MOTOR SPORTS : GORDON GOES FOR A SPIN - AND STILL WINS.Byline: Daily News Wire Services 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. keeps finding new ways to win races. Sunday at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway, the 25-year-old wunderkind wun·der·kind n. pl. wun·der·kin·der 1. A child prodigy. 2. A person of remarkable talent or ability who achieves great success or acclaim at an early age. came up with his second straight victory and fourth in eight starts this season as he simply steamrollered the rest of the 42-car field in the Goody's Headache Powder Noun 1. headache powder - a powdered form of aspirin aspirin powder acetylsalicylic acid, aspirin, Bayer, Empirin, St. Joseph - the acetylated derivative of salicylic acid; used as an analgesic anti-inflammatory drug (trade names Bayer, Empirin, and St. 500. A week earlier, Gordon had to bump his way past 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. on the last turn of the last lap to win. This time, he led a race record 432 of 500 laps on the .526-mile oval, and not even being spun out in an incident with Jimmy Spencer could slow his Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet for more than a few moments. The previous mark for the spring race was 427 laps led by Cale Yarborough in 1974. Richard Petty holds the Martinsville record with 480 laps led in the fall race in 1970. ``I never dreamed we were going to be that good,'' Gordon said. ``I got a little nervous there at the end, having to battle some of those guys, especially that 43 (Bobby Hamilton).'' Hamilton chased Gordon to the end, finishing 1.047 seconds - about three car-lengths behind - in a Pontiac. Mark Martin wound up third in a Ford, followed by Terry Labonte, Gordon's teammate and the defending Winston Cup champion. Rusty Wallace, who had won the spring race here four straight years, wound up fifth in his Ford after running as high as second several times. Gordon, who won $99,225, averaged 70.290 mph as he won for the second straight time at the Martinsville track. Sprague makes history: Jack Sprague didn't let a failing transmission keep him from making 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. Craftsman Truck Series history at Phoenix International Raceway Phoenix International Raceway, or just PIR, is a one mile tri-oval race track located in Avondale, Arizona. It opened in 1964, as the new home of major open-wheel racing in the Phoenix area, replacing the track at the Arizona State Fairgrounds as an automobile racing venue. . Sprague, who started his Chevrolet from the pole, gave up the lead briefly at the midpoint mid·point n. 1. Mathematics The point of a line segment or curvilinear arc that divides it into two parts of the same length. 2. A position midway between two extremes. of the Chevy Trucks Desert Star Classic, then drove away from his pursuers to score a record third consecutive victory at the one-mile superspeedway. The margin of 13.186 seconds over Joe Ruttman's Ford was the widest in series history. He eclipsed Ron Hornaday's 4.3-second win in 1995 at Sears Point Raceway. Rice cruises: Defending series champion Vic Rice picked up where he left off last season, taking a 0.735-second flag-to-flag GT America victory over Chris Neville in Phoenix. Rice, driving the No. 9 Black Star Beer Chevrolet Monte Carlo The Chevrolet Monte Carlo was an American mid-size car. Originally introduced by Chevrolet for the 1970 model year (as competition with the Ford Thunderbird), it has gone through six generations as of 2007. , was never seriously challenged throughout the 20-lap, 30.2-mile race on the 1.51-mile, 11-turn road course. ``It was a real clean race,'' Rice said. ``I knew where Chris (Neville) would have to pass me if he could, so I concentrated on protecting my lead at turns three and nine.'' CAPTION(S): Photo Photo: JEFF GORDON: He led for 432 of the 500 laps at Martinsville, Va., to earn prize money of $99,225. |
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