Franchitti Exploits Late Pit Stop

Scotland’s Dario Franchitti seized the lead with 38 laps remaining and narrowly beat points leader Cristiano da Matta to the finish line Saturday to win the Rockingham 500.

Franchitti, who as a Scotsman was the crowd favorite in CART’s only stop in England this year, won for the first time on an oval and the third time this year.

Franchitti took the lead under a yellow flag on the 173rd lap, beating polesitter Kenny Brack out of the pits.

Franchitti averaged 157.682 mph and completed the 312.069-mile race in 1 hour 58 minutes 44.754 seconds--.986 seconds ahead of da Matta.

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A.J. Foyt IV led all but one lap in the Infiniti Pro Series season-ending BG Products 100 at Fort Worth, winning the race and season title with an average speed of 133.356 mph.

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Juan Pablo Montoya raced the fastest lap in Formula One history, at an average speed of nearly 162 mph, in qualifying for the Italian GP at Monza, Italy. The Williams BMW driver, who earned the pole position for today’s race, turned the 3.6-mile track in 1 minute 20.264 seconds.

Tennis

Anna Kournikova defeated Ai Sugiyama of Japan, 6-4, 7-5, to reach the finals of the Shanghai Open. Kournikova, winless in singles on the WTA Tour, will face top seed Anna Smashnova of Israel, who beat Angelique Widjaja of Indonesia, 6-1, 6-1.

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Gustavo Kuerten of Brazil beat Paraguay’s Ramon Delgado, 6-4, 6-7 (2), 6-3, to advance to the finals of the Brazil Open at Costa Do Sauipe. Kuerten will face Argentina’s Guillermo Coria, a 7-5, 6-2 winner over Cecil Mamitt. In the women’s final, Russia’s Anastasia Myskina downed Greece’s Eleni Daniilidou, 6-3, 0-6, 6-2.... Second-seeded Lisa Raymond advanced to the final of the Big Island Championships, beating Belgium’s Els Callens, 6-2, 7-5, at Waikoloa, Hawaii. Raymond will face Zimbabwe’s Cara Black, who led Spain’s Gala Leon Garcia, 6-1, 2-1, when Leon Garcia retired because of shoulder problems.... Yevgeny Kafelnikov of Russia beat qualifier Vladimir Voltchkov of Belarus to win the President’s Cup 7-6 (6), 7-5, at Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

Golf

Billy Andrade shot a three-under 68 for the second consecutive round and maintained a one-stroke lead in the Pennsylvania Classic at Paoli.... Annika Sorenstam shot a course-record 10-under 62, the third-best round of her LPGA Tour career, to take a three-stroke lead in the Safeway Classic at Portland, Ore.... Bruce Fleisher shot a six-under 64 one day after matching the Senior PGA Tour record with a 60 to take a five-stroke lead in the RJR Championship at Clemmons, N.C.

Miscellany

Former All-Star outfielder Albert Belle, 36, was arrested on drunk driving and other charges Sept. 7 in Scottsdale, Ariz., police said. Belle had a 0.12 blood-alcohol level, above Arizona’s DUI level of 0.08, police said.... Lisa Leslie scored 20 points to lead the United States to a 89-55 victory over Russia at Shanghai on the first day of the Women’s World Basketball Championship.