Tampa Bay Times from St. Petersburg, Florida • 31

TIMES FRIDAY, JULY 2, 1999 3c WOMEN'S WORLD CUP AUTO RACING GOLF ECeirsees to run a team FIRST ROUND Group A Brazilians advance 4-3 in OT Jsackiejoyner-Kerseesandher husband, Bob, will team with owner Kurt Roehrig and hope to be on the Winston Cup circuit by 2000. By TIM BUCKLEY Tlmot Staff Writer Series before making the jump to Winston Cup. Joyner-Kersee Racing is in its formative stages, and many details will be ironed out over the next two months, including driver, crew chief and sponsor. Others were revealed Thursday, including the decision to run Pontiac Grand Prix cars and to share ownership in the organization with NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series owner Kurt Roehrig. "I'm probably the only owner out here that can honestly say my co-owner can outrun your co-owner," said Roehrig, who owns a limited-schedule Winston Cup car driven by rookie Tom Hubert Hubert who qualified fourth and placed 28th at Las Vegas earlier this season, will be considered for a ride in the Joyner-Kersee car "We'll keep our options open," said Roehrig, who offers technical expertise.

"As a new team, you have to do that That gives you the best opportunity to get an experienced driver." The task of chasing down sponsorship will fall to Joyner-Kersee, who is renowned for using her storied athletic accomplishments to gain access to corporate board rooms throughout the country. Bob Kersee will provide oversight as ownercoach, along with a bit of comic relief. "My wife has finally teamed up with me and allowed me to become part of this NASCAR family," said Kersee, who has trained several Olympic athletes and coached track at UCLA. "Actually, I'm a pretty lucky man, because she allowed me to run around with fast women in track and field, and now she's going to allow me to run around with fast cars in NASCAR. "I plan on using all my skills in the past 20 years of coaching Olympic champions to learn the ins and outs of what goes in on NASCAR." DAYTONA BEACH Jackie Joyner-Kersee's track record is better than most in the world.

Whether her winning ways translate well to auto racing tracks remains to be seen, but there is one way to find out The two-time Olympic heptathlon gold medalist and her husband, coach Bob Kersee, intend to do just that by forming Joyner-Kersee Racing. They plan a NASCAR debut next season. "From the very beginning I was reluctant, but once I got to the different events and saw the excitement of the fans, I caught on," said Joyner-Kersee, who was talked into the venture by her NASCAR-lov-ing husband. "I had a hard time imagining what was so great about 'zoom, zoom, Once I was there, I could see how you could get into 'zoom, zoom, "You start cheering and picking out your favorites and looking at it from a psychological standpoint and wondering where the minds of the drivers are. Then I looked at the insides of a car.

Then I saw the pit crews and how the people worked together." And then she was sold. If all goes as intended, the new team will join NASCAR's Winston Cup series in 2000 and become the circuit's highest profile operation with black ownership. If not it will open on the Busch Grand National iY-Att .9 't in 'a ft I i 1 fit 4 JC 1 ii In i iiwtaesslassiaw after hitting the wall during practice A Pti 1 i 6 3 vUnited StatM vNioarie 2 1 0 North Korea 1 2 0 Denmark 0 3 0 SATURDAY, JUNE 19 At East Rutherford, HJ. United SUtM 3, Denmark 0 SUNDAY, JUNE 20 At Pasadena, CaW. Nigeria 2.

North Korea 1 THURSDAY, JUNE 24 At Chicago LMtedSUtet 7. Nigeria 1 At Portend, On. North Kotm 3, Denmark 1 SUNDAY At Landovar, Md. Nigeria 2, Denmark 0 At Foxboro, Mate. United StttM 3, North Korea 0 Group vBrsril vGermsny flaly Mexico 2 1 1 0 SATURDAY, JUNE 19 At East Rutherford, HJ.

Bred 7, Mexico! SUNDAY. JUNE 20 At Pasadena, Calif. Germany 1, Italy 1 THURSDAY, JUNE 24 At Chicago Bnjil2, rUryO At Portland, On. Germany 6, Mailco 0 SUNDAY At Landovar, Md. Qarmtny 3.

