THE KING OF FONTANA; GORDON DOMINATES, WINS CALIFORNIA 500.Byline: Louis Brewster Cancel those thoughts about 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. having used up all his luck in 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 competition. The rainbow that appeared over the 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. on Friday must have been an omen for Sunday as Gordon and his Rainbow Warriors pit crew put together a dominating effort to win the NAPA California 500. Gordon's victory was his second in the third-annual Winston Cup race run at the Fontana track. ``This was really special,'' said Gordon, who beat Jeff Burton's Ford to the finish line by 4.492 seconds after 250 laps in front of an estimated 117,000. Bobby Labonte Robert Alan Labonte (born May 8, 1964) is an American race car driver and drives the #43 Cheerios Dodge Charger for the Petty Enterprises NASCAR Racing Team in the Nextel Cup Series and the #77 Dollar General Chevrolet Monte Carlo for Kevin Harvick Incorporated in the Busch Series. and rookie Tony Stewart For other persons named Tony Stewart, see Tony Stewart (disambiguation). Anthony Wayne "Tony" Stewart (born May 20, 1971) is an auto racing driver who was born in Columbus, Indiana. He has won championships in sprint cars, Indy cars, and stock cars. were next, followed by Dale Jarrett Dale Arnold Jarrett (born November 26, 1956 in Newton, North Carolina) is an American race car driver. Jarrett currently races in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series exclusively, driving the #44 Toyota Camry for Michael Waltrip Racing. . Ward Burton Ward Burton (born October 25, 1961) is an American NASCAR auto racer, who has a total of five career NEXTEL Cup wins. He is currently the driver of the #4 State Water Heaters Chevrolet Impala SS for Morgan-McClure Motorsports. , 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. , Wally Dallenbach Wally Dallenbach can refer to:
Entering the race, Gordon had crashed in three of the past four events. ``We wanted to put Texas and Talladega behind us,'' said Gordon, who failed to finish both races after being involved in crashes, prompting talk about a change in fortune. The two-time defending Winston Cup champion was last in a 43-car field at Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the state of Texas, 18th-largest city in the United States[1], and voted one of "America’s Most Livable Communities. , and 38th last week in Alabama. But there was none of that Sunday. Gordon's crew, led by Ray Evernham, turned in two pit stops that were beyond luck. One allowed the DuPont Chevrolet driver to remain on the lead lap and the last one solidified the run to the finish. ``It's just one of those things when the choreography is perfect, and you hit all the lug nuts perfect,'' Evernham said. That couldn't be said for Burton, who increased his points lead to 55 over Jarrett. He was caught in the pits during one of five caution laps, putting him nearly a lap down. ``I thought the thing that hurt us the most - obviously getting a lap down hurt us a great deal - was when we made our lap up, on the next-to-last set of tires I asked to take two rounds of bite out and make a change to make it looser,'' said Burton, who sat on the pole by virtue of his points lead when qualifying was rained out Friday. ``I got it too loose; the 24 (Gordon) and the 18 (Bobby Labonte) drove away from us because I got it too loose,'' Burton said. While the yellow flags slowed the average speed to 150.890 mph, it did create close racing. There were 28 lead changes among 13 drivers. Jeff Burton led 57 laps while Labonte was in front for 14 laps. Defending champion Mark Martin led 10 laps and was competitive until his Roush Racing Ford engine blew on lap 196. ``I think we dropped a valve,'' said Martin, who dropped two places to sixth in the points race after a 38th-place finish. ``We were starting to get up there pretty good, but that last set of tires we got weren't competitive.'' Terry Labonte, whose run of top-five finishes at Fontana in the Kellogg's Chevrolet ended, led once for three laps. ``The car fell off quite a bit in the second half of the race,'' said the older Labonte brother, Gordon's Rick Hendrick Motorsports teammate. ``I wished we hadn't passed on taking tires on one pit stop (lap 205). In hindsight, I think we would have been better off coming in and taking on four tires.'' Gordon, who led for 151 laps, including the final 41, and Labonte were joined in the top 10 by teammate Wally Dallenbach. Gordon covered the field with a car that ran best while in front, with little traffic. ``We were able to get out there in clean air and that made a difference,'' said Gordon, who earned $155,890 for the win. ``We never felt like we were out of contention. We knew what we were made of,'' Gordon said. ``Anytime you win the Daytona 500, you're not having a bad year. Then you put Atlanta and California in on it, I don't see how we can have a bad year from here on out.'' CAPTION(S): Photo PHOTO Eventual California 500 winner Jeff Gordon leads the pack down the backstretch back·stretch n. The part of an oval racecourse farthest from the spectators and opposite the homestretch. into Turn 3 on Sunday. Stan Lim/Inland Valley Daily Bulletin |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion