NASCAR-DAYTONA-QUALIFYING
Gilliland lands pole for Coke Zero 400 at Daytona
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) β David Gilliland has won the pole for the Sprint Cup race Saturday night at Daytona International Speedway after rain shortened qualifying.
Gilliland’s top speed during a hectic, cat-and-mouse qualifying session was 199.322 mph. The top 24 drivers Friday in the first knockout stage were supposed to advance to the next round, but rain prompted NASCAR to cancel the final two sessions.
Reed Sorenson qualified second, followed by Landon Cassill, Bobby Labonte and Jimmie Johnson.
It was the first time NASCAR’s new qualifying rules were used at Daytona, and it produced some hairy moments as groups of cars slowed to a crawl around the 2 1/2-mile superspeedway. The small packs β most of them formed by teammates β were hoping to pull behind bigger groups to produce fast laps. But no one was eager to lead the way.
NASCAR-NATIONWIDE-QUALIFYING
Rain causes 7-car wreck in Nationwide qualifying
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) β A small rain shower caused a seven-car accident during Nationwide Series qualifying at Daytona International Speedway.
Team spotters and NASCAR officials seemingly didn’t see the rain until after a group of cars drove through it during the first session of knockout qualifying. Mike Bliss lost control of his No. 19 Toyota coming out of turn two, and several cars in the tight-knit pack got caught up in the accident.
Eric McClure, Robert Richardson Jr., Scott Lagasse Jr., Ross Chastain, Benny Gordon and Joe Nemechek also were involved.
NASCAR canceled the final two qualifying sessions, setting the field for Friday night’s Subway Firecracker 250 by speeds from the rain-shortened session.
Dakoda Armstrong won his first pole in 23 starts. Five drivers, including Gordon and veteran Bobby Gerhart, failed to qualify.
GREENBRIER CLASSIC
Navy vet Billy Hurley takes Greenbrier lead
WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.Va. (AP) β Billy Hurley III shot a 7-under 63 on Friday to take a one-stroke lead after the second round of the Greenbrier Classic.
Hurley played bogey-free in shooting his lowest score of the season. The former U.S. Navy officer says it was “pretty cool” that it occurred on America’s birthday.
Hurley is at 9-under 131, a stroke ahead of Kevin Chappell and Chris Stroud. Chappell had a 65 and Stroud shot 66.
Troy Matteson had a 61 to vault into fourth place at 7 under. He has made the cut in all five years of the Greenbrier Classic.
Brice Garnett, Steve Stricker and Chris Kirk were 6 under. Garnett shot 66, Stricker 68 and Kirk 69.
First-round leader Jonas Blixt, the defending champion, had three early bogeys and shot 73 to drop to 3 under.
FexEx Cup points leader Jimmy Walker missed the cut.
BRITISH OPEN-HOWELL
Charles Howell III withdraws from British Open
WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.Va. (AP) β Charles Howell III is skipping the British Open.
Howell said Friday at the Greenbrier Classic that he withdrew because of “a personal family reason” and wouldn’t comment further.
Earlier in the day, the R&A announced Howell chose not to play in the July 17-20 tournament at Royal Liverpool. He was replaced by Denmark’s Thorbjorn Olesen.
Howell and six others were added to the field this week through their spots in the world ranking.
CUBS-NATIONALS
Ruggiano homers, Cubs cool off Nationals 7-2
WASHINGTON (AP) β Justin Ruggiano homered for the second straight game for the Chicago Cubs, who used another solid outing from Jason Hammel to beat the Washington Nationals 7-2 on Friday.
Ruggiano connected for a solo shot against Tanner Roark (7-6) in the third inning, and then added a run-scoring single in Chicago’s three-run ninth. He has six hits and seven RBIs in his last two games.
Chris Coghlan had two hits and scored three times as the Cubs collected 14 hits in their fourth consecutive victory. Hammel (8-5) gave up two runs in six-plus innings.
BELMONT
Sayaad wins Belmont’s Forbidden Apple Stakes
NEW YORK (AP) β Sayaad held off even-money favorite Kharafa by 2 1/4 lengths Friday in the $150,000 Forbidden Apple Stakes on the rain-softened turf at Belmont Park.
Sayaad, ridden by Jose Ortiz, led all the way for his fifth win in 11 starts. The 4-year-old trained by Kiaran McLaughlin paid $8.60, $3.30 and $2.30.
The time was 1:38,27 for a mile on the yielding course.
Kharafa returned $2.90 and $2.10, and Bio Pro paid $2.30 to show.
MONMOUTH PARK FEATURE
Slim Shadey wins Monmouth Park feature
OCEANPORT, N.J. (AP) β Slim Shadey took the lead in the backstretch and drew off in the stretch to win the $75,000 Elkwood Stakes at Monmouth Park on Friday, beating Midnight Cello by 2 3/4 lengths.
Owned and trained by David Jacobson and ridden by Chuck C. Lopez, the 6-year-old gelding ran a mile on the sloppy track in 1:36 4/5 and returned $6 and $2.80. The win was the sixth in 37 career starts for Slim Shadey.
The race originally was scheduled for the turf, but was moved to the main track due to rains that fell during the day.
The switch resulted in several scratches, leaving a field of five horses. There was no show betting.
Midnight Cello returned $3.60, and Joe Tess was 2 3/4 lengths back in third.
BRISTOL DRAGWAY-BODY
Police: Body found in hauler at Bristol Dragway
(Information in the following story is from: Bristol Herald Courier, http://www.bristolnews.com)
BRISTOL, Tenn. (AP) β Police in eastern Tennessee are investigating after the body of a man turned up in a car hauler at the Bristol Dragway.
Bristol Police Detective Jared Patrick told the Bristol Herald-Courier that it appears the man inhaled exhaust fumes from a parked car operating inside the hauler. Patrick says the death would likely be ruled a suicide.
Police were called to track just after 6 p.m. Thursday. The trailer had been parked in the Hospitality Village lot across from the drag strip complex where the weekly Street Fights competition was taking place that evening.
The Sullivan County Coroner’s Office says the remains were taken to the Quillen College of Medicine for an autopsy.
Patrick said that foul play was not suspected.
