Joey Logano wins pole for first Chase race

Penske Racing swept the front row in qualifying for the first race of the Chase, with Joey Logano winning the pole at Joliet, Ill., hours after NASCAR placed his team on probation for allegedly cutting a deal with another organization to help him make the championship field.

Logano turned a lap at 189.414 mph around Chicagoland Speedway on Friday to bump teammate and defending NASCAR champion Brad Keselowski. Keselowski did not qualify for the Chase but Logano did make it in at Richmond, where he was aided by at least three other drivers last Saturday night.

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The IndyCar Baltimore Grand Prix has been canceled for 2014 and 2015 after organizers couldn’t find a date for the race. The race was staged during Labor Day weekend in each of the last three years. Next year, however, the city will be hosting a football game between Ohio State and Navy. And in 2015, the American Legion will be assembling at the Baltimore Convention Center during the holiday weekend.

ETC.: Czechs near return to Davis Cup finals

The defending champion Czech Republic took a 2-0 lead over Argentina in the Davis Cup semifinals Friday behind singles victories by Radek Stepanek and Tomas Berdych at Prague.

The Czechs are one win from their third final in five years. The winner of the best-of-five series will play Serbia or Canada for the title in November. Serbia and Canada are tied, 1-1.

Stepanek overcame a sluggish start in the first match, defeating Juan Monaco, 7-6 (3), 6-3, 6-2. Berdych, ranked fifth, followed with a 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory over Leonardo Mayer on the fast indoor hard court. Argentina was without star player Juan Martin del Potro, who skipped the Davis Cup this season.

At Belgrade, Serbia, Canada’s Milos Raonic served 34 aces to outlast Janko Tipsarevic in five sets and tie their semifinal. Raonic beat Tipsarevic, 5-7, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 10-8, in a 4-hour 11-minute marathon on an indoor clay court. Earlier, top-ranked Novak Djokovic swept past Vasek Pospisil, 6-2, 6-0, 6-4, winning 12 consecutive games at one point.

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Lamar Odom has been charged with driving under the influence, the Los Angeles city attorney’s office said Friday.

The NBA free agent was arrested Aug. 30 after he was spotted allegedly driving erratically on the 101 Freeway in the San Fernando Valley, the California Highway Patrol said.

The former Laker and Clipper is scheduled to be arraigned Sept. 27.

—Joseph Serna and Richard Winston

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With the playoffs looming and Minnesota preparing to make a run at its third straight WNBA finals appearance, the franchise is taking steps to keep its talent in a Lynx uniform. The Lynx signed All-Star forward Seimone Augustus to a three-year contract extension on Friday, the second star player they’ve locked up in the last week. All-Star point guard Lindsay Whalen also recently signed a three-year deal.

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Pooh Jeter carried Ukraine to an 82-75 victory over Serbia and revived his team’s hopes of making the quarterfinals of the European basketball championships at Ljubljana, Slovenia The former Sacramento Kings guard scored 20 points and made several key baskets for Ukraine, which recovered from a 34-point loss to Latvia. In other games, Lithuania moved closer to a spot in the quarterfinals with an 86-67 win over Belgium, and France cruised past Latvia, 102-91, behind 23 points from San Antonio’s Tony Parker.

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The St. Louis Blues and defenseman Alex Pietrangelo agreed on a seven-year, $45.5-million contract with a no-trade clause over the final three years, ending a brief holdout.

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A last-ditch effort has been organized to save the iconic but now closed and dilapidated Houston Astrodome. Local and national preservation groups and a new political action committee are banding together. But they’re doing so less than eight weeks before voters decide whether to approve authorizing up to $217 million in bonds to pay for a plan to turn the stadium into a giant convention center. Houston-area leaders say the so-called “Eighth Wonder of the World” will more than likely be torn down if the Nov. 5 ballot measure fails.

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Police are investigating the theft of five trophies from the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame, including the prize awarded to the winner of the 1903 Belmont Stakes. Saratoga Springs police say Friday that the smash-and-grab burglary occurred around 11:30 p.m. Thursday at the museum, located across the street from Saratoga Race Course.

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American veteran cyclist Christopher Horner took the lead of the Spanish Vuelta in a mountainous 19th stage won by Joaquim Rodriguez of Spain.