In brief

MOTOR SPORTS

Ambrose follows Michigan pole with top time for Sonoma race

Marcos Ambrose won his second straight NASCAR Sprint Cup Series pole, claiming it Friday for Sunday's race at Sonoma with an average speed of 95.262 mph around the 1.99-mile road course in Sonoma, Calif.

Jeff Gordon, the career leader on road courses with nine victories, was the last driver to attempt to qualify. He ran an aggressive lap around the 10-turn course and just missed the pole with an average speed of 95.067 mph. He will start second, followed by Jimmie Johnson (94.795), Greg Biffle (94.722) and Martin Truex Jr. (94.686).

Ambrose excels at road course racing but is showing rapid improvement on ovals, winning his first pole in 134 races last week at Michigan.

Also: Dario Franchitti won the third of the first three qualifying heat races in the history of the current IndyCar series to take the pole for the Iowa Corn Indy 250 in Newton, Iowa. Franchitti has two victories in four starts on Iowa's short oval.

Helio Castroneves will start on the front row with Franchitti, followed by 2011 winner Marco Andretti, James Hinchcliffe and Ryan Briscoe.

The starting grid was set by three 30-lap heat races seeded according to practice times. The eight fastest in the last practice competed in the final heat, which set the first four rows for tonight's race. The opening two heats seeded the rest of the starting grid.

GOLF

Defending champion fires 66, leads Travelers Championship

Defending champion Fredrik Jacobson shot 4-under-par 66 to take a one-stroke lead in the suspended second round of the PGA Tour's Travelers Championship in Cromwell, Conn. He is at 9-under 131.

Former UNLV player Charley Hoffman opened with a par and birdied the next five holes to move within a stroke of the lead before rain suspended play for the day. Nathan Green also was 8 under when the horn blew at 3:19 p.m. (EDT). He finished nine holes. It was the second weather delay of the day.

Jacobson played before the rain hit the course. He started on the back nine and followed two birdies with an eagle on the 13th hole. He hit his second shot 240 yards over the water and onto the green, and made a 40-foot putt on the par 5.

Also: U.S. Open champion Webb Simpson said he probably will miss the British Open because of the impending birth of his second child. Simpson's wife, Dowd, is due in late July. The British Open begins July 19 at Royal Lytham and St. Annes in Lancashire, England.

Inbee Park, a former Bishop Gorman High School star, birdied her final two holes for a 7-under 64 and one-stroke lead after the second round of the inaugural Manulife Financial LPGA Classic in Waterloo, Ontario. Park, at 9-under 133, had eight birdies and a bogey and needed just 22 putts during her round.

Seven players didn't finish because of darkness.

Russ Cochran shot 6-under 66 to claim a two-stroke lead after the first round of the Champions Tour's Montreal Championship in Sainte-Julie, Quebec. Michael Allen, the tour leader with two victories and earnings of $1,071,282, was tied for second with Jerry Pate, Rod Spittle and 2010 champion Larry Mize.

Canadian Claude Tremblay shot 77 but had the first hole-in-one in the tournament's history. He used a 19-degree hybrid for the ace on the 224-yard 13th hole.

Joel Sjoholm twice chipped in for eagle and shot 6-under 66 to take a two-stroke lead after two rounds of the European Tour's BMW International Open in Pulheim, Germany. He is at 11-under 133.

COLLEGE BASEBALL

South Carolina ousts Arkansas, to play for third straight title

Tyler Webb and Matt Price combined for seven innings of shutout relief, and two-time defending national champion South Carolina returned to the College World Series finals with a 3-2 victory over Arkansas in Omaha, Neb.

The Gamecocks (49-18), who will play Arizona (46-17) in the best-of-3 finals beginning Sunday, took the lead in the bottom of the seventh on Barrett Astin's two-out, bases-loaded walk to Adam Matthews.

Price pitched three innings and got his record fifth career win in the CWS. Colby Suggs took the loss for Arkansas (46-22).

MISCELLANEOUS

Armstrong asks USADA board to reject 'offensive' charges

In a searing letter sent to the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency review board, cyclist Lance Armstrong made it clear he intends to fight the agency's allegation that he participated in a vast doping conspiracy while winning his seven Tour de France titles.

In the 11-page letter, Armstrong asked the agency's independent review board to reject the charges made by USADA or suspend consideration of the matter until the agency provides evidence to back up allegations made in a June 12 letter to Armstrong.

Armstrong's response claims USADA made unsupported or flatly false allegations in its letter that are "offensive to any notions of due process and fair play." The Armstrong letter indicates that, for the moment, he does not intend to take the matter to state or federal court but hopes to stave off the claims against him within USADA's system.

Because USADA charged Armstrong with doping violations from 1998 to 2005, all seven of his Tour titles are in jeopardy should he be found guilty. Armstrong never has tested positive, so the charges do not include a clear-cut positive test.

Also: Former Centennial track and cross country star Nick Hartle has been named the Gatorade Nevada Track and Field Athlete of the Year.

Hartle completed his high school career by winning four state titles this year. He won the 400-meter dash (47.79 seconds), the 800 (1:52.53), the 1,600 (4:18.03) and the 3,200 (9:28.27). His efforts helped the Bulldogs win their first track team state title.

Hartle, who has signed with UCLA, also won the Class 4A state cross country title and was named the Las Vegas Review-Journal's Male Athlete of the Year.

Germany reached the European Championship semifinals for a record seventh time by beating Greece 4-2 in Gdansk, Poland. Philipp Lahm, Sami Khedira, Miroslav Klose and Marco Reus scored for Germany, which will play England or Italy on Thursday in the semifinals.

It was the 15th consecutive competitive victory for Germany, dating to a win over Uruguay for third place at the 2010 World Cup.

Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner I'll Have Another is headed to stud duty in Japan. The 3-year-old's owner, Paul Reddam, has reached an agreement to sell the colt to Shigeyuki Okada of Big Red Farm on the island of Hokkaido. Financial terms were not disclosed. I'll Have Another will stand at stud starting with the 2013 breeding season alongside two-time Breeders' Cup Turf winner Conduit.

Andy Roddick claimed his 600th career singles win and reached the Eastbourne final in Eastbourne, England, when Steve Darcis retired after receiving treatment on his back. Roddick was leading 6-3, 3-1 when Darcis stopped, sending the American into his first final since winning Memphis in February 2011. He will play Andreas Seppi.

Kim Clijsters withdrew from the Unicef Open in Den Bosch, Netherlands, before the semifinals because of a stomach muscle strain, saying she did not want to jeopardize playing in her last Wimbledon before retirement. The four-time Grand Slam winner said this year she will retire after the U.S. Open.

The Los Angeles Kings reached agreements in principle to re-sign centers Jarret Stoll and Colin Fraser, two big contributors to their Stanley Cup title run. Stoll's three-year deal is expected to be worth $9.75 million, and Fraser will get a two-year deal worth $1.65 million.