Miller takes overall Cup lead with latest win

His hip so sore he questioned if he could ski, Bode Miller won a super-combi Sunday in Chamonix, France, and took over first place in the World Cup overall standings.

Miller won for the fourth time this season and went from third to first in the standings, overtaking previous leader Benjamin Raich of Austria.

Miller has been racing in pain since Thursday, when he crashed during downhill training. Miller led after the downhill and finished in a combined time of 2 minutes 34.58 seconds after the slalom.

Slalom specialist Ivica Kostelic of Croatia moved from eighth after the downhill to finish second, 0.45 behind Miller. Rainer Schoenfelder of Austria was third in 2:35.92.

Miller leads the overall standings with 967 points. Raich is second with 905.

Miller increased his lead in the super-combi standings to 90 points over Jean-Baptiste Grange of France.

Americans Julia Mancuso and Lindsey Vonn crashed out in the first run, and Marlies Schild went on to win her fourth World Cup slalom race of the season in Ofterschwang, Germany.

The Austrian finished the course in a combined time of 1:40.85 seconds, ahead of Therese Borssen of Sweden by 0.42 of a second. Overall World Cup leader Nicole Hosp of Austria was third.

Mancuso lost her footing trying to take a gate in the upper half of the first run. Vonn, who followed Mancuso down the slope, went out at nearly the same spot in the upper half of the course.

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MOTOR RACING

Ganassi wins third straight at Daytona

The quartet of Juan Pablo Montoya, Dario Franchitti, Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas encountered no serious problems, giving Chip Ganassi an unprecedented third consecutive victory in America’s premier sports car race -- the Rolex 24-Hour at Daytona International Speedway in Florida.

Pruett took over from Montoya for the last two hours on the way to becoming the winningest sports car driver at Daytona with his eighth victory -- three overall wins and five others in lower classes.

The winning Lexus Riley Daytona Prototype led a race-high 252 of 695 laps, completing 2,460 miles and beating the runner-up Pontiac Riley co-driven by two-time defending NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson, former CART champion Jimmy Vasser and 2007 Rolex Grand-Am Series prototype champions Jon Fogarty and Alex Gurney by two laps.

Four more laps back in third was the Pontiac Riley co-driven by NASCAR champion Kurt Busch, two-time Indy 500 winner Helio Castroneves and Ryan Briscoe.

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MISCELLANY

Surgery to sideline Lo Duca 4-6 weeks

Washington Nationals catcher Paul Lo Duca was scheduled to have surgery on his left knee today to repair what his agent called a minor meniscus tear.

General Manager Jim Bowden wouldn’t confirm the surgery but said, “If an operation is indicated, it will be arthroscopic and the estimated recovery time would be four to six weeks, with the expectation he could be ready for opening day.”

Lo Duca, who signed a $5-million, one-year deal as a free agent this off-season, hurt himself during a workout last week.

The Washington Redskins, still without a head coach, promoted Scott Campbell to director of player personnel.

Campbell, who has spent the last seven seasons with the Redskins, will oversee scouting at the college and pro levels. He had previously led college and professional recruiting.

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PASSINGS

Holovak, 88, longtime executive in the NFL

Mike Holovak, a longtime NFL executive who coached the New England Patriots, then called the Boston Patriots, to their first championship game, died of complications from pneumonia in Ruskin, Fla. He was 88.