Franchitti’s Victory Gives Him Series Lead

Dario Franchitti took over the lead when rookie Juan Montoya made a late pit stop Sunday and coasted to victory in the mistake-filled Tenneco Automotive Grand Prix of Detroit.

It was the second victory of the season for Franchitti and vaulted him into first place in the CART FedEx Championship standings with 136 points, five ahead of Montoya.

Paul Tracy, Franchitti’s teammate on the Team Kool Green racing team, finished second, Greg Moore was third and Michael Andretti fourth over the 2.3-mile, 14-turn raceway on Belle Isle, in the middle of the Detroit River.

Numerous wrecks caused 23 laps of the scheduled 75-lap race to be run under the caution flag. As a result, race officials decided to limit the competition to two hours, so only 71 laps were completed.

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Doug Kalitta defended his Autolite Nationals title at Sonoma, Calif., defeating Tony Schumacher in a final round battle between two of Top Fuel’s most promising young guns.

Kalitta covered the quarter-mile in 4.615 seconds at 315.96 mph for his second career victory, while Schumacher posted a slower 5.023 at 216.17. It was Kalitta’s third final in a row, and fifth overall of the season.

Whit Bazemore and Jim Yates also were pro category winners at the $1.2-million race, the 14th of 22 events in the $40 million Winston Drag Racing Series. Bazemore scored his first Funny Car victory and Yates claimed his second Pro Stock victory of the season.

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Irish driver Derek Higgins used an unconventional outside pass in Turn 3 to move past six drivers on his way to victory in the Detroit News Challenge, the ninth round of the PPG-Dayton Indy Lights Championship.

Pan American Games

On the final day of competition, a Cuban weightlifting gold medalist and two Mexican baseball players tested positive for banned substances at the Pan American Games, bringing to six the number of athletes who have tested positive at Winnipeg, Canada.

Games officials said that William Vargas, winner in the 136.4-pound weightlifting class, and baseball players Roberto Vizcarra and Hector Alvarez tested positive for Nandrolone, an anabolic steroid.

Meanwhile, the United States suffered its worst loss in Pan Am basketball, a 95-78 setback to Brazil in the gold-medal game.

Damon Bailey had 14 points for the United States, which used a CBA all-star team for the second consecutive time in the Pan Ams and practiced for only two weeks before arriving in Winnipeg. Michael Hawkins added 13 points, Carl Thomas 11 and Mikki Moore 10.

Track and Field

Donovan Bailey was a long way from regaining his world record, but he did clock his fastest time since his comeback, running the 100 meters in 10.30 seconds at the Cologne Grand Prix in Germany.

It was only good enough for third place, but was his best showing since a career-threatening Achilles’ tendon injury. It followed a string of last-place finishes during his shaky comeback, including Saturday’s prestige meet at London’s Crystal Palace.

Marie-Jose Perec of France, a double Olympic champion, was fifth in the 200 at 23.25 as Andrea Philipp of Germany won the event in a slow 22.48.

Tennis

Eleventh-seeded Thomas Johansson overcame a groin injury to win the du Maurier Open with a 1-6, 6-3, 6-3 upset victory third-seeded Yevgeny Kafelnikov of Russia at Montreal.

Johansson became the first player since Andrei Chesnokov of Russia in 1991 to win the tournament in his first appearance.

The Swede earned his third ATP Tour victory and first this year.

Miscellany

Third-year Alabama football Coach Mike DuBose has acknowledged lying to school officials and the public about his personal life. The admission came only after the school paid $350,000 to another employee to settle sexual harassment claims against him.

Kaitlin Sandeno’s time of 4 minutes, 42.92 seconds in the 400-meter individual medley earned the 16-year-old her second national title in the Phillips 66 National Swimming Championships at the University of Minnesota Aquatic Center.

Jenny Thompson recorded another national championship by winning the 200-meter freestyle in 2:00.19, her 22nd national title.

Featherweight Guty Espadas (29-2, 19 knockouts) and Prangky Mamuaya (20-6-1, 10 KOs) will headline tonight’s boxing card at the Arrowhead Pond. The semi-main event matches junior featherweights Israel Vazquez (20-2, 16 KOs) and Nelson Medina (24-15-2, 7 KOs). The first fight is at 7:30.