Off the wire

MOTOR RACING Penske ruling mixed

Penske Racing celebrated a small victory Tuesday when NASCAR’s chief appellate officer issued a mixed ruling on penalties levied against the team. Although most everything was upheld, suspensions for seven key employees were reduced from six points races to two. Team owner Roger Penske said he was “very happy with the outcome” following John Middlebrook’s decision. NASCAR inspectors confiscated parts from the rear suspensions of the cars of defending champion Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano before the April 13 race at Texas. NASCAR alleged the parts were not approved, while Penske maintained the parts had been approved but the organization was applying them in a way that fell in a gray area of the rule book. NASCAR docked Keselowski and Logano 25 points each and fined crew chiefs Paul Wolfe and Todd Gordon $100,000 each. NASCAR also suspended Wolfe, Gordon, competition director Travis Geisler, car chiefs Jerry Kelley and Raymond Fox and engineers Brian Wilson and Samuel Stanley for six races. All suspensions were reduced to two points races, plus next week’s All-Star race. They can return to work at Dover for the June 2 race. Penske did not immediately address how the organization would address the personnel issues at Darlington Raceway this weekend. “The important thing is, this is over,” Penske said. “This has been 2-3 weeks of constant questions, lots of emotions. I feel our bench is strong and people can fill in for the crew chiefs.”

NASCAR said Tuesday that Ryan Newman will not be fined for his rebuke of NASCAR on live television following a late accident at Talladega. Newman’s race ended Sunday in a 12-car accident when Kurt Busch’s car barrel-rolled on top of his car. Newman said his TV interview was solely to complain that NASCAR had made plenty of safety advances but still couldn’t figure out how to keep cars on the track. He used a vulgarity in his interview. Not fining Newman is consistent with NASCAR chairman Brian France’s decision to give drivers’ permission to criticize anything but the cars and the on-track product. Denny Hamlin was fined $25,000 in March for saying he didn’t think NASCAR’s new car races as well as the old car.

Joey Logano will run a NASCAR Nationwide race in Iowa in June, the night before competing in a Sprint Cup event at Pocono. Iowa Speedway officials said Logano will return to its 0.875-mile track for its Nationwide opener on June 8. Logano beat Kevin Harvick in a K&N Pro Series race at Iowa in 2007 and led the first competitive lap ever run at the track as a 16-year-old in 2006. Logano said that racing at Iowa and Pocono should be fun and that he’s looking to go “two-for-two” for the weekend. Logano is the biggest driver yet committed to Iowa’s first Nationwide race of the season. The track will host another Nationwide race in August in addition to an IndyCar event and two Camping World Trucks series races.

FOOTBALL Cowboys sign QB Corp

The Dallas Cowboys have signed quarterback Aaron Corp,twice released by Buffalo after joining the Bills as an undrafted free agent last year. The Bills released Corp less than a month after signing him in 2012. They resigned him in February and let him go him again April 29. Corp was set to be the starter at Southern California in 2009, but he broke his left leg before the season and Matt Barkley took over. He transferred to Richmond in 2010 and started five games before a season-ending knee injury. He finally played a full season in 2011, throwing for 2,682 yards and 17 touchdowns. Kyle Orton is the backup to Dallas quarterback Tony Romo, who went undrafted out of Eastern Illinois.

The Kansas City Chiefs have hired longtime Chicago Bears personnel man Chris Ballard to be their director of player personnel. Chiefs General Manager John Dorsey announced the move Tuesday. Ballard has spent the past 12 seasons with the Bears, rising from an area scout to serving last season as their director of pro scouting.

The Jacksonville Jaguars continue to revamp their secondary, signing free-agent cornerback Marcus Trufant and reuniting him with Coach Gus Bradley. The team released veteran cornerback Antwaun Molden to make room for the former Seattle Seahawks starter. Trufant, a first-round draft pick in 2003, is entering his 11th season in the NFL. He has started 125 games, totaling 638 tackles and 21 interceptions. He played the past four seasons under Bradley, the former Seahawks defensive coordinator. Trufant will help mentor a defensive backfield that includes five rookies.

Former Cleveland Browns general manager Tom Heckert is the Denver Broncos’ new director of pro personnel. Heckert replaces Keith Kidd. He’ll work closely with Executive Vice President John Elway and Matt Russell, the Broncos’ director of player personnel. Heckert is entering his 23rd season in the NFL. He started as a scout for the Miami Dolphins in 1991. Before his three-year stint with the Browns beginning in 2010, Heckert spent nine seasons with Philadelphia, including his final four years (2006-09) as the Eagles’ general manager.

John Kasay, who ranks among the NFL all-time leaders in field goals and scoring, is retiring with Carolina. Kasay, who spent 15 seasons with Carolina, signed a one day contract with the Panthers on Tuesday so he could retire as a member of the team. Kasay’s 20th and final NFL season was with New Orleans in 2011. After beginning his career with Seattle in 1991, Kasay was one of the first free agents to sign with the expansion Carolina franchise in 1995. He remained with the Panthers through the 2010 season and is the team’s all-time leading scorer. Kasay ranks sixth in NFL history with 461 field goals and fifth with his 81.9 field-goal percentage. His 1,970 points rank eighth in league history.

TENNIS Federer advances

Defending champion Roger Federer looked comfortable on clay in his first match in two months Tuesday, easing past Radek Stepanek 6-3, 6-3 to reach the third round of the Madrid Open. In the women’s event, defending champion Serena Williams moved her title defense into the third round after beating Lourdes Dominguez Lino of Spain 6-2, 7-5. Federer can equal John McEnroe’s career tally of 77 titles if he defends the Madrid trophy, having won last year on the criticized blue clay that organizers decided to discontinue. Like many of his fellow players, Federer said the traditional red surface was better. “They [organizers] spoke to more experts from the French Open and Monaco, and you can tell it’s a proper clay court now,” Federer said. “I know that added to the whole controversy, the color, because of tradition and so forth.It was extremely slippery and the court wasn’t taking the water well.” Third-seeded Andy Murray had a tougher time against Florian Mayer before outlasting the German 7-6 (11), 7-6 (3). No. 13 Tommy Haas of Germany and No. 15 Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland were among other seeded players to advance. No. 8 Richard Gasquet of France lost 7-5, 3-6, 6-4 to Daniel Gimeno-Traver of Spain. Also, Marion Bartoli of France overcame a fall to beat qualifier Maria-Teresa Torro-Flor of Spain 6-4, 2-6, 6-4.