Crew chief Tony Eury Jr. leaves JR Motorsports

Tony Eury Jr., the crew chief who guided Danica Patrick’s entry into NASCAR stock-car racing, has left her JR Motorsports team that races in NASCAR’s second-tier Nationwide Series.

Dale Earnhardt Jr., the popular NASCAR driver who co-owns JR Motorsports, said in a statement that “as we’ve discussed the direction of JR Motorsports moving forward, it is clear our differences in ideas were too vast to overcome.” Eury also is Earnhardt’s cousin and a co-owner of JR Motorsports.

“I love him like a brother, and you’ll never hear me say a bad thing about him,” Earnhardt said of Eury.

Eury’s successor was not immediately named but Ryan Pemberton, an experienced crew chief who recently joined JR Motorsports, reportedly was a leading candidate.

Patrick, the former IndyCar driver in her first full season in the Nationwide Series, is 11th in the point standings after 26 races with no top-five finishes and two top-10 finishes. Patrick also is driving in 10 races this year in NASCAR’s elite Sprint Cup Series (in which Earnhardt competes) — but with a different team, Stewart-Haas Racing — with plans to graduate to that series in 2013.

— Jim Peltz

ETC.

Sandusky to be sentenced on Oct. 9

A judge in Bellefonte, Pa., announced he will sentence Jerry Sandusky on Oct. 9, nearly four months after the retired assistant football coach was convicted in the child molestation scandal that brought shame to Penn State.

Sandusky was convicted in June of 45 counts of sex abuse involving 10 boys. Prosecutors said some of the assaults took place on the Penn State campus.

Given his age and the serious nature of the crimes of which he was convicted, Sandusky is likely to receive a sentence that will keep the 68-year-old in prison for life. He is jailed pending sentencing and maintains his innocence.

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Nebraska football Coach Bo Pelini says he has a clean bill of health and that he left a game over the weekend because he and team doctors were concerned a case of heartburn and his sense of feeling disoriented might be signs of a serious medical problem. Pelini said a series of tests were negative.

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Three University of Wisconsin students have been charged in attack on Badgers running back Montee Ball.

Wendell Venerable, Robert Wilks and Deonte Wilson appeared in Dane County Circuit Court on Monday where a judge continued their signature bonds. A criminal complaint says Ball was kicked and punched Aug. 1 as he walked in Madison. The complaint says a friend interrupted the attack when she threw herself over Ball on the ground.

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Tennessee’s defense will play the rest of the season without its leading tackler. Sophomore free safety Brian Randolph tore his anterior cruciate ligament during the Volunteers’ 37-20 loss to No. 14 Florida, Tennessee Coach Derek Dooley said.

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The Fiesta Bowl’s former chief operating officer has been sentenced to two years of probation for her role in an illegal campaign-finance scheme.

The Arizona Republic reported that Natalie Wisneski was sentenced Monday in federal court. She pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge in March.

Wisneski avoided jail time because she helped prosecutors in multiple cases against current and former Fiesta Bowl employees who were allegedly engaged in the scheme.

Wisneski conspired with others to ask bowl employees to make campaign contributions. The employers were then illegally reimbursed by the bowl.

The scheme, first reported by The Arizona Republic, tarnished the Fiesta Bowl’s image.

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Authorities say two-time Olympic gold medalist snowboarder Shaun White has been charged with public intoxication and vandalism after an incident at a Nashville hotel.

According to a police affidavit, White tried to attack a hotel guest who had followed him out of the hotel early Sunday morning. When the guest told White he had called the police, the skateboarder “attempted to attack the man and fell and hit his head.”

The report says White appeared to be drunk.

A separate affidavit states that White deliberately broke a phone belonging to the hotel.

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Central Florida has officially filed its appeal of a one-year NCAA postseason ban in football, following sanctions levied against it for major recruiting violations.

School officials announced the submission Monday, a month after notifying the NCAA of its intent to challenge it.

::Two-time beach volleyball Olympian Phil Dalhausser says he will play next season with Sean Rosenthal.

The 2008 gold medalist was looking for a new partner because his old one, Todd Rogers, says he’s done playing internationally. Rosenthal made it to the last two Olympics with Jake Gibb, who would be 40 by the time the Olympics are in Rio de Janeiro in 2016.

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Billy Gillispie said doctors have ordered him to avoid any stress for 30 days in an effort to bring the Texas Tech basketball coach’s blood pressure down.

In a text message sent to the Associated Press, Gillispie confirmed he’d been treated for kidney problems and abnormal headaches last week at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota.

The school had no comment on Gillispie, who is currently on indefinite sick leave as Texas Tech gets set to begin practicing Oct. 12.