Barrichello wins Brazilian Grand Prix pole

AUTO RACING

Barrichello wins Brazilian GP pole

SAO PAULO - Rubens Barrichello won the pole position for his hometown Brazilian Grand Prix, emerging from yesterday's rain-lashed qualifying as the only Formula One contender in the top 10 on the grid.

Brawn GP teammate and championship leader Jenson Button will start in 14th place and Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel is 16th after qualifying was interrupted twice by red flags and delayed several times because of treacherous conditions.

Barrichello, 37, clocked 1 minute, 19.576 seconds, 0.092 ahead of Red Bull's Mark Webber and 0.336 in front of Force India's Adrian Sutil. Toyota's Jarno Trulli will start fourth after a lap of 1:20.097, and Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen sixth after posting 1:20.168.

It was Barrichello's second pole at the Brazilian GP, which he is trying to win for the first in his 17-year F1 career. He is expected to be boosted by about 70,000 fans on Sunday.

Button can clinch the title by finishing third or better in today's race at the 2.6-mile Interlagos track. He has 85 points, 14 more than Barrichello and 16 more than Vettel going into the season's next to last race. A victory is worth 10 points, and second through eighth are 8-6-5-4-3-2-1.

TENNIS

Nadal reaches final

SHANGHAI - Rafael Nadal advanced to the Shanghai Masters final after Feliciano Lopez became the ninth player to retire from the tournament.

The unseeded Lopez said he woke up with a right foot infection, and then twisted his right ankle on the last point of the first set. He was trailing 6-1, 3-0 when he retired.

The top-seeded Nadal will play in today's final against sixth-seeded Nikolay Davydenko, who outlasted second-seeded Novak Djokovic 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7-1).

• Samantha Stosur earned another shot at winning her first WTA Tour singles title, reaching the Japan Women's Open final by upsetting defending champion Caroline Wozniacki 6-0, 4-6, 6-4 in Osaka. Stosur, the world's 15th-ranked player, has lost all five of her previous tour finals. The third-seeded Australian will play for the title today against fourth-seeded Francesca Schiavone. Schiavone disposed of Sania Mirza 6-2, 6-1.

• In Linz, Austria, the top two seeded players of the Generali Ladies lost, leaving Yanina Wickmayer and Petra Kvitova to play for the title. No. 3 Wickmayer beat top-seeded Flavia Pennetta 7-6 (7-5), 6-3, and Kvitova upset second-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska 6-3, 6-2.

BASEBALL

Strasburg sharp

PHOENIX - Washington Nationals high-priced prospect Stephen Strasburg reached 99 mph with his first pitch Friday night and worked 31/3 scoreless innings in his Arizona Fall League debut.

Strasburg, who signed a record $15.1 million, four-year contract with the Nationals as the first player taken in the June draft, gave up only two singles and a walk while striking out two for the Phoenix Desert Dogs.

He was removed after throwing 50 pitches, the limit set by the Nationals as Strasburg works himself back into shape after spending most of the summer in contract negotiations.

Strasburg earned the win for Phoenix - 7-4 over Scottsdale - because of the liberal Fall League scoring rules.

HORSE RACING

Hot Cha Cha wins

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Hot Cha Cha pulled away down the stretch to easily win the $500,000 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup at Keeneland and earn a first Grade 1 win for longtime trainer Phil Sims.

The 3-year-old filly was third behind Shared Account and favorite Gozzip Girl at the three-quarter pole but surged late, passing both to win by 4½ lengths.

It was not only the first Grade 1 victory for Sims, a 25-year-old trainer, but also the first for jockey James Graham and owner Nelson McMakin.

Jackson Bend victor

MIAMI - Jackson Bend, after nearly falling at the break, came back for a decisive victory in the $400,000 In Reality Stakes. Jackson Bend completed a sweep of the open division of the three-phase Florida Stallion Stakes.

In the filly division finale, Sweetlalabye was a three-length winner of the $400,000 My Dear Girl Stakes. Both winners turned back strong challenges in midstretch to win going away.

Sweetlalabye missed a sweep of the filly division by a small margin. After winning the 6-furlong Desert Vixen Stakes, Sweetlalabye was second, losing by a neck in the Susan's Girl Division.

Jackson Bend, ridden by Jeffrey Sanchez who has been on him for all of his seven starts, finished 2¾ lengths in front of Thank U Philippe. Bim Bam was a distant third in a field of eight.

The son of Hear No Evil, bred and owned by Jacks or Better Farm, Inc., finished in 1:46 4/5.

Sweetlalabye, ridden by Luis Saez, finished in 1:49 2/5. - From Wire Reports