Sports briefs

0 Comments | Deseret News (Salt Lake City), Jul 8, 2007

Auto racing

NEXTEL NO MORE: NASCAR's top series is changing its name for the second time in five years, switching from Nextel Cup to the Sprint Cup starting in 2008.

It's only the third name change in NASCAR's 60 years but had been expected since Nextel merged with Sprint in August 2005. NASCAR allowed Nextel one name change in the 10-year contract it signed with the telecommunications giant before the 2004 season.

While admitting name changes are not ideal, NASCAR chairman Brian France has maintained its premier series needed to be in line with the Sprint brand since that's what the company is now called.

"We need to be with their main brand," France said Saturday as the new Sprint Cup logo was unveiled. "We're hopeful this is the brand they stick with for a long, long time. I would be surprised if it wasn't."

CASTRONEVES WINS POLE: Helio Castroneves has his third straight pole at Watkins Glen International. Now, if he can only escape his bad luck on race day.

In a near repeat of qualifying here two years ago, Castroneves bested Scott Dixon on Saturday, covering the 3.4-mile, 11-turn road circuit at 136.021 mph (1 minute, 29.1919 seconds) during the Firestone Fast Six, a 10-minute showdown among the half-dozen fastest drivers in single-lap qualifying.

"I was so fast on my new tires at the end," said Castroneves, who earned his IndyCar Series-record 21st pole and will start on the front row for the 37th time in 90 career races. "It was just fast."

Olympics

U.S. SHUT OUT: The United States remains without a voice on the Olympics' most influential body, and that may not change before 2010 at the earliest.

U.S. member Anita DeFrantz finished a distant last Saturday in an election for a seat on the International Olympic Committee's executive board, a result which she viewed as another sign of global anti-American sentiment.

"We unfortunately are still in the least-favored nation status," she said. "There is still a lot of work we have to do."

DeFrantz, a former Olympic rower who is a leading advocate for women's advancement in sports, has been an IOC member since 1986. She became the first woman elected as an IOC vice president in 1997. She ran for IOC president in 2001 but finished last in the four- person race with nine votes.

On Saturday, DeFrantz received six votes in an election won by incumbent Gerhard Heiberg of Norway with 49 votes. Spanish member Juan Antonio Samaranch Jr. -- son of the former IOC president -- was second with 22 votes, and Algeria's Mustapha Larfaoui third with 15.

"I am stunned," DeFrantz said immediately after the vote. "I hope this is not something to suggest that women cannot be elected to the executive board again."

Boxing

KLITSCHKO'S REVENGE: Wladimir Klitschko made up for one of the most painful losses of his career.

The Ukrainian heavyweight battered Lamon Brewster and scored a technical knockout after the sixth round Saturday to successfully defend his IBF and IBO titles.

"I have waited for this fight for three years," Klitschko said. "This was incredibly important for me. Today I could not lose. My confidence was such I simply could not lose."

Klitschko clearly dominated the first five rounds, making repeated contact with his strong left jab that largely went unanswered.

Brewster seemed to be standing up to the constant punishment, but two massive left-right combinations in the sixth round rocked the American. Before the seventh could start, Brewster's trainer, Buddy McGirt, flapped his towel and referee Sam Williams called the fight.

"He was the better man tonight. I did my best. I felt prepared but he won fair and square," Brewster said.