LOCAL

LOCAL

Area track officials
meet at Fitch

AUSTINTOWN — The Greater Youngstown Track Officials Association will hold cross country meetings at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Fitch High cafeteria and on Sept. 7 at Boardman High School in Room 134.

All officials and coaches are encouraged to attend as well as any interested in becoming an official. The mandatory state meeting for all officials and coaches will be held on Jan. 28 at Fitch High School.

Wingless races slated

MERCER — The sprint cars will race wingless for the second time this season Saturday at 7 p.m. at Mercer Raceway Park in the $1,500 to-win feature, to headline $10 Family Night.

Also on tap will be the modifieds, stock cars, mod Lites and mini stocks, as well as kids bike races. In addition, the Vintage American Race Cars will be on display and compete in exhibition races.

Arnie Kent of New Castle will be seeking his second straight sprint win and a clean sweep of the two wingless events this season.

Kent still is alive in the sprint title chase as he trails seven-time champion Rod George by 70 points.

Since 1989, 10 wingless events have been run at Mercer with four-time track champion Jamie Smith leading the way in wins totaling $7,500.

Niles-Girard football
tickets on sale

NILES — Tickets for the Niles-Girard High school football game on Aug. 24 will be on sale at the Niles High athletic office beginning Monday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Also available are season tickets, senior passes, student passes and family passes.

Quaker City benefit

SALEM — Quaker City Raceway and Second Harvest Food Bank will combine efforts on Aug. 19 in a race to help fight hunger.

The Raceway will celebrate its 50th Anniversary with a huge race and free admission to those who bring a canned good or a non-perishable food item to donate to the Second Harvest Food Bank.

The donated items must be in good condition, must have all labels on and unopened.

For more information, contact Quaker City Raceway at (330) 332-5335.

NATION

Beckham’s MLS debut
is TV ratings boost

BRISTOL, Conn. — David Beckham’s presence immediately doubled the television rating for his Major League Soccer debut.

D.C. United’s 1-0 victory over the Los Angeles Galaxy on Thursday night received an average rating of 0.45 on ESPN2, the network said Friday. That translates to 422,000 households.

Beckham, who has been bothered by a bad ankle since joining the Galaxy last month, entered in the game’s 72nd minute. From 8:15 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. EDT, the game had a 0.5 rating. For the next 15 minutes, when Beckham came on as a second-half substitute, the rating increased to 0.6. It then jumped to 0.8 from 8:45 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Thursday’s game attracted the most households for an MLS telecast on ESPN2. On ESPN, his brief appearance in a July 21 exhibition against England’s Chelsea attracted a 1.0 rating and was watched by an average of 947,000 homes.

Armstrong aimed at
getting bikes for kids

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Lance Armstrong owes it all to his bicycle.

No surprise there.

“Without a bike, my life would not have been the same,” said the seven-time winner of the Tour de France during a fundraiser Thursday for Kids on Bikes, a group that buys bicycles for children. “It was a way to travel and see the world. It was a way of life, and it was a good living, and I can’t complain about that.

“But I think the beauty of it for me is that it enabled us — and I say us because it is a team effort — to share a good story, the story of cancer survivorship.”

Armstrong spoke to 600 people at a banquet for the organization founded by Paige Carmichael, wife of Armstrong’s longtime friend and personal coach Chris Carmichael. The group works to provide bicycles to underprivileged children in the Colorado Springs area. Armstrong was at the top of the bicycle-racing world in 1996, when he received the dire diagnosis. He had testicular cancer that already had spread to his lungs, abdomen and brain. He was given no better than a 50-50 chance to live, but he defied the odds.

He recovered and won the Tour de France from 1996 through 2005.

Vindicator staff⁄wire reports