With a Little Help, Benson Gets Victory

Johnny Benson scored his second NASCAR Busch Grand National victory Saturday in a controversial finish to the Sundrop 400 at Hickory (N.C.) Motor Speedway.

Benson, driving a Chevrolet, got the lead 12 laps from the finish when leader Chad Little crashed after tangling with the lapped car of Kevin Lepage. Little had led for 165 laps before the incident on lap 288.

Lepage was trying to pass Little when the two made contact entering turn three on the tight, .363-mile track. Little spun and crashed backward into the outside wall, crippling his Ford.

Benson beat Hermie Sadler by 1.13 seconds. Mike McLaughlin finished third.

Bowling

Mark Roth won his first title in more than seven years, defeating Walter Ray Williams Jr., 233-189, in the final of the Professional Bowlers Assn.’s $215,000 IOF Foresters Open at Markham, Canada.

Roth, 44, of Wall Township, N.J., defeated Williams, 35, of Stockton, in a battle of PBA Hall of Famers to claim his 34th title.

Miscellany

Long Beach State has offered Maine Coach Joanne Palombo-McCallie its women’s basketball coaching position and expects her decision no later than Monday, a school administration source said.

Denver’s chance of getting an NHL team may hinge on the decision of a government thousands of miles away. The majority owner of the Quebec Nordiques, Marcel Aubut, has asked the government to build an arena and finance the team’s debt while the facility is being constructed.

If Aubut’s request--expected to be answered by mid-May--is rejected, Comsat Video Enterprises, which owns the Denver Nuggets, is expected to make a strong bid to bring the Nordiques to Denver.

U.S. defender Alexi Lalas kicked the ball away from Diego Fuser during a breakaway seven minutes into the second half as Padova upset Lazio of Rome, 2-0, in an Italian League soccer game at Padua, Italy. The victory increased Padova’s chances of avoiding relegation from the first division.

Football

The San Francisco 49ers have struck a tentative agreement to acquire restricted free agent running back Derrick Moore from Detroit in exchange for a fifth round pick in next weekend’s draft. Moore must sign a one-year, $328,000 contract with the Lions before the deal can go through. . . . The New York Giants signed veteran Chicago Bear safety Maurice Douglass, 31, to a two-year deal worth a reported $1.4 million.

Karmeeleyah McGill returned a fumble 34 yards for a touchdown and David Jones caught an 18-yard touchdown pass from Jamie Martin to give the Amsterdam Admirals a 14-12 victory over the Frankfurt Galaxy in a World League of American Football game at Amsterdam. . . . Victor Ebubedike converted a turnover into a two-yard touchdown run before halftime and quarterback Brad Johnson ran one yard for the deciding touchdown in pacing London to a 23-7 victory over Duesseldorf in a WLAF game at Duesseldorf, Germany. . . . Heather Sue Mercer, bidding to become the first woman to play NCAA Division I football, kicked the game-clinching 28-yard field goal with 1:22 left for the Blue team in Duke’s annual spring game in Durham, N.C.