Affleck Killed in Daytona Practice

Francis Affleck, a 34-year-old Canadian-born stock car driver, was killed Thursday during a practice run at Daytona International Speedway in Florida.

Affleck, a native of St. Lambert, Quebec, died of massive head injuries after his late-model Ford flipped wildly down the backstretch during practice for Sunday’s Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA) 200.

Observers at the 2.5-mile, high-banked oval said the car was traveling between 180 and 190 m.p.h. when Affleck apparently lost control. No other cars were on the track.

Affleck had competed in five previous races at the speedway since 1974. He finished 31st in last year’s Goody’s 300.

It was the 14th racing death at Daytona since the track opened in 1959 and the first since Ricky Knott was killed during one of the twin 125-mile qualifying events for the 1980 Daytona 500.

Markus Wasmaier of West Germany, gambling on an all-out attack, upset favorites Pirmin Zurbriggen and Marc Girardelli to win the men’s giant slalom in the World Alpine Championships at Bormio, Italy.

Wasmaier, 21, combined runs of 1:08.78 and 1:20.12 for an aggregate of 2:28.90 seconds to edge Zurbriggen, who earlier won the men’s downhill and combined titles, by a mere 5/100ths of a second.

The Austrian-born Girardelli, racing for Luxembourg, took the bronze medal in 2:29.22.

Tiger Shaw of Stowe, Vt., was the only American able to finish, placing 18th in 2:35.08.

Running back Theotis Brown of the Kansas City Chiefs remained in serious but stable condition at a Kansas City hospital after doctors dissolved a blood clot in one of his coronary arteries.

Brown’s physician, Dr. Michael Sweeney, said it would take a week or two of additional testing before doctors can assess exactly what happened to the former UCLA player, who was hospitalized Tuesday night after becoming ill at his home following an off-season workout at Arrowhead Stadium.

Former University of Colorado and Houston Rocket basketball player Cliff Meely has received a judge’s approval to travel to California for treatment of a cocaine addiction.

Boulder County Judge Roxanne Bailin approved the travel despite pending drug charges against the 37-year-old Meely, who played part of one season with the Lakers. The former athlete’s lawyer said his client had an “urgent” need for treatment.

Meely was working as a Jefferson County detention center guard when arrested last week for allegedly selling $2,600 worth of cocaine to an undercover agent.

Major league baseball’s owners approved Marge Schott’s bid to purchase controlling interest in the Cincinnati Reds.

Schott, 56, is the third woman to become principal owner of a current major league team. She joins Joan Kroc of the San Diego Padres and Jean Yawkey of the Boston Red Sox.

St. Louis has been declared the site of the 1986 AAU/USA Junior Olympic Games. Washington University’s new $13-million athletic complex will be the headquarters for the games, which will be held Aug. 3-10.

Despite falling at the start of her routine, 19-year-old Katarina Witt of East Germany won her third consecutive women’s overall title in the European figure-skating championships at Gothenburg, Sweden.

The Soviet Union’s Kira Ivanova finished second, while third place went to Claudia Leistner of West Germany.

Chicago White Sox catcher Carlton Fisk will not be charged after breaking up a fight between a 13-year-old youth and Fisk’s son, Casey, also 13, at a church youth basketball game.

The youth allegedly attacked Fisk’s son near the end of the game, and Fisk stepped in to break up the fight, a sheriff’s spokesman said, adding that the youth had sustained bruises on his neck and had been treated and released from a local hospital.

However, WBBM-TV reported that the father of the youth told the station that Fisk dragged his son 30 feet and slammed him against a wall. The father said his son was unconscious for 10 minutes. The station said the parents of the youth had signed a misdemeanor battery complaint against Fisk.

Fisk, who lives in suburban Lockport, was unavailable for comment.

Names in the News

Bill Laimbeer of the Detroit Pistons was chosen to replace the injured Jeff Ruland of the Washington Bullets on the East squad for Sunday’s 35th annual NBA All-Star game at Indianapolis.

Ned Bolcar, a 6-2, 210-pound linebacker-fullback from Phillipsburg, N.J., was selected by the Columbus Touchdown Club as the nation’s outstanding high school football player for 1984.