The Jackson Sun from Jackson, Tennessee • 25

11 INSIDE Scoreboard 2C Baseball 3C Baseball 4p Markets 5C Business 6C CALL US Questions? Suggestions? Call (800) 269-0488 or Executive Sports Editor B. Duane Cross, 425-9750. Sports Editor Dan Morris, 425-9636. High schools reporter Rich Loup, 425-9634. Copy desk Jarrod Breeze, 425-9754.

Copy desk Mark Spoor, 425-9635. Thursday, June 24, 1999 PAGE 1C Nashville Speedway: glorious past, uncertain future Fireworks were in the attendance "It's a high-speed track, high-banked and slick. We can go to Daytona, Darlington, Bristol, Charlotte so many of them that remind you of getting off turn two in Bobby Hamilton that propelled them to Winston Cup. The oval has become legendary among i Southern short tracks after more than 40 years of stock car racing. So, the thought that it might close when a new superspeedway 30 miles to the east opens in two years saddens many.

"The track ought to have a plaque on it. It's a historical landmark," said Waltrip, its champion in 1970 and 1973 and later a three-time Wilson County race track casts ominous cloud. By JOE EDWARDS The Associated Press NASHVILLE Fireball Roberts, Richard Petty and Darrell Waltrip raced at Nashville Speedway in their prime. Sterling Marling Bobby Hamilton and Jeremy May-field got the experience there operates the track, plans to build a $125 million, IVi-mile superspeedway in nearby Wilson County and open it in 2001. Dover Downs has not said, what will happen to the speedway after the new track opens.

The speedway is now; in the second year of a five-year lease with the city. Denis McGlynn, president; of Dover Do wns said the company hopes at. least to Please see NASHVILLE, 3C said. "We can go to Daytona, Darlington, Bristol, Charlotte so many of them that remind you of getting off turn two in Nashville." He said its reputation as a stock-car kingmaker is well deserved. "When Darrell and Sterling moved up, it got attractive to other drivers," Hamilton said.

"It became a schooling ground." But its future is uncertain because Dover Downs Enter-tainment which Professional baseball in Jackson still is a learning experience. And plenty of lessons came out of the Southern League All-Star Celebration the past two days at Pringles Park. 3Ve begin with fire-Works. Without them, jieither the Legends Game nor the All-Star llame was a sellout. But Jhat's OK.

For the first time, Diamond Jaxx president David Hersh was able to take a true test of Winston Cup champion. "If you had aspirations to be a Winston Cup driver, you wanted to drive in Nashville. "It's the biggest big league on a small track." Hamilton, the speedway champion in 1987 and 1988, said the track prepared him well for a NASCAR career. "It's a high-speed track, high-banked and slick," he 1999 Southern League All-Star Celebration what area fans will pay big bucks to see at the park without the lure of post-game boomers. The Legends were more popular than Dan MORRIS DIAMOND JAXX Pennant fever chilled i First-half story of how league's Western was won still unwritten.

By RICH LOUP The Jackson Sun The circumstances of the! Diamond Jaxx's last week of the season's first half bore an! eerie resemblance to the con-J elusion of their parent club's' 1998 regular season. With only minor differenc-J es, the result is the same for the Jaxx as it was for the! Chicago Cubs a one-game; f1 rmtj the All-Stars. Or were they? Attendance at the Legends Game on Tuesday was 5,146 under perfect conditions. Attendance at the All-Star Game on Wednesday was 4,169, and it was raining five minutes before game time. "Unfortunately, because of the weather, we lost our barometer for tonight," Hersh said Wednesday.

