Franchitti Drives to Home Win

With his Scottish accent, Dario Franchitti would have a tough time passing for a Southerner.

But since marrying actress Ashley Judd, Tennessee has become Franchitti’s second home and he has adopted Nashville Superspeedway at Gladeville as his own.

On Saturday night, Franchitti made the most of his home-track advantage, dipping inside Patrick Carpentier with seven laps to go and driving away with the Firestone Indy 200 at the 1.33-mile, tri-oval track.

“Scotland is my home. I also live here. I’ve really enjoyed being in this area, living here and becoming part of the community. It’s a great place. What can I tell you?” Franchitti said.

It was his first IndyCar Series victory this year and third overall.

Danica Patrick looked as if she might make history with her first victory as she started second and even led nine laps. But she finished seventh for her fifth top-10 finish in her rookie season.

“For some reason ... when the first green flag hits ... it’s just tough. I don’t know what it is,” Patrick said. “I’m sure it’s a lot me and keeping momentum up. The restarts are fine. If we could just start single file each time, I’d be fine.”

Sam Hornish Jr. finished second, followed by Carpentier, Scott Sharp and Helio Castroneves.

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Points leader Martin Truex Jr. held off Carl Edwards on the last lap for his fifth victory this season in a caution-filled NASCAR Busch Series race at New Hampshire International Speedway in Loudon.

Truex, who started seventh, led only the last 13 laps in the New England 200. The victory extended the reigning series champion’s points lead to 142 over Clint Bowyer, who finished 16th in a Chevrolet.

Truex’s Chevrolet beat the Ford of fast-closing Edwards by two car lengths, with Truex winning a two-lap dash in a race extended a lap for a green-flag finish after the final caution.

It was the 11th career victory on NASCAR’s second-tier circuit for Truex.

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Brian Vickers won the third pole of his NASCAR Nextel Cup career during qualifying at New Hampshire International Speedway.

Vickers, in his second full season on the circuit, drove his Chevrolet at 130.327 mph. That earned him the top spot for today’s New England 300, giving Vickers his first pole since September at California Speedway.

Kasey Kahne qualified second in a Dodge at 130.215 mph and Elliott Sadler qualified third in a Ford at 129.798 mph.

Colleges

Roy Williams said in a statement that he made a mistake when he approved gifts to graduating players and others who had used up their eligibility while he was basketball coach at Kansas, but denied there was any intentional wrongdoing.

Williams, now the coach at North Carolina, issued the statement to respond to a report by Kansas outlining NCAA rules violations in its athletic department.

After conducting an internal review, Kansas officials said that three representatives of the school’s “athletic interests” gave cash and clothing to graduating players and others who had exhausted their eligibility. Payments went back as far as 1998, though no player was said to have received more than $400.

The violation falls under the NCAA’s “extra benefit” rule and specifies that once athletes enroll, they are barred for life from receiving gifts from fans.

Softball

Vicky Galindo hit a grand slam, Stacey Nuveman homered and drove in two runs and the United States advanced to the championship game of the World Cup with a 7-0 victory over Japan at Oklahoma City.

Galindo, 5 feet 4, is the smallest player on the U.S. roster. Nuveman also homered in the Americans’ 11-3 victory over China earlier, a game that was stopped after 4 1/2 innings because of the mercy rule.

The U.S. does not know who it will play in the championship game.

China (1-2) plays Canada (1-2) and Australia (2-1) plays Japan (1-2) today on the last day of round-robin competition.

Tennis

Arnaud Clement and Michael Llodra gave France a 2-1 lead over Russia by beating Igor Andreev and Mikhail Youzhny, 7-5, 6-4, 6-7 (3), 6-2, in a Davis Cup quarterfinal match at Moscow.

Russia is undefeated in nine matches at home since losing to the United States in the 1995 final. In the 2002 Davis Cup final, Russia beat France to win its first title.

At Bratislava, Slovakia, Karol Beck and Michal Mertinak gave the hosts a 2-1 lead by beating Paul Haarhuis and Melle van Gemerden, 5-7, 6-3, 6-4, 7-5.

Mario Ancic and Ivan Ljubicic beat Andrei Pavel and Gabriel Trifu, 5-7, 6-4, 6-7 (9), 6-4, 6-4, to give host Croatia a 2-1 lead over Romania at Split.

Miscellany

Yolanda Griffith and Nicole Powell each scored 17 points in Sacramento’s 73-59 victory over Washington in a WNBA game at Sacramento. Alana Beard had 15 points for the Mystics.

Robert Gerard, Assn. of Surfing Professionals (ASP) rules and discipline judge, said that Brazilian Neco Padaratz (ranked 27th on the World Championship Tour) has been suspended from professional surfing until January 2006 because of a positive test result for performance-enhancing steroids.