CALIFORNIA SPEEDWAY NOTEBOOK: GORDON TAKES POLE POSITION.Byline: Bill Schlotter Daily News Staff Writer Jeff Gordon Jeffery Michael Gordon (born August 4, 1971) is a professional American race car driver. He was born in Vallejo, California, raised in Pittsboro, Indiana, and currently lives in Charlotte, North Carolina. won the pole position pole position Noun 1. (in motor racing) the starting position on the inside of the front row, generally considered the best one 2. an advantageous starting position Noun 1. Friday for Sunday's NASCAR NASCAR (National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing), organization that sanctions American stock-car races, est. 1948. It held its first race in Daytona Beach, Fla. Winston Cup California 500, turning in a 181.772 mph lap during qualifying at California Speedway The California Speedway is a two-mile, low-banked, D-shaped oval superspeedway in Fontana, California, similar to that of "sister track" Michigan International Speedway. It is located approximately 40 miles east of Los Angeles on the site of the former Kaiser Steel mill. . Lining up next to Gordon, the defending race and season-points champion, will be Jeremy Mayfield Jeremy Allen Mayfield (born May 27, 1969 in Owensboro, Kentucky) is a driver in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series who drives the #36 360 OTC Toyota Camry for Bill Davis Racing. He is married to his wife Shana, and they own three bulldogs and two pugs. . Also in the top 10 are Mark Martin and Rusty Wallace Russell William "Rusty" Wallace (born August 14, 1956 in Fenton, Missouri) is a former NASCAR champion, NASCAR Busch Series car owner, and television broadcaster with ESPN and ESPN on ABC. Wallace had his first live broadcast of the Indy 500 on May 28, 2006. in the second row, Johnny Benson Johnny Benson (born June 27, 1963 in Grand Rapids, Michigan) is a NASCAR driver and the son of former Michigan modified driver John Benson Sr. His career highlighs include 1993 American Speed Association AC-Delco Challenge series championship in 1993, The 1995 Busch Series and Joe Nemechek in row 3, Bobby Labonte and Ward Burton in row 4 and Terry Labonte and Morgan Shepherd in row 5. Speeds were well off the track record 183.753 mph set in qualifying last year by Greg Sacks. Gordon was the fourth driver to make a qualifying run and spent the rest of the afternoon expecting someone to beat it. ``When we drew to go out fourth, I was pretty sure someone was going to knock us off,'' Gordon said. No one did, not even Burton, who turned the day's fastest lap, hitting 182.14 mph in practice. Friday's qualifying filled the first 25 slots in Sunday's race. The remainder will be filled during qualifying today and the awarding of provisional starts. Drivers still needing to qualify included Dale Earnhardt, 29th Friday, Geoff Bodine, who was 32nd, Jimmy Spencer, Bobby Hamilton and Dale Jarrett. Four crashes and a burn: Turn three was big trouble for four drivers. Dick Trickle and Todd Bodine damaged their cars in crashes during practice. Trickle was uninjured, but Bodine was taken to Loma Linda Medical Center for X-rays and observation. Doctors will decide today if he is fit to try to qualify his car for Sunday's race. Brett Bodine and Dale Jarrett were uninjured in crashes during qualifying but must now hope their cars can be repaired or replaced in time for today's round. Earlier Friday, a Winston West car driven by George Nordling caught fire during practice runs. The fire was extinguished and Nordling hopes to have the damage repaired in time for today's race. Racing all-stars: NASCAR stars Gordon, Burton, Martin, Earnhardt, Jarrett and Terry Labonte will take on drivers from other racing circuits in Race 2 of the four-race International Race of Champions at 2:30 p.m. today. Gordon leads the 1998 series, having won a rain-shortened race that preceded the Daytona 500. Martin is a three-time IROC IROC International Race Of Champions IROC Independent Rental Owners Council IROC Independent Rental Owners Committee IROC Instantaneous Rate of Change IROC Integrated Repair Operations Center (Sprint) IROC Intrusion-Resistant Optical Cable series champ. Racing against the NASCAR contingent will be CART drivers Al Unser Jr. and Jimmy Vasser, Indy Racing League The Indy Racing League, better known as IRL, is the sanctioning body of a predominantly American based open-wheel racing series. The League consists of two series, the premiere IndyCar Series drivers Arie Luyendyk and Tony Stewart, defending Busch Grand National Champion Randy LaJoie and La Canada's Tommy Kendall, a four-time Trans Am road-racing champion. Kendall will start on the pole. ABC television is taping the race for a later broadcast. Winston West: Today's first race will be the 100-lap, 200-mile Auto Club 200 NASCAR Winston West race, which begins at noon. The race is the fourth of a 14-event series and will be televised live by ESPN ESPN Entertainment and Sports Programming Network 2. Winston Cup veteran Ken Schrader, the defending Auto Club 200 champion and pole sitter, will start on the pole again this year. Series leader Kevin Harvick of Bakersfield will be on row 1 outside Schrader. Also running will be Valencia's Sean Woodside, who is third in season points. Jerry Cain of Canyon Country is also in the race. With the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series off this week, series leader and former Palmdale resident Ron Hornaday Jr. has come home to make a Winston West start. |
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