Teams Shift Drivers in NASCAR

NASCAR’s Nextel Cup season won’t be over for two more weeks, but major driver changes for the 2006 season are already being announced.

In a three-team deal that has been anticipated for weeks, reigning Nextel Cup champion Kurt Busch will go from Roush Racing to Penske Racing, Jamie McMurray will leave Chip Ganassi Racing to drive for Roush and Casey Mears was moved into McMurray’s spot with Ganassi, dropping from a four-car to a three-car team.

Busch is the only one in the Chase for the Championship, which will continue Sunday in Phoenix and conclude Nov. 20 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. In an unrelated move, Chevrolet driver Bobby Labonte and car owner Joe Gibbs announced a parting of the ways after 11 years. Neither Labonte, the 2000 series champion, nor Gibbs announced plans for next season.

Driver speculation started in July, when McMurray announced that he would drive for Roush in 2007, and a few days later Busch said that he had signed with Penske, also for 2007. Both drivers had contracts through 2006.

When neither Roush nor Ganassi would release his driver a year ahead of schedule, it appeared that Mark Martin might forgo his retirement plans to drive the No. 6 Ford one more year with Roush and Penske might have to find an interim driver for the retiring Rusty Wallace in his No. 2 Dodge.

The bottleneck was broken when Ganassi dropped his plans for a four-car team next year and elevated Mears to the No. 42 Dodge now driven by McMurray.

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Shav Glick

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BOXING

Klitschko Given Deadline to Defend

Vitali Klitschko will be stripped of the World Boxing Council’s heavyweight title if a knee injury takes more than three months to heal.

The title will be awarded to former champion Hasim Rahman, WBC President Jose Sulaiman said. He said Klitschko had been given at least another week for doctors to determine the severity of the injury that led him to again cancel a bout against Rahman. But if the champion can recuperate in the next three months, he will be allowed to defend.

“You shouldn’t lose your title because you get injured,” Sulaiman said. Klitschko hurt his knee while sparring last week in Los Angeles.

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JURISPRUDENCE

Rose Jr. Pleads Guilty

Pete Rose Jr., the son of baseball’s all-time hits leader, pleaded guilty in Nashville to charges that he distributed GBL, a drug sometimes sold as a steroid alternative, to his minor league teammates.

Rose, 35, could be sentenced to up to 24 months in federal prison and fined up to $1 million under terms of his deal with prosecutors, Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul O’Brien said. Rose is free on his own recognizance until a sentencing hearing Feb. 20.

The indictment said Rose admitted he received GBL from someone in Tennessee while a member of the Chattanooga Lookouts, the double-A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds.

Former Washington Redskin star Timmy Smith and his brother pleaded not guilty to cocaine possession charges in Denver. Prosecutors accuse the 41-year-old Smith and brother Chris of trying to sell cocaine to an undercover drug agent in September. Trial is scheduled Jan. 9.

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HIGH SCHOOLS

Granada Hills Wins Another Golf Title

Granada Hills won its fifth consecutive City Section championship when it shot 462 at Balboa Golf Course in Encino and finished 27 shots ahead of runner-up Venice.

Gloria Park paced the Highlanders with a one-over-par 73, and Christina Kubota had an 81. Park also won the individual title when she made a birdie on the second hole of a playoff with Jennifer Park of Los Angeles Fairfax. Michelle Park of LACES and Tori Leon of L.A. Franklin tied for third at 76.

Paula Kerdpinyo of L.A. Marshall, aiming for her third consecutive individual title, shot 84 and finished seventh.

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MISCELLANY

Record Price for Racehorse Ashado

Ashado, the second-leading money winner among female horses, sold for a record $9 million during the Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale at Lexington, Ky.

John Ferguson, the buyer for Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum, the crown prince of Dubai, outlasted Irish bloodstock magnate John Magnier, the owner of Coolmore Stud, in a bidding process that continued for more than nine minutes.

Ashado broke the world-record price for a broodmare, set when Cash Run sold for $7.1 million during Keeneland’s November sale two years ago.

The price is the fourth-highest paid for a thoroughbred at auction. The late Robert Sangster, a British owner and breeder, and several partners paid the record $13.1 million for Seattle Dancer at the Keeneland July Select Yearling Sale in 1985.

The U.S. women’s hockey team beat Finland, 1-0, in the first game at the main hockey arena for the Turin Olympics. The outer structure and ice surface at Palasport Olimpico are complete but only half the eventual 12,116 seats have been installed.

The USC women’s basketball team started slow, but beat Team Concept, 82-55, in an exhibition Monday night at the Lyon Center.

Walter Bernard and Reggie Rhodes, two NFL Europe veterans, signed multiyear contracts with the L.A. Avengers of the Arena Football League.

Bernard will be a defensive specialist, Rhodes an offensive/defensive lineman.

The Southern California Referees’ Assn. will present the Dick Young Memorial Award to former Forum promoter Don Fraser for leadership he provided to the boxing industry over a 40-year period. The ceremony will take place Nov. 16 at Stevens Steak House in the city of Commerce.