"Last night was extremely interesting. Paid attendance was over 5,100 at a high ticket price of $15. It was significant because season-ticket holders weren't required to buy the tickets. So it was a real 5,100 sale." playort tor a spot in the postseason. After the Jaxx's gut-wrenching 6-2 come-from-behind victory Tuesday night, manager Dave Tremb- Trembley BARRY BEARDThe Jackson Sun Diamond Jaxx lefty Phil Norton was the starting pitcher for the Western Division All-Stars on Wednesday night at Pringles Park.

mm raisft Eai fal kJ lul Jj'11 Western Division wins all-star clash, 5-2 Price ceiling Advance tickets went slower for the All-Star Game, but Hersh was determined not to boost sales by adding fireworks, which always have guaranteed sellouts. "We wouldn't have learned anything if we had shot fireworks tonight," Hersh said. "The games didn't sell out, so that lets us know we can't go too much higher in price. It lets us know we can bring in big events, but we'll have to keep a ceiling on prices." Hersh wouldn't be specific, but the Jaxx spent more than $150,000 on the two-day event. That includes $50,000 to have the All-Star Game televised by Fox Sports South on a tape-delayed basis at 6 p.m.

Friday. Too bad a market of more than 20 million households won't get a true picture of how Pring-les Park can rock when fans turn out in force. Sport South should return over the July 4 weekend when sellouts will rule for the fireworks shows. That's when The Big Chip really is a blast. Dan Morris is sports editor of The Sun.

he can be reached at (901) 425-9636 or (800) 269-0488. "I tried to stay out of the double play. I was looking for something actually to drive to the outfield. I didn't get it, but I got a base hit and drove in the run." In the third, the West padded their lead with a pair of runs. Mobile's Wiki Gonzalez rached on an error, moved to second on a grounder and scored on Klimek's second ley waited for news on Huntsville's game with Chattanooga.

That wait produced a 4-2 Chattanooga victory, which allowed the Jaxx to finish the first half in a first-place tie in the Southern League's Western Division. "It's very, very reminiscent of last year being in Chicago with the major-league team, and being in Houston, watching that scoreboard," Tremb-ley said. "And hoping that Colorado would come back and beat the (San Francisco) Giants." The Jaxx will play one game for a postseason spot, once the shroud of the Southern League tiebreaker is lifted. One report out of the league office had a one-game playoff at Huntsville on July 15 as an added game to the Jaxx's first second-half series with the Stars. However, it's possible another scenario will surface.

The Jaxx played the role of the Cubs in this drama, taking a two-game lead into the final eight games of the season with control of their own fate. Chattanooga took the spot of the New York Mets, the Jaxx's main competition before slumping down the stretch and being eliminated in the last two games. And Huntsville was San Francis-Please see JAXX, 3C double and scored on a sacrifice fly by Knoxville's Adam Melhuse. Jacksonville's Javier Car-dona hit a one-out solo home run in the sixth for the East's second run that closed the scoring. His teammate, Ryan Jones, added a pair of hits for the East.

Klimek had two hits for the West. Notes: David Manning (2-0, 6.40 ERA) will start relinquish. Jaxx reliever Chad Ricketts pitched a scoreless ninth for a save. Phil Norton started for the West and pitched two innings, giving up one run and striking out three. His counterpart, Knoxville's Gary Glover, took the loss, giving up three runs and five hits in two innings.

Chattanooga's Jim ell, the second of five West pitchers, earned the victory with 'two scoreless innings. He held on to the lead that Inglin helped grab for the West. Inglin represented the Birmingham Barons with a .281 average, four homers and 18 RBIs. Those are misleading numbers because he hit 24 home runs and had 100 RBIs last season. This By RICH LOUP The Jackson Sun None of Jeff Inglin's first-half numbers are particularly gaudy.

But he had the loudest performance Wednesday night with three hits and two runs batted in as the West took a 5-2 victory in the Southern League All- Star Game at Pringles Park. His performance earned him the game's Most Valuable Player award. "When you're playing against good competition, it's always nice to play well," Inglin said. All three Diamond Jaxx position players who started played a part in a three-run second that lifted the West to a lead it would not year, he spent the first month of the season at Triple-A Charlotte. On Wednesday, he drove in runs in the second and third innings as the West scored all of its runs in those two innings.

