Montoya Edges Andretti in Michigan 500 Thriller

One of the greatest duels in the history of open-wheel racing ended with Juan Montoya snatching the CART Michigan 500 from Michael Andretti by less than a car length Sunday at Michigan Speedway in Brooklyn, Mich.

Using a draft from the lapped car of Tarso Marques off the final turn of the 250-lap race, Montoya held off Andretti by 0.040 seconds.

There was wheel-to-wheel racing at speeds up to 225 mph over the final 17 laps, as the two drivers swapped the lead. They nearly touched wheels between turns two and three on the final trip around the two-mile, high-banked oval.

During those 17 laps, no lead was bigger than 0.6790 seconds.

Montoya, who earlier this year won the rival Indy Racing League’s Indianapolis 500 in completely different equipment, gave Toyota its first 500-mile race win and only its second victory in the CART FedEx Series.

“When I would pass Michael, he would just pass me back and pass me back and pass me back,” Montoya said. “Everything was about timing and who would cross the line first.”

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Rusty Wallace took the lead after teammate Jeremy Mayfield blew a tire on the final lap, then held off Jeff Burton to win the NASCAR Pennsylvania 500 at Pocono International Raceway.

Mayfield, who won last month at Pocono by nudging Dale Earnhardt aside on the final lap, blew his right front tire a little more than a mile from the end. That allowed Wallace and Burton to get by, and Mayfield wound up 10th.

Tennis

Monica Seles defeated Amanda Coetzer, 6-3, 6-3, in the final of the A&P; Classic at Mahwah, N.J. . . . Marcelo Rios won a tournament for the first time this year, defeating Mariano Puerta of Argentina, 7-6 (7-1), 4-6, 6-3, in the final of the $400,000 Croatia Open at Umag. . . . Franco Squillari of Argentina defeated countryman Gaston Gaudio, 6-2, 3-6, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2, in a rain-delayed final to win the $1-million clay-court Mercedes Cup at Stuttgart, Germany.

Belgium earned the final berth in next year’s Davis Cup World Group, winning both singles matches against Italy to take their qualifier, 4-1, at Mestre, Italy. Joining Belgium in the elite 16-nation World Group will be Sweden, Switzerland and France, which all completed 5-0 victories.

Pro Football

Receiver Sean Dawkins, released by Seattle last month because of salary-cap restrictions, has agreed to a new deal that will allow him to rejoin the Seahawks. Details were not disclosed. . . . Tennessee Pro Bowl receiver Yancey Thigpen, who had ankle surgery in April, might miss all of the exhibition season. . . . New England’s third-round pick, running back J.R. Redmond from Arizona State, signed a four-year contract worth a reported $1.681 million. The Patriots also signed free-agent linebacker Rob Holmberg, a six-year NFL veteran who played last season with Minnesota. . . . Buffalo signed defensive end Erik Flowers, the last of the team’s eight draft picks to sign. Terms were not released.

Miscellany

As part of an agreement to settle a lawsuit, the University of Tennessee apologized to former football captain Spencer Riley and promised to take steps to strengthen policies dealing with student records. Riley was among a handful of Tennessee football players named in a series of ESPN reports last fall alleging that tutors improperly completed work for student-athletes.

The Chicago Bulls have offered free-agent forward Tim Thomas, the Milwaukee Bucks’ sixth man last season, a six-year deal worth the maximum $67.5 million, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

Joe Bryant, 45, the father of Kobe Bryant who is the part-owner of the Italian team Olimpia Milano, suited up and scored 29 points to lead the team to a 125-123 victory over the Supreme Court All-Stars in a Summer Pro League game Saturday night at Long Beach.

Canada and Panama played to a scoreless tie at Panama City, dousing any realistic hopes of either advancing to the final round of the World Cup soccer qualifying.