Busch Wins Sylvania 300, Ties for Points Lead

Kurt Busch was seventh among the title contenders heading into Sunday’s first race of NASCAR’s new 10-man, 10-race Nextel Cup championship format.

In the days leading to the Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire International Speedway in Loudon, whenever Busch was asked what the first race of the championship showdown would be like, he smiled and said, “Who knows, we could be the points leader come the end of Sunday.”

A dominating performance gave Busch a sweep of the 2004 events at the New Hampshire track and lifted him into a tie with Dale Earnhardt Jr. for the points lead with nine races remaining.

Although he is tied for the top spot, it is only the third time in Busch’s four-year Cup career that he has been atop the point standings.

He led for one race after finishing second at Rockingham in February 2003 and again for one race after finishing sixth at Texas in April.

Matt Kenseth, the 2003 series champion, was second, crossing the finish line 2.488 seconds -- about 20 car lengths -- behind his Roush Racing teammate.

Earnhardt finished third. If the championship had been determined after Sunday, Earnhardt would have won the tiebreaker based on his four wins this season.

*

Dave Villwock drove Miss Budweiser to victory in the Bill Muncey Cup on San Diego’s Mission Bay, the final appearance by the famous red unlimited hydroplane under the sponsorship of Anheuser-Busch.

Villwock drove Miss Budweiser to victories in all its preliminary heats, as well as the final.

Anheuser-Busch decided to end the longest-running sponsorship in motorsports after the death last year of Bernie Little Sr., a leading figure in unlimited hydroplane racing and the longtime owner of Miss Budweiser.

Miss Budweiser had 141 victories and 17 drivers in 42 years.

Track and Field

Ana Guevara won the 400-meter race at the World Athletics Final at Monte Carlo, ending Olympic champion Tonique Williams-Darling’s unbeaten streak.

Williams-Darling had not lost a race, or even a heat, since March and the Bahamas star was going for an 11th consecutive race victory.

Guevara, the gold medal winner at last year’s world championships, was timed in 50.13 seconds.

Monique Hennagan of the U.S. was second in 50.20, with countrywoman DeeDee Trotter third in 50.60. Williams-Darling finished sixth.

Olympic champion Joanna Hayes won the 100-meter hurdles in 12.58, defeating American countrywoman Jenny Adams, who finished in 12.68. Jamaica’s Lacena Golding-Clarke was third in 12.69.

In the women’s 800, Olympic silver medalist Hasna Benhassi of Morocco won in 2:01.42.

American Jearl Miles Clark placed second, 0.31 of a second behind, with Morocco’s Amina Ait Hammou third in 2:01.78.

In the long jump, Ignisious Gaisah of Ghana beat American Dwight Phillips. Gaisah won with a leap of 27 feet 3 3/4 , overtaking Phillips’ mark of 27-1 1/4 .

Golf

Bart Bryant won his first PGA Tour event, closing with a three-under-par 67 for a three-stroke victory over Patrick Sheehan in the Texas Open at San Antonio.

Bryant, 41, ended a streak of 187 tour events without a victory, finishing at 19-under 261.

Hee-Won Han made a four-foot birdie putt on the first playoff hole to defeat Lorie Kane and win the LPGA’s Safeway Classic at Portland, Ore.

Tennis

Unseeded Ricardo Mello defeated top-seeded Vincent Spadea, 7-6 (2), 6-3, in the final of the Millennium International Tennis Championship at Delray Beach, Fla.

Marat Safin won his first title in two years, defeating Mikhail Youzhny, 7-6 (4), 7-5, in an all-Russian final in the China Open at Beijing.

U.S. Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova won the Wismilak International at Bali, Indonesia, defeating Marlene Weingartner, 6-1, 6-4, to move up to No. 5 in the rankings.

Horse Racing

Sightseek, remaining undefeated at Belmont Park, notched her fifth win at the New York track by defeating Pocus Hocus by 11 1/4 lengths in the $300,000 Ruffian Handicap.

In Belmont races for 2-year-olds, undefeated Sense of Style recovered from a poor start and won for the third time in the $300,000 Matron, and Park Avenue Ball, a 10-1 shot, won the $300,000 Futurity as favored Fusaichi Rock Star finished fifth in his first start away from Del Mar.

Soaring Free, who finished second in the stake a year ago, extended his win streak to five races with a win over Perfect Soul in the $1-million Atto Mile at Woodbine in suburban Toronto.