Heitzler Sues CART Over His Firing as Chairman

Joseph Heitzler, fired as chairman and chief executive of Championship Auto Racing Teams Inc., responded to a lawsuit filed by the organization earlier this week with one of his own.

Heitzler charged in an action filed Thursday in Los Angeles Superior Court that his termination was in response to actions he took to eliminate conflicts of interest and self-dealing by several of CART’s directors.

Among the allegations is that several directors sold their holdings in CART before the organization adopted a controversial engine change for the upcoming racing series to prevent a potential stock loss.

“As a result of these actions, [Heitzler] antagonized several members of CART’s board of directors,” the lawsuit stated. “On or about Dec. 4, 2001, at CART’s board of directors meeting in Phoenix, Ariz., several CART directors sought to terminate [Heitzler’s] employment ‘for cause.’ ... This attempt was rejected by a majority of CART’s board.”

The suit alleges breach of contract, fraud and negligent misrepresentation, and seeks $2 million plus interest and attorney’s fees along with punitive damages.

With the blessing of his NASCAR Winston Cup team, Robby Gordon announced he will try the Memorial Day weekend double by racing in the Indianapolis 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 in Concord, N.C., on May 26.

Gordon has four top-six finishes in seven Indianapolis 500 starts and was leading on the next-to-last lap of the 1999 race before running out of fuel and finishing fourth.

Although this will be his third try at driving 1,100 miles on the same day, Gordon has yet to accomplish the feat.

The only driver to complete the full distance in both races is fellow NASCAR star Tony Stewart, who did it last May.

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Pro Football

Johnnie Morton, a free-agent receiver who spent eight seasons with Detroit after a standout career at USC, signed a seven-year contract with the Kansas City Chiefs.

Shaun Williams re-signed with the New York Giants after starting every game at free safety the last two seasons. Williams received a seven-year contract that included a $7-million signing bonus spread over the first two years of the deal.... Kicker Steve Christie re-signed with the San Diego Chargers and is expected to compete with erratic Wade Richey in training camp.

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Jurisprudence

Unbeaten junior-lightweight champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. received a six-month suspended sentence and two days of house arrest in a domestic violence case in Las Vegas.

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Soccer

Former Galaxy defender Greg Vanney was a surprise addition when U.S. national Coach Bruce Arena selected a roster of 18 players for Wednesday’s game against Mexico at Denver.

Vanney, who left Major League Soccer this year to play for Bastia in the French league, is one of only two foreign-based players called in for the game. The other is defender Frankie Hejduk from Bayer Leverkusen in Germany.

Wednesday’s match is the last home game for the U.S. team before Arena selects the 23 players he will take to South Korea for the World Cup.

The last game before the squad is chosen is against Ireland in Dublin on April 17. The roster for Wednesday’s game: goalkeepers Tim Howard and Tony Meola; defenders Carlos Bocanegra, Hejduk, Carlos Llamosa, Pablo Mastroeni, Eddie Pope and Vanney; midfielders DaMarcus Beasley, Landon Donovan, Cobi Jones, Brian Maisonneuve, Richard Mulrooney and Brian West; forwards Clint Mathis, Brian McBride, Ante Razov and Josh Wolff.

Costa Rican striker Paulo Wanchope might miss the World Cup because of a knee injury, his English club Manchester City said.

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Miscellany

A day after USC tailback Justin Fargas was hurt in practice, team trainers reexamined his knee and believe he suffered only a mild sprain. They will check the injury again next week.

The team also received word that another tailback, Malaefou MacKenzie, has been granted a sixth season of eligibility by the NCAA. MacKenzie, who redshirted in 1998 because of injury, sat out last season because of a knee sprain and the death of his father in Western Samoa.

Olympic champion Rulon Gardner plans to return to wrestling after losing a toe to frostbite while stranded in Wyoming’s backcountry.

Gardner said he was “relaxed and comfortable” one day after the amputation of the middle toe on his right foot. Doctors were optimistic he will not lose any more toes.

Olympian Amy Peterson, competing in the United States for the final time, was second in the 500 and 1,000 meters as the U.S. women’s team qualified for the final of the World Short Track Speedskating Team Championships at West Allis, Wis.

The U.S. men failed to advance. Rusty Smith won the 500 and 1,000, but the team finished four points behind Italy and Canada.

The U.S. team was without Olympic medalist Apolo Anton Ohno.