Miscellany

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s landmark scoring pylon was torn down as part of renovations.

The pylon, built in 1959, displayed the positions of each of the 33 starters in the Indianapolis 500 and the number of laps completed by the race leader. A new scoring pylon will be built to accommodate cars that will compete in the NASCAR Brickyard 400 stock car race starting next year.

Laurent Fignon’s absence from the World Cycling Championships in Oslo, Norway, and his failure to compete in a minor French race seemed to herald the retirement of the two-time winner of the Tour de France.

“For me, the adventure is over,” Fignon said in an interview with France Info radio. “There were very good things, and very bad, there was everything.”

Max Patkin, the Clown Prince of baseball who had entertained fans for 50 years without canceling a performance, severely sprained his left ankle when he toppled on the clubhouse steps at Fenway Park in Boston.

Louis Marciani, athletic director at Western Kentucky since 1991, will be introduced at a news conference in Indianapolis today as the new executive director of the Amateur Athletic Union.