Motor Racing

Greg Ray had another dominating night at Atlanta Motor Speedway, denying Sam Hornish Jr.’s bid for a record-tying third consecutive Indy Racing League victory. After a fiery crash took out 11 cars on the 53rd lap of the zMax 500, Ray led 184 of 200 laps even while slowing more than 20 mph in the final laps to conserve fuel. His Dallara Oldsmobile beat Scott Sharp across the line by an overwhelming 19.857 seconds. Jack Miller suffered a concussion in the huge crash, the only driver with more than bumps and bruises. . . . Michael Schumacher took full advantage of Formula One’s new electronic traction control to win the pole in his Ferrari for today’s Spanish Grand Prix at Barcelona. The three-time and defending series champion claimed his fourth pole in five tries this season, covering the 2.938-mile course in 1 minute 18.201 seconds. . . . Kenny Brack, the only CART driver with racing experience at Texas Motor Speedway, earned the pole for the inaugural Firestone Firehawk 600 today at Fort Worth. Brack ran a qualifying lap at 233.447 mph to take his second CART pole, but insisted afterward that his five Indy Racing League races at the 1 1/2-mile high-banked track from 1997-99 gave him no edge. . . . Funny car journeyman Gary Densham earned his first No. 1 qualifying effort in the inaugural Mac Tools NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals at Bristol, Tenn., covering the quarter-mile in 4.870 seconds at 303.71 mph.

Golf

Scott Hoch, moving into position for his first victory in more than three years, shot a five-under-par 67 to take a one-shot lead into the final round of the Greater Greensboro Chrysler Classic in North Carolina. He holds a slim lead over Mike Sposa, the tournament’s second-round leader, Jerry Kelly and David Berganio Jr., all of whom are at 204 and never have won on the PGA Tour. . . . Gil Morgan tied the course record with a nine-under 63 despite a bogey on the final hole and Hale Irwin shot his second consecutive 65 to share the lead entering the final round of the Bruno’s Memorial Classic at Hoover, Ala. . . . Marisa Baena of Colombia emerged from the pack with a six-under 64 for a share of the lead with Rosie Jones in the Kathy Ireland Championship at Austin, Texas. Baena and Jones, who is trying to become the first U.S. winner on the LPGA Tour this year, enter the final round at nine-under 201.

Miscellany

Brian Bannister and Fraser Dizard pitched 3 2/3 innings of scoreless relief to preserve sixth-ranked USC’s 7-6 victory over UCLA at Dedeaux Field. USC, 31-16 overall and 12-5 in the Pacific 10 Conference, moved into sole possession of first place in the conference as third-ranked Stanford (32-12, 11-6) lost to California, 4-0. UCLA (25-19, 6-8) has lost its last seven games.

Adam Naeve had 19 kills as UCLA defeated Hawaii, 30-27, 30-23, 15-30, 30-27, to win the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation volleyball title at Provo, Utah.

Police in Detroit arrested two men Thursday in connection with the shooting death of the father of Detroit Lion and former USC linebacker Chris Claiborne. Emmett Claiborne, 51, was killed April 21, 2000, outside a bar on Detroit’s northwest side. . . . Anthony Lemar Taylor, a 30-year-old man who used Tiger Woods’ identity to steal $17,000 worth of goods, was sentenced Friday in Sacramento to 200 years-to-life in prison.

Carlos Moya defeated Thomas Enqvist of Sweden, 6-3, 6-3, and Juan Carlos Ferrero stopped Michel Kratochvil of Switzerland, 7-5, 6-2, in the semifinals of the Seat Godo Open, setting up an all-Spanish final in the clay-court tennis tournament at Barcelona, Spain. . . . Eighteen-year-old Andy Roddick slammed past Stefan Koubek of Austria, 6-2, 6-2, to reach his first career ATP final at the $400,000 Verizon Tennis Challenge at Duluth, Ga. He will meet another youngster, 20-year-old Xavier Malisse of Belgium, who defeated sixth-seeded Jerome Golmard of France, 7-6 (1), 3-6, 6-3.

USC junior Ryan Moore continued his impressive run through the Pac-10 singles draw at the 101st Ojai Valley Tennis Tournament, becoming the first Trojan since 1996 to reach the final. Moore beat UCLA’s Jean-Noel Grinda, 6-3, 6-2, in the semifinals and will face Stanford’s K.J. Hippensteel in today’s 11 a.m. final. Hippensteel defeated UCLA’s Julien Rojer, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (6), 6-4.

Michael Johnson, in his final race in the United States, anchored the U.S. men’s 1,600-meter relay team to a victory over Jamaica in the Penn Relays at Philadelphia.

Johnson, a five-time Olympic gold medalist and 200- and 400-meter world record-holder who is retiring at the end of the season, was given a standing ovation after helping the U.S. team finish at 2 minutes 58.60 seconds.

Suzy Favor Hamilton, expected to return to the track for the first time since her collapse in the Sydney Olympics, dropped out of the 1,500 meters in the Drake Relays at Des Moines.

Saying she still wasn’t in good enough shape to run after recovering from an injury, she apologized to the sellout crowd of 18,000 on the stadium public address system and promised to return next year.

Jeff Friesen of the Mighty Ducks scored a goal to help Canada defeat Norway, 5-0, and the United States defeated Ukraine, 6-3, in the World Hockey championships at Hanover, Germany.

Pernell Whitaker said he will retire after a shoulder injury ended his return to boxing in a Friday loss to Carlos Bojorquez at Stateline, Nev.