Harvick Wins Again, With a Little Help

Kevin Harvick, who already has won a Winston Cup race since taking over for the late Dale Earnhardt, turned a favor from his teammate into a victory Saturday in the Busch Series Jani-King 300 at Fort Worth.

When Mike Skinner first let Harvick by for the lead at the end of lap 66, the plan was to get Harvick the points for leading before letting his fellow Richard Childress Racing driver back in front.

But Skinner, subbing for the injured Mike Dillon, quickly dropped back to fourth, and Harvick stayed in the lead for 51 laps. He lost the lead only because of two pit stops, and came out of a restart to lead the final 40 laps and finish .246 of a second ahead of Jeff Burton. Skinner finished ninth.

“Mike was just trying to help us out and give us five extra points, and then we were going to let him go back by,” Harvick said. “I just think he made a little bit of a mistake, or somebody got by.”

Harvick led 114 of the 200 laps on the 1 1/2-mile oval, winning with an average speed of 126.212 mph.

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Formula One champion Michael Schumacher won his seventh consecutive pole, edging out his brother, Ralf, in qualifying for the Brazilian Grand Prix at Sao Paulo.

It was the third pole this season for the elder Schumacher, who got around the 2.671-mile Interlagos circuit in 1 minute 13.780 seconds in his Ferrari with a fast lap of 130.328 mph. The defending race champion today will try to parlay his 35th Formula One pole into his seventh consecutive victory.

Ralf Schumacher, driving a Williams, wrapped up the outside of the first row with a lap in 1:14.090.

Mika Hakkinen’s McLaren will start third after a lap in 1:14.122, with Williams’ Juan Pablo Montoya next to him after a lap in 1:14.165.

Track and Field

UCLA’s men’s and women’s teams defeated UC Irvine, Azusa Pacific and Cal State Los Angeles at Drake Stadium.

UCLA’s Christina Olson won the women’s shotput, discus and hammer throw, and Darnesha Griffith won the high jump and triple jump. In the men’s competition, Bruin freshman Juaune Armon won the long jump and triple jump, and sophomore Scott Wiegan won the shotput and discus.

Boxing

Plodding and slow at 242 pounds but very resilient, former heavyweight champion Tim Witherspoon, 43, earned a majority decision over Eliecer Castillo at Atlantic City, N.J.

Something was missing on the undercard. Ten minutes before he was to fight, middleweight Aaron Mitchell left his dressing room to go to the bathroom. He never came back, and his scheduled eight-round bout against James Coker at Bally’s Park Place Casino Hotel was canceled.

Miscellany

Anne Donovan, interim coach of the WNBA’s Indiana Fever last season, was hired to coach the Charlotte Sting.

Donovan, a Hall of Famer and a member of three U.S. Olympic teams, replaces T.R. Dunn, who was switched to director of scouting after last season.

The expansion Fever went 9-23 last season under Donovan, while Nell Fortner coached the U.S. team at the 2000 Olympics. Donovan takes over a team that was 8-24 last season under Dunn.

Sasha Victorine and Peter Vagenas scored in the first 20 minutes as Major League Soccer’s Galaxy defeated the A-League’s San Diego Flash, 2-0, in an exhibition at the Rose Bowl.

Miami Dolphin cornerback Jeff Harris underwent arthroscopic surgery to remove loose particles from his right knee.

Harris spent last season on injured reserve after being chosen in the seventh round of last year’s draft out of Georgia. The team also released defensive tackle Lamain Rucker, a free agent signed in January.

Li Jiajun and Wang Chunlu of China won the men’s and women’s 500-meter finals at the World Short Track Speedskating Championships at Chonju, South Korea.

Li was timed in 43.433 seconds to win the men’s gold medal, followed by Canada’s Jonathan Guilmette in 43.465.

In the women’s competition, Wang won in 45.779, followed by compatriot Yang Yang in 45.872.

The United States, Denmark and Sweden each had two victories to lead round-robin play after the opening day of the Curling World Championships at Lausanne, Switzerland. Canada opened the defense of its men’s and women’s titles with three losses. The American women beat Japan, 6-4, and edged Canada, 6-5.

Olympian Philip Dunn won the U.S. men’s 50-kilometer racewalking national title and Susan Armenta became the inaugural women’s champ at that distance at Manassas, Va.

David Rocastle, 33, a midfielder who played on England’s national soccer team and helped Arsenal win two league titles, died in London. Rocastle had non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.