Busch edges Johnson for Nextel Cup pole

Fontana, CA (Sports Network) - Kurt Busch was just 0.001 seconds faster than Jimmie Johnson, but it was enough to capture the pole for Sunday evening's Sharp Aquos 500 Nextel Cup race at the California Speedway. The No.2 Miller Lite Dodge driver circled the two-mile oval in 39.474 seconds (182.399 m.p.h.).
The pole victory was Busch's first of the season and 10th of his "Cup" career.
"We didn't expect that good of a lap," said Busch. "We got some of the cloud cover right when it first came in, you could almost feel it cool down."
Starting alongside Busch will be Johnson who came up just short with a time of 39.475 seconds.
Kasey Kahne (39.556) and Ryan Newman (39.688) will make up row two.
Five drivers have mathematically clinched one of the 12 positions in the "Chase" - Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, Denny Hamlin, Matt Kenseth and Carl Edwards. Four more drivers are on the verge of clinching - 2006 Nextel Cup champion Johnson, Jeff Burton, Kyle Busch and Clint Bowyer.
Which leaves five drivers competing for the final three spots amd just two races left in the "regular" season. Currently, Kevin Harvick (starting 12th), Martin Truex Jr. (starting eighth) and Kurt Busch hold down positions 10 through 12. Sitting outside the "Chase" and looking in are fan favorite Dale Earnhardt Jr. (starting seventh) and Newman.
Harvick, the 2007 Daytona 500 winner, is 167 points ahead of 13th-place Earnhardt Jr. Truex Jr. is 166 points ahead of his DEI Inc., teammate Earnhardt Jr. Busch is 158 points ahead of "Junior."
Of the five drivers, Busch has had the best results at the California Speedway. The No.2 Miller Lite Dodge driver has made 10 starts, winning once with four top-10s.
Ricky Rudd will make his 900th career start, second all-time behind Richard Petty's 1185 starts.
The race is scheduled to drop the green flag on Sunday at 8 p.m. (et).

Warren leads by one at Gleneagles

Perthshire, Scotland (Sports Network) - Scotland's Marc Warren opened with an eight-under-par 65 Thursday to take a one-stroke lead after the opening round of the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles.
Warren, whose lone win came last year at the Scandinavian Masters, has struggled of late. He has missed the cut in six of his last eight starts and owns just two top-10s all season.
"The last few months have been frustrating because I haven't been getting the results that I want," said Warren. "But over the last couple of weeks I have noticed a couple of things and (my coach) Bob Torrance has been working hard with me on them this week to put it right and today was a glimpse of that."
Nicolas Colsaerts is one stroke behind Warren at minus-seven. Jeev Milkha Singh was joined in third place by Miles Tunnicliff at six-under-par 67 on the par-73 PGA Centenary Course at The Gleneagles Hotel.
Warren started his round on the 10th tee and birdied his opening hole. He came back with birdies on 12 and 14 to get to three-under.
The Scotsman made another birdie at the par-three 17th. Around the turn, he kept rolling...Full Story

Kuznetsova, Hingis reach third round at U.S. Open

Flushing Meadows, NY (Sports Network) - Former champions Svetlana Kuznetsova and Martina Hingis were a pair of second-round winners Thursday at the U.S. Open.
The fourth-seeded Kuznetsova, of Russia, got past France's Camille Pin 6-3, 4-6, 6-0 on Day 4 at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. The two-time major finalist Kuznetsova was the surprise U.S. Open titlist in 2004 and last year's runner-up to Justine Henin at the French Open.
Kuznetsova's third-round opponent will be Spaniard Anabel Medina Garrigues.
A 16th-seeded Hingis handled France's Pauline Parmentier 6-2, 7-5. The "Swiss Miss" captured the U.S. Open in 1997 and was the runner-up here in 1998 and 1999. The five-time major titlist hasn't captured a major since the '99 Aussie Open.
Sixth-seeded Russian Anna Chakvetadze moved on with a 6-3, 6-4 decision against veteran Aussie Nicole Pratt, while 11th-seeded Swiss Patty Schnyder shut down France's Severine Bremond 6-3, 6-0. The surging Chakvetadze, who reached quarterfinals at this year's Aussie and French Opens, will battle Indian Sania Mirza in the round of 32...Full Story

Roddick, Davydenko move on at the Open

Flushing Meadows, NY (Sports Network) - Birthday boy Andy Roddick and fourth- seeded Russian Nikolay Davydenko were among Thursday's second-round winners at the 2007 U.S. Open.
Celebrating his 25th birthday, the fifth-seeded Roddick got past an injured Jose Acasuso 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 in 90 minutes at Ashe Stadium, as the Argentine quit after three sets due to a left leg injury that required treatment on a few occasions on Day 4. A hobbled Acasuso uncorked 27 unforced errors before his exit.
Roddick, who fired 12 aces in his three sets against Acasuso, was last year's U.S. Open runner-up to Roger Federer and captured his lone major title here in New York four years ago.
The French Open semifinalist Davydenko dispatched oft-injured German Nicolas Kiefer 6-2, 6-2, 6-2 in 1 hour, 45 minutes. The gritty Russian broke Kiefer's serve a whopping six times and will now meet Spaniard Nicolas Almagro here on Saturday.
Ninth-seeded Czech slugger Tomas Berdych breezed into the third round with a 7-5, 6-3, 6-3 victory over Italian Simone Bolelli, while an upset came when Korean Hyung-Taik Lee took out 14th-seeded Argentine Guillermo Canas 7-5, 7-5, 6-3 on the grounds at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center...Full Story

