Franchitti Pulls Away for Victory

Dario Franchitti took advantage of Cristiano da Matta’s strategic gamble Sunday to win the inaugural Montreal Molson Indy.

An early pit stop by da Matta, the runaway CART series points leader, opened the door for Franchitti, who pulled away after a late-race restart to win the 80-lap race at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve by 2.588 seconds--about half the last straightaway.

Da Matta started from the pole for the seventh time in 13 races this season and was shooting for his seventh victory, but after an early caution flag, his Newman-Haas Racing team decided to bring him in for an extra stop on Lap 12.

“It was similar to the strategy that we ran in fuel strategy races last year,” the Brazilian driver said. “Most any other times that strategy would have won us the race. If any yellow had happened at any time except the last 10 laps, the race would have come back to us.”

Franchitti and da Matta swapped the lead several times on pit stops and it appeared the Scottish driver, who made his last stop on Lap 63, was home free when he found himself out front by nearly five seconds after da Matta made his final stop on Lap 68.

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Pole sitter Gil de Ferran won his second IRL race of the season, beating teammate Helio Castroneves to the finish line in the IRL Gateway 250 at Madison, Ill., and moving within a point of the lead in the overall standings.

Castroneves leads the series with 437 points, one more than de Ferran. Sam Hornish Jr., who led the standings heading into Sunday, finished fifth and dropped 18 points back at 429. But all three drivers remain in contention for the title. First place is worth 50 points, second 45, third 40.

Tennis

Thailand’s Paradorn Srichaphan won his first ATP Tour title, beating Argentina’s Juan Ignacio Chela, 5-7, 6-2, 6-2, in the TD Waterhouse Cup at Commack, N.Y. The 23-year-old Srichaphan, playing in his second consecutive final and third of the year, has won 10 of his last 11 matches heading into the U.S. Open. He earned $51,500.

Srichaphan is the first Asian to win an ATP Tour singles title since Leander Paes in 1998 at Newport, R.I.

Swimming

Michael Phelps of Irvine and Natalie Coughlin each won gold medals to lead a dominant performance by the U.S. swim team at the Pan Pacific championships in Yokohama, Japan.

Phelps, the 17-year-old world record-holder in the 400 individual medley, won in a meet-record 4 minutes, 12.48 seconds. USC’s Erik Vendt was second in 4:13.15.

Coughlin won the 100 butterfly in 57.88 seconds, while Amanda Beard of Irvine won the 100 breaststroke in 1:08.22.

Basketball

Jermaine O’Neal scored 15 points as the United States beat Germany, 91-73, in an exhibition game at Portland, Ore., that proved costly when Reggie Miller sprained his right ankle.

Miller, a five-time All-Star who plays for the Indiana Pacers, came down awkwardly on his ankle when he was fouled by Stefano Garris early in the third quarter. Miller did not return. The exhibition game was a tuneup for the World Championships starting Thursday in Indianapolis.

All-Star forward Dirk Nowitzki of the Dallas Mavericks led Germany with 23 points.

Baron Davis, bothered by back spasms in practices Friday and Saturday, started Sunday night, and Elton Brand, who missed an exhibition against China with a mild right knee strain, had six points.

Miscellany

The U.S. team has withdrawn from the world freestyle wrestling championships Sept. 5-7 in Tehran, Iran, after receiving “credible information” from the U.S. government that “a possible threat of violence” jeopardized the team’s safety.

Stan Dzidezic, president of USA Wrestling, said the Iranian government could not guarantee the delegation’s safety in the face of anti-American sentiment in Iran.

USA Wrestling’s executive committee asked the sport’s international governing body, FILA, to move the event “to a nation where the government can secure the safety of all the participating nations.”

The 2001 world championships in all styles of wrestling were to be held at Madison Square Garden last September but were postponed and moved after the Sept. 11 attacks.

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Canadian boxer Joe Gatti was taken to the hospital with a concussion in Leipzig, Germany, the day after he was stopped in the ninth round by IBF super middleweight champion Sven Ottke. Gatti collapsed in his hotel room early Sunday morning, a few hours after the fight ended.... Eric Fonoimoana and Dax Holdren defeated Eduardo Bacil and Frederico Souza of Brazil, 21-18, 21-16, to win the U.S. championships of beach volleyball at Chicago.