JAMAICA, Va. — Matt Sheppard of Waterloo opened the 2008 Advance Auto Parts Super DIRTcar Series Thursday night at the Virginia Motor Speedway with a narrow victory worth $10,000 in the second annual Paul Sawyer Memorial.
Sheppard, starting fifth in the 30-car field, took the lead from Duane Howard of Oley, Pa., on lap 39 and edged Howard by less than a second in the 50-lap race. Brett Hearn of Sussex, N.J., finished third with Steve Paine of Waterloo fourth and Billy Decker of Unadilla fifth.
Frankie Caprara of Watertown, who won a heat race and started third, finished 16th. Billy Dunn of Watertown was 24th and Tim Fuller, an Edwards native, was 25th.
■ Rain forced the postponement of Friday night racing at Thunder Alley Speedpark in Evans Mills.
GOLF
Creamer overcomes sloppy finish to take lead
BROKEN ARROW, Okla.— Paula Creamer and Lorena Ochoa played together for the first 36 holes at the SemGroup Championship, battling a vicious wind that came from two directions and getting two very different results.
Creamer has made enough birdies that another sloppy finish Friday — two bogeys on the final three holes — still left her satisfied. She shot an even-par 71 and was the only one under par at Cedar Ridge, giving her a one-shot lead over Ji Young Oh (72).
Ochoa was six shots behind at 5 over after a 3-over 74, the first time since the 2006 Women's British Open that she has had two rounds over par in the same tournament.
■ Jason Bohn shot a 5-under 67 to take a two-shot lead in the Wachovia Championship at Charlotte, N.C, while Phil Mickelson's double bogey on Quail Hollow Club's easiest hole began a horrible closing stretch that left him seven shots back. Anthony Kim's 67 put him at 7 under and alone in second place.
■ Nick Price shot a season-best 7-under 65 to take a one-stroke lead over fellow major champion Mark O'Meara after the first round of the Champions Tour's FedEx Kinko's Classic at Lakeway, Texas. Defending champion Scott Hoch was two strokes back.
■ Spain's Ignacio Garrido shot a course-record 9-under 63 to take a four-stroke lead in the Spanish Open at Seville. John Daly followed his opening 75 with a 70 to miss the cut.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Starting QB Perrilloux tossed off LSU by Miles
BATON ROUGE, La.— Ryan Perrilloux seemed like a perfect fit for LSU.
The Louisiana native had the rocket arm, mobility and versatility to make him a constant big-play threat and one of the most sought-after quarterback prospects in the country. He even had the French last name.
But his lack of discipline off the field, however, became an increasing distraction for head coach Les Miles, who finally decided Perrilloux's presence on the roster was more trouble than it was worth.
Perrilloux was kicked off the defending national championship team Friday after a college career marked by legal and disciplinary problems. Perrilloux "didn't fulfill his obligation as an LSU student-athlete," Miles said in a statement. "Ryan was given every opportunity to be a part of this football team."
Miles did not attribute his decision to any specific recent violation.
Still, it was clear Perrilloux's repeated breaking of team rules, and sometimes the law, made Miles worry whether it was worth keeping the talented heir-apparent to the starting job and risk another off-the-field distraction next season.
The timing of Miles' decision gives Perrilloux a chance to transfer to a lower-division program by next fall.
WORLD HOCKEY
Kane, Thomas lead US past Latvia in opener
HALIFAX, Nova Scotia — Patrick Kane had a goal and two assists and Tim Thomas made 24 saves to help the United States beat Latvia 4-0 on Friday night in the Americans' opening preliminary round game in the world championship.
Kane, the 19-year-old star who had 72 points in 82 games for Chicago this season, assisted on Dustin Brown's first-period goal, then added a goal midway through the second. Kane took the puck near Latvia's blue line, skated in and fired a snap shot past goalie Edgars Masalskis. Kane also set up Zach Parise's third-period goal.
Patrick O'Sullivan also scored, and Paul Martin had three assists.
In the other Group B opener in Halifax, Dany Heatley had three goals and an assist in defending champion Canada's 5-1 victory over Slovenia. Heatley has 23 goals in the world championships, the most by a Canadian player.
COLLEGE BASEBALL
California won't charge players in rape claim
SAN FRANCISCO — California prosecutors have declined to charge De Anza College baseball players who were accused of raping a 17-year-old girl last year.
The Santa Clara County district attorney's decision not to press charges sparked outrage last year. Local prosecutors also declined to pursue a woman's claim that she was sexually assaulted at the same house.
Deputy Attorney General Joyce Blair said Friday that most of the witnesses in the teen's case were too drunk to remember what happened.
TIMES STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS
