Earnhardt Finally Wins Daytona . . . Pole

Dale Earnhardt got one big first out of the way Saturday by winning the pole position for the Feb. 18 Daytona 500 at Daytona Beach, Fla.

The seven-time NASCAR Winston Cup champion firmly established himself as the favorite to win the one major event that has eluded him by taking the pole with a lap of 189.510 mph.

Ernie Irvan, the 1991 Daytona winner who missed most of the season last year while recuperating from near-fatal injuries suffered in a crash in August 1994, continued his comeback by taking the outside pole at 189.366.

Only the top two qualifiers in the opening round lock in starting positions in the 42-car lineup, with the rest of the speeds posted in time trials used to establish the lineups for Thursday’s Twin 125-mile qualifying races.

Baseball

The Baltimore Orioles avoided an arbitration hearing with Kent Mercker by signing the left-hander to a one-year contract with a club option for a second season. Mercker, 28, will receive $2.8 million plus incentives in 1996. . . . Infielder Luis Alicea and the Boston Red Sox also avoided arbitration when he agreed to a $1.5-million, one-year contract, nearly double his $800,000 salary in 1995.

Winter Sports

Michael von Gruenigen of Switzerland won a World Cup giant slalom at Hinterstoder, Austria, and clinched the season title in the discipline.

Von Gruenigen overtook first-run leader Mario Reiter of Germany in the second heat and led a one-two Swiss finish, beating teammate Urs Kaelin.

Picabo Street of Sun Valley, Idaho, the defending World Cup downhill champion and current points leader, heads an American team of 14 skiers named to compete in the Alpine World Championships this week in Sierra Nevada, Spain.

Germany’s Stefan Krausse and Jan Behrendt won their fourth consecutive gold medal in a World Cup luge doubles event at St. Moritz, Switzerland.

Krausse and Behrendt turned back Americans Chris Thorpe and Gordy Sheer by 16-hundredths of a second over two runs.

In singles competition, Gerda Weissensteiner of Italy earned her second consecutive victory.

Maryann Baribault of La Canada won the women’s junior world luge title at Calgary, Canada.

Russian Alexei Prokurorov won the 10th stage of the men’s World Cup cross-country ski race, which ended after 15 kilometers--half the scheduled distance--because below-zero weather delayed the start at Kavgolovskoye, Russia.

World Cup snowboard giant slalom leader Mike Jacoby of Hood River, Ore., took charge on the second run to win another GS at Nagano, Japan, while Sondra Van Ert of Ketchum, Idaho, won both runs to collect the first snowboarding World Cup victory in gate-running by a U.S. woman.

Christine Witty of West Allis, Wis., won the women’s 1,000-meter race at a World Cup speedskating meet at Innsbruck, Austria. . . . Germany relied on perfect shooting to clinch the gold medal in the women’s 4 x 7.5-kilometer relay event at the biathlon World Championships at Ruhpolding, Germany.

Boxing

Carlos Salazar of Argentina retained his International Boxing Federation super-flyweight title with a sixth-round technical knockout of Italy’s Antonello Melis at Rome.

Salazar, 31, improved to 40-7-1 with 16 knockouts. Melis suffered his first loss in 16 pro fights.

World Boxing Council welterweight champion Pernell Whitaker was arrested and briefly jailed after scuffling with three off-duty officers during a party held for the NBA’s All-Star Weekend at San Antonio. Whitaker, 32, was booked on two misdemeanor charges of resisting arrest and assaulting an officer.

Miscellany

More than 200 people crowded into Christ Memorial Church of God in Los Angeles for the funeral services for former USC receiver Kevin Williams, who was killed in a Feb. 1 freight train derailment.

The 1999 Super Bowl may have to be moved from San Francisco because the city doesn’t have the $26 million needed for Candlestick Park upgrades.

Maria Mutola of Mozambique smashed one of the oldest world indoor records when she won the 1,000 meters in 2 minutes 32.08 seconds at Birmingham, England. She broke Brigitte Kraus’ 2:34.8 mark, set in 1978.

The Danish Olympic men’s soccer team defeated the South Korean Olympic team, 3-1, at East Los Angeles College. The U.S. Olympic team plays the Koreans tonight at 7 p.m. at the same stadium.

Carla Overbeck’s goal in the 83rd minute highlighted a second-half comeback as the U.S. women’s soccer team defeated Denmark, 2-1, at Orlando, Fla.