BRIEFLY : FITTIPALDI SURVIVES FRIGHTENING CRASH.

Byline: - Daily News Wire Services

A frightening crash in practice for the CART Miller Lite 200 resulted in Christian Fittipaldi smashing a hole in the concrete retaining wall and ended the day's activity on the Milwaukee Mile track in West Allis, Wis.

Fittipaldi's Swift-Ford was split in half by the impact, which also knocked the Brazilian driver unconscious for about three minutes. Fittipaldi, 27, was checked out at a nearby hospital and later returned to the Milwaukee Mile.

Meanwhile, track workers patched a triangular two-foot section in about three hours. But the jerryrigged job, using steel plates and quick-dry concrete, was found inadequate by a driver's-safety committee.

Rusty Wallace, winner of the past three races on the asphalt surface at Dover Downs in Delaware, proved he also has mastered the concrete at the Monster Mile with a record-breaking qualifying effort. He has the pole position for Sunday's Winston Cup MBNA Platinum 400 with a lap of 155.898 mph.

Buckshot Jones capped his day by grabbing the No. 19 starting position in Sunday's Winston Cup race with a lap of 152.685 mph. Earlier, the Georgia driver qualified 17th for today's 300-mile race with a lap of 149.738 mph.

FOOTBALL: The New England Patriots, upset by charges of sexual assault, terminated Dave Meggett's contract

The 31-year-old Meggett and defensive lineman Steve Brannon were arrested and charged with sexual assault in February after a woman complained to police that she was assaulted at Toronto's Royal York Hotel. Meggett was also charged with robbing the woman.

Meggett, the NFL's all-time leading punt returner, was an outstanding receiver during his nine NFL seasons, six with the New York Giants and the last three with New England.

Deion Sanders had surgery on his left ankle, but the Dallas Cowboys said the cornerback isn't expected to miss the start of training camp, which starts in six weeks. Sanders, who will need 4-to-6 weeks of rehabilitation, had bone chips removed from the left ankle.

Sanders' ankle problems stem from a bone chip suffered playing baseball for the Cincinnati Reds in 1995. He hurt the ankle sliding into third base. Sanders has aggravated the injury playing racquetball.

Denver signed free agent defensive end Martin Harrison, an eight-year veteran, to add depth to a defense that ranked fifth in the league last season. Harrison, from the University of Washington, played for Seattle last year.

BOXING: Mexico's Carlos Gonzalez recaptured the WBO super lightweight title by stopping champion Giovanni Parisi, who quit during the ninth round in Pesaro, Italy.

Gonzalez, who held the same belt for a year before losing it in June 1993, outboxed Parisi from the start and floored the Italian in the seventh round with a right uppercut to the chin.In the undercard, Houston's Reggie Johnson outpointed Norway's Ole Klemetsen in a 12-round unanimous decision to retain his IBF light-heavyweight title. Klemetsen was attempting to become the first Norwegian to win a world boxing title.

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