Gordon wins pole at The Glen
Jeff Gordon turned a fast lap of 129.466 mph to win the pole for the Cheez-It 355 at The Glen in Watkins Glen, N.Y., edging road racing ace Marcos Ambrose and Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jimmie Johnson in the second and final round of knockout qualifying. It was Gordon’s first pole of the season, third at Watkins Glen, and 75th of his career.
Kevin Harvick and Kurt Busch rounded out the top five.
Ambrose won the Nationwide Series race later in the day. Making his first appearance in four years in a race he has dominated, Ambrose drove a flawless race from the fourth starting position after an early altercation with Kyle Busch, then held off a hardcharging Busch in the closing laps for his fourth straight victory in the event.
Joey Logano finished third, followed by Penske teammate and pole-sitter Brad Keselowski. Matt Kenseth was fifth as Sprint Cup drivers dominated on the 2.45-mile road course.
Inbee Park made two long birdie putts on the back nine and finished with a three-under-par 68 to remain a stroke ahead after the third round of the Meijer LPGA Classic at Belmont, Mich. Park had a 13-under 200 total at Blythefield Country Club. South Korean rookie Mirim Lee was second after a 67. Norway’s Suzann Pettersen was another stroke back after a 69.
Michelle Wie has a finger injury that forced her to withdraw from the LPGA Championship next week and will sideline her three to five weeks. IMG Golf said Saturday that Wie has a stress reaction in a bone in her right index finger. The U.S. Women’s Open champion withdrew from the Meijer Classic after playing nine holes in the first round.
Kristen Gillman and Brooke Mackenzie Henderson advanced to the 36-hole final in the U.S. Women’s Amateur at Nassau Country Club in Glen Cove, N.Y. The 16-year-old Gillman, from Austin, Texas, beat 15-year-old Andrea Lee of Hermosa Beach, 4 and 3. Henderson, a 16-year-old Canadian who is No. 2 in the world amateur ranking, edged 16year-old Hannah O’Sullivan of Paradise Valley, Ariz., 1 up.
Gillman is coming off an 11-stroke victory last week in the Junior PGA Championship. “It helped me a lot about all the momentum and just the confidence I had in my game,” Gillman said.
Enterprising won the $150,000 La Jolla Handicap for 3-year-olds by 11⁄4 lengths as turf racing resumed at Del Mar. Ridden by Hall of Famer Mike Smith, Enterprising ran 11⁄16 miles on the turf in 1:41.31 and paid $5, $3.80 and $2.80. . . . Seek Again edged Grand Arch by a neck in the Grade 2 $500,000 Fourstardave at Saratoga Race Course. Ridden by Joel Rosario, the 4-year-old son of champion sprinter Speighstown ran a mile on the inner turf course in a trackrecord 1:33.25, surpassing the previous mark of 1:33.42 set by L’Oiseau d’Argent on Aug. 5, 2004.
Light-welterweight champion Danny Garcia remained unbeaten at 29-0, stopping Rod Salka at 2:31 of the second round in a non-title fight in New York. . . . Russian middleweight Dmitry Chudinov (14-0-2) successfully defended his WBA interim title, stopping Mehdi Bouadla in three rounds after knocking him down in every round at Sevastopol, Russia.
Nebraska middle linebacker Michael Rose will undergo knee surgery and sit out the season.