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Co-founder Patrick leaving CART behind

Patrick Racing will leave the troubled Championship Auto Racing Teams series and join the rival Indy Racing League if a sponsorship package can be arranged.

"CART has been completely mishandled and, even though it's very disappointing to me personally, I just think it's time to move on," team owner U.E. "Pat" Patrick said Tuesday.

CART, founded in 1978 by Patrick and car owner Roger Penske, became a publicly traded company in 1998 and filed for bankruptcy late last year. Its assets were sold in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Indianapolis last week to a group headed by three other team owners who want to revive the series under the name Open Wheel Racing.

Penske left CART for the IRL two years ago. The IRL season opens Feb. 29 at Miami-Homestead Speedway. IRL spokesman Fred Nation said the IndyCar Series would be happy to have Patrick Racing in its fold.

France's Francis Joyon completed the first uninterrupted solo trip around the world in 72 days, 22 hours, 54 minutes, 22 seconds. The 47-year-old's trip broke the single-hull record of 93 days, held by Michel Desjoyeaux, and topped Olivier de Kersauzon's multihull mark of 125 days.

The United States beat Canada 2-0 in Shenzhen, China, to win the Four Nations women's tournament, a tuneup for the Athens Olympics. Lindsay Tarpley scored in the 13th minute and Joy Fawcett made a penalty kick in the 36th to give the Americans the title a second straight year.

MLS: Midfielder Andreas Herzog, a two-time member of Austria's World Cup team, signed with Los Angeles. Herzog is the first Austrian to join an MLS team.

Lisa Raymond was eliminated in the first round of the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo after a strong Australian Open in which she upset Venus Williams. Raymond, who played at Florida, fell 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 to Magdalena Maleeva.

DAVIS CUP: Marat Safin might not play for Russia after his exhausting run to the Australian Open final. Safin played 30 sets in seven matches at the Open, losing to Roger Federer. Russia faces Belarus in the opening round of World Group competition, a best-of-five event that begins Friday.

COLLEGE BASEBALL: Host Tampa completed its series sweep of Eckerd, winning 9-3.

FIGURE SKATING: World champ Evgeni Plushenko of Russia was first after the men's short program at the European Championships in Budapest, Hungary. France's Brian Joubert was second.

RUNNING: Austrians ruled the Empire State Building in New York, scampering 86 flights to the observation deck. Rudolf Reitberger and Andrea Mayr won the men's and women's divisions. Reitberger covered the 1,576 steps in 10 minutes, 37 seconds. Mayr set the women's course record at 12:08, topping the 1996 mark of 12:19 set by American Belinda Soszyn.

SOFTBALL: The United States (4-0) beat the Czech Republic 19-0 in Christchurch, New Zealand, at the world men's championships.