BRIEFLY : HEARN WON'T FORGET HIS LAST IRL RACE.

Richie Hearn bid goodbye to the Indy Racing League with a victory Sunday in the crash-filled inaugural Las Vegas 500K.

The race that christened the new Las Vegas Motor Speedway was slowed by nine caution flags that included eight crashes on the wind-blown 1-1/2-mile oval, sending four drivers to the hospital for X-rays and further examination for relatively minor injuries.

Meanwhile, the 25-year-old Hearn, who started eighth in the 28-car lineup, stayed at or near the front throughout the 200-lap race, leading the last 32 laps on the way to his first Indy-car victory.

Hearn, whose car owner, John Della Penna, says he plans to take the team and driver to the rival PPG Indy Car World Series next season, said, ``It seems right from the get-go we had a good car in traffic. It wasn't the fastest car all day, but it was real solid.''

He took the lead for the final time on lap 169, chasing down and passing leader Robby Gordon, who was later forced out of the race with an engine problem while running second.

``When I passed Robby, I was flat out all the way around the track,'' Hearn said. ``I don't think too many people were able to do that today.''

The previous best for Hearn, who also raced in several PPG Cup events this season, was third in May at the IRL's Indianapolis 500.

The top two finishers, both in Reynards, were the only drivers on the lead lap at the end, with third-place Mike Groff a lap back, followed by Roberto Guerrero another lap behind and Michele Alboreto of Italy and Buzz Calkins, both three laps down.

Despite laps by the leaders close to 220 mph, Hearn averaged only 115.171 mph in the caution-marred event that also included a 20-minute red flag delay after Johnny O'Connell crashed on on lap 185. O'Connell was unhurt.

R.C. ``Rod'' Mathis, 48, of Las Vegas, died Saturday night of multiple injuries suffered earlier that day in a crash during a Shelby Pro Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Mathis was fatally injured when his car hit the wall in the fourth turn on the oval.

Defending Winston Cup champion Jeff Gordon moved into the lead in the series standings and put his name in the record book with a victory in the crash-filled MBNA 500 in Dover, Del.

Gordon moved 76 points ahead of Hendrick Motorsports teammate Terry Labonte, occupying the top spot in the chase for a $1.5 million payoff for only the second time this year.

Mark Evans drove Miss Budweiser to its first victory of the season to hand nonstarter PICO American Dream its first Unlimited Hydroplane national championship, on San Diego's Mission Bay. Evans, who took over for the injured Chip Hanauer in the season's second race, averaged a course-record 151.425 mph in the five-lap, 12.5-mile finale.

Angelle Seeling became the first woman in NHRA history to win a Pro Stock Motorcycle title, beating Dave Schultz with a record time in the Pioneer Electronics Keystone Nationals at Mohnton, Pa. Seeling, a registered nurse from Americus, Ga., had a quarter-mile run of 7.373 seconds at 178.89 mph on a Suzuki GSXR.

TENNIS

Thomas Muster won his seventh ATP Tour title of the year, beating defending champion Nicolas Lapentti 6-7 (8-6), 6-2, 6-3 in the final of the Colombian World Series in Bogota.

Alberto Berasategui defeated Spanish compatriot Carlos Moya 6-1, 7-6 (7-5) to win the $500,000 Romanian Open. Berasategui, ranked 25th in the world, received his prize of $66,400 from former Romanian star Ilie Nastase, who ran the Bucharest tournament with Ion Tiriac.

Top-seeded Alberto Costa of Spain came from behind to beat No. 8 seed Marc-Kevin Goellner of Germany in three sets in the final of the Bournemouth clay-court tournament in England. In a mainly baseline duel, Costa prevailed 6-7, 6-2, 6-2 for his first title of the season.

SOCCER

Brian McBride and Marcelo Carrera scored early goals as Columbus beat New York-New Jersey 2-0 in Columbus, Ohio, to extend the Crew's winning streak to eight games. Columbus, playing before a crowd of 31,550 at Ohio Stadium, took a one-point lead over New England for fourth place in Major League Soccer's Eastern Conference with two games to play. The top four teams make the playoffs.

In what is believed to be the first women's soccer game played at the Coliseum, USC defeated Oregon 5-1 in a Pacific-10 Conference game. Courtney Barham scored two goals to lead USC (2-2, 1-0).

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Photo

Photo: Arie Luyendyk had the pole for the Las Vegas 500K, b ut a non-injury crash put him out of the race.

Associated Press