Fastest Lap

Hakeem Olajuwon, two-time MVP of the NBA Finals, was cleared yesterday to represent the United States in next year's Olympic Games in Atlanta. Olajuwon, a naturalized U.S. citizen, had to receive special permission from FIBA, the sport's international governing body, to be eligible for Dream Team III because the Houston Rockets center competed in an international tournament for his native Nigeria as a teenager. The decision by FIBA secretary general Borislav Stankovic had been expected and followed a lengthy appeal process by Olajuwon after he came a U.S. citizen in 1993.

Taking over for another driver is nothing new for Ted Musgrave. His journeyman 11-year NASCAR career includes a series of stints with different teams - six during the 1998 season alone. But when the green flag falls for today's Pennsylvania 500, Musgrave will be behind the wheel of the BellSouth Chevrolet - a car previously driven by Kenny Irwin. Irwin died in a crash during practice July 7 at New Hampshire International Speedway. Team Sabco, which did not field the rainbow-colored car for the race two weeks ago in New Hampshire, paid tribute to its fallen star this weekend at Pocono Raceway by changing the number on the Monte Carlo from 42 to 01. "This is eerie; it feels a little weird to take over for Kenny," Musgrave admitted.

Rory Sabbatini and John Mallinger were set to play another round together as leaders of the Byron Nelson Championship in Irving, Texas. The second-round coleaders shot 5-under-par 65s yesterday to share the lead after three rounds. They were at 13-under 197, 2 strokes ahead of Dustin Johnson, Brian Davis, and D.A. Points at TPC Four Seasons Resort Las Colinas. Elsewhere: Japanese rookie Mika Miyazato, 19, shot a 10-under 62 to tie Soo-Yun Kang of South Korea for a 1-shot lead, at 17-under 199, in the LPGA Corning Classic in Corning, N.Y. . . . Michael Allen, winless in 271 PGA Tour events, had a 1-shot lead over Jeff Sluman and Tom Kite at 3-under 207 in the Senior PGA Championship at Canterbury in Beachwood, Ohio.

Leaning on crutches that he vowed to toss aside as soon as possible, Jack Roush returned to the helm of his racing empire yesterday at Dover International Speedway. It was Roush's first trackside appearance since his near-fatal crash while piloting a small-craft airplane in Alabama on April 19. "I can't say how excited I am to be back in the fray, to be able to smell the gas in the garage, to be able to hear the keyboards being hit here in the pressroom," Roush said. He had even more reason to be thankful about an hour later.

Andre Agassi stumbled in his return to Davis Cup play, then Andy Roddick stepped up to square things for the Americans. Croatia's Ivan Ljubicic beat Agassi in straight sets in yesterday's opening match at Carson, Calif. Roddick bounced back after a first-set loss to defeat Mario Ancic, 4-6, 6-2, 6-1, 6-4, in the day's second and final match. Ljubicic downed Agassi, 6-3, 7-6 (7-0), 6-3, in a matchup of Croatia's No. 1 player against the U.S. team's No. 2. The first round resumes today, with twins Mike and Bob Bryan scheduled to face Ljubicic and Ancic.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. was found to have an illegal car yesterday in qualifying at Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama. Earnhardt, who has won a record four straight Winston Cup races at the high-banked tri-oval, was set to start 10th in tomorrow's EA Sports 500. But his No. 8 Chevrolet didn't get past inspectors who discovered the right quarter-panel was too low. "A clear violation," NASCAR spokesman Jim Hunter said. Earnhardt's time was disallowed and he had to take a provisional spot, starting 38th in the 43-car field.

Southern Virginia, where Jeff Burton grew up, is NASCAR country. Still, Burton, like most racers, appreciates all forms of the sport. "I watch every Formula One race Monday nights on SpeedVision," Burton said Thursday, before leaving Indianapolis for Dover, Del., the site of tomorrow's Winston Cup race. "They're not necessarily the most competitive races, but I respect the engineering. American fans don't have a true understanding of how technical [F1] is. It's cool racing. " Burton, runner-up to Bobby Labonte in the Winston Cup points standings, was in Indy for a press conference involving a manufacturer that supplies parts to Roush Racing and Ferrari.

Penn Wood High alumnus Leroy Burrell, currently the world's fastest sprinter, has been named the winner of the men's 1990 IAAF Mobil Grand Prix overall title. Burrell, 23, finished the Grand Prix season Friday night, undefeated in eight races and with 63 points. In a 100-meter showdown against teammate and world record-holder Carl Lewis in Athens, Burrell won easily in 10.04 seconds. Lewis, the two-time Olympic gold medalist in the event, finished third in 10.12. The race was the Grand Prix finale.

Sad statistic of the week: Ten of the 12 times I watched television this week, there was video - on the local news, ESPN or ABC's promos - of racing cars bouncing off the brick walls of Indianapolis Motor Speedway at about 200 miles an hour. Over the past three weeks, 23 cars crashed in qualifying and practice sessions, which is something you would expect on the Schuylkill Expressway, not at Indy. And there is no traffic during qualifying. The unsettling thing about it was the way the cars attacked the walls.

All-star left winger Keith Tkachuk of the Phoenix Coyotes was suspended for two games without pay yesterday for high-sticking Colorado defenseman Aaron Miller. Tkachuk, who had just returned from an ankle injury, will forfeit $57,986.10 in salary. The NHL fined Detroit Red Wings coach Scotty Bowman $7,500 for criticizing officials after Saturday's game in Colorado. Although Detroit won, 4-3, Bowman criticized the calls made by referees Rob Shick and Dave Jackson, including one that awarded Colorado's Chris Drury a penalty shot.

