France: Earlier remarks 'misunderstood'

CONCORD, N.C. -- NASCAR chairman Brian France doesn't plan to leave the sport, which has been run by a member of his family since it began in 1949, anytime soon.

France's intentions came under question after he said last month at a motorsports marketing forum in New York that he would not be in the sport for 30 years like his father, Bill France Jr.

That, along with speculation from a few years ago that the 46-year-old France might relocate an existing NFL franchise to Los Angeles had some questioning his dedication and effectiveness.

But France insisted on Thursday during the final stop of the NASCAR media tour that he plans to be around the sport founded by his grandfather, Bill France Sr., for a long time.

"This gets misunderstood whenever I say something like that," France said. "It simply means that my father [spent] 32 years as CEO and president of NASCAR. All I said was that's not in the cards for me, I don't think it's a smart thing for the sport.

"It doesn't mean I won't have a long run. I hope I do. I hope I'm doing what I'm doing. I really like what I'm doing and like working in the industry."

But France didn't rule out the possibility that the sport could one day be run without a France in charge.

"Being a France is great from a heritage standpoint," he said. "But you still have to have the ability and ambition to do that. If there's a time when there's not a France willing to do that then there will be a time when somebody else will lead it."

NASCAR president Mike Helton defended France and his boss' effectiveness as a leader.

"I can tell you the passion that his grandfather had and his grandfather had, Brian has as well."

In some ways, Helton said, Brian France might be more effective as a leader.

"Today's business is different," he said. "Bill and Jim France recognized that several years ago when they started creating and allowing us to build a different NASCAR from a management level."

France said he and Helton have become one of the best tandems in all of sports. They implemented the new playoff system known as the Chase for the Championship, orchestrated the new television deal and helped take the sport to markets beyond its Southern roots.

Over the past year alone the two have helped put in cost-saving measures during tough economic times and are working toward making the sport more energy-efficient and environmentally sound.

France talked in great detail about a meeting last year with former Vice President Al Gore on environmental issues impacting the sport.

When France says "fun," he doesn't mean he'll bail after tough seasons such as 2008.

"The high fuel prices really put our fans in a difficult spot," he said. "Then the manufacturers had their issues in the fall when the credit crisis and all the repercussion of the high-energy costs occurred. So it was a very difficult year to get through.

"We will get through it. This is a fixture in American culture, this sport. We have seen tough times before. We're actually optimistic about '09 for a lot of reasons."

Few questions remain for starters

Who will start the NBA All-Star Game?

Amare Stoudemire believes he is. According to a report in the Arizona Republic on Thursday, Stoudemire passed Carmelo Anthony to earn his first All-Star start. The game is set for Feb. 15 in Phoenix.

He would join Tim Duncan of San Antonio; Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers; and Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming of Houston for the West. The other four were leading in voting as of Jan. 8.

Bryant had 1,903,798 votes to lead the West voting. Yao was second with 1,758,499.

The leaders for the East through Jan. 8 were forwards LeBron James of Cleveland and Kevin Garnett of Boston; guards Dwyane Wade of Miami and Allen Iverson of Detroit; and center Dwight Howard of Orlando.

Howard is the leading vote-getter for the East with 2,102,368 votes. No other East center had more than 257,527. LeBron James had 1,940,162 votes.

Venus beaten, Serena wins

MELBOURNE, Australia -- Thursday was not a great day for the Williams sisters at the Australian Open.

Venus Williams was knocked out of the women's singles draw, losing 2-6, 6-3, 7-5 to 46th-ranked Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain, while Serena Williams ignored pain and frustration to reach the third round of the Australian Open with a straight-sets win over Gisela Dulko.

Venus Williams hardly looked like the reigning Wimbledon champion against the 20-year-old Suarez Navarro, whose previous best showing in a Grand Slam was reaching the French Open quarterfinals last year.

Usually the aggressor with her powerful shots, the sixth-seeded Williams was sluggish as she squandered a match point and dropped the last five games with the crowd cheering loudly for Suarez to finish off the victory. "She was super-consistent and aggressive and just went for her shots," said Williams, who has seven Grand Slam titles and now will have to hope for a doubles crown here with sister Serena. "Probably one of her best matches she's ever played. "I wasn't in control of the points. I'm definitely used to dictating the points a little bit more. It was kind of a pattern that wasn't the best for me."

Suarez Navarro, overmatched at first, broke twice in the second set as Williams let a number of reachable shots fly past. She saved a match point while serving at 4-5 in the deciding set and broke Williams in the next game, aided by a double fault from the American.

Suarez Navarro squandered one match point while serving at 40-15 in the next game before Williams netted a forehand for her 37th enforced error, and Suarez Navarro said she had little choice but to turn up the pressure.

"You must be aggressive during all the match," she said. "If not, she's going to take control of you."

Serena Williams, meanwhile, headed straight to the practice courts for extra work after her 6-3, 7-5 win over Dulko. She gave her performance a "D-minus at best" as 45th-ranked Dulko matched her shot for shot.

"Lots and lots and lots of room for improvement," second-seeded Serena Williams said. "But it's good that I was able to win, too, when I wasn't playing my best."

Serena Williams, hoping to extend a sequence of winning the Australian title every alternate year since 2003, had to fend off six set points in the ninth game of the second set to prevent the match going to a third. That game went to a dozen deuces before Serena broke to get back on serve.

She got treatment on her left ankle in the changeover and, grimacing with pain, held and then broke Dulko again -- this game going to deuce a half-dozen times -- to get her chance to serve it out.

After all that, the nine-time Grand Slam winner finished with an ace on her first match point, advancing in 1 hour, 50 minutes.

"It was a very tough second set, she started playing unbelievable, hitting winners left and right," Williams said. "She had a couple of opportunities but I always felt I wasn't going to lose.

"I feel I could play a lot better," she added.

Serena converted only four of her 18 break chances against the 23-year-old Argentine. Dulko was successful on both of hers.

Olympic champion Elena Dementieva improved her 2009 winning streak to 12 matches with a 6-4, 6-1 win over Iveta Benesova.

Dementieva, who won titles at Auckland and Sydney before the season's first major, struggled with her serve early but recovered to finish the match in 72 minutes.

The 27-year-old Dementieva reached the French Open and U.S. Open finals in 2004, beaten both times by fellow Russians, and has not returned to the championship of a Grand Slam tournament since.

Her highlight last year was a win over fellow Russian Dinara Safina in the gold-medal match at the Beijing Olympics. She was ousted in the semifinals at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open in 2008 and has never advanced beyond the fourth round at Melbourne Park.

Amelie Mauresmo, who won here and at Wimbledon in 2006, rallied for a 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 win over Britain's Elena Baltacha. Mauresmo, a former No. 1 now seeded 20th after an injury-plagued 2008, advanced when Baltacha double-faulted on match point.

"I'm expecting to play better and better as the tournament will go on," Mauresmo said. "I'm definitely expecting a tougher match, tougher opponent next round. So I will have to step up and play some better tennis."

Fellow Frenchwoman Virginie Razzano ousted No. 14 Patty Schnyder of Switzerland 6-3, 6-1.

Other women advancing included No. 8 Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia; No. 12 Flavia Pennetta of Italy; No. 13 Victoria Azarenka of Belarus; No. 18 Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia; No. 21 Anabel Medina Garrigues of Spain; and No. 22 Zheng Jie of China.