Kahne on the pole; Lester also qualifies

Kasey Kahne won the pole for Sunday’s Golden Corral 500 Nextel Cup race at Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Ga., Friday night, but it was back in 19th position where modern racing history was made.

That’s where Bill Lester qualified, becoming the first black driver in 20 years to start a race in NASCAR’s top division and just the sixth in the sport’s 58-year history. Willy T. Ribbs was the last in 1986.

•Todd Bodine picked up his first victory of the season in the Craftsman Truck Series race at Hampton.

Skiing

Raich, Kostelic titlists

Benjamin Raich and Janica Kostelic collected World Cup overall titles by winning their races at Are, Sweden.

Raich won the men’s giant slalom finale, taking that season title for the second straight year, and Kostelic captured the last women’s slalom.

Golf

Glover leads Bay Hill

Lucas Glover surged into the lead at the Bay Hill Invitational in Orlando, Fla., with birdies on two of his last three holes for his second straight 5-under-par 67 for 144 and a one-shot lead.

Former Pullman resident Kirk Triplett is at 143.

•At Superstition Mountain (Ariz.) Golf and Country Club, Sarah Lee eagled the 513-yard, par-5 18th hole to finish 12 under and grab a one-stroke lead over Aree Song in the LPGA Safeway International. Wendy Ward of Edwall, Wash., missed the cut at 145.

• Bob Eastwood shot a 6-under 65 to take the first-round lead at the Champions Tour Toshiba Classic in Newport Beach, Calif., with Graham Marsh and Bruce Lietzke one behind.

Tennis

Women’s final set

Maria Sharapova advanced to the women’s final at the Pacific Life Open with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Martina Hingis in Indian Wells, Calif. Sharapova will face Elena Dementieva, who took a 2-6, 7-5, 7-5 victory over Justine Henin-Hardenne.

James Blake reached the men’s semis with a 6-1, 6-4 victory over Igor Andreev. Blake will face No. 2 Rafael Nadal, a 7-5, 6-0 winner over Marcos Baghdatis. Roger Federer will play Paradorn Srichaphan in the other semi.

Colleges

Iowa St. fires Morgan

Iowa State fired basketball coach Wayne Morgan and his staff in the wake of a reported recruiting scam. Morgan’s firing came two days after a report surfaced that a number of college programs may have steered more than $100,000 to a California business run by a junior college coach.

A CBS Sportsline.com story Wednesday alleged that D1 Scheduling, a company founded by Los Angeles Community College coach Mike Miller, might have been delivering LACC players to Division I schools, including Iowa State, which paid the company to arrange games. The report said Iowa State appeared to be the centerpiece of the operation.

• The football team at the University of Arizona will lose four scholarships for the 2006 season because of poor academics after the NCAA rejected an appeal.