LONG POND, Pa. - Fast and furious. That's typically how NASCAR's stars leave after a weekend at Pocono Raceway. But this week is turning out to be the longest in track history, and for a change the drivers have had nothing but good things to say about the 2.5-mile speedway in advance of Sunday's Pocono 400. While a number of competitors applauded drastic improvements to pit road and the installation of the new generation of Safer barriers...

Rory Sabbatini and John Mallinger were set to play another round together as leaders of the Byron Nelson Championship in Irving, Texas. The second-round coleaders shot 5-under-par 65s yesterday to share the lead after three rounds. They were at 13-under 197, 2 strokes ahead of Dustin Johnson, Brian Davis, and D.A. Points at TPC Four Seasons Resort Las Colinas. Elsewhere: Japanese rookie Mika Miyazato, 19, shot a 10-under 62 to tie Soo-Yun Kang of South Korea for a 1-shot lead, at 17-under 199, in the LPGA Corning Classic in Corning, N.Y. . . . Michael Allen, winless in 271 PGA Tour events, had a 1-shot lead over Jeff Sluman and Tom Kite at 3-under 207 in the Senior PGA Championship at Canterbury in Beachwood, Ohio.

Andre Agassi stumbled in his return to Davis Cup play, then Andy Roddick stepped up to square things for the Americans. Croatia's Ivan Ljubicic beat Agassi in straight sets in yesterday's opening match at Carson, Calif. Roddick bounced back after a first-set loss to defeat Mario Ancic, 4-6, 6-2, 6-1, 6-4, in the day's second and final match. Ljubicic downed Agassi, 6-3, 7-6 (7-0), 6-3, in a matchup of Croatia's No. 1 player against the U.S. team's No. 2. The first round resumes today, with twins Mike and Bob Bryan scheduled to face Ljubicic and Ancic.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. was found to have an illegal car yesterday in qualifying at Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama. Earnhardt, who has won a record four straight Winston Cup races at the high-banked tri-oval, was set to start 10th in tomorrow's EA Sports 500. But his No. 8 Chevrolet didn't get past inspectors who discovered the right quarter-panel was too low. "A clear violation," NASCAR spokesman Jim Hunter said. Earnhardt's time was disallowed and he had to take a provisional spot, starting 38th in the 43-car field.

Some runners have speed, others have strength. Bishop Shanahan senior Eric Fleming combines both ingredients with a smooth stride as he hurries to the top. "He's so fluid," Shanahan head track and field coach Don Hufford said. "He looks as if he's gliding. When the others are running to keep up with him, it looks like they are running twice as hard and can't catch him. It looks as if he's pacing. " When Fleming is racing, however, look out. Or just look on in appreciation.

Leaning on crutches that he vowed to toss aside as soon as possible, Jack Roush returned to the helm of his racing empire yesterday at Dover International Speedway. It was Roush's first trackside appearance since his near-fatal crash while piloting a small-craft airplane in Alabama on April 19. "I can't say how excited I am to be back in the fray, to be able to smell the gas in the garage, to be able to hear the keyboards being hit here in the pressroom," Roush said. He had even more reason to be thankful about an hour later.

Southern Virginia, where Jeff Burton grew up, is NASCAR country. Still, Burton, like most racers, appreciates all forms of the sport. "I watch every Formula One race Monday nights on SpeedVision," Burton said Thursday, before leaving Indianapolis for Dover, Del., the site of tomorrow's Winston Cup race. "They're not necessarily the most competitive races, but I respect the engineering. American fans don't have a true understanding of how technical [F1] is. It's cool racing. " Burton, runner-up to Bobby Labonte in the Winston Cup points standings, was in Indy for a press conference involving a manufacturer that supplies parts to Roush Racing and Ferrari.

Taking over for another driver is nothing new for Ted Musgrave. His journeyman 11-year NASCAR career includes a series of stints with different teams - six during the 1998 season alone. But when the green flag falls for today's Pennsylvania 500, Musgrave will be behind the wheel of the BellSouth Chevrolet - a car previously driven by Kenny Irwin. Irwin died in a crash during practice July 7 at New Hampshire International Speedway. Team Sabco, which did not field the rainbow-colored car for the race two weeks ago in New Hampshire, paid tribute to its fallen star this weekend at Pocono Raceway by changing the number on the Monte Carlo from 42 to 01. "This is eerie; it feels a little weird to take over for Kenny," Musgrave admitted.

All-star left winger Keith Tkachuk of the Phoenix Coyotes was suspended for two games without pay yesterday for high-sticking Colorado defenseman Aaron Miller. Tkachuk, who had just returned from an ankle injury, will forfeit $57,986.10 in salary. The NHL fined Detroit Red Wings coach Scotty Bowman $7,500 for criticizing officials after Saturday's game in Colorado. Although Detroit won, 4-3, Bowman criticized the calls made by referees Rob Shick and Dave Jackson, including one that awarded Colorado's Chris Drury a penalty shot.

Hakeem Olajuwon, two-time MVP of the NBA Finals, was cleared yesterday to represent the United States in next year's Olympic Games in Atlanta. Olajuwon, a naturalized U.S. citizen, had to receive special permission from FIBA, the sport's international governing body, to be eligible for Dream Team III because the Houston Rockets center competed in an international tournament for his native Nigeria as a teenager. The decision by FIBA secretary general Borislav Stankovic had been expected and followed a lengthy appeal process by Olajuwon after he came a U.S. citizen in 1993.