Brian Vickers, the last of 50 drivers to make a qualifying attempt at Texas Motor Speedway, knocked Elliott Sadler off the pole for NASCAR’s Dickies 500. Vickers had a lap of 196.235 m.p.h. for Sunday’s Nextel Cup race. . . . Mark Martin earned his 30th career Busch Series pole with a lap of 192.589 for Saturday’s O’Reilly Challenge.
– Vikings linebacker Napoleon Harris will miss Sunday’s game at San Francisco with a dislocated wrist. . . . Buccaneers quarterback Chris Simms was placed on injured reserve.
The Bucs activated backup Luke McCown from the physically-unable-to-perform list. Simms was sidelined after his spleen was removed after taking many hard hits against the Panthers on Sept. 24.
– Thad Matta was rewarded for winning a Big Ten title and shepherding the Ohio State men’s basketball program through an NCAA investigation with a new contract that runs through the 2014-15 season. . . . Chicago State beat Urbana University 121-79 in an exhibition game.
– Adam Zanotti returned a fumble 98 yards and visiting Air Force took advantage of a number of mistakes by Army, scoring a school-record 36 points in the second quarter en route to a 43-7 win over the Black Knights.
