Power rallies for Alabama Indycar win,
Will Power surged from the pack to win his second consecutive Indy Grand Prix of Alabama, again holding off Scott Dixon.
Power started ninth but took the lead on a late caution and pulled back in front of Dixon on the double-file restart with 16 laps left Sunday in Birmingham. It was the second consecutive win for Chevrolet and Team Penske to start the Izod Indycar Series season.
Power and Dixon pulled away from the field for a 1-2 finish for the second consecutive race in Birmingham. St. Petersburg (Fla.) winner and pole-sitter Helio Castroneves edged Graham Rahal for third. Power had his fast qualifying time in the second session negated because a caution came down during his run.
-Robert Hight raced to his third consecutive Funny Car victory Sunday, beating Bob Tasca III in the final of the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series’ Summitracing.com Nationals in Las Vegas. Spencer Massey won the Top Fuel competition, and Allen Johnson topped the Pro Stock field. Massey earned his second victory of 2012 and eighth of his career. In Pro Stock, Johnson claimed his first win of the season and 10th of his career.
-Ryan Villopoto wrapped up his second consecutive AMA Supercross season title Saturday in Houston, racing to his eighth victory in the first 13 rounds of the season. Kawasaki’s Villopoto has a 104-point lead on KTM’S Ryan Dungey, sidelined because of a broken collarbone.
Djokovic wins Key Biscayne for 3rd time
Top-ranked Novak Djokovic won his third Sony Ericsson Open tennis tournament title Sunday in Key Biscayne, Fla., beating Andy Murray 6-1, 7-6 (7-4). Djokovic also won in 2007 and last year. Only six-time champion Andre Agassi won more men’s titles at Key Biscayne. Djokovic improved to 90-8 since the start of 2011. He has won five Grand Slam tournament titles, including the last three in a row.
Mahan wins Houston Open
Hunter Mahan won the Houston Open to become the first two-time winner this year on the PGA Tour, finishing with a 1-under-par 71 on Sunday to edge Carl Pettersson by a stroke. Mahan, the Wgc-match Play Championship winner in February, finished at 16 under. The victory moved Mahan to No. 4 in the world ranking, the first time he’s been the highest-ranked American. He earned $1.08 million for his fifth PGA Tour title. Pettersson closed with a 71 in the final tuneup for the Masters this week in Augusta, Ga.
USA, Japan draw 1-1 in Kirin Cup
Alex Morgan scored in the 72nd minute to give the USA a 1-1 draw with host Japan in the Kirin Cup in Sendai. Japan beat the USA in the final of the women’s soccer World Cup last year.
-C. J. Sapong scored in the 47th minute to help Sporting Kansas City improve to 4-0 this season in Major League Soccer with a 1-0 win at Chivas USA. Also Sunday, Omar Cummings scored in the 58th minute to help lead the Colorado Rapids to a 2-0 victory vs. the visiting Chicago Fire. In Saturday games: Thierry Henry scored his first career MLS hat trick to lead the host New York Red Bulls to a 5-2 victory vs. the expansion Montreal Impact;
Bernardo Anor scored in the 56th minute to lead the Columbus Crew to a 1-0 win at Toronto FC; the Vancouver Whitecaps played a 0-0 tie at the Philadelphia Union; Chris Wondolowski scored on a penalty kick in the first half as the San Jose Earthquakes won 1-0 at the Seattle Sounders; Kyle Beckerman scored in extra time for Real Salt Lake in a 3-2 win at the Portland Timbers; and
Kelyn Rowe and Chris Tierney scored in the first half to lead the New England Revolution to a 3-1 win at the Los Angeles Galaxy.
Doubront, Bard fill out Red Sox rotation
Boston Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine said Felix Doubront and Daniel Bard would fill out the rotation. Left-hander Doubront will take the fourth spot, and right-hander Bard will be the fifth starter. Jon Lester, Josh Beckett and Clay Buchholz had places in the rotation. Right-hander Alfredo Aceves, who competed for one of the spots, will pitch out of the bullpen.
-The Detroit Tigers picked Drew Smyly as the fifth starter. Manager Jim Leyland announced the choice Sunday. He also said right-hander Luis Marte won the final spot in the bullpen.
Hero of Order wins Louisiana Derby
Hero of Order, the longest shot in the field at 109-1, won the $1 million Grade 2 Louisiana Derby on Sunday at the Fair Grounds in New Orleans.
-Take Charge Indy pulled off a wire-to-wire win in the Florida Derby on Saturday, beating heavily favored Union Rags at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach.
Briefly . . .
Giorgio Chinaglia, who played for the Italian national team, Lazio of Italy, and the New York Cosmos of the North American Soccer League, died Sunday in Naples, Fla., of complications from a heart attack. He was 65. ... Robby Kelley closed the U.S. ski championships with a win in the giant slalom Sunday in Winter Park, Colo. . . . Findlay Prep (Henderson, Nev.), No. 2 in the Super 25 boys basketball rankings, won the National High School Invitational in North Bethesda, Md., on Saturday, defeating No. 14 Montverde (Fla.) Academy 86-83 in overtime. . . . Former middleweight boxing champion Kelly Pavlik scored a second-round technical knockout against Aaron Jaco on Saturday in San Antonio. . . . Former NFL quarterback Ryan Leaf was arrested Friday in Great Falls, Mont., after a month-long investigation that culminated with Leaf breaking into an acquaintance’s home to steal prescription pain medication. . . . Mixed martial arts welterweights Karl Amoussou, David Rickels, Bryan Baker and Ben Saunders advanced in the Belator Fighting Championships in Uncasville, Conn. Also Friday, Tara Larosa defeated Kelly Warren in their Resurrection Fighting Alliance bout in Kearney, Neb. It was the first fight in more than a year for Larosa, the No. 1-ranked woman at 125 pounds. ... L.J. Jenkins won the Professional Bull Riders event Sunday in Kansas City, Mo.