AUTO RACING

Yarborough, Waltrip head to NASCAR Hall of Fame

Additional Photos

Tiffany Jackson of the Tulsa Shock tries to shoot over Indiana’s Tangela Smith during the Fever’s 82-74 victory Tuesday night. The Associated Press

Championship drivers Cale Yarborough and Darrell Waltrip headlined the third five-member class headed to the NASCAR Hall of Fame announced Tuesday.

They were joined by eight-time series champion crew chief Dale Inman, nine-time Modified champion Richie Evans and pioneering driver and owner Glen Wood.

Yarborough, the top vote-getter, won 83 races and three consecutive titles (1976-78). Only Jimmie Johnson’s current streak of five titles is longer. Yarborough’s 83 victories rank sixth. He won four Daytona 500s and later was a car owner until he left the sport in 1999.

Waltrip won 84 races, tied for third on the career list, and captured series championships in 1981, ’82 and ’85.

Inman became the first crew chief elected. He spent nearly three decades at Petty Enterprises, where he was in charge of inaugural Hall of Famer Richard Petty’s team for all seven of his titles.

BASEBALL

FORMER UMAINE PLAYER SIGNS: Outfielder Taylor Lewis, who helped the University of Maine to the America East Conference championship, signed with the Pittsburgh Pirates after being drafted last week in the 10th round of the major league draft.

Lewis is expected to report to the State College Spikes of the New York-Penn League.

NECBL: The Sanford Mainers (2-1) scored three runs in each of their first two at-bats and went on to beat the Keene Swamp Bats (2-1) 9-4 at Keene, N.H.

Paul Kronenfeld had three hits for the Mainers.

• The visiting North Shore Navigators (3-2) scored five runs in the sixth inning and beat the Old Orchard Beach Raging Tide, 9-3.

Old Orchard Beach (1-1) scored single runs in the first, second and third innings.

JUNIOR LEGION: Winning pitcher Brandon Briggs had two hits and scored three runs to lead Saco to a 9-5 victory over Freeport Medical Center at Freeport.

• Colin Joyce had a two-run double and Alec Hazelwood had a two-run single, helping Westbrook beat Cheverus 10-0 at Portland.

• Cody Dube allowed one hit over five innings and hit a solo home run to lead Windham to a 13-1 victory over visiting South Portland.

McGyver Poulin hit a three-run double in the second when Windham took a 5-0 lead.

BASKETBALL

NBA: Commissioner David Stern and Deputy Commissioner Adam Silver met with players’ association Executive Director Billy Hunter and members of their staffs, with more discussions planned later this week.

The owners and players are negotiating a new collective bargaining agreement to replace the deal that expires June 30.

• The Los Angeles Clippers exercised their fourth-year contract option on rookie of the year Blake Griffin, keeping him with the club through 2012-13.

• Mickael Pietrus exercised the one-year player option on his contract with the Phoenix Suns.

WNBA: Katie Douglas had 22 points with seven rebounds to lead the Indiana Fever to an 82-74 victory over the Tulsa Shock at Indianapolis.

Ivory Latta scored 19 points and Jennifer Lacy had 14 for the Shock.

• Angel McCoughtry scored 18 points and the Atlanta Dream cruised to a 79-58 victory over the New York Liberty at Newark, N.J.

Essence Carson scored 21 points for the Liberty.

FOOTBALL

NFL: The team owners and players were making progress in labor negotiations during talks that could continue until the end of the week at an undisclosed location in Maryland.

A person with knowledge of the talks said the owners and players are “headed in the right direction” and that lawyers “are back in the room” after being excluded from sessions the past two weeks. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because details of the meeting are not being made public.

TENNIS

EASTBOURNE TOURNAMENT: Serena Williams overcame a slow start to win her first match after being sidelined for nearly a year, beating Tsvetana Pironkova 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the first round at Eastbourne, England.

UNICEF OPEN: Romina Oprandi ousted top-seeded Kim Clijsters 7-6 (5), 6-3 in the second round at Den Bosch, Netherlands.

Clijsters aggravated an ankle injury when she skidded to the net and stumbled on the first point of the second game.

CYCLING

ARMSTRONG-HAMILTON: The FBI contacted a restaurant in Aspen, Colo., to get surveillance tapes of a conversation Saturday night between seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong and former teammate Tyler Hamilton over the weekend.

Hamilton went on “60 Minutes” last month and accused Armstrong of doping repeatedly and encouraging his teammates to use performance-enhancing drugs as well.

Hamilton attorney Chris Manderson said his client was rattled by some of Armstrong’s comments. Armstrong and one of his lawyers said the conversation was uneventful.

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