Montoya Grabs Pole Position

The Great Juan won another pole. Now he wants to finish the job.

“We just need a win,” Juan Montoya after taking the top spot for today’s Miller Lite 225 at the Milwaukee Mile at West Allis, Wis.

That sounds a little funny coming from the driver who last Sunday won the Indianapolis 500 in dominating fashion. But Montoya, 24, is the defending champion of the CART series and Indy is now the centerpiece of the rival Indy Racing League.

After winning seven times last year, Montoya has failed to finish better than fourth in the first five CART events this season, despite leading 40% of the laps.

“How many times have we been so close?” Montoya asked Saturday after his lap of 177.769 mph nipped Dario Franchitti’s 177.303.

It is Montoya’s third consecutive CART pole--he started second at Indy--and the 10th of his career. He has not started worse than third this season. But a series of problems, including a tire puncture, a broken wing, a loose wire and getting involved in somebody else’s crash, have slowed him down.

Heading into the 225-lap race on the 1.032-mile oval, Montoya is 10th in the standings, trailing leader Paul Tracy, 59-23, in points.

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Michael Schumacher, who has won the Monaco Grand Prix four times, won the pole at Monte Carlo. What could be even more important in today’s race is that Mika Hakkinen is two rows behind Schumacher on the starting grid.

After winning four of six races this season, Schumacher leads Hakkinen, 46-28, in drivers’ standings. Another victory and another 10 points would put Schumacher a lot closer to his third Formula One title.

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Jason Keller avoided a rash of accidents as he moved through the field, then held off Mark Martin over the last 43 laps to win the MBNA Platinum 200 at Dover Downs International Speedway at Dover, Del.

The 30-year-old driver from Greenville, S.C., beat Winston Cup star Martin by three car-lengths for his first NASCAR Busch series victory of the year and fourth of his career.

Kyle Petty finished 26th while driving the car of his late son, Adam, who was killed May 12 in Loudon, N.H.

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Jack Sprague, helped by a caution period he had a role in, came from a lap behind to win the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Sears 200 at Monroe, Wash. Sprague averaged 70.415 mph.

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John Force, tied for the NHRA national victory record, topped funny car qualifying for the Prestone Route 66 Nationals at Joliet, Ill.

Force, who has won three consecutive events to tie pro stock great Bob Glidden’s record of 85 victories, had a track-record run of 4.851 seconds at a top speed of 312.78 mph Friday during the first round of qualifying.

Pro Football

Green Bay tight end Mark Chmura, facing trial on charges he sexually assaulted his 17-year-old baby sitter, said the team has told him he will be released.

“Today I am saddened to announce that after eight wonderful seasons, my tenure with the Green Bay Packers will be over,” Chmura said.

His lawyers said the formal release will come Monday.

“It has always been a dream of mine to end my playing career with the Green Bay Packers,” Chmura said. “Unfortunately, it does not appear that will happen.”

Packer General Manager Ron Wolf called Chmura’s friend and attorney John Drana on Wednesday to inform him of the team’s decision.

Wolf made no reference to the criminal case, Drana said.

The Dallas Cowboys might be interested in signing quarterback Randall Cunningham, who was cut by the Minnesota Vikings in a salary cap move.

Boxing

David Tua needed only 51 seconds to stop Obed Sullivan at Las Vegas and firmly establish himself as the heavyweight division’s leading challenger. The 5-foot-10 Tua weighed 252 pounds, 14 more than any of his previous fights, in stopping his 12th opponent in the first round and improving to 36-1 with 31 knockouts. Sullivan fell to 35-7-1.

Germany’s Sven Ottke won a lopsided decision over American Tocker Pudwill at Karlsruhe, Germany, to retain the International Boxing Federation super-middleweight title.

Miscellany

George Irvine is expected this week to sign a three-year contract to coach the Detroit Pistons, according to published reports. Irvine, 52, went 14-10 in an interim role.

Indiana basketball player Jeffrey Newton, 19, was arrested at Scottsburg, Ind., on a charge of possession of marijuana and also charged with obstruction of justice after a routine traffic stop.

Newton was released from jail after posting $1,000 bail.

University of Kentucky basketball recruit Michael Southall has been arrested again, this time for being out after a court-imposed curfew at La Crosse, Wis.

The curfew was imposed after Southall, 18, was charged May 19 with delivering and possessing marijuana.

Kentucky Coach Tubby Smith has said Southall could lose his scholarship depending on the outcome of the drug case. Southall pleaded innocent to the drug charges May 30.

Charles Howell won the individual title with a tournament-record 23-under-par 265 and led Oklahoma State to the NCAA men’s team golf championship at Opelika, Ala.

Irving Rudd, an imaginative sports publicist who worked for the Brooklyn Dodgers, Yonkers Raceway and for many boxers and promoters, died Friday at New York. He was 82. . . . Ellis Clary, a former major league infielder, coach and scout, has died after a short illness in Valdosta, Ga. He was 85.

Sergei Bubka of Ukraine, the world-record holder in the pole vault, said he will retire after the Olympic Games in Sydney. Bubka, 36, resumed full-time training three months ago after undergoing tendon surgery for the second time in three years. . . . Stefano Garzelli just about clinched the Giro d’Italia cycling race with an impressive performance in the next-to-last stage of the race, a 21-mile uphill time trial at Sestriere, Italy. Garzelli took the pink jersey of overall leader from Francesco Casagrande by finishing third in the leg, nearly two minutes ahead of his fellow Italian.