Martin Wins, but Earnhardt Gains Ground

Mark Martin won for the second consecutive week, and Dale Earnhardt chopped deeply into Jeff Gordon’s Winston Cup points lead in Sunday’s UAW-GM Quality 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C.

Martin, who dominated a week earlier at North Wilkesboro Speedway, this time led only one lap until he chased down leader Terry Labonte and passed him with four laps to go on the 1 1/2-mile oval.

Earnhardt, trying to stay in contention for his third consecutive series title, came into the race trailing Gordon by 302 points, but cut that margin to 205 with three races remaining by passing Labonte on the final lap to take second place.

Gordon was riding a string of 14 consecutive top-10 finishes, but a broken gear earned him 14 laps behind the pit wall and a 30th-place finish.

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Italian rider Max Biaggi capped his world title in the 250cc motorsport class by winning the Catalunya Circuit in Barcelona, Spain, his eighth grand prix victory of the year.

Biaggi won the world championship with 283 points, a comfortable lead in the final standings over Tetsuya Harada of Japan, who finished second in the Barcelona race.

Already assured of winning the world 500cc championship, Australian Michael Doohan finished fourth in the final round to Spaniard Alex Criville.

In the 125cc category, Haruchika Aoki won his seventh race of the season to complete his 1995 Grand Prix victory.

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Six-time Grand National dirt track champion Scott Parker was a wire-to-wire winner in the 35-lap Pomona Half-Mile national championship motorcycle race before 9,370 Saturday night at the Pomona Fairplex.

Tennis

Arnaud Boetsch became the first Frenchman to win a tournament in two years when he beat top-seeded Jim Courier, 6-4, 6-7 (7-5), 6-0, in the final of the Toulouse Open in Toulouse, France.

Fifth-seeded Marcelo Rios of Chile withstood a first-set challenge to beat unseeded Mark Philippoussis of Australia, 7-6 (8-6), 6-2, in the final of the $450,000 Salem ATP tournament in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Sjeng Schalken of the Netherlands beat second-seeded Gilbert Schaller of Austria, 6-4, 6-2, in the City of Valencia final for his first ATP Tour title, in Valencia, Spain

Iva Majoli of Croatia upset France’s Mary Pierce, 6-4, 6-4, to win the European Indoor tournament in Zurich, Switzerland for her first professional title.

Miscellany

Kansas State and Kansas moved into the Top 10 in the Associated Press college football poll, the first time both schools have been ranked in the elite group at the same time.

Kansas State climbed five spots to No. 8 after posting its third shutout in a row, 30-0 over Missouri. Kansas soared 14 places to No. 10 after handing Colorado its first defeat, 40-24, at Boulder.

Florida State remained No. 1, receiving 40 first-place votes and 1,527 points after beating Miami, 41-17. USC (5-0) remained fifth.

Abraham Olano beat Spanish compatriot Miguel Indurain in the professional road race at the World Cycling Championships in Duitama, Colombia, finishing the 165-mile course on a flat tire after more than seven hours of racing.

A penalty-kick goal by Jamie Caffrey gave Cal State San Bernardino a 1-0 victory and ended the 45-game unbeaten streak of the women’s soccer team at UC San Diego. The Tritons were 40-0-5 during the streak.