Sports briefs for July 14, 2003

Monday, July 14, 2003 | 9:40 a.m.

Newman runs first, Harvick runs dry

Ryan Newman stretched his last tank of fuel and won. Kevin Harvick, trying for a third consecutive win at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Ill., tried to stretch his last tank and lost.

Newman and Harvick both pitted to top off their tanks on lap 198 of Sunday's NASCAR Winston Cup event, hoping to finish the 267-lap race on the 1 1/2-mile oval without stopping again.

Harvick came up nearly three laps short.

After making his final stop, Newman got out of the pits first. He took the lead for good on lap 210 when the drivers ahead of him all pitted under caution. Harvick worked his way to second on lap 225 and was close behind when the green flag waved on lap 240 for a restart following the last of seven caution flags in the race.

Newman kept edging ahead, moving out to a lead of more than a second before Harvick's Chevrolet suddenly slowed on lap 165.

Tony Stewart, who started from the pole, inherited second place, but was unable to challenge for the lead and finished 3.177 seconds -- about 20 car-lengths -- behind Newman.

Newman matched Kurt Busch for the most wins in 2003. Busch went out of the race with a blown engine and finished 39th in the 43-car field.

Magic gets Howard

Free agent guard Juwan Howard spurned his hometown Detroit Pistons and is expected to sign Wednesday with the Orlando Magic for six years and $36.75 million, the Detroit News reported.

Wednesday is the first day free agents can sign with teams.

Ginepri wins first

Fourth-seeded Robby Ginepri beat eighth-seeded Jurgen Melzer 6-4, 6-7 (3), 6-1 at the Hall of Fame Tennis Championships at Newport, R.I., on Sunday to win his first ATP title.

First in Mackinac

The yacht Alchemy outraced 279 other starters to finish first today in the Race to Mackinac, a 333-mile race in Lake Michigan. Alchemy, a 77-foot yacht, completed the race in 35 hours, 25 minutes, 17 seconds.