Waltrip ends his long qualifying drought

After sitting out 12 consecutive NASCAR Nextel Cup Series races, two-time Daytona 500 champion Michael Waltrip qualified 23rd Friday for Sunday’s Autism Speaks 400 race at Dover International Speedway in Delaware.

Embarrassed by an off-track incident where he fell asleep at the wheel and was charged with reckless driving and failing to report an accident, a cheating scandal that cost him his crew chief and the qualifying drought, this has been a miserable season for Waltrip and his Toyota team.

“There’s been too many times when we showed up with a car that was out in left field and we had to try and get it competitive,” Waltrip said. “Today we unloaded and we were competitive. That’s the difference.”

Waltrip, who hasn’t raced in Nextel Cup competition since the season-opening Daytona 500, was caught cheating during Daytona 500 preparations when NASCAR found a fuel additive in his engine, and was docked a record 100 driver points. He eventually parted ways with crew chief David Hyder.

Ryan Newman, who had a fast lap of 152.925 mph in a Dodge, won the pole. Dale Earnhardt Jr. qualified second at 152.387 in a Chevrolet.

Ron Hornaday Jr. dominated at the end and drove his Chevrolet to an easy victory in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series AAA Insurance 200 at Dover International Speedway.

Hornaday beat Stacy Compton by 7.009 seconds. Travis Kvapil was third, and Johnny Benson and Mike Bliss rounded out the top five.

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COLLEGE GOLF

Duke’s Schachner (60) sets NCAA record

Duke’s Michael Schachner broke the NCAA tournament record with a 10-under-par 60, and Stanford took a two-stroke lead over Coastal Carolina with one round left at the Division I championships at Williamsburg, Va.

Schachner, 120th after rounds of 79 and 69, bettered the record of 10-under 62 by Stanford’s Notah Begay in 1994. Schachner jumped to 14th, four strokes behind the third-round leaders.

Stanford, seeking its first team title since 1994, shot a five-under 275 -- with the top four scores from the five-man team counting in the standings -- for a 12-under 828 total.

Stanford’s Rob Grube shot a 69 for a share of the individual lead at six-under 204 with Clemson’s Kyle Stanley (65) and Georgia Tech’s Cameron Tringale (69).

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JURISPRUDENCE

Bengals’ Thurman gets six-day sentence

Cincinnati Bengals linebacker Odell Thurman was sentenced to six days in a treatment program, settling his drunk driving conviction. Hamilton County Municipal Court Judge John Burlew also put Thurman, who is still suspended by the NFL for violating its substance abuse program, on two years’ probation.

Burlew sentenced Thurman to 90 days in prison but offered to reduce the sentence if he got treatment for alcohol abuse. The judge agreed to suspend all but six days of the sentence and allowed him to serve those days at a treatment center.

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BASKETBALL

Adubato resigns as Mystics coach

Washington Mystics Coach Richie Adubato resigned after the team started the WNBA season 0-4. The team did not specify why he quit just before the Mystics’ home game against Chicago. Assistant Tree Rollins was named interim coach.

The Mystics were 33-39 under Adubato, who joined the team before the 2005 season. He was the longest-tenured coach in the team’s history.

Scott Pera, formerly the head coach at Artesia High, has been promoted to assistant coach at Arizona State.

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MISCELLANY

Washington advances in NCAA softball

Danielle Lawrie pitched a one-hitter and struck out 11 to lead Washington (42-17) to a 9-0 victory over Northwestern (51-12) in the second round of the NCAA Division I World Series at Oklahoma City.

The game was stopped after five innings by the mercy rule after Washington scored six runs in the top half of the inning.

The victory left the Huskies as the only team in the double-elimination tournament that is unbeaten.

Former starting cornerback Kelly Herndon was cut by the Seattle Seahawks, who made the move because they think former first-round draft pick Kelly Jennings is ready to start at the position this season.

Herndon started all 16 regular-season games in 2006 and had a career-high-tying 67 tackles before he broke his ankle in the regular-season finale at Tampa Bay.

The first Harry Ornest Memorial Award in Sports Journalism has been given to Ken Fowler of Notre Dame. As part of the award, Fowler will spend 10 weeks this summer, before returning for his senior year, as an intern in The Times sports department.

The Ornest Family Foundation, created after the 1998 death of the longtime pro team owner, executive and resident of Beverly Hills, has established this annual program, in conjunction with Notre Dame and The Times sports department, to honor Harry Ornest’s fondness for the sportswriting profession.