Late Push Earns Kanaan IRL Win

Tony Kanaan raced to his third IRL victory of the season Saturday night, taking advantage of teammate Dan Wheldon’s tire problems at Gladeville, Tenn.

Kanaan saw Wheldon’s right rear tire going flat after a tangle with Buddy Rice’s car and grabbed the lead to himself before holding off Sam Hornish Jr. in a 12-lap shootout in the Firestone Indy 200.

Kanaan led only those last 19 laps, but that was enough to pad his lead in the IndyCar Series points race over Andretti Green Racing teammate Wheldon. Kanaan also won at Phoenix and Texas.

Hornish Jr., driving for the Marlboro Team Penske team that won the race last year with Gil de Ferran, tried to chase down Kanaan. Hornish appeared to be ready to pass Kanaan on the backstretch of the last lap but couldn’t finish and lost his momentum.

Hornish finished second ahead of teammate Helio Castroneves, who was third for a second straight year in this race. Darren Manning was fourth with Toyota engines followed by Townsend Bell with a Chevrolet engine.

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David Starr became only the second driver in NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series history to win by leading only the final lap, bumping his way to victory in the Dodge Ram Tough 200 at Madison, Ill.

Starr, driving a Chevrolet, nudged his way past Chad Chaffin in Gateway International Raceway’s first turn and beat Dennis Setzer to the checkered flag by 0.444 seconds -- about two truck lengths.

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Marco Werner led a record-shattering American Le Mans Series qualifying session, taking the pole for today’s Infineon Grand Prix of Sonoma. Werner, driving an Audi R8, turned a lap of 1 minute 22.320 seconds on the 2.53-mile road racing circuit.

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Greg Pursley of Canyon Country continued his dominance of the Lucas Oil Super Late Model series by winning the 75-lap feature at Irwindale Speedway in front of about 3,900.

Pursley started the race in fourth place but took over the lead from Russell White in three laps. White regained the lead on lap six but Pursley took it back three laps later and never relinquished it. White finished second, only 0.007 seconds ahead of Tony Bruncati.

Before the race, Times racing columnist Shav Glick was honored for his impending induction into the Motorsports Hall of Fame on July 29.

Tennis

Venus Williams overpowered Amy Frazier for a 6-3, 6-1 victory to reach the final of the Bank of the West Classic at Stanford.

Williams recovered from a slow start and advanced to the tournament’s title match for the fifth time in seven years.

Williams, seeded first and ranked fourth, will face second-seeded Lindsay Davenport in today’s final. Davenport defeated Maria Vento-Kabchi, 6-3, 6-2, in the other semifinal.

Unseeded Guillermo Canas of Argentina reached the final of the clay-court Mercedes Cup at Stuttgart, Germany, with a 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 win over Nikolay Davydenko.

Canas will meet second-seeded Gaston Gaudio, who defeated David Ferrer, 6-3, 5-7, 6-4.

Olympics

Mary McConneloug filed an appeal over USA Cycling’s decision to nominate another rider to the Olympic women’s mountain bike roster.

Jennifer Miller, the spokeswoman for McConneloug’s Seven Cycles team, said she would not discuss the appeal or whether a hearing had been scheduled.

McConneloug finished one point behind Sue Haywood in the international standings for the year ending July 12, USA Cycling said, but McConneloug has disputed points that were added to Haywood’s total.

Olympic champion Rulon Gardner won his first Greco-Roman international wrestling title in three years, capturing the 264 1/2-pound class at the Pytlasinski tournament at Warsaw.

Gardner defeated 2002 world bronze medalist Yuri Patrikeev of Russia, 2-0, in the finals.

A panel discussion, focusing on the 20th anniversary of the Los Angeles Olympics, will be held Monday at 7 p.m. at the Museum of Television and Radio, 465 N. Beverly Dr., Beverly Hills.

Former Olympian John Naber will moderate a panel that will include Anita DeFrantz, also a former Olympian and currently a member of the International Olympic Committee; Rafer Johnson, Olympic decathlon gold-medalist and the person who lit the torch at opening ceremonies in ‘84; Jim Lampley, network broadcaster, and Bill Dwyre, Times sports editor.

Times sportswriter Alan Abrahamson has been awarded an IOC media trophy, the U.S. Olympic Committee announced. The IOC, through nominations from each of its member national organizing committees, annually honors one media member from each country, selecting a “journalist who has made significant contributions to sport and Olympism at the national or international levels though his or her coverage of the Olympic movement.” Abrahamson will receive his award from USOC Executive Director Jim Scheer on July 26 in Los Angeles.

Miscellany

The New Orleans Hornets and restricted free agent Chris Andersen agreed to terms of a two-year contract, an NBA source told Associated Press.

Andersen, a 6-foot-10 forward-center, averaged 3.4 points and 4.2 rebounds in 71 games with the Denver Nuggets last season.

Lionel Larry of Compton won the 40-yard dash in 4.28 seconds in the “Day of Speed” challenge at USC on Friday night. DeSean Jackson of Long Beach was second in 4.29 after being selected most valuable player of a high school football 7-on-7 tournament that was connected to the event earlier in the day.

The top girls’ sprinter was Elizabeth Olear of Canoga Park in 4.79.

Juan Diaz (25-0) won the World Boxing Assn. lightweight championship in front of a hometown crowd in Houston by outpointing Lakva Sim (19-4-1) of Mongolia. The judges scored the bout 118-110, 116-112 and 118-111 for Diaz.