Brad 3 At Foxboro, Mast. Group GF GA Pta yNorway yRustia Canada Japan 3 0 0 2 1 0 0 2 1 0 2 1 2 3 12 10 SATURDAY, JUNE 19 At San Jose, Calif. Japan 1, Canada 1 SUNDAY, JUNE 20 At Foxboro, Mast. reorvaw 2, Russia 1 WEDNESDAY, JUNE 23 At Landovar, Md. Norway 7, Canada 1 At Portland, Ore.

Russia 5, Japan 0 SATURDAY At East Rutherford, N.J. Russia 4, Canada 1 At Chicago Norway 4, Japan 0 Group GF GA Pts yChint 3 0 0 12 2 ySwadan 2 10 4 3 4 Ghana 0 2 1 1 10 1 Australia 0 2 1 3 7 1 yaoVancad to quuttffintlt SATURDAY, JUNE 19 At San Joaa, Calif. China 2, Sweden 1 SUNDAY, JUNE 20 At Foxboro, Mass. Australia 1, Ghana 1 WEDNESDAY, JUNE 23 At Landovar, Md. Swadan 3, Australia 1 At Portland, Ora.

China 7, Ghana 0 SATURDAY At East Rutharford, N.J. China 3, Australia 1 At Chicago Sweden I Ghana 0 QUARTERFINALS WEDNESDAY Ouartarfinal 1 At San Joaa, Calif. Chint 2, Russia 0 Ouartarfinal 2 At San Jota, Calif. Norway 3, Swadan 1 THURSDAY Ouartarfinal 3 At Landovar, Md. Umtsd Statst 3, Germany 2 Ouartarfinal 4 At Landovar, Md.

fcaiM. Nigeria 3 (OT) SEMIFINALS SUNDAY, JULY 4 At Stanford, CaHf United States vs. Brsiil, 4:30 At Foxboro, Mass. China vs Norway, 7:30 THIRD PLACE SATURDAY, JULY 10 At Pasadena, Calif. Semifinal knars, 1:30 CHAMPIONSHIP SATURDAY, JULY 10 Semifinal winners, 3:50 SUMMARIES United States 3, Germany 2 Germany United States 2 0-2 1 2-3 First half 1, Germany, own goal, 5th minute.

2, United States, Milbrett 3 Akers, 16th. 3, Germany, Wiegmtnn 3 ISmaekl, 45th. Second ho 4, United States, Chattsin 1 (Hamm, 49th. 5, United Statu, Fewcett 1 (MecMillanl. 66th.

Goalies Germany, Rotltnberg; United States, Scurry. Attendance 54,642 Brazil 4, Nigeria 3 (OT) 0 3 0-3 3 0 1-4 Brail first hs 1, Brazil, Cidinha 1 IRaquel), 4th minute. 2, Brazil, Cidinha 2 (Sissi), 22nd. 3, Brazil, Nene 1 (Sissi). 35th.

Second half 4, Nigeria, Emeafu 1, 63rd, 5, Nigeria, Okosieme 3, 72nd. 6, Nigeria, Egbe 1 Nwadike, 85th. Overtime 7, Brazil, Sissi 7, 104th. Goalie! Nigeria, Cbiejine, Chime (3Mi; Brazil, Maravil-ha Attendance 54,642. on the field for the second half, seemingly unconcerned about the deficit and the prospect of watching what could have been the Americans' final 45 minutes of the tournament The players knew they had some work to do after a subpar first half.

While the party might have been going on around them, the Americans got down to business. It might not have been the best half they have played, but it was enough to get the job done. "It's always disappointing to give up a goal in the last five minutes. It's disappointing for us because we pride ourselves in not giving up goals," Chastain said. "It gave Tony a reason to kick us in the butt.

