Newman will leave Penske at year's end

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MOORESVILLE, N.C. -- Ryan Newman, projected as a possible teammate for Tony Stewart on the two-time NASCAR champion's new team, will leave Penske Racing at the end of the 2008 season.

Newman's impending departure was announced Monday in a release from the Penske team.

"We want to thank Ryan for his hard work and contributions to Penske Racing over the past nine years," team owner Roger Penske said in a statement. "We wish Ryan all the best for the future and we'll continue to focus our efforts on making the Chase with Ryan and the Alltel Dodge team this season."

Newman expressed his appreciation to Penske and to the team in a statement, but gave no indication where he will be racing in 2009.

Newman, 30, has been with the Penske team since making his Sprint Cup debut in 2000. He got a full-time Cup ride in 2002 and has notched 13 victories, including this year's Daytona 500.

Stewart announced last week he will leave Joe Gibbs Racing at the end of 2008 to become driver and part-owner of the team currently known as Haas-CNC Racing. The name will be changed to Stewart-Haas.

Horse Racing

Luke Kruytbosch, the track announcer for the Kentucky Derby for the last 10 years, was found dead Monday at his home in southern Indiana. He was 47. Vanderburgh County, Ind., coroner Don Erk said Kruytbosch was found by friends in his Evansville apartment, and appears to have died of cardiac-related natural causes. The coroner said Kruytbosch's friends said the announcer had not felt well and had been to a doctor recently.

Hockey

The San Jose Sharks re-signed restricted free agent center Marcel Goc to a one-year contract Monday. Goc had five goals and eight assists in 51 games last season for the Sharks. In 210 career games, Goc has 18 goals and 25 assists. The Sharks also re-signed forwards Tom Cavanagh and Brad Staubitz to one-year deals. ... Ted Nolan's return to NHL coaching ended after only two years Monday when he split with the New York Islanders over "philosophical differences" with general manager Garth Snow. "The process for me was something that took a lot of time to come to terms with," Snow told The Associated Press. "We all know we probably weren't all on the same page in certain areas. "It wasn't going to work if two people aren't on the same page."

Poker

Each bet, each call and each bust Monday at the World Series of Poker brought players closer to a ticket to the tournament's final table and the $9.12 million payday that goes to the winner.

The player who takes the title in poker's richest contest -- to be decided in November after the no-limit Texas Hold 'em main event takes a four-month break -- will have never won a world series tournament before. The last two gold bracelet winners, Phi Nguyen and Brandon Cantu, were eliminated early Monday.

The 27 players who began their final push Monday topped a field of 6,844 players in the main event that began July 3. Four hours into play, 10 players had been eliminated, leaving 17 left at three tables. Those eliminated earned from $257,334 to $591,869 from the tournament's $64.3 million prize pool.

Boxing

Fernando Beltran Jr. of Mexico will fight Takalani Ndlovu of South Africa on Aug. 22 in Nashville for the vacant IBO featherweight world title in a 12-round fight. Beltran (30-3-1) and Ndlovu (28-4) each have 18 knockouts.

Football

Rookie linebacker Thomas Williams signed a four-year contract worth nearly $2 million with the Jacksonville Jaguars. Williams, a fifth-round draft pick from USC, got a $174,500 signing bonus to go along with the $1.7 million contract. ... Former Louisville receiver JaJuan Spillman pleaded guilty to drug and weapons charges, but won't have to serve jail time if he stays out of trouble with the law for two years.