Vickers wins yet another Michigan pole
Brian Vickers is fast, especially at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn.
Now he’s hoping to turn his raw speed into a race victory, along with some momentum to help him springboard into NASCAR’s championship chase.
Vickers turned a lap of 187.242 mph on Friday, winning pole position for Sunday’s Sprint Cup race at Michigan. With four races to go before the Chase, Vickers sits 14th in the series points standings – 96 points out of the 12th-place cutoff.
It’s the sixth pole of the season for Vickers and a continuation of his recent dominant performances in qualifying at the 2-mile Michigan track. Vickers has won the pole for three straight Michigan races.
June winner Mark Martin qualified second, followed by Juan Pablo Montoya, Jimmie Johnson and Martin Truex Jr.
Claim: Pitino paid assistant to marry
Men’s basketball: The woman accused of trying to extort as much as $10 million from Rick Pitino over a sexual encounter says the Louisville coach orchestrated a plot to keep her silent, including a claim that her current husband was paid to marry her.
The Post reported that Karen Sypher, who at the time of the sexual encounter was divorced from a previous marriage, claimed that her subsequent marriage to Tim Sypher – Pitino’s equipment manager – was all part of an elaborate plot Pitino used to keep the incident private.
“The feds bugged my house and put surveillance everywhere with Tim’s help,” said Sypher, who is currently going through a divorce.
“I now think my husband was paid to marry me.”
Pitino’s attorney called Karen Sypher’s allegations of a plot to keep her silent a “complete fabrication.”
Phelps to be cited for invalid license
Swimming: Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps was driving with an invalid, out-of-state license and told police he drank a beer about an hour and 15 minutes before he was involved in an accident, Baltimore police said.
The accident Thursday night was not Phelps’ fault and was caused by another driver who ran a red light, police said.
Officers did not administer field sobriety tests because Phelps showed no signs of being impaired by alcohol, police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said.
The swimming star will be cited for driving without a license and failure to establish residency in Maryland, Guglielmi said. The citation carries no fine, but Phelps will have to appear in court and explain why he did not have a valid license.
Federer, Nadal lose
Tennis: Jo-Wilfried Tsonga pulled out a stunning victory over Roger Federer and Juan Martin Del Potro followed with a two-set win over Rafael Nadal to advance to the semifinals of the Rogers Cup at Montreal.
The two stars were ousted after entering the tournament after time off. Nadal was coming back from 10 weeks off to treat tendonitis in both knees, and Federer was out while his wife gave birth to twins.
Down 5-1 in the third set, Tsonga used two service breaks to take the lead and then beat Federer in the tiebreaker for a 7-6 (5), 1-6, 7-6 (3) victory.
After several long exchanges in a first set decided in a tiebreaker, Del Potro broke Nadal’s service twice for a 3-0 lead in the second for a 7-6 (5), 6-1 win.
Del Potro advanced to a semifinal meeting with Andy Roddick. Tsonga will face third-seeded Andy Murray.
•Clijsters hits roadblock: Kim Clijsters’ comeback ran into a No. 1 problem.
Playing her first tournament in more than two years, the Belgian couldn’t keep up with the world’s top-ranked player. Dinara Safina repeatedly broke her serve during a 6-2, 7-5 victory to reach the semifinals of the Cincinnati Open.
Clijsters got off to a good start, pushing the pace and getting a service break for a 2-0 lead. But Safina used her powerful forehand to her advantage, hitting shots that eluded Clijsters’ reach. She dominated the rest of the set, running off 24 of the last 31 points. Clijsters started the second set in much the same fashion with a 2-0 lead that evaporated.
A day after she upset Venus Williams, Italy’s Flavia Pennetta reached the semifinals with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia. The win set up a semifinal against Safina.
Fourth-seeded Elena Dementieva also advanced with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Caroline Wozniacki. Dementieva will play Serbia’s Jelena Jankovic, who beat Sybille Bammer 6-0, 6-3 in only 62 minutes.
Horton captures gold
Gymnastics: Jonathan Horton has won the U.S. men’s gymnastics title at Dallas, outscoring Tim McNeill 181.6-178.5 for his first all-around gold medal.
Horton, who won the Olympic silver medal on high bar last year in Beijing, came into the night with a slim lead and expanded it as the meet went on. He’ll be a shoo-in on the American team heading to the world championships in October.
Wesley Haagensen finished third. The women’s final is scheduled for today.