Earnhardt Wins, but It Isn’t Easy

Dale Earnhardt Jr. outlasted a season-high 13 cautions to beat Matt Kenseth in an under-caution finish in the NASCAR Busch Series Food City 250 Friday night at Bristol, Tenn.

Earnhardt, who started from the pole in a Chevrolet, led a race-high 125 laps, but several late cautions bunched up the field and gave the drivers a chance to catch him at Bristol Motor Speedway.

He had a terrific restart with nine laps to go, easily pulling away from Kevin Harvick. But Kenseth pushed past Harvick and was gaining on Earnhardt when the 13th caution flag came out for a wreck involving Tony Raines and Jay Sauter.

It set up the first finish under caution of the Busch Series, and Earnhardt once again got a jump to pull away from Kenseth for his second Busch Series win in four starts this season.

“I was worried because I got a lot of stuff on the tires,” Earnhardt said. “But Matt did a good job, he could have run all over me. The last lap I was chugging through corners. He laid off of me. It was a good race, a good win.”

Kyle Busch finished third, ending his streak of two consecutive Busch Series victories. Harvick was fourth, giving Nextel Cup Series regulars three of the top four spots.

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Jeff Gordon won the pole for tonight’s NASCAR Nextel Cup Series Sharpie 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway with a speed of 128.520 mph in his Chevrolet. It was the 52nd pole of his career and series-best sixth this season. Kasey Kahne qualified second in a Dodge with a fast lap of 127.410 mph.

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Sebastien Bourdais added to his already huge lead in the Champ Car World Series, earning the single point for taking the provisional pole for Sunday’s Montreal Molson Indy.

Bourdais drove his Newman/Haas Racing Lola to a lap of 1 minute 21.695 seconds -- a speed of 119.376 mph -- on the 2.709-mile Circuit Gilles Villeneuve track.

Tennis

Two-time defending champion Paradorn Srichaphan rallied for a 3-6, 7-6 (3), 6-3 victory over seventh-seeded Joachim Johansson in the quarterfinals of the TD Waterhouse Cup at Commack, N.Y.

The victory avenged his 6-2, 6-3 loss to Johansson in the Athens Olympics.

Srichaphan will play ninth-seeded Luis Horna in the semifinals. Horna, who has no titles in his seven years on the ATP Tour, beat Nikolay Davydenko, 6-4, 6-7 (2), 6-4.

Seventh-seeded Elena Bovina capitalized on her big serve to overpower second-seeded Elena Dementieva, 6-1, 6-1, in the semifinals of the Pilot Pen tournament in New Haven, Conn.

Bovina’s serves were usually over 100 mph. Dementieva committed four double faults and rarely served the ball faster than 80 mph.

In today’s final, Bovina will play her doubles partner, Lisa Raymond, who defeated eighth-seeded Nathalie Dechy, 6-4, 6-0.

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Soccer

Diego Maradona will continue his drug rehabilitation in Argentina while a judge considers his request to seek treatment outside the country, judicial officials said in Buenos Aires.

Maradona, who has been confined to a psychiatric hospital for the last three months, has pleaded with authorities to allow him to travel to Cuba, where he underwent drug rehab four years ago.

After meeting with the 43-year-old former soccer great and his family, a federal judge overseeing Maradona’s rehabilitation said he should remain in Argentina pending further discussion about a possible relocation.

Ruben Baraja scored in the 33rd minute and Marco Di Vaio scored the winning goal in the 67th minute at Monte Carlo to help UEFA Cup champion Valencia defeat Champions League winner Porto, 2-1, to win the European SuperCup.

Goalkeeper Marcos of World Cup champion Brazil underwent surgery on his left hand in Sao Paulo and will be sidelined the rest of the Brazilian league season, the Palmeiras soccer club said.

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Miscellany

Guard Gilbert Arenas of the Washington Wizards was suspended by the NBA for one game because he failed to maintain proper registration of a handgun in 2003.

Arenas, 22, who signed a six-year, $65 million contract with the Wizards in August 2003, said in a statement released by the team that he had maintained the needed registration in Arizona, but failed to do so while living in California when he played for the Golden State Warriors

Matt Shaw, a 6-foot-7 junior basketball player who helped Los Angeles Verbum Dei High win consecutive Southern Section Division IV-A championships, has transferred to defending state champion L.A. Fairfax. He moved into the school’s attendance area, making him eligible immediately.

Last year, Verbum Dei lost another top player, 6-9 Amir Johnson, who transferred to Westchester but then was declared ineligible. Johnson is eligible to play this season.