edge Kevin Harvick for his ninth pole at Charlotte, the second most in track history.
Greg Biffle qualified third for the Saturday night race, Jimmie Johnson was fourth, and Kasey Kahne, who held the lead for most of the night, was fifth.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. celebrated his 39th birthday by qualifying sixth for his 500th Sprint Cup start. Ryan Newman was seventh, followed by Juan Pablo Montoya, Kyle Busch and Kurt Busch.
Gordon enters the weekend fourth in the Chase standings, 32 points behind leader Matt Kenseth with six races left. Kenseth qualified 20th.
Cricket
Tendulkar, the ‘Little Master,’ to retire from the sport
NEW DELHI – The most prolific batsman in international cricket history is retiring.
Sachin Tendulkar – revered more than any athlete in India, where cricket overshadows all sports – said Thursday he is leaving the game next month after playing two more test matches against the West Indies. His 200th test match will be his last.
At 5-5, the 40-year-old Tendulkar is known as the Little Master. He widely is regarded as cricket’s greatest batsman since Donald Bradman, the Australian great who played in the 1930s and ’40s.
Having made his test debut for India in 1989 at age 16, Tendulkar has scored 15,837 runs in 198 tests and 18,426 runs in 463 one-day internationals. He is the only batsman to score a century – 100 runs in an inning – 100 times across both formats.
Cycling
Saxo Bank sponsor remains; Tinkoff drops Contador, Riis
MADRID – Bjarne Riis’ cycling team featuring two-time Tour de France champion Alberto Contador will be sponsored by Saxo Bank next year.
The Danish investment bank assumed the principal role after Tinkoff Bank pulled out following an acrimonious season working with Contador.
Golf
PGA Tour makes history with its October start in Calif.
SAN MARTIN, Calif. – Coming off his worst year, Jeff Overton opened the new PGA Tour season on a better note.
Once he finally made a putt Thursday in the Frys.com Open, Overton felt as if he couldn’t miss. He made three birdie putts of more than 25 feet and finished with a tap-in birdie for a 7-under 64 at CordeValle. That gave him a two-shot lead over Kyle Stanley among the early starters.
The PGA Tour season is starting in October instead of January for the first time in history. The official season will end next September at the Tour Championship with a six-week break until January.
NEW YORK – NBC locked up eight more Ryder Cups through 2030. The network and the PGA of America announced the deal Thursday. NBC has televised the Ryder Cup since 1991.
ESPN has an agreement with NBC to sublicense Friday Ryder Cup matches through 2014.
16-year-old Ko files petition with LPGA to turn pro
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Amateur sensation Lydia Ko is turning pro and has asked the LPGA Tour to waive its age limit (18).
The 16-year-old from New Zealand already is a two-time winner on the LPGA Tour – both wins at the Canadian Women’s Open – and last year became the youngest winner in LPGA history.
Ko recently received the Mark H. McCormack Medal as the top-ranked female amateur for the third consecutive year. Ko would have earned nearly $1 million this year if she had been a pro.
Michelle Wie was 15 when she turned pro, though she played a limited schedule and did not ask for LPGA Tour membership.
Lexi Thompson was 16 when she won on tour in 2011.
Associated Press
