Elliott Sadler wins Nationwide race in Iowa

Elliott Sadler celebrates in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Newton, Iowa, on Saturday. (Brian Ray / Associated Press / August 4, 2012)
Wire reports

Elliott Sadler rebounded from the disappointment of his jumped-restart penalty last week in Indianapolis to win the NASCAR Nationwide race at Newton, Iowa, on Saturday night.

Sadler denied Ricky Stenhouse Jr. a fourth straight victory at Iowa Speedway, and increased his lead in the series standings to 18 points over Austin Dillon.

Sadler won the pole with a track-record qualifying speed of 135.141 mph and was near or at the front of the pack the entire race. He overtook Justin Allgaier on the 192nd lap and went on to his fourth victory of the season.

Allgaier was second, followed by Sam Hornish Jr., Michael Annett and Stenhouse.

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Juan Pablo Montoya, who doesn't have a top-five finish this year, turned a lap of 176.043 mph to win the NASCAR Sprint Cup pole at Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pa. He hasn't won a race since Aug. 8, 2010, at Watkins Glen, N.Y. Montoya admitted he was "shocked" he beat out Pocono qualifying stars such as Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano and Kasey Kahne to lead the field in Sunday's 400-mile race.

Hamlin turned a lap of 175.795 and qualified second. It's his 12th top-10 start in 14 career Pocono races.

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Joey Coulter sped from third to first off the final restart to win for the first time in NASCAR's trucks series at Pocono Raceway. James Buescher was second and pole winner Nelson Piquet Jr. was third.

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Pro stock points leader Allen Johnson topped qualifying for the sixth straight event, taking the No. 1 position in the NHRA Northwest Nationals at Kent, Wash. Spencer Massey led the top-fuel field, and teammate Ron Capps was fastest in funny cars.

ETC: Henry leads at Reno-Tahoe Open

J.J. Henry had an eagle for the third consecutive day and scored 14 points to take the third-round lead in the Reno-Tahoe Open.

John Daly and Justin Leonard were among more than a dozen players within striking distance in the PGA Tour's first modified Stableford scoring system event since 2006.

Henry had 36 points overall, three more than second-round leader Alexandre Rocha. Daly had an eagle, four birdies and four bogeys to get into a tie for fifth at 28, with Leonard at 26.

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David Peoples matched his career best with a 10-under 62 to take a three-stroke lead in the Champions Tour's 3M Championship at Blaine, Minn

Peoples, who twice shot 62 on the PGA Tour, made six straight birdies at the TPC Twin Cities to get to 10 under through seven holes, also birdied Nos. 10, 12 and 13 and closed with an eight-foot birdie putt on No. 18. Winless on the 50-and-over tour, he had a 14-under 130 total.

Eduardo Romero was second after a 65, and Joe Daley was another stroke back after a 67. First-round leader Gil Morgan followed his 65 with a 73 and was well back.


Fourth-seeded Tommy Haas defeated top-seeded Mardy Fish, 6-3, 7-5, and will face second-seeded Alexandr Dolgopolov in the finals of the Citi Open in Washington. Dolgopolov was a 6-4, 6-4 winner over No. 8 Sam Querrey. Haas, the German ranked 36th in the world, improved to 4-1 against Fish, and has won six of his last seven matches against top-15 players. Fish is ranked 15th.

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Include Me Out, with Joe Talamo in the saddle, made amends for her upset defeat in the Vanity Handicap at odds-on in mid-June with a hard-earned victory in the Grade I $300,000 Clement L. Hirsch Stakes for older fillies and mares at Del Mar. Include Me Not went to the lead in the upper stretch and then was forced to go all-out to hold off the late charge of Star Billing and Rafael Bejarano, winning by a neck in 1 minute 41.96 seconds for the 1 1/16 mile over the main track.
Fort Larned rallied strongly in the final quarter-mile to win the $750,000 Whitney Invitational Handicap by 1 1/4 lengths over favorite Ron The Greek at Saratoga. The 4-year-old Fort Larned stalked a strong pace before launching a decisive move that carried him to the wire in 1:47.76. The Ian Wilkes-trained winner paid $16.40, $7 and $4.30. Ron The Greek paid $3.90 and $2.90. Flat Out was third and returned $3.40 to show.

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Market Share won the $1.5-million Hambletonian at the Meadowlands Racetrack, putting Linda Toscano in the record book as the first female trainer to win trotting's premier race. Market Share stormed to the front at the top of the stretch, then held off two late closers to win the race for 3-year-old trotting colts.

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Connecticut basketball Coach Jim Calhoun fractured his hip in a bicycle accident Saturday, hours before he was supposed to coach in a charity game. Associate head coach George Blaney says the 70-year-old Calhoun was cycling when he hit some sand and fell. Calhoun broke several ribs in an accident during a charity bicycle ride in 2009.

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Oklahoma Coach Bob Stoops announced that suspended receiver Kameel Jackson has been dismissed from the team. Jackson was one of four players who had been suspended indefinitely, but Stoops announced earlier this week that the other three had been cleared to return to practice although they would miss multiple games this season.

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Midfielder Antonio Nocerino scored a pair of goals and added an assist in leading AC Milan to a 3-1 exhibition victory over Honduran squad Olimpia at Foxborough, Mass.

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