After penalty, Edwards drops to sixth in Chase

Carl Edwards dropped from third to sixth in NASCAR’s Chase playoff standings Tuesday after he was docked 25 points for a technical infraction found after his victory Sunday at Dover, Del.

The victory had catapulted Edwards to within three points of Chase leader Jeff Gordon and one behind second-place Tony Stewart, but Edwards is now 28 points back.

Edwards’ Ford failed to meet NASCAR’s minimum height requirements in its right-rear fender area during post-race inspection.

NASCAR officials believed the violation was unintentional, and that probably was the reason Edwards’ penalty was relatively mild for a technical infraction on the Car of Tomorrow.

-- Ed Hinton

Tony Raines was fined $15,000 and docked 25 Busch Series points for throwing his helmet at Robby Gordon.

Raines was angry at Gordon after Gordon knocked him out of Saturday’s race at Dover International Raceway, and he waited on the track for Gordon to pass by under caution. He then hurled his helmet at Gordon.

NASCAR penalized Raines for entering the race track surface without authorization and throwing his helmet at a competitor’s car.

In addition, car owner DeLana Harvick was docked 25 owner points.

TENNIS

Venus Williams wins at the Korea Open

Top-seeded Venus Williams cruised into the second round of the Korea Open in Seoul, defeating Abigail Spears, 6-2, 6-3.

In other first-round matches, defending champion No. 5 Eleni Daniilidou defeated Caroline Wozniacki, 6-4, 6-4, Martina Muller beat Han Sung-hee, 6-1, 6-0, Ahsha Rolle defeated Anne Keothavong, 6-1, 6-1, and Mathilde Johansson beat Junri Namigata, 7-5, 6-2.

Nicolas Kiefer and Rainer Schuettler won rain-interrupted matches to advance to the second round of the Mumbai Open in India.

Kiefer defeated Paul-Henri Mathieu, 6-4, 6-3, and Schuettler beat Julien Benneteau, 7-5, 6-3.

Ivo Karlovic used 23 aces to defeat Feliciano Lopez, 7-6 (2), 6-3, at the Thailand Open in Nonthaburi. Fifth-seeded Carlos Moya was upset by Benjamin Becker, 7-6 (5), 6-4.

Marion Bartoli defeated defending champion Alona Bondarenko, 6-3, 6-2, in the first round of the Fortis Championships in Luxembourg.

Memorial Coliseum in Portland, Ore., will play host to the Davis Cup final between the United States and defending champion Russia from Nov. 30 to Dec. 2.

PRO BASKETBALL

Williamson set to announce retirement

Corliss Williamson, a reserve forward for the Sacramento Kings last season, is set to retire from the NBA and become an assistant coach at Arkansas Baptist College, the school’s athletic director said.

Williamson, who led Arkansas to the 1994 national championship, has played 12 pro seasons with Sacramento, Toronto, Detroit and Philadelphia. He was on the Pistons when they won the 2004 NBA title.

Williamson averaged 9.1 points in 68 games last season with Sacramento.

Former Milwaukee Bucks assistant Mike Sanders was hired to replace Dell Curry, who stepped down as an assistant coach with the Charlotte Bobcats.

MISCELLANY

Dolan testifies in harassment trial

James Dolan, the chairman of Madison Square Garden, testified that he fired a top executive after learning she tried to get subordinates to help build a sexual harassment case against New York Knicks Coach Isiah Thomas.

Dolan told a jury in U.S. District Court that another company executive told him that MSG vice president Anucha Browne Sanders tampered with an internal investigation of her discrimination claims by meeting with her employees and trying to persuade them to support her.

He said he was also told before the January 2006 firing that she was demanding $6 million not to lodge a harassment complaint.

Japan ended a 13-game losing streak at the Rugby World Cup, holding Canada to a 12-12 tie at Paris.

Japan, assured of elimination from the tournament and playing its final group match, earned the draw in Bordeaux with an injury time try.

In the other game, Romania twice rallied to defeat Portugal, 14-10, in Toulouse.

Dick Pound, the chairman of the World Anti-Doping Agency, said that he would be surprised if Olympic athletes were not among the clients of the 56 labs raided in a U.S. government crackdown on the sale and production of performance-enhancing drugs with ingredients produced mainly in China.

“We need to get that information sooner than later,” Pound said.

The British Open will be played at Royal St. George’s in 2011 and Royal Lytham & St. Annes in 2012, the first time golf’s oldest championship will be held in England in consecutive years.

Final figures at Keeneland’s September Yearling Sale were 3.7% below last year’s record of nearly $400 million, and the average price per horse fell almost 10% as the 15-day event drew to a close. The average was $101,347, down 9.9% from the 2006 record of $112,427.