He told us Tou have 45 minutes left in your dream. If you don't go out and do something then it's Chastain made sure it wouldn't end so quickly. Then Shannon MacMillan and Fawcett made sure it would be Germany who would be facing elimination. Seconds after coming in as a substitute for Julie Foudy, MacMillan sent a perfectly placed corner kick to the front of the goal where Fawcett connected with a header that gave the United States its first lead. Fawcett, who almost never joins the attack she had 18 goals in 140 internationals heading into the World Cup was positioned perfectly.

"I know Shannon likes to go near post if there is no one in front of me," Fawcett said. And when the ball glanced off her head, Fawcett "knew it was in. I was in shock." The redemption was complete. orssors dump 'MV -l V. yaTaaMt'y AP Mike Brisky leads by one stroke in the Western Open.

He had to return to qualifying school to get back on tour. Brisky leading Western Associated Pratt LEMONT, 111. -Mike Brisky had to return to qualifying school to get back on tour. Now he wants to show he belongs. He shot 6-under 66 Thursday for a one-stroke lead after the first round of the Western Open.

Brisky, 34, got his round rolling with an eagle on the par-5 No. 5, made a big par save on the ninth and had three birdies on the back nine. He leads rookie Briny Baird, 1998 Western runner-up Vi-jay Singh and veteran Hal Sutton by one stroke. Tiger Woods was among four at 4 under and two shots back in the tournament on the Dubsdread course at the Cog Hill Golf and Country Club. Brisky had to return to qualifying school after finishing three spots out of last year's top 125 money winners.

"It's been a long road over the last year and a half," Brisky said. "I just felt good about this year even though I had to go back through school. I just felt it was like a new beginning." Baird has also struggled. In his previous 13 tournaments this year, he'd missed the cut eight times, his best finish a tie for 28th. His round Thursday included an eagle, four birdies and a bogey when he three-putted the par-4 16th.

"I got a little nervous a couple of times. You know I'm getting into territory that's not real familiar for me," Baird said. Singh enters the Western off three straight top-five finishes. Defending champion Joe Du-rant shot a 1-over 73. JAMIE FARR KROGER CLASSIC: Mardi Lunn finished shot 6-under 65 to take a one-stroke lead before violent wind gusts created havoc for the rest of the field in the opening round in Sylvania, Ohio.

Defending champion Se Ri Pak, who set LPGA records with a second-round 61 and a 72-hole total of 261, had to chip to save par five times because her approach shots were blown off line. Still, she shot 68, three strokes better than her first round a year ago. Lunn, never better than third in 129 LPGA starts, encountered few difficulties. Her bogey-free round included four birdie putts inside 6 feet. She turned the front side in 4-under 30.

The 31-year-old Australian is coming off a tie for third in last week's LPGA Championship. Her $84,538 paycheck more than doubled her earnings for the year and exceeded her totals from each of her first five years on tour. A shot back was Cathy Johnston-Forbes, a non-winner since capturing a major championship in the 1990 du Maurier Classic. VALERIE H0GAN DIES: Valerie Ho gan, the widow of legend Ben Ho-gan, has died. She was 87.

Mrs. Hogan, who died Wednesday at her home shunned the limelight when her husband was alive, but in recent months Mrs. Hogan had taken a more public role. She appeared at a November announcement by Spalding concerning return of the Ben Hogan Co. to Fort Worth from Richmond, Va.

"She's always been quiet and done such a great job of seeing after Ben," said golfing great Byron Nelson, once a fellow caddie with Ben Hogan. "It's always sad when you say goodbye to people who have been your friends for all these years." Timvt wir LANDOVER. Md. Sissi scored the first sudden-death overtime goal in Women's World Cup misiory, a zz-yara tree kick in the minute to give Brazil a 4-3 yictory over Nigeria in Thursday night's quarterfinals. After blowing a 3-0 halftime jead, Brazil advanced when Sissi's blast found the upper right corner of the net for her tournament-high jseventh goal.

