It Takes Time, but Truex Gets Busch Victory

Faster in the pits, faster on the track, Martin Truex Jr. held off Clint Bowyer on a final two-lap shootout Saturday night at Clermont, Ind., to win the Kroger 200, his sixth NASCAR Busch Series victory of the season.

The rain-interrupted race was scheduled for 200 laps, but a late crash kept it going under yellow while the track was cleared.

The green came out after 202 laps, and Truex pulled away to victory in a Chevrolet. Pole-winner Reed Sorenson finished third in a Dodge.

There was a flurry of cautions in the last 20 laps, starting with a three-car crash involving Tony Stewart, Tim Sauter and Carl Edwards and ending with Tyler Walker’s crash into the wall with five laps to go.

After a rain delay of 1 hour 35 minutes, Bowyer, who started eighth, took the lead 59 laps into the race at Indianapolis Raceway Park.

Most of the leaders took pit stops under caution just past the halfway point, and Truex came out ahead of Bowyer, also in a Chevrolet.

Both trailed Ashton Lewis Jr. and Walker, who had not gone into the pits, but when the green came out three laps later, Truex and Bowyer quickly passed the two slower cars in front and held their 1-2 positions the rest of the race.

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Kasey Kahne signed a long-term contract extension with Evernham Motorsports, removing his name from the list of potential free-agent drivers.

Evernham would not reveal the terms of the extension, but it is believed to go through 2010.

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Tennis

Top-seeded Andy Roddick defeated 13th-seeded Paradorn Srichaphan, 7-6 (4), 6-2, in the semifinals of the Legg Mason Classic at Washington, advancing to a final for the 29th time in his career.

Roddick, who last reached a final at Wimbledon on July 3, will try for his fourth title of the year and 19th of his career today against James Blake, who upset 10th-seeded Tomas Berdych, 6-4, 6-3.

Roddick, who broke serve in the first game of the second set to win the match, improved his career record against Srichaphan to 6-1.

Venus Williams is sick with flu and won’t play in next week’s Nordic Light Open, organizers said. Maria Santangelo will replace her in the tournament, which starts Tuesday.

“I had planned my first visit to Stockholm for several months, and I deeply regret that I won’t be able to compete in the Nordea Nordic Light Open,” Williams said in a statement. “My doctor and physiotherapist tell me that it’s impossible for me to play next week.”

Florian Mayer upset Guillermo Coria, 6-4, 5-7, 6-3, in the semifinals of the Idea Prokom Open in Sopot, Poland.

Mayer, ranked 96th by the ATP, defeated the third-seeded Coria in a match that was delayed for four hours because of rain.

Mayer will play Gael Monfils in the final. Monfils beat Potito Starace, 3-6, 7-5, 6-4.

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Basketball

Marcus Williams of Connecticut and Rajon Rondo of Kentucky each scored 17 points to lead the United States over Lithuania, 103-83, in the preliminary round of the men’s under-21 World Championships at Mar del Plata, Argentina.

The U.S. (2-0) led, 75-61, after three quarters, but Lithuania (1-1) cut the deficit to 80-73 with 7:44 left. Justin Gray of Wake Forest made a three-point basket to start a 9-2 run, and the U.S. pulled away.

Georgia Tech Coach Paul Hewitt received a one-year contract extension that will keep him with the Yellow Jackets through the 2010-11 season. It’s an extension of the six-year deal he agreed to before the 2004 Final Four.

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Boxing

Jeff Lacy retained his International Boxing Federation super-middleweight title with a seventh-round technical knockout of Britain’s Robin Reid at Tampa, Fla.

Lacy, who improved to 20-0 with 16 knockouts, hurt Reid repeatedly with left hooks and knocked him down four times before Reid’s trainer stopped the match before the start of the eighth round.

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Miscellany

NCAA President Myles Brand highlights the Pasadena Quarterbacks Club’s lineup of luncheon speakers for this year’s football season.

On Nov. 11, Brand will be the featured speaker along with former USC senior associate athletic director Lisa Love, who in April was hired as Arizona State’s athletic director.

Other speakers, club spokesman Chuck Hayes said, include USC Coach Pete Carroll, at the club’s first luncheon of the season Sept. 9; UCLA Coach Karl Dorrell on Sept. 23 and Arena Football League Commissioner David Baker on Nov. 4.

The club meets Fridays during the season at Brookside Golf Course in Pasadena.