In Brief

MOTOR SPORTS

IndyCar Series sets 2012 date
for return to Fontana track

The IndyCar Series is headed back to Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif.

Open-wheel racing will return to the fast two-mile oval for a night race on Sept. 12, 2012, giving Southern California an oval race to go with the Grand Prix of Long Beach, raced in the spring.

Auto Club Speedway hosted CART races from 1997 to 2002 and the IndyCar Series from 2002 to 2005. Gil de Ferran set the world speed record on a closed course of 241.426 mph at the track in 2000, and Sam Hornish Jr. had the fastest average speed of 207.151 while winning there in 2003.

Also: Featherlite Inc. founder Conrad Clement and his family purchased the Iowa Speedway in a sale that officials said won't affect the daily operations of the popular track.

Officials announced that the Clement family had bought the holding company that owns the 5-year-old track, U.S. Motorsports Corp., from the Manatt family effective June 30. Terms were not disclosed.

Featherlite, based in Cresco, Iowa, since 1979, makes aluminum trailers. The company also makes transports for a number of NASCAR teams.

This year, the Iowa venue has four major events on the schedule, including last month's IndyCar race, two NASCAR Nationwide events and a NASCAR trucks series event July 16.

BASKETBALL

Source: Pacers to announce
Vogel will remain as coach

The Indiana Pacers are sticking with the coach who got them to the playoffs. A person familiar with the decision told The Associated Press that Indiana will make interim coach Frank Vogel the team's permanent coach.

The Pacers scheduled a news conference for today, with Vogel joined by Larry Bird, the Pacers' president of basketball operations.

Bird called Vogel the favorite to get the job from the beginning of the search after the Pacers finished strong last season and made the playoffs.

Vogel took over for Jim O'Brien in the middle of last season, and the team finished the year 20-18. The Pacers made the playoffs for the first time since 2006, losing to top-seeded Chicago in the first round.

Also: The Brigham Young men's basketball team, heading into its first year in the West Coast Conference, announced a nonconference schedule that includes games against Utah State, Utah and Weber State.

The Cougars open the season Nov. 11 at Utah State, take on Weber State at home Dec. 7 and play at Utah on Dec. 10. BYU also will play Oregon, Baylor, Virginia Tech and Northern Arizona.

MISCELLANEOUS

Titans receiver Britt faces
lawsuit stemming from fight

A Nashville, Tenn., man is suing Titans receiver Kenny Britt in connection with a bar fight. Harold Pointer filed a lawsuit June 27 against Britt and Bradford Miser that seeks $150,000 in damages.

In the complaint, Pointer said Britt and Miser, who runs a Nashville automotive business, assaulted him Oct. 22 at Nashville's Karma Lounge, which is also named as a defendant in the lawsuit for serving Britt alcohol when he appeared intoxicated.

Britt also has been charged with providing inaccurate information on separate driver's license applications in Tennessee and faces a charge of resisting arrest in his home state of New Jersey.

Also: Green Bay Packers cornerback Brandon Underwood was charged with disorderly conduct, the second straight offseason he has run into legal trouble.

WLUK-TV reports the charge stems from an alleged altercation with his wife about two weeks ago, just hours after the team got its Super Bowl rings in Green Bay, Wis.

Earlier this year, Underwood pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor count of soliciting a prostitute in a June 2010 incident at a resort cabin in Lake Delton, Wis., after two women alleged he sexually assaulted them.

The Phoenix Coyotes signed All-Star defenseman Keith Yandle to a five-year deal, locking up one of their top offseason priorities. A person with knowledge of the contract told The Associated Press that it was worth about $26 million.

The Winnipeg Jets signed captain Andrew Ladd to a five-year contract extension worth $22 million. Ladd agreed to the deal a few hours before he was eligible to file for arbitration. The 25-year-old Ladd had a career-high 29 goals and 59 points for the Thrashers last season.

The original "Big Three" will be together again on the first tee at Augusta National in 2012. Gary Player agreed to join Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus as an honorary starter at the Masters.

They have 13 green jackets among them. The last time they were on the opening tee together was in 2001, when they played in the same group for the first two rounds. Next year, they will hit only one shot apiece in a ceremonial start to the tournament.