The victory put the Brazilians anto a Fourth of July semifinal against the United States at (Stanford, Calif. the same date land same venue as the Brazil-United States second-round match at me men's World Cup five years pgo- Brazil, the prohibitive favorite, won that match 1-0 and went on to capture the Cup. When the women meet, the United States will be the favorite but not overwhelmingly so because of a Brazilian team with plenty of flair and a midfielder with a powerful free kick. Sissi was involved in every Brazil goal, getting two assists and helping set up another score in to her "Golden Goal." Cidinha scored twice and Nene once, all in the first half, for Brazil Jbefore Nigeria rallied with goals from Prisca Emeafu, Nkiru Oko-sieme and Nkechi Egbe against a suddenly flat Brazilian defense. Nigeria tied the score on Egbe's 14-yard strike inside the far post in the 85th minute.

Nigeria played the final minutes with 10 players after Avre was ejected in the 87th when she received a second yellow card. As a consolation, Nigeria qualified for the 2000 Olympics with its fecond-half rally. A 3-0 defeat would have eliminated the Nigerians, but a one-goal loss makes Russia the lone quarterfinalist not to earn a place in Sydney. CLINTONS ATTEND: He never has seen the U.S. men's national team play, but President Clinton has faught both the men's and Women's teams from Germany.

The President, along with first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton and daughter, Chelsea, attended Thursday night's game, the first Women's World Cup match the family has viewed. In 1994, Clinton was at the World Cup opener between Germany and Bolivia in Chicago where the Germans took a 1-0 victory. Following Thursday's match, Clinton and his family visited the U.S. locker room where they met with players and staff, holding up pie Americans' appearance in the mixed zone interview area. The group watched the match with Maria Messing, president and CEO of the Women's World Cup prganizing Committee.

Cup from 1C i Briana Scurry. Problem was, Scurry was no longer in goal, having come out to play the pass. What was intended to be a safe pass failed into the vacated goal. I Scurry said nothing to her crestfallen teammate. "Brandi was probably raking Herself over the coals anyway," Scurry said.

"We've been working on that play," U.S. coach Tony DiCicco said sarcastically. "I've seen big-time professional players make a mistake like that and they were out of the game. To Brandi's credit, she came back and scored the goal." Despite giving up an early goal find the circumstances behind it, die Americans' confidence never wavered. It took only 11 minutes before the United States equalized.

That came in the 16th minute, when Tiffeny Milbrett ran onto a deflected shot in the middle of the penalty area and fired a low shot that beat surprised goalkeeper Silke Rottenberg. Though normalcy seemed to return, there again was reason for some tension when Germany retook the lead just before halftime. Wiegmann took two dribbles from the top right corner of the penalty box toward the middle of the field and cracked a 20-yard shot to the far post. Scurry dove, but the shot was perfectly placed. Although the United States trailed at halftime for the first time in the tournament, the feeling that a victory was certain permeated the air.

The crowd of 54,642 roared "when the United States came back udd, Schrader Js car 1 -W AP for Saturday night's Pepsi 400. in honor of Petty's 200 career Winston Cup victories was conceived by former Indy 500 winner Danny Sullivan, who was on hand to show off the car. But Petty, who turns 62 Saturday, was not. He remains home in North Carolina, recovering from a bout with bleeding ulcers. "He keeps saying he's going to be here by Saturday, but my mother says he's not, so we'll see what happens," said Kyle.

"I told him, 'It's not like you've never been to BUCKSHOT BACK-UP: Struggling rookie Buckshot Jones is scaling back his Cup schedule, and will focus instead on his team's No. 00 BGN Pontiac. "We are going to pick tracks that suit Buckshot at this point in his career and test those tracks," owner Billy Jones said. Buckshot will, however, tiy to pull a double this weekend: He hopes to qualify for Saturday's race, then fly to Milwaukee for Sunday's Diehard 250 Busch race. WALLACE WRECKS: Kenny Wallace spun out and crashed coming out of Turn 4 during practice, forcing him to go to a backup car for his qualifying run where he finished 28th.

