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Former Formula One driver Juan Pablo Montoya took a major step in his transition to NASCAR racing when he qualified for the Ford 400 Nextel Cup race at Miami Homestead Speedway.

The Colombian, who previously drove for the Mercedes-McLaren Formula One team, qualified for his first Nextel Cup race 29th from the 43-car field in his Dodge Charger at an average speed of 175.58 mph (282.57 kph) around the one-and-a-half mile track.

Montoya, a seven-times Formula One Grand Prix winner, said the experience had been stressful.

"You don't want to come out of here and look like an idiot because you don't make the show," he said. "It puts a lot of stress on the team because it's guaranteed that we have to get it right."

Meares breaks cycling world record

Australia's Anna Meares set a world record of 33.944 seconds to win the women's 500 metres time trial at the UCI Track Cycling World Cup at Sydney's Dunc Gray Velodrome yesterday.

Meares shaved 0.008 seconds off the previous world record of 33.952 she set to win the gold medal at the 2004 Athens Olympics, reaffirming her as the world's top female sprinter after a back injury threatened to end her career.

Meares has her sights set on the 2008 Beijing Olympics but has had to switch from the time trial to the sprint after her preferred event was scrapped from the programme to make way for BMX.