Gordon Holds On to Win at Daytona

In something of an Independence Weekend parade, by Daytona International Speedway standards, Jeff Gordon held off Sterling Marlin and Dale Earnhardt in a final-lap sprint to victory Saturday in the Pepsi 400.

Gordon and Marlin dominated, leading 72 of the 160 laps. Earnhardt, who started on the pole, fell back to as far behind as 14th place because his pit crew made a bad adjustment, then recovered to pass cars and move into second place with 13 laps to go.

He stayed in Gordon’s rearview mirror the rest of the way, being passed by Marlin in a fender-banging finish.

Gordon now has four victories, two more than anyone else on the NASCAR Winston Cup circuit this season.

Gordon, who became the youngest winner of Daytona’s summer race, wasn’t pleased when the yellow flag came out on Lap 157 because of a crash. “I didn’t want to see that caution,” he said. “Earnhardt is the last guy you want to see in your mirror with one lap to go.”

Gordon won with an average speed of 166.976 m.p.h. and earned $96,580.

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Britain’s Damon Hill edged Formula I champion Michael Schumacher for the pole position for today’s French Grand Prix, turning a lap of 1 minute 17.225 seconds over the 2.64-mile Magny Cours circuit and averaging 123.133 m.p.h.

Schumacher won three of the season’s first five races and Hill won the other two, before Jean Alesi stopped their domination with a victory at the Canadian Grand Prix.

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Pole-sitter Mike Skinner’s Chevrolet won for the fifth time this year when leader Dennis Setzer’s Dodge lost traction in the third turn with less than three laps remaining in the NASCAR SuperTruck series Auto Center 125 at the Milwaukee Mile.

Skinner averaged 87.413 m.p.h. and earned $21,200.

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Mark Evans raised his top lap to 160.795 m.p.h. in the Budweiser hydroplane in Madison, Wis., to lead qualifying for today’s Madison Regatta. Dave Villwock’s Pico American Dream was second at 159.640.

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Joe Amato of Old Forge, Pa., John Force of Yorba Linda and Warren Johnson of Duluth, Ga., wrapped up the No. 1 qualifying positions for the NHRA Western Auto Nationals in Topeka, Kan.

Amato had his top fuel pass of 4.758 seconds at 309.17 m.p.h. on Friday hold up, Force qualified No. 1 in funny car at 4.980 and 297.61, and Johnson stayed No. 1 in pro stock with a run of 7.033 at 195.65 on Friday in an Oldsmobile Cutlass.

Hockey

Mike Milbury, former coach of the Boston Bruins, will be named coach of the New York Islanders, according to ESPN, which employs Milbury as an analyst.

The cable network reported Milbury has agreed to a four-year, $2.8-million contract.

Milbury coached Boston from 1989 to 1991, compiling a 90-49-21 record and guiding the Bruins to the 1990 Stanley Cup finals. He would replace Lorne Henning.

Sailing

Nine ULDB 70s started the 38th biennial Transpac sailboat race from Los Angeles to Hawaii in winds of 8 to 10 knots off the Palos Verdes peninsula. The boats had a remarkably even start, lined up on a starboard trek from one end of the line to the other, as they sailed upwind into a building southwesterly breeze toward the west end of Santa Catalina Island.

Fifteen minutes later, four other boats rated roughly equal to the ULDB 70s started.

Among boats already racing, Hasso Plattner’s Reichel-Pugh 50 Morning Glory from Kiel, Germany, set the pace for the Friday starters, who were closing rapidly on Wednesday’s six starters, who were struggling in winds down to 5 knots.

Basketball

Sarunas Marciulionis scored 27 points and Arvydas Sabonis added 26 points and 17 rebounds to carry Lithuania to an 80-70 victory over Croatia to earn a showdown with Yugoslavia at the European Championship in Athens. Predrag Danilovic made four late free throws and scored 19 points to lead Yugoslavia to a 60-52 victory over Greece to reach the final.

Football

Lucius Floyd scored on a 72-yard pass play from Kerwin Bell and Bell scored on two one-yard runs as the Edmonton Eskimos opened the Canadian Football League season with a 45-23 victory over the Toronto Argonauts at Edmonton. Bell completed 16 of 29 passes for 280 yards. Floyd, a former Nevada running back, also scored on two three-yard runs.

At Shreveport, La., Mike Saunders rushed for 169 yards and David Archer passed for 228 yards and two touchdowns as the San Antonio Texans defeated the Shreveport Pirates, 47-24, in their CFL game. The Texans, playing their first season in San Antonio after two years in Sacramento, scored 30 consecutive points after the Pirates tied the score, 17-17, late in the second quarter on Billy Joe Tolliver’s 61-yard touchdown pass play to Martin Patton.