WINSTON-SALEM OPEN
Rosol beats Lu in 3 sets in semis
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) β Lukas Rosol of the Czech Republic advanced to the finals of the Winston-Salem Open on Friday after beating Taiwan’s Yen-Hsun Lu 7-5, 4-6, 6-4 in the final tuneup for next week’s U.S. Open.
Rosol, seeded seventh, will take on the winner of Friday’s second semifinal between Sam Querrey of the U.S. and Poland’s Jerzy Janowicz on Saturday at the Wake Forest Tennis Center.
Rosol took a key service break from Lu to go up 5-4 in the third set, then saved three break points to serve out the match and advance to his third ATP Tour tournament final this year.
Lu, who had beaten Rosol in their only previous meeting last year in Thailand, twice had chances to put away Friday’s match early. He used a service break to go up 4-1 in the first set before Rosol rallied, and nearly blew a 5-2 advantage in the second set before winning the set.
EAST CAROLINA-HARDY & CARDEN
Hardy, Carden chasing records for Pirates’ offense
GREENVILLE, N.C. (AP) β Justin Hardy and Shane Carden started their East Carolina careers working together on the scout team. Four years later, their connection means everything to the Pirates’ pass-heavy attack β and has put both fifth-year seniors within reach of all kinds of records.
Hardy has the chance to set the bowl subdivision record for career catches and has already set the program’s career record for receiving yards. The receiver has 266 career catches, putting him 84 away from passing Oklahoma’s Ryan Broyles (349) for the FBS career record. Hardy had 114 as a junior.
Carden, meanwhile, could own nearly every ECU career passing record by the end of the season.
Offensive coordinator Lincoln Riley says both players are “very, very in synch” and have a strong relationship from their scout-team days.
NASCAR-CHASE ADS
NASCAR rolls out glitzy new ad campaign for Chase
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) β NASCAR will promote its revamped Chase for the Sprint Cup championship format with a new ad campaign officially launched Friday themed “Sixteen nations: Ten battles. One will prevail.”
The campaign is a collaboration between ad agency Ogilvy & Mather New York, NASCAR and ESPN, and features five original television spots and an educational video. There’s also a social media push behind the campaign, and several drivers tweeted a link to the educational video earlier this week.
It’s the most engaging advertising campaign in NASCAR history, and is meant to draw attention to the 10-race Chase that begins Sept. 14. The final phase of the campaign, before the Nov. 16 season finale at Homestead, concludes with the “Four nations battle. One will prevail” theme.
MONTGOMERY-SPEEDING ARREST
Trooper who arrested NFL’s Montgomery fired
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) β The South Carolina state trooper who arrested NFL defensive lineman Sam Montgomery at a traffic stop last June has been fired.
The state Department of Public Safety said Friday that Lance Cpl. R.S. Salter was terminated for violating agency policies including conduct unbecoming a state employee. Salter stopped Montgomery in June when the Cincinnati Bengals defensive lineman was returning to his Greenwood home.
Montgomery was arrested and spent a night in jail after Salter clocked him going 89 mph in a 55 mph zone. But the trooper’s dashboard camera also captured the officer threatening to use a Taser because the 6-foot-3, 262-pound lineman was struggling to understand his commands.
The agency said Salter’s interaction with Montgomery was inconsistent with how troopers are trained to conduct themselves during such traffic stops.
NASCAR-BRISTOL-QUALIFYING
Harvick wins Bristol pole; 5th of this season
BRISTOL, Tenn. (AP) β Kevin Harvick will start from the pole position Saturday night at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Harvick turned a lap at a track-record 131.362 mph Friday night. He knocked Jeff Gordon from the top spot for his 11th career pole. It is his fifth pole this season, which he attributes to one thing: “faster cars.”
Gordon, the points leader, will start outside the front row, with Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch in the second row.
Edwards won here in the spring, and Busch has won five times on the 0.533-mile oval.
Joey Logano and Jimmie Johnson are in the third row, with Kurt Busch and Greg Biffle in the fourth.
Biffle is the only one of the top eight qualifiers who has not sealed a spot in the championship.
NASCAR-BIFFLE SPONSOR
Roush Fenway lands Ortho as sponsor
BRISTOL, Tenn. (AP) β Roush Fenway Racing has landed Ortho as a sponsor for “roughly half” of Greg Biffle’s races next season.
Biffle’s team is losing sponsor 3M after this season. It will run under the Ortho colors beginning next week in Atlanta.
Roush Fenway Racing President Steve Newmark said Friday it was unclear which races will run with Ortho as the primary sponsor. The new paint scheme features images of red fire ants and the words “fire ant killer.”
Biffle stands 16th in the point standings with three races to go before the championship field is set. He said having Ortho as a sponsor is fortunate because he often encounters fire ants when parking his motor home at race tracks in the South.
Ortho is a brand of the Scotts Miracle-Gro Co.
TITANS-FALCONS
Hester looking for Falcons’ rebound against Titans
ATLANTA (AP) β From his vantage point in Chicago, Devin Hester saw the Atlanta Falcons as “always competing in the playoffs.”
Hester says the chance to get back to the postseason was a big reason he signed with Atlanta β despite the Falcons’ 4-12 finish last season.
Now Hester is anxious for the Falcons to look like a playoff contender when Atlanta starters get an extended look in their third preseason game against Tennessee on Saturday night.
The Falcons struggled in last week’s ugly 32-7 preseason loss at the Texans. Hester provided one of Atlanta’s few highlights with his 12-yard touchdown catch.
Hester is best known as one of the top return specialists in NFL history. The opportunity to contribute on offense was another reason he signed a three-year, $9 million deal with Atlanta in March.
