No Petty Win for Hamilton

It was more than a victory by a lame duck driver.

Bobby Hamilton’s victory Monday in the rain-delayed ACDelco 400 at North Carolina Motor Speedway in Rockingham, N.C., was an affirmation of a friendship and affection between the driver and his soon-to-be ex-car owner Richard Petty.

Besides the $89,150 he earned Petty Enterprises for the victory, Hamilton will pocket an extra $100,000 as the payoff to a one-sided bet with Petty.

“We were at dinner one night,” Hamilton said. “Actually, we had just talked about the deal about me leaving and everything. You wouldn’t believe how easy this has been and how comfortable this has been dealing with him [Petty] on a business level.

“He said, ‘You need to win me a race before you leave.’ I said, ‘I’m trying.’ He said, ‘I’ll bet $100,000 that you won’t win another race before the year is up.’ I said, ‘Is this a real bet?’ He said, ‘Yeah, it’s a real bet.’ We shook hands on it.”

It was only the second career victory for Hamilton, but it came a year to the day after his first victory for Petty at Phoenix.

Hamilton said he is leaving because he felt his team’s effort was getting less attention since Kyle Petty, Richard’s son, came back into the Petty Enterprises fold this year with his own team.

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Rookie Gary Scelzi all but clinched his first NHRA Winston top fuel championship, driving his dragster past Larry Dixon for a victory in the final round of the NHRA Matco Tools SuperNationals at Baytown, Texas.

Scelzi needs only to make a qualifying attempt at the season-ending Winston Finals, Nov. 6-9 at Pomona, to win the season title.

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Fiercely criticized in Italy and Germany, Michael Schumacher was summoned to appear at a special meeting of the world auto sports governing body in Paris to explain his version of the collision with Jacques Villeneuve at the European Grand Prix.

The International Automobile Federation said in a statement it has summoned Schumacher to appear before a meeting of the World Motor Sport Council in Paris on Nov. 11.

Schumacher, needing only to finish ahead of rival Villeneuve in Sunday’s race to clinch the 1997 world drivers’ championship, spun off the track after steering his car into the Canadian’s passing Williams Renault.

Villeneuve accused the German of trying to take both cars out of the race, which would have given Schumacher the title. Villeneuve went on to finish third to win his first title.

Tennis

Americans Jim Courier and Todd Martin lost in the first round of the Paris Open.

Czech Bohdan Uhlirach beat Courier, 7-6 (7-5), 6-1. Dutchman Jan Siemerink topped Martin, 4-6, 7-6 (8-6), 6-2.

Nicolas Escude of France, a wild-card invitation, upset former French Open finalist Alberto Berasategui, 6-4, 6-1, and Tim Henman of Britain routed Hicham Arazi of Morocco.

The Paris event is important for the season-ending ATP Tour World Championship in November, which comprises the eight top-ranked men in the world. Five slots are still open. Top-seeded Pete Sampras, Michael Chang and Patrick Rafter have already clinched berths. They start play in Paris on Wednesday.

College Basketball

Although Bob Weltlich wasn’t in the hunt a few days ago, the 17-year coaching veteran landed the South Alabama University job on an interim basis, ending the school’s three-week search.

The former Mississippi, Texas and Florida International coach was among 40 who had expressed interest when Bill Musselman resigned Oct. 7, but Weltlich wasn’t interviewed until Sunday.