Indy Car Street Race Courses Being Probed

The formula that has allowed Indy Car to take its open-wheel series to the streets of such cities as Long Beach was under attack Monday, the day after a crash killed driver Jeff Krosnoff of La Canada Flintridge and volunteer track worker Gary Avrin during the Toronto Molson-Indy.

In the wake of the crash in which Krosnoff ran over the rear tire of another car at more than 180 mph and sailed above a concrete wall and into a catch fence, there were numerous questions.

Was the fence Krosnoff crashed into in the right spot? Should Avrin have had more protection than a chest-high concrete wall? Do the cars go too fast?

An investigation is being conducted by a 10-member team of police and coroner officials.

“We have an outstanding safety record when it comes to street circuits,” Indy Car spokesman Adam Saal said. “We’ve run 75 temporary circuit races on things like city streets, airports, fairgrounds. These have been run very safely.”

Indy Car refused to discuss specifics regarding the crash.

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A fifth person, Bruno Thoreton, 35, died from injuries sustained when a race car spun out of control and flew into a crowd of spectators in Alencon, France, on Sunday. Thoreton had been in a coma since the accident, which also injured 23.

Horse racing

Unbridled’s Song, the Kentucky Derby favorite whose career has been marked by bad fortune, will be sidelined indefinitely because of a broken bone.

He sustained a non-displaced fracture of the splint bone in his left foreleg during the Arlington Park Citation Challenge on Saturday and finished ninth.

Cigar, who extended his winning streak to 16 in Saturday’s race, has won the National Turf Writers Assn.’s Joe Palmer Award for meritorious service to horse racing.

College basketball

The NCAA has told Louisville that violations uncovered in a preliminary inquiry of the men’s basketball program are “major in nature,” the school said.

A letter from the NCAA to university president John Shumaker outlined 10 violations, primarily surrounding former player Samaki Walker, former assistant coach Larry Gay and former volunteer strength coach Jimmy Thompson, committed between September 1991 and September 1995.

The school must submit a response by Sept. 3.

Jason Hart, a recent graduate of Inglewood High, has decided to honor his letter of intent to play basketball at Syracuse after seeking a release from the school.

College football

The wife of Washington State lineman Jason McEndoo was killed and McEndoo and another player were injured in a one-car accident, the Washington State patrol said.

Michelle McEndoo, 22, died at the scene about 4:30 p.m. Sunday about five miles west of Ellensburg, Wash.

Two Texas Tech athletic officials helped a football player obtain credit for a correspondence course under NCAA scrutiny, according to a newspaper.

Academic and other records link Tech assistant coach Rhudy Maskew and the athletic administrator, Ronn Reeger, to an Old Testament correspondence course taken by defensive lineman Stephen Gaines in 1993, the Houston Chronicle reported.

Jurisprudence

International Boxing Federation heavyweight champion Michael Moorer agreed to plead guilty to a disorderly conduct charge and pay a $1,000 fine for his role in a fight outside a bar in Monessen, Pa., on June 30.

Miscellany

The U.S. will begin World Cup soccer qualifying Nov. 3 with a home game against Guatemala. The U.S. will then play Trinidad and Tobago at home the following weekend, then go on a two-game trip to Trinidad on Nov. 24 and Costa Rica on Dec. 1. The U.S. team plays Costa Rica at home on the weekend of Dec. 14, and finishes at Guatemala on Dec. 21.

In a “Dear Seahawks Fan” letter sent to about 50,000 season-ticket holders, elected officials and community leaders, Paul Allen says he won’t buy the Seattle Seahawks from Ken Behring unless county and state taxpayers help pay for a better stadium.