Edwards wants to put pressure on leader Johnson

Carl Edwards looks at the last three NASCAR Sprint Cup races of 2008 and sees nothing but opportunity.

Sure, the series runner-up trails leader Jimmie Johnson by a daunting 183 points. With Johnson needing only to finish ninth or better in the remaining events to win his third consecutive Cup title, it probably isn’t a good omen for Edwards that Johnson has finished ninth or better in each of the seven Chase for the championship races this year – or that Johnson is the defending winner of today’s Dickies 500 at Fort Worth, Texas.

There is also the fact that the biggest comeback over the final three races since the current points system began in 1975 came in 1990 when Dale Earnhardt overcame a 49-point deficit.

Never mind the overwhelming odds. Edwards, coming off a win at Atlanta, likes to think Johnson is under the gun heading into the race at Texas Motor Speedway.

“I’m sure there’s pressure on him,” Edwards said. “I’ve been in a couple of championship battles. The ones that I remember the most were the ones at my local dirt track and stuff. It wears on you and it’s easier to come from behind, that’s for sure.

“Anytime you’ve got a lead and it’s shrinking, that’s real nerve-racking. Just mentally we have an advantage because it is so much easier to do it that way, I think.”

Besides Edwards, the only drivers with a legitimate chance to catch Johnson are third-place Greg Biffle, 185 points behind, and fourth-place Jeff Burton, 218 points out of the lead.

•Busch gets 10th Nationwide victory: At Fort Worth, Texas, Kyle Busch overpowered the field in the NASCAR Nationwide Race at Texas Motor Speedway, winning in the second-tier series for a record-tying 10th time this season.

Busch, whose first victory of the season came on the same 1.5-mile oval in April, matched Sam Ard’s season record set in 1983. He held off a charging Edwards in the final laps of the O’Reilly Challenge.

The strong run by Edwards, combined with Clint Bowyer’s sixth-place finish, moved Edwards within 91 points of the series leader with two races remaining.

Saturday’s victory was the 21st career win for Busch in Nationwide and the 19th win in the series this season for Joe Gibbs Racing.

Eighteen-year-old Joey Logano, another JGR driver, turned in another solid performance, finishing fourth, with David Ragan fifth.

•Massa takes pole for Brazilian GP: At Sao Paulo, Brazil, home-crowd favorite Felipe Massa won the pole for the decisive Brazilian Grand Prix, increasing his chances of overtaking Lewis Hamilton for the Formula One title.

This is the sixth pole of the year for Massa, who needs to finish first or second today to have a chance of erasing Hamilton’s seven-point lead. If the Brazilian wins the race he has to hope Hamilton finishes sixth or lower. Hamilton was fourth in qualifying.

•Schumacher clinches sixth world championship: At Las Vegas, Tony Schumacher clinched his sixth NHRA POWERade Series world championship by qualifying at the Las Vegas NHRA Nationals.

Schumacher achieved his fifth straight world championship with his commanding run. He ran a time of 3.781 seconds at 316.60 mph in his Top Fuel dragster.

NBA

Bobcats give Brown win

Gerald Wallace scored 34 points and hot-shooting Charlotte beat the Miami Heat 100-87 at Charlotte, N.C., giving Bobcats coach Larry Brown his first victory in his ninth NBA head coaching job.

NHL

DiPietro has knee surgery

Rick DiPietro underwent a second knee operation, and the New York Islanders’ franchise goalie will be sidelined four to six weeks.

Golf

Letzig returns to the lead

Michael Letzig birdied three of the final six holes for a 2-under-par 70 that gave him the lead in the Ginn sur Mer Classic when Ryan Palmer found water on the final hole.

Letzig, who shared the first-round lead at the Ginn Ocean Hammock Resort at Palm Coast, Fla., finished off his run of birdies with a 7-foot putt on the par-5 18th that put him at 7-under 209.

He was one shot ahead of Kenneth Ferrie (67), John Huston (70) and Palmer, who had to scramble for a bogey on the 18th after hitting his second shot into the water. Palmer, who was at 9 under through 14 holes, bogeyed three of his last four holes for a 72.

•Rain postpones third round of Schwab Cup: At Sonoma, Calif., heavy rains forced the postponement of the third round of the Charles Schwab Cup Championship.

•Kim takes lead at LPGA Kolon Championship: At Incheon, South Korea, In-Kyung Kim sank a 45-foot birdie putt on the final hole for a 3-under 69, taking a one-shot lead after the second round of the LPGA Kolon Championship.

She leads Hee-Won Han of South Korea (69) and Karen Stupples of England (70), who had four birdies in her opening 10 holes.

Miscellany

Chan, Rochette win

Canadians Patrick Chan and Joanie Rochette each won individual titles at Skate Canada in Ottawa. Chan, a 17-year from Ottawa, beat a pair of American veterans to capture the men’s championship, while Rochette dominated the competition in the free skate to easily win the women’s title. Russians Yuko Kawaguchi and Alexander Smirnov edged Canadians Jessica Dube and Bryce Davison to win the pairs competition.

•Nalbandian reaches Paris Masters final: At Paris, defending champion David Nalbandian beat Nikolay Davydenko 6-1, 5-7, 6-4 to set up a Paris Masters final against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

Tsonga defeated 11th-seeded James Blake 6-4, 6-3.

•Mattek makes first WTA final: At Quebec City, American Bethanie Mattek gained her first WTA Tour final at the Bell Challenge, and will finish her breakthrough year in a matchup against Russian Nadia Petrova.

The sixth-seeded Mattek defeated fifth-seeded Aleksandra Wozniak 7-6 (4), 6-3 of Canada in one semifinal, while top-seeded Petrova defeated first-time tour semifinalist Angela Haynes of the United States 6-1, 6-3.

•Sturm wins decision over Sylvester: At Oberhausen, Germany, Felix Sturm retained his WBA middleweight title with a unanimous decision over Sebastian Sylvester.

•Darchinyan stops Mijares: At Carson, Calif., Vic Darchinyan knocked Cristian Mijares down with a left uppercut in the first round and finally finished him off in with a jolting straight left in the ninth in their super flyweight title unification fight. IBF champ Darchinyan dominated the match of 115-pounders from start to finish to take away Mijares’ WBC and WBA crowns.