Sports in brief: Childress Racing changes Burton crew chief

Times wires
Monday, July 25, 2011

autos

childress changes burton crew chief

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Richard Childress Racing has made a crew chief change for slumping driver Jeff Burton.

Luke Lambert will replace Todd Berrier effective immediately. Lambert has been the engineer on Burton's No. 31 Chevrolet since 2008.

Burton made the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship last season, but he's 25th in the points standings.

He doesn't have a top-10 this season, and has finished 20th or worse 12 times.

Obituary: Former Talladega Superspeedway general manager Don Naman died after a lengthy illness. He was 75.

Mr. Naman, who passed away Monday in Talladega, Ala., became the speedway's first general manager in 1970 when it was still called Alabama International Motor Speedway.

He spent 18 years in that position and another 12 as director of the International Motorsports Hall of Fame on the Talladega Superspeedway grounds.

Talladega Superspeedway general manager Grant Lynch says Mr. Naman "played a significant role in the growth of Talladega Superspeedway" and "poured his heart and soul" into the Hall of Fame.

softball

United States stops Japan 6-4 to take title

Taylor Hoagland hit a two-run home run, Valerie Arioto and Megan Langenfeld had RBI singles and the United States beat rival Japan 6-4 in Oklahoma City to win its fifth straight World Cup championship.

Jordan Taylor retired the first eight batters she faced and carried a no-hitter into the fifth inning, never letting the Americans fall behind after they grabbed a 2-0 lead without a hit in the first inning.

The United States, coached by USF's Ken Eriksen, got even for a 7-0 loss in the championship game of the Canada Cup this month.

The Americans won the first three Olympic gold medals and have won the past seven world championships, but Japan holds gold from the 2008 Olympics.

The teams have met in the finals in five of the six World Cups, with the United States winning four.

Hoagland's two-run blast that made it 6-2 in the bottom of the sixth proved crucial when UF's Michelle Moultrie dropped Eri Yamada's two-out fly to deep left in the seventh. Two runs scored and Yamada reached third, but Misa Okubo popped up a bunt to Keilani Ricketts to end it.

Ricketts, who got the final two outs, earned the save.

swimming

Vollmer rallies to win gold in butterfly

Dana Vollmer gave the United States its first gold medal in pool swimming at the world championships in Shanghai, catching Australia's Alicia Coutts in the final 20 meters to win the 100-meter butterfly.

Vollmer finished in 56.87 seconds. Coutts, who was nearly a half-second under the world record after 50 meters, finished second in 56.94.

et cetera

basketball: Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis scored 19 and Bria Hartley added 18 as the United States held off China 80-77 in the second round of the U-19 world championship in Puerto Montt, Chile. The United States (4-0) plays Italy (2-2) today to close out the second round.

soccer: Sergio Batista was dismissed as Argentina coach after a Copa America in which a team of stars led by Lionel Messi managed one victory. Batista, who took over a year ago, was Argentina's fourth coach in five years and had the same problem as his predecessor Diego Maradona: little tactical experience and an inability to get superstars to play as a team. Alejandro Sabella, former coach of Argentine club Estudiantes, and Paraguay coach Gerardo Martino — an Argentine — are seen as the favorites to replace him. Also being mentioned as a successor is former Boca Juniors and Atletico de Madrid coach Carlos Bianchi. … Turkey has postponed the start of its season until Sept. 9 because of a game-fixing investigation that has landed 30 suspects in jail, including the president of the league champion. The Turkish federation made the decision to delay a season set to begin Aug. 5. The investigation involving 19 games has shaken Turkish soccer.

Times wires

Source: http://www.tampabay.com/sports/sports-in-brief-childress-racing-changes-burton-crew-chief/1182437

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