Kahne Is the First Pole-Sitter to Win at Texas

Kasey Kahne became the 11th winner in as many Nextel Cup races held at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, yet he still managed to score a first here -- by doing it from the pole.

Kahne sped away from the field after the final restart with 17 laps to go for his second victory this season, by 5.2 seconds over Matt Kenseth. Kahne won in the same No. 9 Evernham Dodge from the pole in Atlanta last month.

After taking the lead from Tony Stewart with 27 laps to go, Kahne built a 1.4-second cushion over Stewart and Kenseth before a caution flag for debris.

All three cars took four tires on the pit stop and came out in the same order they went in.

“The car got loose at the start. It took us a while to get going,” Kahne said. “It was a heck of a run with Tony there.”

It took Kahne a couple of laps after the restart to finally clear the lapped car of Robby Gordon. Once he did, he cruised to the checkered flag at the Samsung/Radio Shack 500 and Kenseth got past Stewart, who led 99 laps after winning last weekend at Martinsville, for second place.

Kahne, who turns 26 today, earned the third victory of his career. The last three times he has been on the pole, he has won, including Richmond last season.

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Melanie Troxel raced to her second top-fuel victory of the year and became the first driver to advance to the final round in the first five events of a season in the NHRA SummitRacing.com Nationals in Las Vegas.

Troxel beat Dave Grubnic in the final with a quarter-mile pass of 4.837 seconds at 285.65 mph. Grubnic finished in 4.987 seconds at 319.60 mph.

It was Troxel’s sixth consecutive final. She is one final short of the NHRA record for most consecutive finals in top fuel, set by Tony Schumacher in 2005.

In funny car, Ron Capps advanced to his fourth final in five starts and held on to the No. 1 ranking, but he lost to Cruz Pedregon, who had a pass of 5.417 seconds at 266.16 mph.

In pro stock, Kurt Johnson had a pass of 6.842 seconds at 202.42 mph to beat Dave Connolly (6.874 at 202.00 mph) in the closest of the three finals.

PRO FOOTBALL

Williams Reportedly Will Appeal Today

Ricky Williams will meet with league officials today, seeking to overturn a drug suspension that could cost him the 2006 season.

League officials will not confirm drug suspensions under a league policy that maintains confidentiality for positive tests.

But Williams’ agent, Leigh Steinberg, said last week that the hearing will take place at the NFL offices in New York. If the positive test is upheld, it will be Williams’ fourth violation of the NFL’s substance abuse policy, meaning at least a one-year suspension.

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Special teams player Michael Lewis signed a three-year deal with the New Orleans Saints.

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

Penn’s Dunphy to Replace Chaney

Fran Dunphy, who led Penn to nine NCAA tournaments, will take over at Temple to replace Hall of Fame coach John Chaney, a school official told the Associated Press on condition of anonymity. The school has a news conference scheduled for today. Dunphy, 57, who has deep basketball ties to Philadelphia, was 310-163 record in 17 seasons at Penn.

RUNNING

Kenyans Finish 1-2-3 in Rotterdam

Sammy Korir overcame a challenge from fellow Kenyan Paul Kiprop Kirui in the last mile to win the Rotterdam Marathon in 2 hours 6 minutes 38 seconds in the Netherlands.

Kirui finished second in 2:06:44. Charles Kibiwott of Kenya was third in 2:06:52.

Mindaye Gishu of Ethiopia won the women’s race in 2:28:30.

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Gashaw Melese of Ethiopia won the Paris Marathon in 2:08:03, beating Kenya’s Kiprotich Kenei (2:08:51) and Bernard Barmasai (2:08:52). Irina Timofeyeva of Russia was the women’s champion in 2:27:22.

MISCELLANY

Lochte Sets Record in 200 Backstroke

Ryan Lochte of Daytona, Fla., set a world record in the 200-meter backstroke at the FINA Short Course World Championships in Shanghai.

Lochte was timed in 1 minute 49.05 seconds, breaking the mark of 1:50.43 by Austria’s Markus Rogan at the European Short Course Swimming Championships on Dec. 8, 2005 at Trieste, Italy. On Friday, Lochte set the world mark in the 200-meter individual medley in 1:53.31.

Australia led the medal standings with 23, followed by the U.S. with 21 and Italy with 14.

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Nadia Petrova used a strong serve and steady play to beat Francesca Schiavone for the first time in five meetings and win the Bausch & Lomb Championships, 6-4, 6-4, in Amelia Island, Fla.

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In women’s gymnastics, UCLA took third in the South Central Regional at Fayetteville, Ark., failing to qualify as a team for the NCAA championships for the first time since 1991. Individually, UCLA qualified Kate Richardson and Kristina Comforte in the all-around and Tasha Schwikert in vaulting.

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In cycling, Fabian Cancellara of Switzerland won the Paris-Roubaix race, and George Hincapie was knocked out of the competition after crashing 31 miles from the finish in Roubaix, France. Defending champion Tom Boonen of Belgium took second after officials disqualified three riders for passing a stop sign at a railway crossing.

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In soccer, a group of Inter Milan fans, angered by the team’s unexpected elimination from the Champions League, attacked the players at a parking lot at Malpensa Airport in Milan, leaving midfielder Cristiano Zanetti with a bruised head. Two police officers were also injured when they tried to defend the Inter players. Police officials said they were investigating.