IN BRIEF

MOTOR SPORTS

Vickers captures pole for Michigan Cup race

Brian Vickers is fast, especially at Michigan International Speedway. Now he's hoping to turn his raw speed into a race victory, along with some momentum to help him springboard into NASCAR's championship chase.

Vickers turned a lap of 187.242 mph Friday, winning pole position for Sunday's Sprint Cup race at the Brooklyn, Mich., track. With four races to go before the chase, Vickers sits 14th in the series points standings -- 96 points out of the 12th-place cutoff.

"I know we can get in the chase," Vickers said. "It doesn't mean we will. We've got a lot of work ahead of us, and we can't make any mistakes."

Mark Martin qualified second, followed by Juan Pablo Montoya, Jimmie Johnson and Martin Truex Jr.

Also: Cory McClenathan led Top Fuel qualifying in the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals, powering his dragster to a 3.910-second run at 305.36 mph at Brainerd (Minn.) International Raceway.

Bob Tasca (Funny Car), Mike Edwards (Pro Stock) and Karen Stoffer (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also led their divisions in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series event.

BASKETBALL

Pitino's accuser claims new twist to tryst tale

The woman accused of trying to extort as much as $10 million from Rick Pitino over a sexual encounter said the Louisville coach orchestrated a plot to keep her silent, including a claim that her current husband was paid to marry her.

Karen Sypher, whose extortion charge is still pending, told the New York Post that her marriage to Tim Sypher -- Pitino's equipment manager -- was all part of an elaborate plot Pitino used to keep the incident private.

"The feds bugged my house and put surveillance everywhere with Tim's help," said Sypher, who is currently going through a divorce.

"I now think my husband was paid to marry me."

Pitino admitted to the 2003 tryst Wednesday and issued a public apology.

Also: Bobby Cremins signed a two-year contract extension with the College of Charleston that keeps him with the Cougars through the 2013-14 season.

The former Georgia Tech coach brought Charleston within a game of making the NCAA Tournament in two of his first three seasons.

The Denver Nuggets re-signed backup point guard Anthony Carter. He averaged 4.7 assists in 22.9 minutes last season.

LOCAL SPORTS

Ex-UNLV standout Flair signs with Locomotives

Former UNLV wide receiver Casey Flair signed with the Las Vegas Locomotives of the first-year United Football League.

Flair, the Rebels' career leader in receptions with 202, was an All-Mountain West Conference honorable mention selection as a senior in 2008 after he had 49 receptions for 560 yards and scored four touchdowns.

Also: The Wranglers agreed to terms with forward Dan Riedel for the 2009-10 season.

Reidel, acquired from the Dayton (Ohio) Bombers in February, had four goals and seven assists in the regular season and six goals and eight assists in 17 playoff games last season.

The team also acquired the rights to defenseman Craig Switzer from the Elmira (N.Y.) Jackals for the rights to winger Tim Spencer.

UNLV's men's soccer team was picked to finish fourth in the eight-team Mount Pacific Sports Federation preseason poll. The Rebels totaled 32 points in balloting by federation coaches.

Denver, with five first-place votes, was picked to finish first with 47 points. New Mexico (three first-place votes) was predicted to finish second with 44.

MISCELLANEOUS

BetOnSports founder agrees to plea deal

The founder of the online gambling site BetOnSports.com pleaded guilty to federal racketeering conspiracy and other charges, concluding years of investigating and prosecuting a case in the complex world of offshore sports gambling.

Gary Kaplan, 50, who started out as a New York bookie who didn't complete high school and who in recent years held his business out to the world as the largest and best in the industry, agreed in a plea deal in St. Louis to forfeit $43.6 million in illegally obtained revenue from his criminal enterprise.

Also: Jonathan Horton won the U.S. men's gymnastics title, outscoring Tim McNeill 181.6-178.5 for his first all-around gold medal.

Horton, who won the Olympic silver medal on high bar last year in Beijing, came into the finals with a slim lead and expanded it as the meet went on. He'll be a shoo-in for the American team heading to the world championships in October.

Wesley Haagensen finished third in the Dallas event.

Ted "Teeder" Kennedy, who captained the Toronto Maple Leafs to five Stanley Cups during a Hall of Fame career, died. He was 83.

Kennedy died of congestive heart failure at a nursing home in his hometown of Port Colborne, Ontario.

Three-time Kentucky Derby- winning trainer Bob Baffert was inducted into the Racing Hall of Fame in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., along with trainer Janet Eliot, jockey Eddie Maple and three horses -- Silverbulletday, a filly that won 15 of 23 career starts; the California-bred Tiznow, who won eight of 15 starts; and steeplechase champion Ben Nevis II.