Martin Is Docked Points by NASCAR

Mark Martin’s Winston Cup championship hopes received a setback Monday when NASCAR penalized his team 25 points for a rules violation at North Carolina Speedway.

Martin finished second in Sunday’s race in Rockingham, but his car failed inspection afterward because the left-front springs did not meet the minimum number of coils.

Martin was docked 25 championship points, Jack Roush was docked 25 car owner points and crew chief Ben Leslie was fined $5,000.

Martin is in second place in the standings, and the penalty drops him 112 points behind series leader Tony Stewart with only two races remaining. He had cut the lead to 87 points after the race, in which Stewart struggled to a 14th-place finish.

Martin was fined 46 driver points in 1990 for an illegal carburetor spacer found on his Roush Racing Ford after a race at Richmond International Raceway. Martin lost the Winston Cup championship that year to Dale Earnhardt by 26 points.

Leslie was fined $50,000 after Martin’s winning car was too low in post-race inspection following the Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in May. And he was fined $1,000 for an unapproved window strap at Talladega in October.

Golf

Luke Donald, a rookie from England, won the Southern Farm Bureau Classic at Madison, Miss., when the final round was canceled because of rain.

It was the first PGA Tour victory for Donald, who completed the three rounds in 15-under-par 201, a stroke ahead of Deane Pappas. Brad Elder, who led the first two rounds, was third at 203.

The Senior Slam, the first of four unofficial money events that complete the Senior PGA Tour schedule, will be played at Superstition Mountain Golf and Country Club east of Phoenix this weekend in a last-minute switch from Grand Bahama Island, Bahamas.

Bahamian organizers determined last month that they wouldn’t be able to stage this year’s competition.

Jurisprudence

A jury in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., refused to award any money to Don King in his fight with rival promoter Bob Arum over rights to boxer Julio Cesar Chavez.

The jury rejected claims that Arum’s Las Vegas-based Top Rank Inc. interfered with three agreements between King and Chavez.

King had been seeking $8 million in damages.

The son of baseball Hall of Famer Ted Williams is being sued in Massachusetts by a promoter who contends he is owed more money from the sale of NBA sports memorabilia.

Lane Forman is suing John Henry Williams for his portion of the profits for the sale of products bearing pictures of Charles Barkley and Larry Bird. Forman said he had an agreement with Williams’ Grand Slam Marketing from 1992-94.

Two former Cleveland State basketball players were each sentenced to four years in prison for robbing Cleveland Indian pitcher C.C. Sabathia at gunpoint May 17 at a Cleveland hotel.

Damon Stringer, 25, and Jamaal Harris, 23, were sentenced on guilty pleas to aggravated robbery with a gun.

Miscellany

Rollie Dykstra, the University of La Verne quarterback who suffered a head injury in an Oct. 19 game, was removed from a respirator and was breathing on his own.

Dykstra, 24, remains comatose and in serious condition at Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center. Martin Cervantes, attorney for Dykstra’s father, Roland Sr., said the younger Dykstra can move his limbs and occasionally opens his eyes.

Don MacLean, UCLA’s all-time basketball leading scorer, will be announced today by KXTA (1150) as the color commentator on Bruin broadcasts. MacLean replaces Bob Myers, who was asked to resign because sports agent Arn Tellem employs him.

MacLean, 32, played nine seasons in the NBA, averaging 10.9 points for seven teams. He scored 2,608 points from 1989-92 at UCLA, averaging 20.5 points.