Speedway, CART Settle Legal Action

Texas Motor Speedway is finally getting millions of dollars back and CART can move forward with its plans for 2002.

The track’s lawsuit against CART over the cancellation of a race in spring was settled Tuesday for an undisclosed amount.

The inaugural Firestone Firehawk 600 was canceled two hours before it was to start April 29 because drivers complained of dizziness after practices earlier in the weekend. There were fears drivers could lose consciousness during the race.

A confidentiality clause in the settlement prevents TMS and CART from revealing details of the settlement, but it will cost CART millions of dollars.

TMS was seeking reimbursement of a $2.1-million sanctioning fee paid for the race that was never run, plus unspecified damages for promotional expenses and unrealized profits. The track issued refunds for more than 60,000 tickets.

Eddie Gossage, the track’s general manager, has said only that the suit was for “millions and millions of dollars.”

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Jasper Motorsports fired Winston Cup driver Robert Pressley and hired Dave Blaney for 2002.

The team also gave crew chief Ryan Pemberton a three-year contract extension.

Blaney, who currently drives for Bill Davis Racing, is in his second full season in the Winston Cup Series.

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Alex Zanardi, the two-time CART champion who lost his legs last month in a crash during the American Memorial 500 at Berlin, says his main goal is to walk again and carry his son on his shoulder.

“I know that I’ll do it,” Zanardi told Italy’s TG-1 television channel.

He remains hospitalized in Berlin.

Olympics

Olympic officials completed arrangements for athletes in endurance sports to have blood screening for the banned drug EPO at the Salt Lake City Olympics.

Under the plan, all endurance competitors--between 800 and 900 athletes--will submit to blood screening one day before their first events at the Feb. 8-24 games. If a blood sample show signs of EPO, the athlete will have a decisive urine test for the endurance-boosting hormone.

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Organizers of the 2004 Athens Olympics pledged to plant about 3.3 million trees, 14.4 million bushes, 16 million flower-bearing plants and 67.5 million other plants to spruce the city for the Games.

Historical sites will get added greenery, including the areas around the Acropolis, the Zappeion Hall--a turn-of-the-century neoclassical landmark--and the Panathenaic Stadium, site of the first modern Olympics and where opening and closing ceremonies of the Games will take place.

Many central squares, roads and public and privates buildings will be renovated.

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Tony Basile has resigned as chief information officer for the U.S. Olympic Committee to join Bank One in Columbus, Ohio.

Tennis

Top-ranked Gustavo Kuerten wasted two match points and lost to Max Mirnyi, 4-6, 7-6 (6), 6-4, in the second round of the Masters Series at Stuttgart, Germany.

Kuerten’s defeat could open the door for No. 2-ranked Andre Agassi or No. 3 Lleyton Hewitt to claim the top ranking, provided either wins the tournament.

Defending champion Wayne Ferreira defeated 11th-seeded Roger Federer, 7-6 (1), 3-6, 6-2, and seventh-seeded Tim Henman beat German qualifier Axel Pretzsch, 6-3, 6-0.

Goran Ivanisevic, seeded 13th, defeated Mark Philippoussis, 7-6 (1), 3-6, 6-3. Philippoussis had 20 aces, Ivanisevic 16.

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Anna Kournikova lost in the first round for the fifth consecutive tournament, this time to Amanda Coetzer, 6-0, 4-6, 6-3, in the Swisscom Challenge at Zurich.

Sixth-seeded Meghann Shaughnessy fell to qualifier Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia, 6-3, 6-4; Swiss teenager Marie-Gaiane Mikaelian upset seventh-seeded Elena Dementieva of Russia, 6-2, 6-4; Iva Majoli of Croatia defeated Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario, 7-6 (5), 6-2, and Lisa Raymond ousted Alexandra Stevenson, 7-6 (4), 6-3.

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Lilia Osterloh upset top-seeded Daja Bedanova of the Czech Republic, 6-3, 6-3, in the first round of the Eurotel Slovak Indoor at Bratislava, Slovakia.

Soccer

Mexican soccer club Chivas of Guadalajara is refusing to travel to New York for today’s Copa Merconorte game because of security concerns, giving the MetroStars a 2-0 forfeit victory, the Major League Soccer team said.

MetroStar General Manager Nick Sakiewicz said he was informed of Chivas’ decision by faxed letter. He said the MetroStars will lose between $100,000 and $150,000 because of the cancellation.

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Finland will not participate in a four-team tournament in Nigeria next month because of violence in the country.

Thousands have been killed in riots between Christians and Muslims in Nigeria since a dozen predominantly Muslim northern states began introducing Islamic law last year.

Miscellany

USC women’s basketball sophomore forward Ebony Hoffman, who had right shoulder surgery in March, was pronounced ready for the 2001-02 season by Coach Chris Gobrecht.

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The U.S. Indoor Track and Field Championships will return to New York in March, the first time the event will be held in the city since 1993.

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Ottawa rejoined the Canadian Football League after a five-year absence. The expansion franchise will begin play in 2002 at Frank Clair Stadium, where the Ottawa Rough Riders played before folding after the 1996 season.

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A French inquiry into allegations that Lance Armstrong’s U.S. Postal Service cycling team used banned drugs at the 2000 Tour de France may run into next year, the investigating judge said.