Congress, Smith in Accord

Dean Smith, college basketball’s winningest coach, endorsed an effort in Congress to outlaw gambling on collegiate sports as he spoke to lawmakers on Capitol Hill.

“We’re talking about something that can taint young people,” said Smith, who retired in 1997 after 36 seasons and 879 victories at North Carolina.

He said he is not troubled that the legislation would affect only Nevada, the one state where betting on college sports is legal.

“It can’t hurt anybody in Vegas,” he said. Casinos “can still take [bets on] the pro games. It isn’t like they aren’t making enough money.”

Referring to the millions of dollars given by the gambling industry to both parties, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said the bill is threatened only because of “the influence of big money in American politics.”

Defenders of Nevada’s sports-betting industry say 99% of gambling on college sports is done illegally on college campuses rather than legally in Nevada casinos. The legislation, they say, would harm Nevada without making a dent in a national problem.

Auto Racing

Jeff Gordon will keep his Monte Carlo 400 victory, but it will cost him and his Hendrick Motorsports team.

NASCAR inspectors found an unapproved engine part in Gordon’s car after Saturday night’s race at Richmond International Raceway.

Crew chief Robbie Loomis was fined $25,000 and the sanctioning body took away 100 of the 180 points Gordon earned with the victory--both in the driver standings and from Rick Hendrick in the owner standings.

Darlington (S.C.) Raceway, NASCAR’s oldest speedway, will add a new race weekend in May 2001 featuring the Craftsman Truck Series and the Goody’s Dash Series.

Michael Waltrip will drive for Dale Earnhardt Inc. next season, joining Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Steve Park in becoming the third car in Earnhardt’s garage.

The last of the five cars involved in a crash that caused the death of a track official Sunday at the Italian Grand Prix was returned to its Formula One team by investigators.

Paolo Ghislimberti, 33, was hit by flying debris in the race. In photographs published by Italian newspapers, an airborne tire appeared to have hit Ghislimberti as he watched from the guardrail.

The impounded McClaren-Mercedes driven by David Coulthard was returned, a day after the other four cars were released.

Miscellany

Former major league outfielder Pete Incaviglia has been cited for assault by threat after a confrontation at his son’s youth hockey game in North Richland Hills, Texas.

According to a complaint filed by another parent, Incaviglia stood up and began shouting obscenities and threatening another child after a play involving his 10-year-old son last month.

Race-fixing charges against Herve Filion, who won nearly 15,000 harness races, were dismissed after he pleaded guilty on a misdemeanor tax charge. . . . Justin Gimelstob defeated Jan Siemerink of the Netherlands, 6-4, 6-3, in the first round of the President’s Cup tennis tournament at Tashkent, Uzbekistan. France’s Julien Boutter outlasted fourth-seeded Younes El Aynaoui of Morocco 3-6, 7-6, 6-4, and French countryman Stephane Huet downed seventh-seeded Carlos Moya of Spain 7-6, 7-5. . . . Fifth-seeded Magnus Gustafsson of Sweden overcame a tough challenge from local favorite Ion Moldovan of Romania in winning 7-5, 6-4 in the first round of the Gelsor Open at Bucharest, Romania.

U.S. national team forward Brian McBride was lent by the Columbus Crew of Major League Soccer to Preston North End in England’s first division. . . . The Indiana Pacers waived 37-year-old forward Chris Mullin after three seasons and signed second-round draft pick Jacquay Walls and veterans Rex Walters and Gerald Brown. . . . Trine Hattestad’s javelin throw of 227 feet 11 inches on July 28 at the Bislett Games in Oslo has been ratified as a new women’s world record by the International Amateur Athletic Federation, the world governing body of track and field.