Soccer

Timbers shut out by Sporting Kansas City — Lawrence Olum scored the game’s only goal and Eric Kronberg earned his league-leading seventh shutout as Sporting Kansas City beat the Portland Timbers 1-0 in Portland Friday night. The win moved Sporting KC (7-5-4) into a tie for first place with DC United in the Eastern Conference. Portland (4-5-8) remained in sixth place in the Western Conference. In a scrappy match, with more flying kick attempts and fouls than quality goal-scoring chances, Sporting KC scored in the 24th minute. A long throw-in by Seth Sinovic into the Portland penalty area was knocked by Kevin Ellis into the path of Olum. The Kenyan put a right-footed shot past goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts for his first goal of the season. The assists were the first for both Ellis and Sinovic. Portland dominated possession for most of the game, and especially in the second half, but was unable to convert it into much of an attacking threat. Kronberg needed to make three saves to earn the shutout. It was the first league match for the teams in two weeks, thanks to a break in the MLS schedule during the group stages of the World Cup.

Motor sports

Keselowski sets track record, earns pole — Brad Keselowski had a track-record speed of 188.791 mph in a Ford to win the pole for today’s NASCAR race at Kentucky Speedway in Sparta. A day in which 23 drivers broke Dale Earnhardt’s year-old mark of 183.636 mph in the first round of knockout qualifying alone ended with the 2012 winner of the 400-mile race shattering it by more than 5 mph. Keselowski overtook Penske Racing teammate Joey Logano, who turned a lap of 187.175 after leading the first two rounds. Jeff Gordon will start third in a Chevy, salvaging a session in which Hendrick Motorsports teammates Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt Jr. didn’t make it past the first round. Denny Hamlin was fourth in a Toyota.

Harvick claims Nationwide win — Kevin Harvick passed Kyle Busch on the final restart and held off Brad Keselowski to win the NASCAR Nationwide Series race Friday night at Kentucky Speedway in Sparta. After failing to pass Busch on an earlier restart, Harvick succeeded with another chance on Lap 196. His Chevy gained enough space from Keselowski, who rallied from 17th following a pass-through penalty with 50 laps left to finish second in a Ford. Before the pit road speeding penalty, Keselowski seemed headed for a second straight victory at the track in leading 138 laps.

College

Cal names former wrestler interim AD — California announced a change in leadership in the athletic program on Friday, signaling the end of a 10-year run by athletic director Sandy Barbour that featured great success in non-revenue sports as well as recent struggles on and off the field for the high-profile football team. Chancellor Nicholas Dirks said the department needed a “fresh perspective” and said former Cal wrestler Michael Williams will take over as interim AD while the school seeks a full-time replacement for Barbour. Williams was a collegiate wrestler at Cal and graduated in 1982 with a degree in economics. He worked for Barclays Global Investors for more than 16 years before retiring in 2009. He currently serves as vice chair of the UC Berkeley Foundation and is a past chair of the foundation’s Campaign Steering Committee.

— From wire reports