Sports briefs 10/14/05

Auto racing

Elliott Sadler won the pole for Saturday's UAW-GM Quality 500 with a Lowe's Motor Speedway record of 193.216 mph, beating out Ryan Newman, who completed a lap at 193.126. Jimmie Johnson qualified third at 192.850 and points leader Tony Stewart was fourth.

Golf

* Female golfers could be playing at next year's British Open.

The Royal & Ancient Golf Club, the governing body for the sport outside the United States, said Thursday it was changing its entry rules to allow women to qualify for the oldest of the four majors.

Hockey

* A lawsuit filed against Vancouver's Todd Bertuzzi over his brutal hit on former Avalanche forward Steve Moore was tossed out Thursday by a Denver judge who said the case has no standing in Colorado.

Judge Shelley Gilman agreed with attorneys for Bertuzzi and others that any case would be better handled in Canada, where the hit occurred last year.

"It is highly likely that Colorado law will not apply to most, if not all, of Moore's claims," Gilman wrote. "British Columbia bears the most significant relationship to Moore's claims."

Moore hasn't played since the March 8, 2004, game when Bertuzzi grabbed him from behind, punched him in the head and drove his head into the ice during a game in Vancouver. Moore sustained three broken vertebrae in his neck, a concussion and other injuries.

Moore was seeking unspecified damages from the Canucks, team owner Orca Bay Hockey Limited Partnership, Bertuzzi, coach Marc Crawford, former general manager Brian Burke and former Canucks player Brad May. Moore's attorneys did not immediately return a call.