Andretti Says He’ll Retire After Indianapolis 500

Former CART champion Michael Andretti will retire as a driver after the Indianapolis 500 in May to concentrate on being a car owner.

The 40-year-old son of former Indy winner Mario Andretti bought the former Team Green last fall and began running the new Andretti Green Racing with partners Kim Green and Kevin Savoree in December.

The team moved from CART to the rival IRL with former CART stars Dario Franchitti and Tony Kanaan as Andretti’s teammates.

Andretti, Franchitti and Kanaan will drive in the first four IRL races this season, with rookie Dan Wheldon taking Andretti’s place after the Indy 500 on May 25.

“It’s definitely something I want to do, I definitely would love to win that race before I retire,” said Andretti, who will try for the 14th time. “They say it’s just another race, and it is, but it isn’t.”

Figure Skating

Michelle Kwan won’t compete in the International Skating Union’s Grand Prix Final, citing her decision to scale back her schedule this season. The seven-time U.S. figure skating champion qualified for the Grand Prix Final by winning the Skate America competition in October.

“I’m going to focus all my energy on preparing for the world championships,” she said. Kwan, of Manhattan Beach, will vie for her fifth world title in March in Washington.

Olympic figure skating gold medalist Sarah Hughes, who finished second to Kwan at the U.S. championships this year, won’t compete at the Four Continents event next week in Beijing. Ann Patrice McDonough, fourth at the U.S. championships, and Amber Corwin of Hermosa Beach, who was eighth, will compete in Beijing. Men’s champion Michael Weiss and runner-up Tim Goebel opted to stay home, leaving Ryan Jahnke, Scott Smith, and Matt Savoie, who placed third through fifth, to go to China.

Pro Football

Brad Childress has signed a three-year contract to remain offensive coordinator of the Philadelphia Eagles.

He had interviewed for the head coaching job with the San Francisco 49ers.

Hall of Fame receiver and former U.S. Rep. Steve Largent met with Seattle Seahawk President Bob Whitsitt this week and is considering a return to the team as general manager.

“If they offered me the job, I’d take it,” Largent said.

The Tampa Bay Storm opened the 2003 Arena Football League with a 60-20 rout of the Carolina Cobras, behind six touchdown passes by John Kaleo at Tampa, Fla.

Tennis

Michael Chang, a Placentia native who last won a major at the 1989 French Open, announced he will retire after this year’s U.S. Open.

Chang will kick off his farewell tour in the Siebel Open starting Feb. 10 in San Jose.

Lisa Raymond upset second-seeded Jelena Dokic of Yugoslavia, 6-4, 6-2, to advance to the semifinals of the $1.3-million Toray Pan Pacific tournament at Tokyo. In other matches, Top-seeded Monica Seles beat Russia’s Lina Krasnoroutskaya, 6-4, 6-4, third-seeded Lindsay Davenport beat Thailand’s Tamarine Tanasugarn, 7-5, 7-6 (3), and fourth-seeded Chanda Rubin beat Russia’s Elena Dementieva, 3-6, 6-1, 6-3.

Top-ranked UCLA won five of six singles matches and swept the doubles matches on its way to a 6-1 victory over No. 7 USC.

Miscellany

Suspended Canadian track coach Charlie Francis has confirmed he is working with triple Olympic champion Marion Jones and 100-meter world-record holder Tim Montgomery.

But Francis, the mastermind behind Canadian Ben Johnson’s drug-fueled run for gold at the 1988 Olympics, said in a statement: “Over the past 15 years I have not encouraged nor condoned the taking of banned performance-enhancing substances by any of the athletes who have consulted me. This will continue to be an integral part of my practice in the future.”

Mike Moran, the U.S. Olympic Committee’s chief communications officer, formally retired from full-time service, saying nearly 25 years of work on behalf of the organization is fulfilling enough for one lifetime.

Darryl Seibel takes over as the USOC’s chief spokesman. Moran, 61, will remain a “communications consultant” to the USOC.

In golf, England’s Paul Casey shot a five-under-par 67 to take a two-stroke in the Heineken Classic at Melbourne, Australia, and leave Ernie Els 10 strokes back after two rounds. Els had an even-par 72 for a 142 total.... Hale Irwin shot a six-under 66 for a tie after the first round with Dana Quigley and Steve Veriato in the MasterCard Championship at Kaupulehu-Kona, Hawaii.

In skiing, Jeremy Bloom and Michelle Roark finished second in the moguls competition at the World Freestyle Championships at Park City, Utah. Roark had 27.13 points and finished behind Norway’s Kari Traa. Finland’s Mikko Ronkainen won the men’s moguls with 28.09 points. Bloom, a Colorado University wide receiver, had 27.33 points.