Sports briefs

NASCARGordon edges Johnson at Atlanta

With his car sliding all over the track, Jeff Gordon held off teammate Jimmie Johnson over a thrilling last 10 laps yesterday to take the rain-delayed NASCAR event at Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Ga.

Gordon drew away to win by .598 of a second over the defending five-time champion.

Gordon won for the third time this season and for the 85th time in his career, breaking a tie with Bobby Allison and Darrell Waltrip for third. Richard Petty (200) and David Pearson (105) are the only drivers in Cup history with more victories than Gordon.

"I totally forgot about that," Gordon said while celebrating in front of the main grandstand. "Eighty-five, wow!''

The race originally was scheduled for Sunday night, but rain from the remnants of Tropical Storm Lee forced a two-day postponement.

NBASources: Players, owners to meet today in NY

Two people with knowledge of the plans say NBA players and owners will resume talks Wednesday in hopes of reaching a new collective bargaining agreement. The session will be only the third between top negotiators since the lockout started July 1. But with the scheduled opening of training camps less than a month away, both sides said they recognized the urgency to pick up the pace. The meeting will be in New York at an undisclosed site.

COLLEGE FOOTBALLBeating Oregon moves LSU up to No. 2

Winning the biggest game of opening weekend boosted LSU to No. 2 behind Oklahoma in The Associated Press Top 25. The Tigers used their 40-27 victory over Oregon to jump Alabama, which slipped to No. 3. Oregon dropped from No. 4 to 13. Defending national champion Auburn fell from No. 23 to out of the rankings after needing a late rally to beat Utah State, 42-38, at home.

Rees replaces Crist as Notre Dame's QB

Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly has made a change: Tommy Rees will start at quarterback Saturday night at Michigan. Kelly announced the decision three days after benching an ineffective Dayne Crist in a 23-20 home loss to South Florida. Rees played well in the second half but an Irish rally fell short.

SOCCERBelgium drops U.S. to 0-2-1 under Klinsmann

The United States lost to Belgium, 1-0, in Brussels, leaving Jurgen Klinsmann 0-2-1 since he was hired as coach of the national team.

The man Klinsmann replaced, Bob Bradley, is in the running to coach the Mexican club team Santos Laguna. The team said it has spoken to Bradley and that other candidates will be interviewed. Bradley led the U.S. to the round of 16 at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.-- AP