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Web site reports Petty, GEM merger is close
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Published: January 1, 2009
Petty Enterprises and Gillett Evernham Motorsports, according to NASCAR.com, were close to completing a merger last night that would mean a new home for NASCAR's famous No. 43 car and mean the end for a standalone Petty operation that's been a part of auto racing since its founding 60 years ago.
Neither GEM nor Petty Enterprises officials released an announcement yesterday, but sources said that that the organizations were ironing out final details. The merger would entail GEM absorbing Petty's No. 43 which, according to sources, would be driven by Reed Sorenson and sponsored by the Air Force next season.
Bobby Labonte drove the car for the past three seasons at Petty Enterprises, but the team lost its primary sponsorship to Richard Childress Racing, and Labonte cut ties with the organization earlier this month.
Dozens of Petty Enterprises employees have been laid off since the season finale Nov. 18.
More auto racing
■ Speedway Motorsports Inc. purchased Kentucky Speedway, clearing the way for SMI owner Bruton Smith to try and bring a coveted NASCAR Sprint Cup race to the 1.5-mile tri-oval in Sparta, in northern Kentucky.
The deal was completed yesterday, more than seven months after SMI agreed to buy the track from the speedway ownership group led by Jerry Carroll. According to papers filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Smith agreed to pay $78.3 million for the speedway that cost $152 million to build.
The track regularly hosts NASCAR's second-tier Nationwide Series, Indy Racing League and ARCA races. With crowds of more than 70,000, the speedway is currently the largest venue that hosts a Nationwide race but doesn't have a Cup race.
The track is expected to add 50,000 seats to become more Cup-friendly.
Baseball
■ Reliever Brian Fuentes and the Los Angeles Angels reached agreement on a two-year, $17.5-million contract yesterday, perhaps giving the Angels a replacement for record-setting closer Francisco Rodriguez. The agreement includes a team option for $9 million in 2011.
Fuentes, 33, was a three-time NL All-Star. He went 1-5 with 30 saves in 34 chances and a 2.73 ERA for Colorado last season and then became a free agent. He also struck out 82 in 622/3 innings.
Rodriguez had 62 saves for the Angels last season to break Bobby Thigpen's single-season record of 57 but he signed a three-year, $37-million contract with the New York Mets three weeks ago.
■ The Chicago Cubs and Aaron Miles, a switch-hitting infielder, have agreed to a two-year contract.
Miles batted .317 with four homers and 31 RBIs in 134 games for the St. Louis Cardinals last season, when he played mostly at second base. He also played shortstop, third base and all three outfield positions.
Miles, 32, has a .289 career average in 643 major-league games and also has played with the Chicago White Sox and Colorado Rockies.
■ Left-hander Mark Hendrickson signed a one-year contract yesterday with the pitching-depleted Baltimore Orioles.
He pitched in 36 games, and started 19, for the Florida Marlins last season, and he could compete for a spot in Baltimore's thin rotation. Jeremy Guthrie is the only set starter after Daniel Cabrera signed with Washington.
Hendrickson, 34 and 6-9, was 7-8 with a 5.45 ERA in 2008. He has a 50-63 with a 5.07 ERA in seven seasons.
■ The Cleveland Indians acquired infielder Mark DeRosa yesterday in a trade that sent minor-leaguers Jeff Stevens, Chris Archer and John Gaub to the Chicago Cubs.
DeRosa, who could slide into Cleveland's opening at third base, hit a career-high 21 homers and drove in 87 runs in 149 games last season while playing six positions, including 95 appearances at second base and 22 at third for the Cubs.
Basketball
■ Charles Barkley was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol early yesterday in Scottsdale, Ariz., after an officer with a task force that targets drunken driving saw him run a stop sign about 1:30 a.m., police said.
"I am disappointed that I put myself in that situation," Barkley said in a statement to The Associated Press. "The Scottsdale police were fantastic. Now it is a legal matter, and I will not comment any further as it is a legal matter."
Barkley, now an NBA television commentator, failed field-sobriety tests after the officer smelled alcohol on him and was arrested. He declined to submit to a breath test but was given a blood test. The results weren't immediately available. Barkley was cited and released, which police said is customary policy after an arrest on suspicion of DUI.
■ Southeast Missouri State fired men's coach Scott Edger, the school said. He had had been on administrative leave since the fall, when the school received a notice of allegations from the NCAA concerning possible major violations involving the men's basketball program. The university said that the NCAA will take up the case at meeting in April.
Soccer
■ Michael Videira, a former All-ACC midfielder at Duke, has signed with the New England Revolution of Major League Soccer. Per team and league policies, terms of the deal were not released.
Videira was selected by the Revolution in the second round of the 2008 MLS SuperDraft but chose to pursue options in Europe and signed with Hamilton Academical of the Scottish Premier League. In 80 career games at Duke, he had 17 goals and 34 assists.
■ Yael Averbuch, Tobin Heath and Casey Noguiera of North Carolina and Lorraine Quinn of Duke are among 25 players invited to the U.S. Under-23 Women's team training camp, scheduled Jan. 5-12 in Chula Vista, Calif. The U.S. team will use the camp to start preparations for the 2009 Nordic Cup in July, the top tournament for the U-23 age group. The U.S. has won 10 of 12 Nordic Cup titles, including the last two.
■ Israel's Football Association postponed all soccer matches yesterday, two days after a missile fired by Hamas militants hit the field of a third-division team just before the start of practice. Israel began a military campaign against Hamas five days ago in response to rocket attacks launched at Israeli towns from the Gaza Strip.
Golf
■ John Daly said he has been suspended by the PGA Tour for six months for conduct that brought unwelcome publicity, including a night spent in jail in Winston-Salem to sober up.
"Is it fair that I got suspended? It's not fair in reality, but it's probably fair in perception," Daly told The Associated Press yesterday.
This is the second time that the tour has suspended Daly, and he had agreed at least two other times to take time off to get his life in order. He called this the lowest point in his 18-year career.
Daly, 42, hasn't played on the PGA Tour since he missed the cut Oct. 17 in Las Vegas. Ten days later, police in Winston-Salem said he appeared intoxicated outside a Hooters restaurant, and he was taken to jail to sleep it off. That led to a photo of Daly in an orange jail suit with his eyes half-open.
Ty Votaw, a PGA Tour spokesman, declined comment even though Daly confirmed his suspension, citing the tour's long-time policy of not discussing fines or suspensions.
Daly decided to go public "to be fair to my fans and tournament organizers" during the first three months of the season, when he typically plays on the West Coast and in Florida. Daly said he will continue playing the European tour, starting with a three-week swing in the United Arab Emirates.
Daly isn't even sure when the suspension began. He said that PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem sent a letter to his agent, Bud Martin of SFX Sports, who passed along the news. Martin would say only that the suspension was to end in the spring, adding "it remains confidential with the PGA Tour."
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