Vasser Takes Michigan Pole in Record Fashion

Jimmy Vasser needed to make a statement. He did that emphatically Saturday with a record-setting qualifying run at Michigan International Speedway at Brooklyn, Mich.

Vasser, whose lead in the PPG Cup standings had been trimmed to eight points over Al Unser Jr., earned the pole for today’s Marlboro 500 with a lap of 234.665 mph around the two-mile oval.

In earning his fourth pole of the Indy-car season, Vasser broke the track qualifying record of 234.275 mph set in 1993 by Mario Andretti. Four poles is the most by any Indy-car driver this season.

“Records are set to be broken,” said Andretti, who was in attendance. “I’m surprised it stayed as long as it did. The cars go faster and faster every year.

“The cars shouldn’t be as quick as they are, but they are.”

Vasser built a big lead in the PPG Cup standings by guiding his Reynard Honda to four victories early in the season. The fourth win, however, came at Michigan during the inaugural U.S. 500 over Memorial Day weekend. He hasn’t won since.

Italian rookie Alex Zanardi, a teammate of Vasser’s with Target-Chip Ganassi Racing, had the second-fastest lap at 233.501. Another rookie, Canadian Greg Moore, was third at 233.501.

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Paul Tracy suffered a chipped vertebra and was unable to qualify for today’s race after crashing his car during practice.

With about five minutes remaining in the practice, Tracy’s car hit the wall between Turns 3 and 4 and slid down to the bottom of the track. His 1996 Penske-Mercedes-Benz had extensive damaged to the right front and the left rear. The 27-year-old Canadian climbed out of the car and walked to the awaiting ambulance.

Tracy was examined at the IndyCar Mobile Medical Facility at MIS and was flown by helicopter to a nearby hospital. He will be evaluated over the next 10 days to determine if he can compete Aug. 11 at the Miller 200 in Lexington, Ohio.

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Greg Sacks held off record-setting pole-winner Joe Nemechek on the last lap to win the Humminbird Fishfinder 500-Kilometer race at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway.

It was the first victory in 13 Busch Grand National starts for Sacks.

There was a mad scramble for position throughout the competitive race, often resulting in three-wide racing as well as 21 lead changes among 12 drivers and several wild crashes, including a seven-car incident and an eight-car melee.

Todd Bodine was between Sacks and third-place Randy LaJoie as they sped down the backstretch at near 200 mph LaJoie hit the back of Bodine’s Monte Carlo, sending it skidding onto the infield grass, where it soared high into the air in a spin, then banged to the ground before crashing nearly head-on into an earthen embankment. Bodine was checked at the infield medical center and released.

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Blaine Johnson held the lead in Top Fuel qualifying for the NHRA Autolite Nationals at Sonoma, Calif., taking the top spot for the ninth time this year with a quarter-mile run of 4.614 seconds at 308.74 mph.

John Force led the Funny Car division in 4.980 at 303.64, both Sears Point Raceway records. Kurt Johnson topped Pro Stock with a run of 7.020 at 196.54.

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Damon Hill had a qualifying run of 146.9 mph to win the pole position for today’s German Grand Prix at Hockenheim, Germany.

Tennis

Alberto Berasategui defeated Emilio Alvarez, 4-6, 6-1, 6-3, in the All-Spanish semifinals of the Generali Open at Kitzbuhel, Austria.

Berasategui’s opponent in the finals will be Alex Corretja, who defeated unseeded Juan-Albert Viloca, 7-6 (7-4), 6-1.

Pro Basketball

Howard Eisley, a point guard who appeared in 65 games last season for Utah, re-signed with the Jazz.