Earnhardt Jr. Is Cleared to Race

Dale Earnhardt Jr. was cleared by NASCAR on Wednesday to race this weekend at Talladega Superspeedway, where he is seeking a record fifth consecutive victory.

Earnhardt sustained a minor concussion and sprained his right foot in a wreck Sunday in Dover, Del., and NASCAR required him to undergo a thorough physical before he could be cleared to race.

Earnhardt was examined Monday by neurosurgeon Dr. Jerry Petty and NASCAR reviewed the report Wednesday.

“My foot gets a lot better every day. I’ve stayed off my feet, kept ice on it, and the swelling and soreness is much less than it was on Monday,” Earnhardt said. “It would take a heck of a lot more than this to keep me out of the race.”

Working in Earnhardt’s favor is his mastery of the 2.66-mile superspeedway, where he has won the last four Winston Cup events, as well as the Busch Series race there in April.

“Talladega is about intense mental focus, it’s not a physical track like Bristol or Martinsville where your body takes a beating,” he said. “I’m sure once I get in the car, this won’t have an impact on me.”

Earnhardt was injured late in Sunday’s race, crashing hard into the wall. He was briefly knocked out and taken to a local hospital for evaluation. He finished 37th in the race, and dropped from second to fourth in the Winston Cup standings.

NASCAR’s policy of medically clearing a driver was put in place partially because of Earnhardt, who admitted last season he thought he had lingering effects of a concussion in several races.

Since then, NASCAR has required all drivers to receive written medical clearance from a doctor approved by the sanctioning body before the driver can compete.

Tennis

Top-ranked Juan Carlos Ferrero edged qualifier Dick Norman, 7-5, 7-6 (5), in the first round of the Thailand Open at Nonthaburi, Thailand.

Norman held set points at 5-4 in each set. But he wasted one in the first set with a forehand error, and he blew one in the second set by putting a backhand into the net.

Ferrero, who won the French Open and was the runner-up to Andy Roddick at the U.S. Open, meets Alex Bogomolov Jr. next. The American defeated Giorgio Galimberti of Italy, 6-3, 6-3.

Fourth-seeded Paradorn Srichaphan struggled, rallying to beat Vladimir Voltchkov, 0-6, 6-3, 6-2. Paradorn’s second-round opponent is Kenneth Carlsen, who eliminated Andy Ram, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (5).

No. 3 Carlos Moya eased past Petr Luxa, 6-4, 6-3, while No. 8 Taylor Dent defeated Wesley Moodie, 6-1, 6-4.

Top-seeded Jiri Novak and two-time champion Magnus Norman won to reach the Heineken Open quarterfinals at Shanghai.

Novak came back to beat Robert Kendrick, 6-7 (3), 6-1, 6-2, while Norman topped Fernando Verdasco, 7-5, 7-6 (5).

In other matches, Wimbledon runner-up Mark Philippoussis defeated Andreas Vinciguerra, 6-4, 7-6 (2), French Open finalist Martin Verkerk downed wild-card entry Zeng Shaoxuan, 6-2, 6-3, and Robin Soderling knocked off eighth-seeded John van Lottum, 6-2, 6-0.

Patty Schnyder overcame a 5-2 deficit in the third set to beat fifth-seeded Daniela Hantuchova, 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (3), and reach the quarterfinals of the Sparkassen Cup at Leipzig, Germany.

Venus Williams and Lindsay Davenport withdrew from next week’s Kremlin Cup at Moscow.

Williams, whose half-sister was killed this month, confirmed Wednesday she won’t play.

“We fully understand the situation and have no complaints,” tournament official Alexei Selivanenko said.

Davenport, last year’s runner-up, has a left foot injury that needs surgery.

Marat Safin is expected to return for next week’s Kremlin Cup after missing nearly five months because of a wrist injury.

The 2000 U.S. Open champion has a 12-7 record this year.

Miscellany

A roster of 30 professional players was selected to compete for 24 spots on the U.S. baseball team that will try to qualify for the Athens Olympics.

The players will report to Phoenix on Oct. 3 and play 12 exhibition games against teams in the Arizona Fall League over the next three weeks.

Manager Frank Robinson will pick his roster Oct. 23, and the team will travel to Panama City for the Olympic qualifying tournament, which begins Oct. 30.

The NCAA has formally notified Missouri it has begun an investigation into the men’s basketball program, which came under intense scrutiny this summer after the dismissal of troubled guard Ricky Clemons.

Michael Devaney, leading Missouri’s internal investigation of the men’s basketball program, told Associated Press “we will keep cooperating with the NCAA, fully and completely.”

Devaney said he expected the investigation to be complete by December.

The Michigan men’s basketball team has received word that its appeal of the NCAA’s postseason ban was successful and that it will be eligible for the 2004 NCAA tournament, according to the Detroit Free Press.

An announcement is expected today, the newspaper reported.

Current UCLA men’s volleyball Coach Al Scates is among eight individuals who will be inducted into the school’s athletic Hall of Fame on Oct. 3. Other inductees are Jerome “Pooh” Richardson, Lisa Fernandez, Danny Everett, Ryan McGuire, Brad Friedel, Tim Wrightman and the late Don Rogers.

Lightweights Cristian Bejarano, a bronze medalist for Mexico in the 2000 Olympics, and Zahami Gracia, of Anaheim, have been added to the non-televised portion of the Oct. 4 boxing card at Staples Center. Opponents, though, have yet to be named.