Harvick Has Some Fun and Wins Nextel Cup Pole

It seems the pressure is definitely off now that NASCAR’s Chase for the Nextel Cup championship is ready to begin.

Kevin Harvick’s main objective Friday was to gain a little revenge on fellow Chase driver and rookie Denny Hamlin, who hit the veteran in the face with a pie during a TV appearance 24 hours earlier.

And winning the pole for Sunday’s Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire International Speedway in Loudon was nice too.

“The biggest goal I had was to get Denny Hamlin,” Harvick said minutes after winning his first pole in just over a year. “We’ve been planning that all day. He got me pretty good yesterday on the ‘Regis and Kelly’ show.”

Payback came moments after Hamlin qualified. He got out of his car on pit road and had just begun an interview with several TV reporters when Harvick stepped up with a pan filled with whipped cream and put it squarely in his face.

“I think this is fun,” said Harvick, who took the top spot with a lap of 132.282 mph in a Chevrolet on the 1.058-mile oval. “Racing for a championship has to be fun.”

Jeff Gordon, another Chase driver, qualified second at 131.751, followed by Penske Racing South teammates Kurt Busch and Ryan Newman at 131.483 and 131.216, respectively, and Hamlin.

Series leader Matt Kenseth qualified 25th, runner-up Jimmie Johnson was seventh and the rest of the Chase contenders were scattered through the 43-car field, with Dale Earnhardt Jr. eighth, Kyle Busch 16th, Jeff Burton 22nd, Mark Martin 26th and Kasey Kahne 33rd.

TENNIS

Top-seeded Ljubicic

Upset at China Open

Top-seeded Ivan Ljubicic, the ATP Tour’s third-ranked player, lost to Lee Hyung-taik, 6-3, 7-6 (3), in the quarterfinals of the China Open at Beijing.

Lee will next play fourth-seeded Mario Ancic, who defeated fifth-seeded Dominik Hrbaty, 2-6, 7-6 (4), 6-4. Third-seeded Marco Baghdatis beat Danai Udomchoke, 6-2, 6-1.

The top three seeded players -- Svetlana Kuznetsova, Patty Schnyder and Lindsay Davenport -- won in straight sets to reach the semifinals of the Wismilak International at Bali, Indonesia.

Davenport, seeded third, defeated Hana Sromova, 6-1, 6-0, and will play top-seeded Kuznetsova, who beat eighth-seeded Severine Bremond, 6-2, 6-2.

Second-seeded Schnyder defeated Melinda Czink, 6-2, 6-2, and will play Marion Bartoli, who beat Olga Poutchkova, 6-2, 6-4.

Third-seeded Carlos Moya was upset by fifth-seeded Filippo Volandri, 6-3, 6-3, in the quarterfinals of the BCR Open at Bucharest, Romania. Volandri advanced to the semifinals against Florent Serra, who beat Florian Mayer, 6-3, 7-6 (5).

The United States will play top-seeded Belgium in the first round of the 2007 Fed Cup on April 21-22 at a venue to be chosen by the U.S. Tennis Assn.

SOCCER

FIFA’s Warner to Face

Disciplinary Committee

Jack Warner, a FIFA vice president who heads soccer’s regional governing body in North and Central America and the Caribbean, will face a disciplinary committee over accusations that he sold thousands of tickets at inflated prices during the World Cup.

FIFA President Sepp Blatter said at a news conference in Zurich, Switzerland, that a 19-member group will look into allegations that Warner illegally sold nearly $1 million worth of tickets.

Blatter said Warner “flatly denies the charges or evidence against him.” FIFA did not elaborate on any possible punishment and said no date has been set for the committee to meet.

Chivas USA forward Juan Francisco Palencia will be sidelined up to six weeks because of a sprained ligament in his right knee. He was injured late in the first half of Wednesday night’s 1-0 victory over FC Dallas when he collided with Simo Valakari. He had an MRI on Thursday.

Midfielder Markus Schopp, a member of the Austrian national team and the squad’s captain during the 1998 World Cup, has joined the New York Red Bulls. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but the MLS team said he would be eligible to play the Columbus Crew tonight.

PRO BASKETBALL

Heat Picks Up Options

on Wright and Simien

The Miami Heat picked up options on guard Dorell Wright and forward Wayne Simien, ensuring they remain under contract for at least two more seasons.

Both options were under the NBA’s rookie scale, with Wright’s for a fourth year and Simien’s for a third.

MISCELLANY

British Runner Banned

for Missing Drug Tests

British runner Christine Ohuruogu was banned for one year for missing three out-of-competition doping tests in 18 months. The penalty, announced by UK Athletics, runs until Aug. 6, 2007, and will keep the 400-meter Commonwealth Games champion out of the 2007 world championships.

She also faces a possible lifetime ban from the Olympics. British Olympic Assn. rules state that an athlete who commits a doping violation is automatically banned from the Games.