Rookie Kenseth Makes Move for First Winston Cup Win

Rookie Matt Kenseth earned his first Winston Cup victory Sunday in the Coca-Cola 600 at Concord, N.C.

Kenseth, who started 21st, passed leader Bobby Labonte on lap 374 and slowly pulled away to beat him to the finish line by about two car-lengths.

Kenseth came back from farther in the field than any other previous winner.

Dale Earnhardt finished third, Dale Earnhardt Jr. fourth and Dale Jarrett fifth.

Four people along pit road sustained cuts and abrasions during pre-race activities in which plywood buildings were blown up as part of a simulated military exercise.

Two were treated and released from the infield care center before the start of the race after being hit with plywood debris behind the pit wall, said Lowe’s Motor Speedway spokesman Jerry Gappens. Two others walked away.

John Force tied pro stock great Bob Glidden’s record for NHRA national event victories, winning the Castrol Nationals at Ennis, Texas, for the funny car star’s 85th win. Force powered his Ford Mustang to a quarter-mile run of 4.919 seconds at a top speed of 313.26 mph.

Gary Scelzi raced to his third top fuel victory of the year with a run of 4.614 seconds at 316.67 mph. V. Gaines topped the pro stock division for his first NHRA national event victory with a run of 7.041 seconds at 196.93 mph.

Loris Capirossi rode his Honda to victory in the 500cc event in the Italian Grand Prix at Scarperia after Valentino Rossi and Max Biaggi fell late in the race.

College Basketball

Indiana University’s investigation into the behavior of basketball Coach Bob Knight cost the school more than $10,000, and will be paid, for the most part, by a private fund.

The Fort Wayne Journal Gazette reported that the school will use the Indiana University Foundation to pay the bills, a $944-million non-profit fund that can be tapped by school President Myles Brand at his discretion.

The newspaper obtained the information after filing a request under the Indiana Access to Public Records Act.

School officials, the newspaper reported, said they used the fund because they believe it would be improper for taxpayers, who fund the university, to pay for the investigation.

Brand suspended Knight for three games and fined him $30,000 in connection with allegations for his rough coaching methods. Knight also will have to submit to a new and as-yet undefined “zero-tolerance” code of conduct.

The accounting records show the following expenses:

* $5,549.13 for a chartered plane to carry school trustee John Walda from Florida, where he was on business, to CNN’s Atlanta headquarters April 11. The school’s investigation was prompted by a March report by CNN that alleged Knight grabbed former player Neil Reed by the neck in 1997.

* $3,135.40 for a private investigator who spent 44 hours and traveled 800 miles examining the Knight allegations. The university deleted the name of the investigator from the records provided to the newspaper, citing privacy concerns, as well as details on where the investigator traveled and the subjects of his or her interviews.

* $1,357 for a chartered plane to fly Walda and trustee Frederick Eichhorn, each of whom led the inquiry, to an Indianapolis meeting where they interviewed witnesses in April. The university paid this bill inadvertently, said Dorothy Frapwell, the school’s lawyer. Indiana is not asking for reimbursement, she said.

Miscellany

Alex Kim of Stanford overwhelmed Kentucky’s Carlos Drada, 6-1, 6-1, in the singles final of the NCAA men’s championships at Athens, Ga.

Kim, a junior from Potomac, Md., is the 13th Stanford player to win the singles title.

Illinois’ team of Graydon Oliver and Cary Franklin defeated USC’s Ryan Moore and Nick Rainey in the doubles final, 6-4, 6-2.

Terry Nichols, a backup defensive lineman at Texas A&M;, was killed in a traffic accident in El Paso, Texas that left three other people injured.

Nichols, 21, was killed about 11:15 p.m. Saturday when a car crossed the center median in east El Paso and collided with the car in which he was riding in the front seat, the El Paso Times reported.

Inge de Bruijn of the Netherlands set a world record in the 100-meter freestyle at the Super Grand Prix at Sheffield, England. She was timed in 53.80 seconds and became the first swimmer under 54.00, breaking the six-year-old mark of 54.01 held by China’s Le Jingyi.

Rae Carruth and three co-defendants have been offered a plea bargain that could spare them possible death sentences, a source familiar with the case told the Associated Press.

But Carruth’s lawyer said the former Carolina Panther wide receiver was not interested in a plea bargain.

Carruth and the other men are charged with first-degree murder in the Nov. 16 shooting of Cherica Adams. Adams was pregnant with Carruth’s baby when she was gunned down while driving in Charlotte, N.C. Chancellor Adams was delivered by emergency Caesarean section.

Nick Radkewich and Ryan Bolton earned places on the U.S. Olympic triathlon team with respective fourth- and fifth-place finishes in the team trials at Irving, Texas.