Briefly

Newman, struggling in playoff, takes the pole at Martinsville

Ryan Newman must be close to perfect the rest of the way to win the Nextel Cup championship. He took a positive step by grabbing the pole Friday at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway.

“It’s a good start to the entire weekend,” said Newman, ninth among 10 drivers and 271 points behind series leader Kurt Busch halfway through NASCAR’s 10-race playoff.

Newman needs outstanding finishes in the final five races, and quite a bit of good luck. The narrow half-mile oval at Martinsville – where bunched fields frequently leads to crashes – might be a good place to find a little good fortune.

Like six of the other drivers in the title chase, Newman can’t contend without bad finishes by Busch, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jeff Gordon, who have been turning the competition into a three-way battle.

“We’re looking for places to make up major ground because we need that now,” Newman said. “We’re not out of the championship by any means. We’re not in the best position, but we’ll keep our nose to the grindstone.”

Busch won’t dispute that Martinsville could be one of the keys to the points race.

“This is a race where it could knock the top three out and it could be a 10-car race,” he said. “It could go either way.”

Newman led the way on the newly resurfaced oval where 17 drivers broke the track qualifying record. He turned a lap at 97.043 mph to win his series-high seventh pole of the season, breaking Tony Stewart’s 4-year-old mark of 95.371.

Newman’s Dodge will be joined on the front row by that of teammate Rusty Wallace, who qualified for Sunday’s Subway 500 at 96.234.

The Chevrolets of Earnhardt and Ward Burton make up the second row, followed by Travis Kvapil in a Dodge and Scott Riggs’ Chevy.

“Rain washed out qualifying for the NASCAR Truck Series race, causing the starting grid to be set by owner points and leaving Darrell Waltrip out of the field.

Series leader Bobby Hamilton will start first today in Martinsville, Va., in the 22nd of 25 races in the series, with Dennis Setzer on the outside of the front row. Hamilton leads Setzer by 79 points and third-place starter Ted Musgrave by 165.

“NASCAR Busch series points leader Martin Truex Jr. won his seventh pole of the season in qualifying for today’s Sam’s Town 250 at Memphis (Tenn.) Motorsports Park.

Truex, 144 points ahead of Kyle Busch, sped around the three-quarter-mile oval at 120.198 mph – just off Jeff Green’s four-year-old qualifying record of 120.267.

“Canada’s Paul Tracy overcame a damaged nosecone in practice to claim the pole position for Sunday’s Lexmark Indy 300 in Surfers Paradise, Australia. He had the fastest time — 1 minute, 33.556 seconds over the 2.795-mile street course.

“Formula One’s governing body imposed sweeping technical changes designed to slash costs and improve the quality of racing starting next year.

It hopes the changes will enable low-budget teams to be more competitive. Changes will involve aerodynamics, tires and engines. The aim is to give F1’s small-time players more of a chance against free spenders such as Ferrari, whose dominance threatens to drive away TV viewers bored by races with little overtaking or exciting wheel-to-wheel battles.

Figure skating

Joubert wins at Skate America

France’s Brian Joubert was ready for a win after a second-place finish earlier this year at the World Championships.

Despite trouble landing several jumps, Joubert got his victory in the men’s free skate at Skate America in Pittsburgh, finishing with an overall score of 193.46.

Joubert, who won this competition in 2002, said his first goal of the season was to win it again.

“I had a good short program, but the free program was difficult. I know what I have to work on. For the beginning of the season, it was very good,” Joubert said.

American Ryan Jahnke, a surprise bronze medalist at last year’s nationals, scored 186.71 for second place – another unexpected finish.

Jahnke had finished fourth in the short program and fell twice during the free skate, but he still edged countryman Michael Weiss, who was third with 179.56 points.

Miscellany

Bush signs harsher steroid law

President Bush signed legislation that would curtail sales of steroid precursors and seek to stiffen penalties for offenses involving anabolic steroids.

The legislation adds 18 substances to the list of banned anabolic steroids, including androstenedione and tetrahydrogestrinone.

White House press secretary Scott McClellan said the law establishes a new grant program, which will provide $15 million to teach kids about the dangers of steroids.

“Tennis stars Kim Clijsters and Lleyton Hewitt called off their wedding, according to her Web site.

“Kim Clijsters and Lleyton Hewitt jointly decided to put an end to their relationship for private reasons. The announced wedding has been canceled as well,” a statement on www.kimclijsters.com read.

“Joe Calzaghe successfully defended his WBO super-middleweight title for the 15th time, recovering from a fourth-round knockdown to win a unanimous decision over Egypt’s Kabary Salem in Edinburgh, Scotland.