Sports briefs for July 27, 2005

Wednesday, July 27, 2005 | 9:35 a.m.

Crew chiefs fined

At Daytona Beach, Derrike Cope's crew chief was fined $5,000 for using an illegal part at Pocono Raceway.

NASCAR said Kenneth Glen was cited for using an unapproved rear end gear ratio, which was discovered on the No. 52 Dodge during Nextel Cup pre-qualifying inspection Saturday.

Travis Kvapil's crew chief, Shane Wilson, was fined $1,000 for an unapproved body modification found in the same inspection.

Tour de France ratings go through the roof

Lance Armstrong's record seventh straight Tour de France victory was watched by an average of 1.7 million viewers Sunday, the largest audience in the history of the Outdoor Life Network.

The live coverage of Armstrong's career-ending victory late Sunday morning drew an audience significantly larger than the network's average prime-time audience of 330,000 people.

Shaughnessy scores upset of Zvonareva

At Stanford, Calif., Meghann Shaughnessy clenched her fist after saving match point, then drilled a service ace that propelled her to an upset over fifth-seeded Vera Zvonareva at the Bank of the West Classic.

Shaughnessy, a 6-3, 1-6, 7-6 (6) winner, advanced to the second round against 24th-ranked Daniela Hantuchova, who needed just 51 minutes to dispatch Alexandra Stevenson 6-2, 6-1.

Seventh-seeded Jelana Jankovic beat Marissa Irvin 6-2, 6-4 in the final match of the night.

In other matches, Nicolas Lapentti advanced when Agustin Calleri retired with a back injury. Lapentti was leading 6-4, 3-0; Rainer Schuettler topped David Sanchez 6-3, 6-3; and Irakli Labadze defeated Ruben Ramirez-Hidalgo 6-3, 6-3.

New standard set for women's pole vaulting

At Stockholm, Sweden, Yelena Isinbayeva broke the women's Olympic Stadium pole vault record with a leap of 15 feet, 8 1/2 inches to win a $10,000 diamond at the DN Galan track and field meet.

The Olympic champion cleared 16-4 3/4 in London four days earlier for her 17th world record -- indoors and out.

Olympic champion Justin Gatlin overcame a slow start to win the men's 100.

-- Sun wire services

archive