Montoya Shows No Sign of Slowing After Indy Win

Juan Montoya finally made his car owner’s big gamble pay off.

Montoya, driving for Chip Ganassi, gave the Toyota Champ car engine its first-ever CART victory and put himself back in the championship battle with a victory Monday in the rain-postponed Miller Lite 225 at the Milwaukee Mile at West Allis, Wis.

The defending CART series champion dominated in winning the Indianapolis 500, the rival Indy Racing League’s showcase race on May 28. He was just as overpowering in completely different equipment.

Montoya started from the pole Monday and led all but 46 of the 225 laps on the 1.032-mile oval, giving Toyota its first victory in five years and 78 CART races.

Jurisprudence

International Boxing Federation founder Robert W. Lee did not hesitate when boxing promoter Bob Arum made his pitch in December 1994 for a special exemption, Arum testified at Lee’s racketeering trial in Newark, N.J.

Arum, operator of Top Rank Inc., wanted a deal that would allow his boxer, heavyweight champion George Foreman, to fight unranked German fighter Axel Schulz and keep his IBF belt, Arum said. Lee said the IBF had always been in Foreman’s corner “and we expect to receive more than the sanctioning fee,” Arum recalled. Lee wanted $500,000, “which was totally crazy,” Arum said.

Former Indiana assistant basketball coach Ron Felling intends to sue Bob Knight and the university for more than $1 million stemming from the coach’s alleged attack on the longtime assistant last December, his attorney, Bil Potter said.

An assault charge against Charlotte Hornet forward Anthony Mason stemming from a fight outside a Harlem bar in February was dropped when prosecutors said they did not have enough against him. . . . Brigham Young cornerback Jernaro Gilford will sit out the 2000 season for allegedly stealing athletic clothing and equipment from the school.

Pro Basketball

The Detroit Pistons are expected to announce today that George Irvine has signed to coach for the next three years. . . . Golden State Warrior forward Terry Cummings was examined in a hospital for an irregular heartbeat, then released.

In WNBA games, Shannon Johnson scored 20 points, including six of Orlando’s final nine, to lead Miracle over Sacramento, 75-68, at Orlando, Fla. . . . Eva Nemcova’s 16 points carried the Cleveland Rockers (2-1) over the Sting, 69-53, at Charlotte, N.C. . . . Minnesota never trailed and Kristin Folkl recorded her first career double-double with 19 points and 12 rebounds to lift the Lynx to an 88-68 victory over the Detroit Shock at Minneapolis. . . . Kara Wolters scored 24 points to lead the expansion Indiana Fever over the Miami Sol, 80-59, at Indianapolis.

Miscellany

Frankie Dettori, the Italian-born jockey who escaped death in a plane crash Thursday, was released from a Cambridge, England, hospital and said he was “living the fifth day of a new life.”

Trainer Carl Nafzger reversed last week’s decision to keep Unshaded out of Saturday’s Belmont Stakes, a day after Fusaichi Pegasus was withdrawn from the race because of an injury.

The Galaxy will face the A-League’s Seattle Sounders June 14 in a U.S. Open Cup second-round match at Cal State Fullerton.