Burton Wins With Gordon Hot on His Tail

Jeff Burton held off a furious charge by Jeff Gordon by mere inches Saturday night and won the Exide NASCAR Select Batteries 400 at Richmond, Va.

Burton withstood five laps of racing with Gordon on his bumper, and crossed the finish line a hood-length ahead of the series points leader, who was seeking his seventh victory in eight races and 11th overall.

Burton led eight times for 203 laps, including the last 40. It was the fifth victory of his career, second of the season and second in Virginia for the South Boston native. He also won last year at Martinsville Speedway.

The margin of victory was .051 seconds, the closest on the Winston Cup circuit this season. Burton averaged 91.985 mph and earned $108,495.

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Michael Schumacher won the pole for the Italian Grand Prix at the Monza autodrome, Ferrari’s home track. It was his first pole of the season. The Ferrari driver edged Canadian Jacques Villeneuve for the No. 1 berth in today’s starting grid. The season’s leading driver, Mika Hakkinen, and his McLaren-Mercedes teammate David Coulthard finished third and fourth, respectively.

Names in the News

A gunfight erupted Friday night outside a Bakersfield nightclub where Laker center Shaquille O’Neal was promoting his new rap album. There were no injuries.

O’Neal was inside Aldo’s Night Club at 9:30 p.m. Friday when gunfire broke out, Lt. Archie Scott said Saturday. Seven men were taken into custody.

Two handguns were found at the scene. The shots may have been fired from a passing car, police said.

“I don’t think it was related to the function,” Scott said.

Golf

Bob Friend took advantage of an easy day for scoring and an 18th-hole mistake by Billy Andrade, shooting a four-under-par 68 to take a two-stroke lead in the Bell Canadian Open at Oakville.

Playing like someone used to being in contention instead of a 34-year-old grinder looking for his first PGA Tour victory, Friend birdied three of the last five holes to finish at 12-under 204 through three rounds.

Hugh Baiocchi benefited from dry fairways to tie the course record at the Brickyard Crossing with a nine-under 63 in the second round of the PGA Senior Tour’s Comfort Classic at Indianapolis.

Patty Sheehan, a three-time winner of the Safeco Classic, shot a five-under 67 at Kent, Wash., and took a one-stroke lead over Annika Sorenstam.

Paolo Quiric of Switzerland shot a two-under 70 in cold, wet conditions to take a one-stroke lead after three rounds of the British Masters at Coventry, England. Quiric closed with birdies on the 16th and 17th for a five-under 211. . . . Gary Thorp of Minneapolis shot a two-under 70 and held a two-stroke lead after the opening round of stroke play in the U.S. Senior Amateur at Glencoe, Ill.

Pro Hockey

As training camp began for the NHL, there were several noticeable no-shows, including Coach Scotty Bowman in Detroit. Rehabilitation from August knee-replacement surgery could keep him absent from camp as he mulls whether to return to the Red Wing bench for the final season of his four-year contract.

For the second consecutive season, the Phoenix Coyotes opened camp by suspending captain Keith Tkachuk, who is missing over a contract squabble. Tkachuk failed to show up for team medical and fitness exams, which he promised he would do after talks on a contract extension broke off Friday. . . . Shayne Corson, seeking an extension with the Montreal Canadiens, was a no-show. The team also told its five other unsigned free agents not to show up at camp. . . . Citing safety concerns with the Nassau Coliseum, their home arena in Uniondale, N.Y., the New York Islanders packed up and moved their administrative offices out of the Coliseum on Thursday and filed a lawsuit seeking release from their lease. . . . The Florida Panthers added goaltender Sean Burke just before opening camp, signing the free agent to a two-year contract to replace the departed John Vanbiesbrouck. . . . The Vancouver Canucks, set to open training camp today, made a move to solve their goaltending void by re-signing Garth Snow.

Basketball

The Sacramento Kings are reported to have narrowed the list of candidates for their coaching vacancy to Paul Silas and Rick Adelman.

Silas is an assistant coach with the Charlotte Hornets. Adelman, former coach of Portland and Golden State, is also in the running for the coaching job at Portland State, according to the Sacramento Bee.

The U.S. women’s national basketball team was defeated by the Australian team for the third time in as many games, losing at Adelaide, 70-67.

Miscellany

Marion Jones won the women’s 100 meters at the World Cup at Johannesburg, South Africa, in the fourth-fastest time ever, 10.65 seconds. She remains undefeated in the 100, 200, long jump and relays this year, with 37 consecutive victories. Only world record-holder Florence Griffith-Joyner, with times of 10.49, 10.61 and 10.62, has run faster in the 100. . . . The New England Revolution kept alive its bid to secure the fourth and final Eastern Conference playoff spot with a 2-0 Major League Soccer victory over the Columbus Crew at Foxboro, Mass. . . . Four-time Olympic champion Steve Redgrave captured a record eighth world title when he helped Britain win the coxless fours at the world rowing championships at Cologne, Germany. It was his first gold since being diagnosed with diabetes in November. . . . Daylami, an Irish import, closed with a flourish to score a 1 1/4-length victory in the $400,000 Grade I Man O’War Stakes at Belmont Park. The race was marred by a spill when Cetewayo, the second choice, fell while racing a close fifth into the stretch. The horse appeared to take a bad step and fell heavily, throwing his rider, John Velazquez, forward. . . . Ferlito Alejandro, 18, of Edison High in Stockton, died of a brain hemorrhage Friday, after collapsing while playing in a football game at Golden Valley High in Merced on Thursday night.