Wild Busch Win a First for Blaney

Dave Blaney wound up the winner Friday night at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in a NASCAR Busch Series race that included red-flag stoppages for a scoring glitch and a crash by Carl Edwards and Casey Mears while battling for the victory.

Edwards, going for a season sweep of the Busch races at the Concord, N.C., track, led 123 of the 203 laps that included a final two-lap overtime sprint in which Blaney fought off Matt Kenseth -- who crashed on the last lap -- to earn his first series win in 93 starts since 1998.

Kenseth led lap 202 as the two leaders drove side-by-side, but Blaney got the nose of his Chevrolet back out ahead on the final lap and Kenseth spun coming off the final turn. Michael Waltrip finished second.

The crash by Edwards relegated him to a 27th-place finish and gave Kevin Harvick, who came back from an early tire problem and a lost lap to finish ninth, his second Busch Series championship with four races remaining.

Harvick needed to add 32 points to his lead Friday night to add this year’s Busch title to his 2001 crown. But a pit stop under green early in the race when he thought he had a flat tire sent him all the way to 35th. Harvick also is fourth in the battle for the Nextel Cup title entering tonight’s Bank of America 500.

The Indy Racing League will return to Michigan International Speedway next season, completing the IndyCar Series’ 2007 calendar. The 400-mile event, the 13th race in the 17-race schedule, will be held Aug. 5.

TENNIS

Mauresmo Is Upset;

Sharapova Withdraws

Top-seeded Amelie Mauresmo was upset by teenager Nicole Vaidisova, 1-6, 7-5, 7-6 (3), in the quarterfinals of the Kremlin Cup at Moscow, and second-seeded Maria Sharapova pulled out because of a foot injury.

Vaidisova, seeded eighth, was one game from elimination before she rallied to win. She will next play fifth-seeded Nadia Petrova, who defeated Vera Zvonareva, 7-5, 6-1.

Sharapova withdrew before her quarterfinal against Anna Chakvetadze. Chakvetadze will play fourth-seeded Elena Dementieva, who beat sixth-seeded Patty Schnyder, 7-6 (6), 7-6 (1).

In the men’s draw, top-seeded Nikolay Davydenko defeated Max Mirnyi, 6-3, 7-5, and will play seventh-seeded Fabrice Santoro in the semifinals. Santoro beat Philipp Kohlschreiber, 6-3, 7-5.

Second-seeded James Blake used his big serve to defeat Olivier Rochus, 6-7 (3), 6-4, 6-2, to reach the semifinals of the Stockholm Open. Fifth-seeded Jarkko Nieminen also won his quarterfinal, beating Feliciano Lopez, 6-3, 7-5.

Third-seeded Andy Roddick defeated Jurgen Melzer, 6-4, 6-3, to reach the semifinals of the BA-CA Tennis Trophy at Vienna. He will next play fifth-seeded Fernando Gonzalez, who beat second-seeded David Nalbandian, 3-6, 6-3, 6-1.

PRO BASKETBALL

Wright, Ffriend Are

Suspended for Fighting

Atlanta Hawks forward Lorenzen Wright and Memphis Grizzlies forward Kimani Ffriend were each suspended for a game after both players threw a punch during a shoving match during Wednesday night’s exhibition game at Memphis, Tenn.

Each player will serve his suspension during the first regular-season game he is available to play. Ffriend, who was waived on Friday, will serve the suspension if he returns to the NBA on an active regular-season roster.

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

Kansas State

Reinstates Martin

Kansas State senior forward Cartier Martin has been reinstated to the team, Athletic Director Tim Weiser announced.

Martin, a second-team All-Big 12 selection by the Associated Press, was suspended in May for unspecified conduct violations. He led the Wildcats in most statistical categories, including scoring (18.0), rebounding (6.6) and minutes (32.8).

Louisville freshman forward Derrick Caracter will have to sit out the first three games of the 2006-07 season for taking money from a family friend this summer.

An investigation by the university revealed Caracter received $2,146 from the friend in travel-related expenses to attend two basketball camps and visit Louisville as a recruit, the NCAA said. Caracter repaid the loan.

JURISPRUDENCE

Arrest Warrant Issued

for Giorgio Chinaglia

Former Italy and New York Cosmos star Giorgio Chinaglia is being sought by Italian authorities, who issued an arrest warrant for him and eight others on charges of extortion and insider trading at the Italian league club Lazio.

Chinaglia, who helped the Rome team win its first Italian soccer title in 1974, is wanted in a probe of an alleged attempt to influence the price of Lazio shares over the last six months, the prosecutor’s office in Rome said.

Chinaglia, a former Lazio president who now lives in the U.S., is accused of trying to oust current club president Claudio Lotito by falsely claiming that there was a Hungarian investment group interested in buying a controlling stake in the club.

WINTER SPORTS

Grabner, Kober Win

Snowboarding Races

Austria’s Siegfried Grabner and Germany’s Amelie Kober won the snowboarding season’s opening races in World Cup parallel giant slalom events at Landgraaf, Netherlands.

Grabner beat Switzerland’s Simon Schoch in the final of the men’s event, and Olympic silver medalist Kober defeated Marion Kreiner of Austria in the women’s final.

MISCELLANY

Williams Cleared

to Play for West L.A.

Willie Williams, the former University of Miami linebacker who had been arrested 11 times when he signed with the Hurricanes in February 2004, has been cleared to play for West Los Angeles College after sitting out the Oilers’ first five games.

Williams received clearance to play tonight against Moorpark after his Miami transcripts were verified by West L.A. officials. The Oilers are 0-5 overall and 0-3 in the Western State Conference.

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-- Ben Bolch

Trainer Todd Pletcher tied the North American record for most stakes wins in a year when Master Command won the $500,000 Meadowlands Breeders’ Cup by 1 1/4 lengths. It was the 92nd stakes win for Pletcher, tying the mark set by his mentor, D. Wayne Lukas, in 1987.

Former Eastern Washington quarterback Erik Meyer, the 2005 Walter Payton Award winner as the nation’s top NCAA Division I-AA offensive player, has signed a minor league contract with the San Francisco Giants. Meyer was 17-3 his last two years at La Mirada High. He was assigned to the Giants’ entry in the Arizona Instructional League.