March 2006 in Sports - March 26, 2006 (Sunday)

March 26, 2006 (Sunday)

• Auto racing
  • Paul Dana, 30, is killed in an accident with fellow driver Ed Carpenter during the practice session for the Toyota Indy 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Team owner Bobby Rahal pulled the other two cars he had entered – driven by Danica Patrick and Buddy Rice — after learning of Dana's death. The race went off as scheduled, with defending series champion Dan Wheldon narrowly defeating Helio Castroneves to win the race.
  • NASCAR NEXTEL Cup: Kurt Busch drives the Miller Lite No. 2 Dodge Charger to his first win with Penske Motorsports in the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway.
• 2006 NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Tournament, Regional Semi-Finals
  • Cleveland Region
    • (2) Tennessee 76, (3) Rutgers 69
    • (1) North Carolina 70, (4) Purdue 68
  • Bridgeport Region
    • (1) Duke 86, (4) Michigan State61
    • (2) UConn 77, (3) Georgia 75
• 2006 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament, Regional Finals
  • Washington, D.C. Region: (11) George Mason 86, (1) UConn 84 (OT). The Patriots become the first mid-major school to make the Final Four since 1979, when both Penn and a Larry Bird-led Indiana State made it.
  • Minneapolis Region: (3) Florida 75, (1) Villanova 62. For the first time since the 1980 Final Four, and the second time since the tournament was seeded beginning in 1979, no No. 1 seeded teams made the Final Four.
• Cricket: Brett Lee becomes the 12th Australian to take 200 wickets in Test cricket. ABC Sport (Australia)
• Golf: Canadian Stephen Ames takes the 2006 Players Championship with a score of 14 under par, six strokes ahead of second-place Retief Goosen of South Africa. Ames will receive $1.44 million, 10 years' exemption for PGA Tour events and an invitation to the four major championships as a reward. In 2007, the event will move to May (May 10 – 13) in the month between The Masters and the U.S. Open. (ESPN)
• Ice hockey
  • The Alberta Golden Bears win their record 12th University Cup 3–2 over the Lakehead Thunderwolves. (TSN)
  • Wisconsin defeats Minnesota 3–0 to win the NCAA Women's Ice Hockey Championship on the Gophers' home ice.