DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Martin Truex Jr., vying to get into NASCAR’s Chase for the championship, started the weekend with a significant setback.
Truex’s Chevrolet failed inspection before practice, prompting NASCAR officials to impound the car and sending Truex’s crew scrambling to get the backup ready.
“Somebody made a big mistake,” said Truex, who drives the No. 1 for Dale Earnhardt Inc. “Shouldn’t happen in this level of auto racing, but people make mistakes.”
Truex’s car failed to fit NASCAR’s roof template, and NASCAR decided to take a closer look at it. Officials planned to send the car to the sanctioning body’s research and development center in Concord, N.C., and check out the roof design.
Truex enters Saturday’s Sprint Cup race in 14th place in the points standings, 71 shy of being in position to be guaranteed a place in the Chase.
• New England Patriots all-pro receiver Randy Moss became the latest athlete to cross into NASCAR when he announced he has purchased 50 percent of Morgan-Dollar Motorsports, a fledgling Truck Series team racing this season without sponsorship.
Hamm warned by USADA
COLORADO SPRINGS — Gymnast Morgan Hamm, who was selected for his third Olympic team last month, received a warning for getting a prescribed anti-inflammatory shot without the proper clearance from anti-doping authorities.
The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency said Hamm tested positive May 24 at the U.S. gymnastics championships for a glucocorticosteroid, a cortisone-like drug that is allowed during competitions only with an exemption. Hamm said he received the shot May 2 for pain and inflammation in his left ankle, which he initially injured last August.
“It was an innocent mistake,” Hamm said.
Footnotes.
Former track star Tim Montgomery, once dubbed “the world’s fastest man,” pleaded guilty to distributing heroin, averting a trial set for next week in Norfolk, Va.
The Olympic gold medalist and former 100-meter world-record holder was sentenced in May to nearly four years in prison for his role in a check-kiting conspiracy.
He faces a minimum of five years in prison on the heroin charges at his Oct. 10 sentencing.
• Defensive tackle Kyle Williams signed a three-year contract extension with the Buffalo Bills potentially worth $14.4 million.
• Georgia defensive end Michael Lemon was suspended from the team after he was charged with punching a student and breaking his eye socket.
• Sophia Young’s three-point play with 5.5 seconds left lifted the San Antonio Silver Stars to a 68-67 WNBA win over the Sacramento Monarchs. In other action, the Houston Comets beat the Atlanta Dream 72-65.
• Nick Rimando stopped Brian Mullan’s shot in the 84th minute, preserving host Real Salt Lake’s 0-0 MLS tie with the Houston Dynamo.
• Warren Ferguson, a judge who helped pave the way for teenage basketball players to join the NBA, has died. He was 87.
The Associated Press
