Stewart Finally Earns First Pole

Tony Stewart pulled off a surprise and got his first pole this season in qualifying for the NASCAR Winston Cup Series Tropicana 400 Friday at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Ill.

The defending series champion, struggling through a difficult season and not known as a strong qualifier, turned a track-record lap of 184.786 mph on the 1 1/2-mile oval to pick up the seventh pole of his career and first since last August at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

The top five qualifiers surpassed the record of 183.713, set in 2001 by Todd Bodine. Jeff Gordon was second at 184.445, giving Chevrolet a sweep of the front row for Sunday’s race.

Bill Elliott was third in a Dodge at 184.401, and rookie Casey Mears was fourth at 184.263 in another Dodge. Earlier in the day, Mears won his first Busch Series pole for today’s Tropicana Twister 300. Jeremy Mayfield, driving a Dodge, was the fifth driver to break the track record with a lap of 183.892.

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Bruno Junqueira, driving a Ford-Cosworth/Lola, cut one point off Paul Tracy’s lead in the CART series standings by winning the provisional pole for Sunday’s Toronto Molson Indy. Junqueira had a lap at 59.486 seconds (106.21 mph) around the 1.755-mile temporary street course. He moved within seven points of Tracy, who qualified second in a Ford-Cosworth/Lola and was the only other driver to break the one-minute mark with a lap of 59.803.

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Tennis

Fourth-seeded Robby Ginepri advanced to the semifinals of the Hall of Fame Championships in Newport, R.I., for the second consecutive year, beating Ivan Miranda, 7-5, 6-2. Also advancing to the semifinals were eighth-seeded Jurgen Melzer, Gregory Carraz and Cyril Saulnier. Melzer defeated Jeff Salzenstein, 7-5, 7-6 (7). Carraz beat seventh-seeded Justin Gimelstob, 2-6, 6-1, 7-6 (3), and Saulnier beat Bob Bryan, 6-4, 6-3.

Second-seeded Rainer Schuettler was eliminated in the quarterfinals of the Swiss Open at Gstaad, losing to Radek Stepanek, 6-4, 6-2. Stepanek will play Jiri Novak in the semifinals. Novak beat Juan Ignacio Chela, 6-3, 6-3. Wimbledon champion Roger Federer will play fourth-seeded Gaston Gaudio in the other semifinal. Federer advanced when David Sanchez withdrew because of a foot injury. Gaudio beat Stefan Koubek, 6-3, 6-1.... Sixth-seeded Nicolas Lapentti saved five match points and beat Rafael Nadal, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (6), to reach the semifinals of the Swedish Open at Bastad.

Track and Field

Former world-record holder Maurice Greene tied for third in the 100 meters at the Golden Gala meet in Rome, ending his bid for a share of a $1-million prize. Greene was timed in 10.09. John Capel won in 10.04, and Bernard Williams was second in 10.06. Dwain Chambers tied Greene for third. Rome is the third in a series of six meets in the Golden League, which rewards athletes who win their events at each meet. Chandra Sturrup won the women’s 100 in 10.89, the best time in the world this year. In the women’s 800, Maria Mutola won in a meet-record 1:57.21.

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Miscellany

The Oakland Raiders dropped a seven-year-old lawsuit against the NFL a day before the trial was scheduled to begin. The Raiders had claimed that NFL Properties, the league’s marketing unit, had failed to use its “best efforts” to promote the sale of Raider merchandise and prohibited the team from promoting products on the sidelines during games. The team had filed 22 causes of action against the league. Only two of the claims survived pretrial maneuverings, and the Raiders informed the state court in Santa Clara County earlier that it would drop the remaining allegations.

Northwestern is seeking to have Linda Will, the mother of football player Rashidi Wheeler, barred from court depositions in her lawsuit involving his death. The school claims witnesses have refused to attend depositions without the presence of armed police officers because of what the school termed her “harassing” behavior.

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The San Jose Sharks re-signed center Patrick Marleau.