Marlin Rallies Back to Win Winston Select 500 Race

Sterling Marlin repeatedly rallied to win the Winston Select 500 Sunday at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway.

Three times, Marlin made pit stops that left his Morgan-McClure Chevrolet Monte Carlo far back in the 43-car field. Each time, he rallied as he held off Daytona 500 winner Dale Jarrett over the final seven laps.

In one of several crashes in the race, Bill Elliott fractured his left thigh after spinning coming out of a turn. Elliott was conscious when airlifted from the infield care center to Birmingham for surgery.

In another melee, Ricky Craven was the only driver that suffered more than minor injuries in a crash that involved 14 cars and sent several contenders to the garage. He complained of back pain and was airlifted to a Birmingham, Ala., hospital. A CAT scan and X-rays were negative, and Craven was in stable condition in intensive care.

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Jacques Villeneuve won a Formula One race in only his fourth start, leading from start to finish in the Grand Prix of Europe and holding off defending world champion Michael Schumacher at Nuerburgring, Germany.

Villeneuve, 25, who won the Indianapolis 500 last year and is in his rookie Formula One season, won the 67-lap race in his Williams-Renault by 0.762 seconds over the German’s Ferrari.

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Hometown driver Michael Andretti used a botched pit stop by pole-sitter Paul Tracy to take the lead nearly halfway through the Bosch Grand Prix, and drove off to an easy victory at Nazareth (Pa.) Speedway.

Andretti’s victory in a Newman-Haas Lola Ford ended a season-opening four-race winning streak by Honda-powered cars. It also halted the perfect start by tire manufacturer Firestone, which lost to Goodyear for the first time.

Tennis

Thomas Muster needed three hours and five sets to beat Alberto Costa 6-3, 5-7, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 to win his second consecutive Monte Carlo Open. It was his seventh consecutive victory in a clay court tournament.

“I probably used my power better at the end, and when it was necessary, I put more pressure on him,” Muster said. “He was tired at the end, I think.”

Muster joined Ilie Nastase and Bjorn Borg as the only three-time Monte Carlo winners since the open era began in 1968.

The United States overcame injuries to advance to the semifinals of the Federation Cup, beating Austria, 3-2, behind Mary Joe Fernandez’ heroics.

Fernandez beat Barbara Paulus 6-3, 7-6 (7-4), then teamed with longtime partner Gigi Fernandez to beat Judith Wiesner and Petra Schwarz-Ritter, 6-0, 6-4.

College Football

Former Michigan State Coach George Perles knew about at least some of the grade-changing going on in the football program, the father of a former player told The Detroit News in a story published Sunday.

Clarence Jackson, the father of former Spartan defensive lineman Aaron Jackson, said he called Perles during the 1992 and 1994 seasons complaining that his son was not attending classes and yet was still allowed to play.

The NCAA infractions committee is scheduled to review Michigan State’s case when it meets June 1-3.

Miscellany

Paul Kariya scored a hat trick to lead Canada to a 5-1 victory over the United States and advance to the quarterfinals of the world championships in Austria.

AC Milan clinched its fourth Italian League title in five years, rallying to beat Fiorentina, 3-1, on goals by Dejan Savicevic, Roberto Baggio and Marco Simone.

Only four days before the first leg of the UEFA Cup final against Bordeaux, Bayern Munich chairman Franz Beckenbauer fired coach Otto Rehhagel and took over himself.

Lisa Arce and Holly McPeak won the Coors Light Beach Volleyball tournament, 15-10, over Patty Dodd and Angela Rock at Carolina, Puerto Rico.

Belayneh Densamo of Ethiopia pulled away from the leaders in the final stages to win his fourth Rotterdam Marathon in 2:10:30.

Defending Olympic champions Mark Reynolds of San Diego and Hal Haenel of Los Angeles won the Star Class competition in the U.S. Olympic Yachting Trials at Savannah, Ga.

Adam Saathoff of Hereford, Ariz., tied for fifth in the men’s running target event at the Atlanta World Cup, winning a spot on the U.S. Olympic shooting team.

* Allan Malamud is on vacation.