Kasey Kahne of Enumclaw is 2nd to Kyle Busch in NASCAR qualifying | Auto racing

Kasey Kahne of Enumclaw is 2nd to Kyle Busch in NASCAR qualifying | Auto racing

Auto racing

Busch edges Kahne for pole

Kyle Busch posted a lap of 133.417 mph in NASCAR Sprint Cup Series qualifying Friday to edge Kasey Kahne of Enumclaw for the pole for Sunday's race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon.

Kahne's fastest lap was 133.403. Greg Biffle of Vancouver, Wash., will start in 11th.

Cycling

Millar wins longest Tour stage

Garmin-Sharp-Barracuda rider David Millar of Britain won the 12th and longest stage of the Tour de France.

He covered 140.4 miles in the Alps from Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne to Annonay in 5 hours, 42 minutes, 46 seconds.

Sky Procycling rider Bradley Wiggins of Britain retained the overall lead by 2 minutes, 5 seconds over teammate and countryman Christopher Froome. Wiggins was 12th in the stage despite having his right arm burned by a spectator carrying a flare and running alongside the peloton.

Millar was barred from cycling for two years in 2004 after using the banned blood-booster EPO when he rode for Cofidis.

"I'm an ex-doper and I'm clean now, and I want to show everyone that it's possible to win clean on the Tour," said Millar, 35.

USADA has McCain's support

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., lent support to the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency in its case against Lance Armstrong, saying the agency follows a fair process that has been authorized by Congress and that it has the right to investigate and bring charges against the seven-time Tour de France winner.

His comments came a day after Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner Jr., R-Wis., chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, called USADA's authority to punish Armstrong for doping violations "strained at best."

Armstrong, who retired last year, faces a lifetime ban from Olympic sports and the loss of his Tour titles if he accepts the charges or if arbitrators rule against him.

Johan Bruyneel, Armstrong's longtime team manager, also has been charged with a doping violation as a part of the case. Bruyneel notified the USADA he will dispute the charges and go to arbitration.

WNBA

Silver Stars win 9th in a row

Jia Perkins scored 21 points and the host San Antonio Silver Stars defeated Atlanta 91-70 for a franchise-record ninth straight victory. San Antonio (13-5) also established the franchise's best start after 18 games.

Vandersloot plays well in loss

Tina Charles collected 25 points and 13 rebounds to lead Connecticut past the host Chicago Sky 80-78 in overtime.

Chicago guard Courtney Vandersloot, a former standout for Gonzaga and Kentwood High in Covington, scored a team-high 22 points and added a game-high eight assists.

In another league game, Crystal Langhorne scored 24 points to lead visiting Washington over New York 70-53.

Soccer

Terry cleared of racial abuse

Chelsea captain John Terry, 31, was cleared of racially abusing an opponent during an English Premier League match.

The case led to Terry being stripped of the England captaincy by the Football Association ahead of the European Championship and the departure of manager Fabio Capello, who disagreed with the decision.

After hearing four days of evidence in London, chief magistrate Howard Riddle found he was not convinced Terry had committed a racially aggravated public-order offense in a confrontation with Queens Park Rangers player Anton Ferdinand, 27, during the match in October.

Terry said he only used an offensive term sarcastically to counter the obscenity he claims Ferdinand was accusing him of using.

Vancouver trades Le Toux

In Major League Soccer, the New York Red Bulls acquired forward Sebastien Le Toux from the Vancouver Whitecaps. Le Toux, 28, is a former Sounders FC player.

The Whitecaps received Jamaican midfielder Dane Richards, 28, and allocation money in the deal.

Elsewhere

• Defending champion John Isner will play fellow American Ryan Harrison in the semifinals of the grass-court Hall of Fame Tennis Championships in Newport, R.I. Lleyton Hewitt of Australia and American Rajeev Ram, the 2009 Newport winner, will meet in the other semifinal Saturday.

• Top-seeded Serena Williams, who won the Wimbledon singles title last Saturday, is in the Bank of the West Classic semis in Stanford, Calif. The American will face Sorana Cirstea of Romania.

In the other semifinal, Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium will play American Coco Vandeweghe.

• Relay sprinter Debbie Dunn, 34, has withdrawn from the U.S. Olympic team after testing positive for excessive testosterone.

• Tyson Gay won the 100 meters at the London Grand Prix in 10.03 seconds in dreary conditions, beating fellow American Ryan Bailey (10.09).

• South Carolina's board of trustees approved a five-year contract that will pay Gamecocks baseball coach Ray Tanner $675,000 a year to serve as the school's new athletic director.

Tanner's first hire is expected to be longtime assistant Chad Holbrook to take over the baseball program.

Tanner, 54, replaces Eric Hyman, who resigned last month to take a similar job at Texas A&M.

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