Penalized Wallace Rallies, Wins at Martinsville

Rusty Wallace won the Hanes 500 at Martinsville (W.Va.) Speedway on Sunday despite being penalized to the back of the field for speeding on pit road. He won because his Miller Penske South crew was later able to get his car off of pit road a tick faster than second-place Ernie Irvan.

Wallace, overcoming 30 cars after being penalized, led 319 of the 500 laps on the .526-mile oval.

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Connie Kalitta, John Force and Scott Geoffrion won titles in their respective categories at the NHRA Fram Southern Nationals in Commerce, Ga. Kalitta won in top fuel, Force in funny car and Geoffrion in pro stock at Atlanta Dragway.

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Gary Collins took the lead with 10 laps to go and won the NASCAR Winston West Series California 200 at Mesa Marin Raceway in Bakersfield. Collins, a rookie whose family owns the track, averaged 53.691 m.p.h. over the 100-lap distance and won $7,000.

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American Kevin Schwantz, riding a Suzuki, beat Australia’s Michael Doohan by 3 1/2 seconds in winning the 500cc class of the Japan Grand Prix motorcycle race in Suzuka.

Tennis

Andrei Medvedev gave notice he will be a strong contender in next month’s French Open by beating last year’s champion, Sergi Bruguera, 7-5, 6-1, 6-3, in the Monte Carlo Open final.

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Spain’s Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, the world’s No. 2 player, beat 16-year-old Iva Majoli of Croatia, 6-0, 6-2, in 46 minutes to win the La Familia Open in Barcelona.

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Steffi Graf doubts rival Monica Seles, still recovering from being stabbed by a crazed fan a year ago, can return to the top ranks of women’s tennis.

“I think a comeback is more and more unlikely,” Graf said in Hamburg, Germany. “I would think her capable, she’s a super athlete. But it is very difficult to get back into the groove after a year.”

Running

Sydney Maree, once one of the world’s top distance runners, showed some of his old form by winning the 20-kilometer road race in 1 hour 4 minutes 18 seconds in the inaugural event of the 100th Penn Relays in Philadelphia.

Eamonn Coghlan, 41, the world indoor record-holder in the mile and the only Masters runner to break four minutes, retired from competitive running, saying it is too painful to train because of a right leg injury.

Miscellany

Karch Kiraly and Kent Steffes won their fourth pro beach volleyball tournament this season in beating Adam Johnson and Randy Stoklos, 15-4, in the $100,000 Miller Lite Open at Jacksonville Beach, Fla.

Yamaha, a Whitbread 60 with a New Zealand-Japanese crew, was the first yacht to reach Ft. Lauderdale, winning the fifth leg of the Whitbread Round The World Race.