Harvick finishes first, but Robby Gordon claims he won

Kevin Harvick held off Patrick Carpentier to win the inaugural NASCAR Busch Series race in Montreal on Saturday, but Robby Gordon defiantly tried to claim the victory in a controversial finish that infuriated NASCAR.

Marcos Ambrose was headed toward what would have been his first NASCAR victory when Gordon passed him after a restart with four laps to go as several cars crashed behind them.

Gordon was out front for mere seconds before Ambrose nudged him from behind to send him into a spin as Ambrose reclaimed the lead.

Gordon was stuck idling on the historic Circuit Gilles Villeneuve as the field roared by him under caution. When he recovered, he gave Ambrose a retaliatory bump, then tried to move into the first position behind the pace car.

Gordon believed he was in first -- and at worst, second -- when the caution waved. But NASCAR said the spin left him unable to maintain his position and ordered him back to 13th.

He refused to drop back, and was second behind Ambrose when the race resumed with three laps left. NASCAR immediately stopped scoring him, but Gordon continued to race.

Gordon knocked Ambrose out of his way and moved into the unofficial lead, but NASCAR refused to acknowledge him and waved the black flag every time he drove past the flagstand.

Andy Pilgrim was behind Gordon but ran out of gas, putting Harvick into the lead with Carpentier right behind him. Carpentier made an attempt to get past Harvick, but faded back and didn’t mount another challenge as Harvick rolled to the win in a Chevrolet.

Fernando Alonso was dropped from the pole for today’s Hungarian Grand Prix at Budapest and will start sixth after a ruling by FIA.

World motor sport’s governing body overruled stewards and determined that the two-time defending Formula One champion and his McLaren team had delayed teammate Lewis Hamilton during a pit stop.

FIA also ruled that any points McLaren earns in the race will count toward only the driver standings -- and not the constructors championship. Hamilton, who leads Alonso in the driver standings, 70-68, will take the pole. McLaren leads the constructor standings with 138 points to 111 for Ferrari.

Dario Franchitti will start today’s Indy Racing League Firestone Indy 400 at Brooklyn, Mich., right where he’d like to finish -- out front. He won the pole with a fast lap of 218.308 mph. Sam Hornish Jr. was second at 218.024.

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TENNIS

ATP chairman vows to investigate betting

Etienne de Villiers, the ATP’s executive chairman, said in an e-mail to the Associated Press that “independent, external resources” would be used to look into why a British online gambling company received about $7 million in wagers on a match involving fourth-ranked Nikolay Davydenko -- 10 times the usual amount.

Most of the money was on No. 87 Martin Vassallo Arguello to win -- and some of those bets were placed after he lost the first set to Davydenko, a semifinalist at the French Open twice and at the U.S. Open last year.

The gambling company, Bet-fair, voided all bets on the second-round match at the Prokom Open at Sopot, Poland. Davydenko wound up winning the second set, then retiring in the third with a left toe injury.

Top-seeded Andy Roddick outlasted seventh-seeded Ivo Karlovic, 7-6 (7), 7-6 (5), to reach the final of the Legg Mason Tennis Classic at Washington.

Roddick closed the match when Karlovic hit a backhand into the net.

Roddick, who is 27-7 in tiebreakers this year, will play unseeded American John Isner in today’s final.

Isner advanced with a 6-7 (4), 7-6 (1), 7-6 (2) victory over ninth-seeded Gael Monfils -- the fifth consecutive day he won a third-set tiebreaker.

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HORSE RACING

Precious Kitten wins Del Mar feature

Precious Kitten, who inherited the favorite’s role when stablemate Price Tag was withdrawn because of a minor illness, won the Grade I $400,000 John C. Mabee Handicap by 1 1/2 lengths over Dancing Edie at Del Mar.

The winning time of 1:46.34 for the 1 1/8 -mile on the turf course bettered the stakes mark of 1:47.09 by Musical Chimes in 2004.

Dancing Edie, the winner of last year’s Mabee ‘Cap, was the second choice at 3-1 and held on gamely after being passed by Precious Kitten to finish second, a nose in front of Memorette.

Larry Stewart

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BEACH VOLLEYBALL

May-Treanor and Walsh win Grand Slam event

Top-seeded Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh scored seven of the last nine points in the second game against third-seeded Juliana Felisberta Silva and Larissa Franca of Brazil to win the $600,000 A1 Grand Slam in Klagenfurt, Austria, 21-16, 23-21.