He'll make a second run at qualifying tonight. FIA REJECTS ALLEGATIONS: The world governing body of Formula One denied allegations stemming from a preliminary European Union investigation into monopoly practices. The Federation Internationale de l'Automobile said the EU presented a "very one-sided version" of a complicated issue in announcing it was launching a formal investigation. The EU said commercial contracts concerning the auto sports business, particularly those involving broadcasters, infringed EU competition law. JACK MARLIN JR.

DIES: Former stock-car driver Jack Marlin brother of retired NASCAR driver Coo Coo Marlin and uncle of Sterling Marlin, died. He was 71. TIM BUCKLEY, TIMES WIRES Kenny Wallace climbs out of his car Pole fromIC ways like Daytona). That's what it's all about with the plate racing." Ricky Rudd, who learned he is losing his longtime sponsor Tide, qualified second in his No. 10 Ford (194.574 mph).

Mark Martin was third, followed by Chad Little, Rusty Wallace and Tony Stewart, who is using the same No. 20 Pontiac he drove in this year's Daytona 500 and Talladega 500. "It's getting some age on it, finally, and looking pretty good," Stewart said. "I'm just glad to get through qualifying. So is Rudd, who is 38th in the standings.

But now he has something to hang his laundry on. "This sport is full of highs and lows," said Rudd, who has won at least one race in each of 16 straight seasons through 1998. "You just have to learn how to deal with them." Nemechek got a little low in his early qualifying run, but watched as his speed held up. "I was out of control coming off Turn 4, and I didn't think I was going to make it the first lap," he said. "I just kept her on the bottom and kept digging That was all I could do to keep the car from going sideways and keep it headed as straight as I could." Nemechek, whose best season came when he finished 26th and placed fourth at Texas in '98, can straighten out the woes of his frustrated team.

Winless in his career dating to 1993, the '92 Busch Grand National Series champion has finished 32nd or worse in nine of 16 starts this season. He best finished came in the Coca-Cola 600, a plate race in which he placed sixth. "We've definitely had the toughest season I've ever had," he "You know, we had high expectations for 1999. "I never dreamed we'd be back in 36th in the points. It's terrible," said Nemechek, who also had the day's best practice run at 193.665 mph.

"We've had some awesome race cars, this year. We qualified good at (Las) Vegas. We've had some good qualifying runs, and has some real good cars in the race. (But) we've been caught up in five or six accidents. It's been a crazy, crazy year." a DAYTONA BEACH Two Winston Cup drivers with big-name backing have lost their sponsors for next season.

Procter Gamble will not renew its contract with Rudd Performance Racing, meaning popular owner-driver Ricky Rudd soon must wash the Tide logo off his No. 10 Ford. Also losing sponsor-ship is No. 33 NOTEBOOK Skoal Bandit Chevrolet driver Ken Schrader, who learned U.S. Tobacco Co.

will not renew its financial support of Andy Petree Racing next year. Rudd was none too happy with Procter Gamble, which is moving its Tide sponsorship to a new Winston Cup team being formed by CART owner Cal Wells III. "It doesn't make sense to me," said Rudd, the Tide car driver since 1991 who is the outside pole-sitter for Saturday's race. Wells previously pried away Bill Elliott's sponsor, McDonald's, for a deal that also begins in 2000. Procter Gamble told Rudd he could drive for Wells, but that idea did not fly: "Here's a guy that walks off with my sponsor," Rudd said.

'Do you want to drive for That conversation didn't last very long." Rudd said he is pursuing two options for next season, and "it's not all doom and gloom." Schrader and Petree will announce their plans Saturday. U.S. Tobacco, which is directing its marketing efforts elsewhere, has been a sponsor since 1981, when it backed the Skoal Bandit car driven by Harry Gant and co-owned by actor Burt Reynolds. PARTY ON: On Wednesday night, Richard Petty's family and friends celebrated The King's upcoming birthday with a bash at a Daytona Beach hotel. And on Thursday, his son, Kyle, unveiled limited edition Richard Petty commemorative car that will be sold to the general public.

The idea to build the street-legal, $50,000 Pontiac Grand Prix's 1,000 are being made, five each.