In Brief

MOTOR SPORTS

Kyle Busch saves best for last,
wins first Cup pole of season

Las Vegan Kyle Busch posted a lap of 133.417 mph Friday to win his first NASCAR Sprint Cup pole of the season. Kasey Kahne had a lap of 133.403 mph and will start second for Sunday's race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon.

Busch, the final driver to qualify, almost brushed the wall near the end of his run when "the car slipped right at the last second," he said. "There's no mark on the car, so all is good there."

Denny Hamlin was in line for the pole with a lap of 133.399 mph until Kahne pushed him back a spot in the 44-car field. Hamlin had back spasms last week that caused him to skip the Nationwide Series race at Daytona International Speedway and sidelined him for practice for the Sprint Cup stop.

GOLF

Caddie-player overtakes Kite,
leads U.S. Senior Open by one

Lance Ten Broeck, a full-time caddie for Tim Herron on the PGA Tour and part-time player, shot 2-under-par 68 to take a one-stroke lead over first-round leader Tom Kite after the second round of the U.S. Senior Open in Lake Orion, Mich. Ten Broeck is at 6-under 134.

Ten Broeck has an outright 36-hole lead for the first time in his career. The 56-year-old finished tied for 71st in his only other Champions Tour event this year and said he plays about 25 rounds a year.

Kite followed his 65 with a 70.

Also: Troy Matteson shot 3-under 68 and has a one-stroke lead over Jeff Maggert and Brian Harman after two rounds of the John Deere Classic at Silvis, Ill. Matteson is at 13-under 129.

Maggert's bogey-free round of 62, which included nine birdies, moved him from 39th after the first round. Three-time defending champion Steve Stricker is three strokes behind.

Phil Mickelson broke out of his slump with an 8-under 64 at the Scottish Open in Inverness, Scotland, leaving him five shots off the second-round lead shared by Alexander Noren and Francesco Molinari, who are at 12-under 132. Mickelson had an eagle and six birdies and broke par for the first time since May.

Former UNLV golfer Derek Ernst lost to T.J. Vogel of Miami 4 and 3 in the semifinals of the U.S. Amateur Public Links at Soldier Hollow Golf Course in Midway, Utah.

MISCELLANEOUS

'Ex-doper' from Scotland gets
stage victory in Tour de France

David Millar, who describes himself as an "ex-doper," won the longest stage of the Tour de France, and British countryman Bradley Wiggins kept the yellow jersey as the race left the Alps.

Millar, who rides for the U.S. Garmin-Sharp team, led a five-man breakaway in the 12th stage and said he hopes his ride helps fans believe that cyclists can win cleanly. The 35-year-old Scotsman said he learned hard lessons after "making a mess" of his life through drug use.

The 140-mile ride from Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne to Annonay-Davezieux featured two big climbs, but did not change the top of the standings because Wiggins and his main rivals finished together. Wiggins leads second-place Christopher Froome, his teammate, by 2 minutes, 5 seconds.

Also: Two belts will be on the line at tonight's Strikeforce event in Portland, Ore. Luke Rockhold will defend the middleweight title against Tim Kennedy in the main event. Also, unbeaten Tyron Woodley will fight Ultimate Fighting Championship veteran Nate Marquardt for the vacant welterweight belt.

The main card airs tape-delayed on Showtime (Cable 240) at 10 p.m., with the undercard on Showtime Extreme (Cable 243) at 8.

The Houston Rockets waived forward Luis Scola, clearing more salary space as they pursue Orlando Magic All-Star center Dwight Howard.

The one-time use of the amnesty clause allows Scola to leave without his remaining contract counting against the team's salary cap or luxury tax. He is due to make about $21 million over the next three seasons, and cutting him would allow Houston to absorb undesirable contracts from the Magic.

In other moves, the Dallas Mavericks won the bidding to obtain two-time All-Star forward Elton Brand off waivers; the Indiana Pacers re-signed center Roy Hibbert and guard George Hill and signed guard D.J. Augustin; the Los Angeles Clippers re-signed five-time All-Star guard Chauncey Billups; and the Philadelphia 76ers agreed to a deal with center Kwame Brown, the 2001 No. 1 overall draft pick.

Russ Langer, a seven-time Nevada Sportscaster of the Year, has been named the radio play-by-play voice for UNLV football. He will be joined in the booth by Mike Pritchard, a Las Vegan and former NFL wide receiver who enters his seventh year as the Rebels' radio analyst. Langer will continue to call games for the 51s of the Pacific Coast League, a job he has held for 13 years.

The Seattle Seahawks released wide receiver Mike Williams in a surprising move two weeks before the start of training camp. He played in only eight games last year.