National Sports Briefs: Taylor Earnhardt at the wheel

Thursday, July 02, 2009 3:00 AM  |  Printer friendly version | E-mail to a friend | Associated Press

WEST SUSSEX, England — Taylor Earnhardt, the 20-year-old daughter of the late Dale Earnhardt, will be at the wheel of her father's famed No. 3 GM Goodwrench Chevrolet for a demonstration run during this week's Goodwood Festival of Speed in England.

She will be accompanied by her mother, Teresa Earnhardt, president and CEO of Dale Earnhardt Inc., the company she and her husband founded in 1980.

The car, owned by Richard Childress Racing, is the one in which the seven-time NASCAR Sprint Cup champion got his 76th and final victory at Talladega Superspeedway in the fall of 2000. It has been on display at the RCR Museum since its grand opening in May 2003.

"I was honored to be asked by Lord March to have one of the legendary RCR black No. 3 Chevrolets participate in this year's Goodwood Festival of Speed," Childress said. "This is a great opportunity to promote the legacy of Dale Earnhardt, not only in the United States but throughout the world. I also think it's great that Taylor will have the opportunity to drive the car her father made so famous."

- ATLANTA — Play-by-play announcer Bill Weber will not call the last two races of TNT's NASCAR coverage.

Weber wasn't in the booth for last weekend's race from New Hampshire Motor Speedway. TNT said Wednesday that Ralph Sheheen will again take his spot, working The Coke Zero 400 in Daytona and the LifeLock.com 400 from Chicagoland.

TNT did not give a reason for Weber's absence.

FLORIDA STATE

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida State says it's unfair to take wins off the individual records of football coach Bobby Bowden and other coaches and athletes who had no role in an academic cheating scandal.

In an appeal to the NCAA Wednesday, the university argued that a proposal to strip the school, its coaches and athletes of victories in several sports is too harsh and should be reversed.

If not, the penalty would cost Bowden up to 14 wins. Taking that many victories off his personal record would give Bowden little chance of catching Penn State's Joe Paterno in their race to be major college football's winningest coach. Paterno has 383 wins, just one more than Bowden, who is entering his 34th season at Florida State.

The appeal cites Florida State's cooperation with the NCAA and self-imposed penalties including the loss of athletic scholarships and the suspension of those who cheated on an online music history test.

GOLF

BETHESDA, Md. — PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem was the first to be tested for drugs under its anti-doping policy that began last year at the AT&T National. Tim Clark was the first player to be tested.

One year and more than a thousand random samples later, Finchem says the tour remains clean.

"There have been no suspensions because of doping," Finchem said Wednesday. "It's not going to surprise me if we have some issue, but I think what's clear is we do not have a doping problem. It could mean a lot of things. But — knock on wood — we're very pleased at this point in time."

NHL

RALEIGH— The Carolina Hurricanes are keeping Erik Cole, agreeing Wednesday to a two-year deal with the physical forward.Cole will make $2.8 million this upcoming season and $3 million in 2010-11.

- CHICAGO — The Chicago Blackhawks dipped deep into the NHL free-agent market by signing star forward Marian Hossa away from the Detroit Red Wings on Wednesday with a 12-year, $62.8 million contract.