Auto Racing
Truex’s sponsor, NAPA, drops MWR from its payroll
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – NAPA Auto Parts said Thursday it will end its multimillion-dollar sponsorship of Michael Waltrip Racing at the end of the year, the latest fallout from the team’s attempt to manipulate a race to get Martin Truex Jr. into NASCAR’s version of the playoffs.
NAPA is Truex’s primary sponsor and in the first year of a three-year extension announced last August. The deal ran through the 2015 season and is believed to be worth at least $15 million a year.
The company issued a harsh rebuke of MWR last week after NASCAR sanctioned the organization for its shenanigans in the Sept. 7 race at Richmond. MWR was punished for deliberately manipulating the outcome of the race in an attempt to get Truex into the 12-driver Chase for the Sprint Cup championship field.
NASCAR took the unprecedented step of kicking Truex out of the Chase in favor of Ryan Newman, who would have made it into the field instead of Truex without MWR’s meddling. MWR also was fined $300,000, general manager Ty Norris was suspended indefinitely, and all three crew chiefs for its drivers were placed on probation for the rest of the year.
Skiing
Schild retires from racing with chronic back pain
BERN, Switzerland – Olympic downhill silver medalist Martina Schild has retired from skiing five months before the Sochi Winter Games because of persistent back pains.
The 31-year-old speed specialist missed all of last season, and her back injury persisted through summer training.
Schild won silver at the 2006 Torino Olympics. She missed the 2010 Vancouver Olympics after suffering a serious knee injury. Schild got her only World Cup victory in a super-G race at Lake Louise, Canada, in December 2007.
Tennis
Murray’s season cut short because of back surgery
LONDON – Wimbledon champion Andy Murray will have surgery on a long-standing back problem and will miss the rest of the season.
The third-ranked Murray will miss the season-ending ATP World Tour Finals in London on Nov. 4-11, along with the Masters events in Shanghai and Paris in October. There are 13 tournaments left on this year’s schedule.
Murray has had problems with his back before this year, but the injury flared up at the Rome Masters in May, forcing him to pull out of the French Open that month.
He returned to win grass-court titles at the Queen’s Club and Wimbledon, where he beat Novak Djokovic in the final to become Britain’s first male singles champion at the All England Club in 77 years.
WNBA
Sparks’ Candace Parker wins her second WNBA MVP
LOS ANGELES – Los Angeles Sparks forward Candace Parker won the WNBA MVP on Thursday, making her the fifth player in league history to receive the award twice.
Parker accepted the trophy from league president Laurel Richie before the Sparks lost to the Phoenix Mercury in the opener of their Western Conference playoff series. She also earned $15,000.
Parker edged Minnesota’s Maya Moore and Chicago’s Elena Delle Donne in one of the closest ballots in league history. Parker finished with 234 points, Moore had 218 and Delle Donne 189. It’s the closest the top two players have been in the voting since Sheryl Swoopes edged Lauren Jackson by two points in 2005.
Parker and Moore each received 10 first-place votes from the 39-member national media panel.
The 27-year-old forward averaged 17.9 points, 8.7 rebounds and 3.8 assists, helping the Sparks (24-10) finish second in the West.
It’s the second MVP award for Parker, who won it her rookie year in 2008. Parker also won the All-Star game MVP this past July. She was runner-up to Tina Charles last season for the WNBA MVP award.
Associated Press