The West trailed 1-0 in the second when Julio Zuleta singled with one out and moved to third when Huntsville's Josh Klimek doubled. Inglin scored Zuleta with a single that tied the game at 1-1. Scott Vieira followed with a single that scored Klimek to break the tie, and Chad Meyers added another run-scoring single later in the inning for a 3-1 West lead. "I knew if I put the baHJrt play, we'd probably at least get one run in," Vieira said. Inglin followed with his sec- for the Jaxx tonight as they ond RBI single, scoring Klimek.

The East scored the game's first run in the first inning. Knoxville's Rob Butler, who led the Southern League in batting average (.336) during the first half of the season, led off the game with a single, moved to third on Dustin Carr's open the second half of the season at Chattanooga. Lookouts' starter has not been announced, but Mark likely will pitch. Wohlers joined the Cincinnati Reds' organization earlier this season after the Atlanta Braves gave up on the reliever. 1999 Southern League All-Star Game 6 p.m.

Friday (tape-delay) FOX Sports South MORNING BRIEFING Housel supported Oliver for Auburn job Cardinals' Dunston, King placed on DL BY THE NUMBERS MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL American League New York 12, Tampa Bay 4 Cleveland 9, Toronto 6 Boston 5, Baltimore 0 Kansas City 10, Detroit 1 Texas 7, Oakland 6 Minnesota at Chicago (n) Anaheim at Seattle (n) National League Milwaukee 9, San Francisco 6 Pittsburgh 8, Philadelphia 6 New York 6, Florida 3 Atlanta 7, Montreal 3 Colorado 10, Chicago 1 Houston 8, St. Louis 4 Cincinnati at Arizona (n) San Diego at Los Angeles (n) Magloire apparently gone from Kentucky LEXINGTON, Ky. Kentucky was making plans for a 1999-2000 season without center Jamaal Magloire after Wednesday came and went with no word from the 6-foot-10 junior that he had withdrawn his name from the NBA draft. Wednesday was the deadline for underclassmen to remove their names from the draft. Kentucky basketball spokesman Brooks Downing said coach Tubby Smith received no contact from Magloire on Wednesday.

Magloire did not return a phone message left at his Toronto home. AUBURN, Ala. Auburn athletic director David Housel said he "personally supported" Bill Oliver to be Auburn's head coach after Terry Bowden quit, but lacked the authority to hire him, according to a sworn affidavit. Housel's testimony was part of 500 pages of documents Auburn University filed Tuesday in a motion to dismiss the lawsuit that Oliver filed against Housel, the school and trustee Bobby Lowder. Oliver filed his lawsuit last month, claiming he was misled int6 thinking he would be named to replace Bowden.

placed on the disabled list With a sore right shoulder. King pitched in two games after being called up June 17. King was sidelined with shoulder tendinitis earlier in the season at Memphis. Now, he said the pain has moved from the back of the shoulder to the front. The Cardinals activated infielder David Howard, out most of the season with hamstring problems, from a rehab assignment at Triple-A Memphis, and recalled right-hander Garrett Stephenson from Memphis.

Tommy iTuberville, former coach at Ole Miss, actually got the job. Oliver also claimed Housel and Lowder conspired to shortchange him of $112,000 in compensation agreed to when he came to Auburn in 1996 from Alabama. The university's response included sworn statements by Housel and Lowder denying they ever promised the head coaching job to Oliver. However, Housel did admit telling Oliver that the veteran defensive coordinator was his choice for the job. ST.

LOUIS Shawon Dunston, who finished serving a three-game suspension over the weekend, now is out with an injury. Dunston, who is batting .361 with five homers and 24 RBIs in 122 at-bats, pulled a rib-cage muscle sliding into second in the fifth inning of Tuesday's 14-inning victory against the Houston Astros, and was replaced in center field by Darren Bragg in the sixth. The game was his second start since the enforced sit-down for charging the mound in Los Angeles in May. Reliever Curtis King, who had an MRI Wednesday, also was 71.