Earnhardt Jr. Crashes, Has Burns on Face, Legs

A fun weekend of racing for Dale Earnhardt Jr. turned frightening Sunday when a wreck during a warmup for an American Le Mans Series race at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma turned his car into a fireball, leaving him hospitalized with burns on his face and legs.

Earnhardt’s injuries were “moderate-sized burns of moderate intensity,” according to medical officials at the track. The ALMS said he had second-degree burns on the insides of both legs and his chin.

The NASCAR driver was flown to the UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento, where he was expected to be kept overnight for observation.

The accident came at the start of the 30-minute morning practice. Earnhardt lost control of his Chevrolet Corvette C5-R, spun and slid backward into a concrete barrier in Turn 8 of the road racing track.

Officials said the crash broke the fuel filler neck, where the gas is poured into the car, briefly turning the car into a fireball after it came to a stop in the middle of the track.

Earnhardt, 29, quickly got out of the car on his own before being assisted by safety crews. The car continued to burn and was a total loss. He was to have driven in the race with veteran road racing driver Boris Said. The team withdrew the entry after the crash.

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J.J. Lehto and Marco Werner won their third consecutive American LeMans Series race, taking the Infineon Grand Prix of Sonoma at Infineon Raceway. They won by one minute in their Audi R8 over Chris Dyson and Andy Wallace in a Lola EX257-AER/MG in the 2-hour 45-minute timed event on the 2.53-mile circuit.

Ron Fellows and Johnny O’Connell won the GTS class in a Corvette C5-R, their fourth consecutive victory at Infineon Raceway. Fellows dedicated the win to Earnhardt.

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Scott Kalitta ended a seven-year drought by winning the top-fuel division at the NHRA Mile High Nationals at Morrison, Colo. Kalitta, who won for the first time since 1997, clocked a pass of 4.747 seconds at 313.58 mph to beat Tony Schumacher.

Golf

Jonathan Byrd made a 10-foot birdie putt on the 15th hole to break a seven-way tie for the lead and made another birdie on the next hole to win the rain-delayed B.C. Open at Endicott, N.Y., by one stroke over Ted Purdy.

Byrd broke a tie with Purdy, Todd Fischer, Robin Freeman, Robert Gamez, Hidemichi Tanaka and Notah Begay. Byrd parred the final two holes to shoot a four-under-par 68 and finish at 20-under 268. Fischer (65), Freeman (66), Tanaka (66) and Begay (69) tied for third at 18-under 270.

Moira Dunn finally ended her LPGA Tour winless string at 244 tournaments. She birdied the 16th and 17th holes to win the Giant Eagle Classic at Vienna, Ohio. She shot a six-under 66 to finish at 12-under 204 -- two strokes ahead of Young-A Yang.

Miscellany

Guillermo Canas won the Mercedes Cup clay-court tennis tournament at Stuttgart, Germany, beating fellow Argentine and second-seeded Gaston Gaudio, 5-7, 6-2, 6-0, 1-6, 6-3, in 3 hours 40 minutes.... Fourth-seeded Martin Verkerk became the first Dutchman in 31 years to win his country’s tennis championship, beating second-seeded Fernando Gonzalez, 7-6 (5), 4-6, 6-4, in the Priority Telecom Open in Amersfoort.

The U.S. set world junior records in the men’s 400-meter relay and the men’s and women’s 1,600 relays at the world junior track and field championships in Grosseto, Italy.

David Kimmons, Demi Omole, Ivory Williams and LaShawn Merritt ran 38.66 seconds in the 400 relay, breaking the record of 38.92 set by the U.S. in 2002. In the women’s 1,600 relay, Alexandria Anderson, Ashlee Kidd, Stephanie Smith and Natasha Hastings set a record of 3:27.60, breaking the mark of 3:28.39, set by East Germany in 1988.

Brandon Johnson, Merritt, Jason Craig and Kerron Clement set a record of 3:01.09 in the men’s 1,600 relay, improving on the 18-year-old mark of 3:01.90 set by the U.S.

Passings

Sue Candrea, the wife of U.S. Olympic softball team Coach Mike Candrea, died Sunday in Stevens Point, Wis., of complications from a brain aneurysm she suffered on Friday while traveling with the team. She was 48.

Chris Dufresne is on vacation.