sports in brief

Topeka Capital-Journal, The, Jun 18, 2006

Auto racing: Kahne upset about hitting wall during practice

Pole winner Kasey Kahne was kicking himself mentally Saturday after slapping the wall during practice for the 3M Performance 400 at Brooklyn, Mich.

"I'm fine," Kahne said as he studied the damage to the right side of his No. 9 Dodge Charger. "I'm upset with myself for making that mistake and giving these guys a lot of extra work. But I think they'll fix it up as good as it was before."

Kahne was on his fifth lap of the session and driving off turn two on the 2-mile Michigan International Speedway oval when he suddenly slid up to the wall.

"I hit the right rear corner of the car and then it slapped the whole side after that," he said.

At first, Kahne was concerned that he might have to go to a backup car, meaning he would have to start from the rear of the 43- car field in today's race. Then he thought about the fact that this is a car he has won in and the one he considers his favorite among the fleet that team owner Ray Evernham provides during the season.

"This has been our lucky car," Kahne said. "I don't want to mess it up, but we've got a bunch of cars that are just as good. We just haven't won with them."

Rookie David Gilliland became the first non-Nextel Cup driver to win a Busch Series race this season, passing J.J. Yeley with 10 laps to go and holding on to take the Meijer 300 on Saturday night at Kentucky Speedway in Sparta, Ky.

Gilliland, making his seventh career start in the series, won despite a sluggish pit stop on the 50th lap that dropped him from second to 19th.

Nextel Cup drivers won the first 15 Busch Series races of the year.

Yeley, a Nextel Cup driver also seeking his first Busch Series victory, finished second for the second time in his career. His Joe Gibbs racing teammate, Denny Hamlin, finished third after starting from the pole.

Emporia native Clint Bowyer, also a Nextel driver, finished 12th.

Brandon Bernstein led Top Fuel qualifying for the 10th time in his career Saturday, topping the field in the K&N Filters Supernationals at Englishtown, N.J., with a quarter-mile run of 4.534 seconds at 329.50 mph.

Bernstein's father, NHRA star Kenny Bernstein, has won a career- high seven races at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park, but Brandon has yet to even win a round at the historic track that was the site of the accident that ended his 2003 season.

Johnny Benson finally broke through with a victory in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, holding off a challenge from Mark Martin in a two-lap, overtime shootout Saturday at Michigan International Speedway.

Martin, the Nextel Cup star who has won three of six previous truck starts this season in a part-time ride, appeared stronger on long green-flag runs. But Benson, driving a Toyota Tundra for Bill Davis Racing, got a break when four of the eight caution flags in the 102-lap event waved in the final 28 trips around the 2-mile oval.

Basketball: Roby will return

to CU instead of testing NBA draft

Colorado guard Richard Roby will return to the team next season instead of testing the NBA draft.

"I felt it was the best decision for me," Roby said in a statement released by the school. "I'm not a gambling man and I know coming back for my junior year can help me be a better player and show my leadership."

Although the 6-foot-6, 195-pound shooting guard participated in a number of NBA pre-draft camps, he didn't hire an agent and therefore retained his eligibility.

Roby averaged 17 points per game over the last two seasons.

The deadline to withdraw from the draft is 4 p.m. CDT today.

UCLA guard Arron Afflalo withdrew from the NBA draft Saturday, allowing him to return for his junior season. Jordan Farmar, the other half of the Bruins' star backcourt, declared for the draft the same day in April as Afflalo. Neither player signed with an agent, so Farmar is eligible to return, too.

Brent "Buzz" Williams was hired Saturday as head coach at the University of New Orleans.

The 33-year-old Williams spent the past two years as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Texas A&M.

Williams replaces Monte Towe, who left the Privateers to become an associate head coach at North Carolina State.

General: Wright starts celebrating too early; Taylor keeps title

Winky Wright started celebrating a round too early. It may have cost him the middleweight title.

The No. 1 challenger thought he had Jermain Taylor beaten when he went back to his corner after the 11th round of their middleweight title fight Saturday night at Memphis, Tenn., with his arms in the air. The men in his corner thought the same thing.

Wright was so certain of victory he fought only sparingly in the last round, and he paid the price. Taylor won the round on two of the three ringside scorecards to salvage a draw and keep the undisputed middleweight title.

James Blake beat defending champion Andy Roddick 7-5, 6-4 in an all-American semifinal Saturday at London and advanced to the Queen's Club final against Lleyton Hewitt.

Hewitt won his semifinal match earlier in the grass-court tournament, beating Britain's Tim Henman 6-3, 3-6, 6-2.