America's Cup is halfway home

The America's Cup hasn't been this close to being back in American hands since Dennis Conner lost it 15 years ago.

Software tycoon Larry Ellison's BMW Oracle crew needs a win Sunday against two-time defending champion Alinghi of Switzerland to deliver the oldest trophy in international sports to San Francisco's Golden Gate Yacht Club.

Race 2 will be sailed over a triangle course on the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Spain. The U.S. team won Race 1 on Friday by 15 minutes, 28 seconds.

Brad Butterworth, Alinghi's good-natured skipper and tactician, was asked after Race 1 if the wing sail of BMW Oracle was the difference.

"What do you want me to say, mate?" the New Zealander said, laughing. "They sailed from behind us to in front of us. Did you see what happened? Well, then you can work it out."

Peters takes opening truck race Timothy Peters won the season-opening Truck Series race Saturday at Daytona International Speedway.

Peters passed Todd Bodine on the final lap, then edged Bodine at the line for his second career victory. Dennis Setzer finished third, followed by Jason White and Matt Crafton.

Peters, Bodine and just a handful of others avoided a rash of wrecks on the 2 1/2-mile superspeedway. Defending series champion Ron Hornaday Jr., Kyle Busch and Elliott Sadler were involved in accidents that caused a third of the 100-lap event to be run under caution.

Rays win Upton arbitration case Tampa Bay remains undefeated in arbitration.

The ruling went to the Rays on Saturday, when a panel of arbitrators decided outfielder B.J. Upton would be paid the $3 million that the Rays offered him and not the $3.3 million he requested. That makes the Rays 5-0 all-time in cases that have gone to hearings.

Eligible for arbitration for the first time, Upton received a raise from $435,000.

Players and clubs have split the cases already decided. Milwaukee outfielder Corey Hart won his arbitration case a day earlier.

Track and field: U.S. sprinter Wallace Spearmon Jr. was injured in a 200-meter race at the Tyson Invitational at the University of Arkansas. Spearmon pulled up in the final strides of the race, apparently because of a hamstring injury. He was scratched from two other races he had entered. Spearmon was leading and on a pace to beat the world's fastest time of the year when he was injured.

Women's tennis: Top-seeded Elena Dementieva rallied to defeat Melanie Oudin 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 and reach the final of the Open GDF Suez in Paris. Dementieva will face Lucie Safarova, who upset second-seeded Flavia Pennetta 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.

Men's tennis: Robin Soderling will face Mikhail Youzhny in the final of the ABN Amro tournament in Rotterdam, Netherlands, aiming to become the first Swedish winner in 17 years. Soderling defeated second-seeded Nikolay Davydenko 7-6, (3) 6-4, and Youzhny upset top-seeded Novak Djokovic 7-6 (5) 7-6 (6) in the semifinals. ... Fernando Verdasco reached his first final since October, beating Denis Istomin 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 at the SAP Open in San Jose, Calif.