Sports briefs

NEW YORK — The NFL suspended Jets linebacker Calvin Pace for four games without pay Thursday for violating the league's policy on performance-enhancing substances.

Pace will miss New York's first four games of the season and be eligible to return for the Monday night game at Miami on Oct. 12.

In a statement issued by the Jets, Pace said the ban is a result of him taking an over-the-counter dietary supplement that he was unaware violated the NFL's policy.

Pace, in his second season with the Jets, is eligible to participate in preseason practices and games. The suspension begins Sept. 5 and he can return to practice on Oct. 5, a day after New York's game at New Orleans.

NASCAR announces Hall of Fame nominees

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Stock car racing giants ranging from Bill France Sr. and Junior Johnson to Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt Sr. are among the 25 nominees for NASCAR's first Hall of Fame class.

The announcement Thursday came 10 months before the Hall of Fame's scheduled opening in downtown Charlotte. An inaugural class of five will be chosen from the group that includes the bootleggers who helped create the sport to the drivers, owners and officials who made it popular.

NASCAR patriarch France and his son, Bill France Jr., were among the candidates selected by a 21-member panel. The drivers include Petty, Earnhardt, Johnson, David Pearson, Darrell Waltrip, Bobby Allison, Cale Yarbrough and Glenn "Fireball" Roberts.

Car owners are represented, too, including Bud Moore, Raymond Parks, Rick Hendrick, Richard Childress and Glen Wood.

A panel of people in the sport and a fan vote will decide the first class, which will be announced in October. Induction will take place in conjunction with the Hall's opening in May. "That first class, just like the first baseball class that has the likes of Babe Ruth and Ty Cobb, is going to be extremely special," Hall of Fame director Winston Kelley said.

— Associated Press