Montoya holds off Busch to win Heluva Good! race

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. — It's been a really hard road for Juan Pablo Montoya this season.

How fitting he should finally find some solace in NASCAR with a victory on one of the Sprint Cup Series' two road courses.

Montoya was dominant from the start and this time was able to stay that way to the end as he held off Kurt Busch to win the Heluva Good! at the Glen at Watkins Glen International, snapping a 113-race winless streak dating back to his first series victory in 2007 at Sonoma, Calif.

"The last few weeks have been really frustrating for the whole team because we've been so close to victory. (It) seemed to keep slipping away," said Montoya, who became just the 10th driver in Cup history to win on the road courses at Sonoma and Watkins Glen.

"To come out here today and get the job done the way we did, it was big. I feel more relieved than happy right now."

Not even having a dominant car gave Montoya much respite.

He led 74 of the 90 laps but weary of previous races in which he dominated but came up short — most recently at the Brickyard 400 — Montoya was taking nothing for granted.

"You got to have a positive mind every week that you can get the job done," he said. "Sometimes I even talk myself out of a good result."

Not yesterday.

Montoya set the pace early, leading 20 of the first 25 laps. His closest competitor most of the day was Marcos Ambrose, who won his third consecutive Nationwide Series race at Watkins Glen on Saturday but has yet to win in Cup.

A wreck involving Jimmie Johnson and Denny Hamlin brought out a caution on Lap 72 of 90 and on the restart on Lap 75, Montoya quickly pulled away from Ambrose.

Eventually Kurt Busch got around Ambrose for second place but still trailed Montoya by almost five seconds at the finish.

"To come up short just to Montoya, to beat Ambrose, racing with those two world class guys, it was fun, I learned quite a bit," Busch said.

"There's still some room to grow on road racing.

The victory likely will not improve Montoya's chances on making the 12-driver Chase for the Cup. He is 19th in points, 205 behind 12th place Mark Martin with four races left before the field is set.

The win should help heal any rift between Montoya and his crew chief, Brian Pattie — a verbal sparring match that has played out over the team's radio in the past two races.

Pro Golf: Bill Lunde wins Turning Stone Championship

VERONA, N.Y. (AP) — Bill Lunde rallied with a 6-under 66 to finish at 17-under 271, holding off J.J. Henry by one stroke to win the Turning Stone Resort Championship.

The win is the first for Lunde in his second full season on the PGA Tour. He vaulted into the lead with six birdies on the front nine and played even par for the last nine holes.

Lunde earned a spot in next week's PGA Championship at Whistling Straits with the victory. He also won $720,000 and picked up 250 FedEx Cup points.

Henry tied the course record with a 63 and finished second at 16 under. Jerry Kelly, Josh Teater, Michael Sim, Billy Mayfair and Alex Cejka tied for third place at 15 under. Cejka led after the second and third rounds, but shot 72 on Sunday. .

More pro golf: Frost romps to Champions Tour title

BLAINE, Minn. (AP) — David Frost jumped out fast Sunday with a brilliant front nine and finished with an 11-under 61 to earn a record-setting victory at the 3M Championship.

It was the first career Champions Tour win for Frost, whose 25-under 191 was two shots better than the previous tournament scoring record set by R.W. Eaks in 2008. His final-round score beat by one the tournament's previous lowest round set by Dana Quigley in 2008.

Frost also tied the tour record of 25-under for a 54-hole tournament previously set by Loren Roberts at the 2006 MasterCard Championship at Hualalai and equaled by Bernhard Langer at the 2007 Administaff Small Business Classic.

MLB: Pinella leaves Cubs to tend to ailing mother

CHICAGO (AP) — Manager Lou Piniella was headed to Florida to tend to his ailing mother and was not accompanying the Chicago Cubs on their trip to San Francisco.

Piniella was leaving the team for at least a few days to visit his mother in Tampa, Fla. He hopes to rejoin the Cubs at some point on the six-game trip to San Francisco and St. Louis.

Chicago has lost 10 of 11 after falling 11-4 to Cincinnati yesterday and winding down a trying season. The retiring Piniella also missed three games recently to attend his uncle's funeral.

NFL: Raiders sign former Longhorn star QB Colt Brennan

NAPA, Calif. (AP) — The Oakland Raiders signed free-agent quarterback Colt Brennan and could have the former Hawaii star on the field for Thursday's preseason opener at Dallas.

Brennan took a handful of snaps with the Raiders' second-team offense Sunday, completing 4 of 6 throws. He also spent time with quarterbacks coach Paul Hackett after practice before heading to his room for a crash course in Oakland's offense.

Brennan was Washington's sixth-round draft pick in 2008. He was cut by the team on Monday after the Redskins traded for John Beck.

The Raiders made the move out of necessity.

Backup quarterbacks Bruce Gradkowski (groin) and Charlie Frye (wrist) are questionable to play against Dallas, leaving only starter Jason Campbell and backup Kyle Boller as the healthy quarterbacks on the roster.

More NFL: Atlanta WR Jenkins to miss at least four weeks

FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. (AP) — Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Michael Jenkins will miss four to six weeks with a right shoulder injury.

The team did not say if Jenkins, who was hurt in a team scrimmage Friday night, will need surgery or whether his shoulder might be separated for dislocated.

"You are always concerned any time your player goes down with an injury," coach Mike Smith said in a statement released by the team last night. "One thing I am certain of is that Michael will work very hard to get back on the field as soon as possible."

Harry Douglas and rookie Kerry Meier are two leading candidates to fill in as the No. 2 receiver along side Pro Bowl wideout Roddy White.

Jenkins is entering his seventh season. The 6-foot-4 receiver has appeared in 92 games with 235 receptions for 3,007 yards and 18 touchdowns.

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