Sunderland loses captain Whitehead for six months

Sunderland, England (Sports Network) - Sunderland manager Roy Keane confirmed on Wednesday that his team will be without captain Dean Whitehead for the next six months because of a knee injury.
Whitehead suffered the injury 10 days ago prior to the team's contest with Wigan, but was initially thought to be out six weeks. However, a scan on Wednesday revealed damage to the cruciate in the knee.
"It looks as though Dean will need surgery in a couple of weeks," Keane said. "It looks like it's a cruciate so that would rule him out for six or seven months, it's been a bad day.
"It's a bitter blow for Dean and for us. We are missing his leadership qualities and his presence."...Full Story

Henin, Venus reach third round at the Open

Flushing Meadows, NY (Sports Network) - World No. 1 Justine Henin and two- time champion Venus Williams were among Wednesday's second-round winners at the U.S. Open.
The reigning three-time French Open champ and 2006 U.S. Open runner-up Henin easily got past Bulgarian Tsvetana Pironkova 6-4, 6-0 in 68 minutes.
The six-time major champion Henin lost to Russian superstar Maria Sharapova in last year's finale in Flushing and captured her lone U.S. Open title back in 2003.
Henin's third-round opponent will be little-known Russian Ekaterina Makarova.
A 12th-seeded Williams waltzed past Romanian Ioana Raluca Olaru 6-4, 6-2 in 69 minutes on the grounds at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. The reigning Wimbledon champion Williams captured the U.S. Open back-to-back in 2000 and 2001 and was the runner-up here in 1997 and 2002...Full Story

Ivanovic, Venus roll into third round in New York

Flushing Meadows, NY (Sports Network) - Fifth-seeded Serbian Ana Ivanovic and two-time champion Venus Williams were among Wednesday's second-round winners at the U.S. Open.
The French Open runner-up Ivanovic, considered among the pre-tournament favorites, drilled France's Aravane Rezai 6-3, 6-1. The Serb's third-round opponent will be Russian Vera Dushevina, who beat her compatriot Ekaterina Bychkova 6-4, 6-3 on Day 3 here.
A 12th-seeded Williams waltzed past Romanian Ioana Raluca Olaru 6-4, 6-2 on the grounds at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. The reigning Wimbledon champion Williams captured the U.S. Open in 2000 and 2001 and was the runner-up here in 1997 and 2002.Nineteenth-seeded Austrian Sybille Bammer handled American veteran Meghann Shaughnessy 6-4, 6-3, while a mild upset occurred when Russian Ekaterina Makarova topped 28th-seeded Japanese Ai Sugiyama 6-4, 4-6, 6-2.

Change of heart: Yi Jianlian signs with Bucks

Milwaukee, WI (Sports Network) - The Milwaukee Bucks signed 2007 first- round draft pick Yi Jianlian on Wednesday to a multi-year contract despite reports that his agent wanted him to play in another city.
Jianlian, who was selected sixth overall in the draft by Milwaukee this past June, was not planning on signing with the franchise after his agent Dan Fegan stated he wanted his client to play in a city with a more prominent Asian community.
All of that changed after the Bucks front office recently met with Jianlian, his family and Mr. Chen Haitao, owner of Yi's team in the Chinese Basketball Association, in Hong Kong...Full Story

Bengals claim K Elling off waivers from Jags

Cincinnati, OH (Sports Network) - The Cincinnati Bengals claimed kicker Aaron Elling off waivers from the Jacksonville Jaguars on Wednesday to add depth behind the injured Shayne Graham.
Elling is expected to fill in temporarily for Graham, who suffered a hip pointer against the Atlanta Falcons in preseason action on Monday night.
The 29-year-old Elling, who was in training camp with the Jacksonville Jaguars before being waived on Sunday, last kicked regularly in the NFL in 2003 with the Minnesota Vikings.
Elling has also played for the Tennessee Titans and Baltimore Ravens and is 19-of-28 in field goal attempts for his career.

Kuznetsova, Hingis ease into second round in Flushing

Flushing Meadows, NY (Sports Network) - Former champions Svetlana Kuznetsova and Martina Hingis were easy second-round winners Tuesday at the U.S. Open.
The 2004 titlist Kuznetsova, seeded fourth at this 2007 fortnight, handled Czech Klara Zakopalova 6-2, 6-3 on Day 2 at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. The two-time major finalist from Russia was last year's runner- up at the French Open.
The solid Kuznetsova, fresh off her hardcourt title in New Haven last week, will face France's Camille Pin in the second round here.
The 16th-seeded Hingis waltzed past France's Mathilde Johansson 6-0, 6-3. The former world No. 1 and five-time major titlist Hingis was the U.S. Open champ in 1997 and the back-to-back runner-up in 1998 and 1999.
The Swiss Hingis' second-round opponent will be another Frenchwoman, Pauline Parmentier.
Eleventh-seeded Swiss Patty Schnyder pasted Czech Iveta Benesova 6-3, 6-0, while 13th-seeded Czech slugger Nicole Vaidisova vaulted past Russian Alla Kudryavtseva 6-1, 6-2. Vaidisova is playing her first tennis since early July after being sidelined with a mono-like illness...Full Story