Gordon Looms Large in Petty’s Rearview Mirror

INDIANAPOLIS — Richard Petty has been retired as a race driver for five years, but he is still the king of NASCAR stock car racing with 200 victories and unwavering popularity.

His record of seven Winston Cup championships was considered unapproachable until Dale Earnhardt came along and earned seven of his own.

Petty’s even more unapproachable record is the 200 victories, almost twice as many as

runner-up David Pearson’s 105.

Now, along comes Jeff Gordon, only 25, the second-youngest champion a year ago and the winner of 24 of his last 80 Winston Cup races, including seven of 18 this season.

Petty holds the modern-era (since 1972) single-season record of 13 victories in 30 races in 1975, a record within Gordon’s reach.

“I don’t know if he’ll break it or not,” Petty said. “He’ll run two more races, so if he wins 14 out of 32 it will be same thing as 13 out of 30.”

Gordon won’t have one advantage Petty had. Before 1972, when NASCAR settled on about 30 races a year, there were sometimes more than 60 on its schedule. In 1967, Petty won 27 of 48 races.

“Dale [crew chief Inman] used to tell me when I’d say, ‘Hey, we won 27 races,’ he’d say, ‘Well, you lost 21.’ Our luck was good to win as many as we did in 1975, but if we had had exceptionally good luck in ‘67, we would have won two-thirds of the races.

“It was just one of those years, where we were sort of like Gordon. If everybody showed up, and we finished the race, they weren’t going to beat us. We weren’t doing anything that much different, everything just came together.”

That Gordon has come in at such an early age and after only a few years on the Winston Cup circuit managed to beat up on a bunch of 40-plus good ol’ boys can be misleading, Petty said.

“You’ve got to figure, you’ve taken a 25-year-old body, and put 15 years of experience in it. When I was 25, I had four years of experience, and I was winning races, but I didn’t start until I was 21. I went out in 1962 or 1963 and won 12 or 13 races [14 in 1963] and that was unheard of because I was only three years into any kind of competition, and running against the big boys.

“I’m talking about the experience and stuff Gordon had behind him, running go-karts and midgets and sprint cars and stuff like that. It’s not all Winston Cup. Some of the other boys didn’t have any experience when they started Winston Cup. He had something to build from.

“Most of the people that get the opportunity he’s got, start driving when they’re 18 or 20 years old, then they’ve got to go through all these little deals and then they’re 30-35 to get to the echelon where he is with the experience because he started so young.”

Gordon began racing go-karts and quarter midgets in Vallejo, Calif., when he was 5. When he was 13 and ready for bigger equipment, his stepfather, John Bickford, moved the family to Pittsboro, Ind., so Jeff could race with older drivers.

“You’ve got to give him credit for taking advantage of it,” Petty said. “He’s got the talent, he’s had the opportunity, and he’s taken advantage of the opportunity, so you can’t begrudge anybody that.”

Gordon said Thursday that he has no plans to slow down in his pursuit, not of Petty’s record, but of more checkered flags.

“You never burn out on winning,” Gordon said. “I hope I’ve got quite a few years ahead of me, but it seems like no matter what you do and who you are and what happens and what’s accomplished, you always think you’ve got another win in you.

“Some day I’ll look back at it [his career], but right now, it’s really like a whirlwind and you just enjoy it while it lasts and do what you can to keep it going. . . .

“I’m very proud of everything I’ve accomplished up to this point, and I have no regrets. I’ve done everything and more than I ever dreamed of doing.”

TUSTIN THUNDER

Fourteen road races a day in everything from karts to Indy cars will keep spectators and competitors busy Saturday and Sunday in the second Chrysler Tustin Thunder at the Marine Corps Air Station in Tustin. Proceeds from the event will benefit the Marconi Foundation for Kids, which supports several youth charities in Orange County, along with the Marine Corps Morale, Welfare and Recreation Dept.

Featured among the 600 drivers who will compete on the 11-turn, two-mile circuit will be Brian Redman, winner of the first Long Beach Grand Prix; Larry Ragland, veteran Baja 1000 winner; and John Marconi, co-director with his father Dick of Tustin Thunder and the Marconi Foundation for Kids.

NASCAR

Although he was dropped last month from Robert Yates’ Winston Cup team for next year, Ernie Irvan ran a track-record 177.736 mph in Yates’ Ford on Thursday to qualify for the pole in Saturday’s Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

“I’m still going to work hard and try to win the race in No. 28,” Irvan said. “It’s been a tough week. This [winning the pole] made it easier on me.”

Irvan’s mother, Jo, is in a hospital in Concord, N.C., in a coma. He was with her until Wednesday, when he flew here to practice for Saturday’s race.

Four other drivers--Joe Nemechek, Dale Jarrett, Darrell Waltrip and Dale Earnhardt--also bettered Jeff Gordon’s year-old record of 176.491 mph.

Waltrip, the 50-year-old three-time Winston Cup champion who hasn’t won a race since 1992, was the first to break the track record. For a few minutes, Waltrip’s 176.866 was the provisional pole winner.

“I am tickled to death,” Waltrip said. “I haven’t been this happy in a long time. I knew a couple of guys would beat us for the pole, but hanging around for fourth place ain’t too shabby.”

*

Irvan’s replacement on Yates’ Winston Cup team will be announced today, and indications are that it will be Kenny Irwin Jr., of Indianapolis. Irwin won a USAC Silver Crown race Wednesday night at Indianapolis Raceway Park and has been impressive in NASCAR Craftsman Truck races this season.

The worst-kept secret of NASCAR came out with the announcement by Ford that its four-door Taurus will replace the Thunderbird as its model of choice next year. The T-Bird is being dropped from Ford’s passenger car production, which caused the change.

CART

Championship Auto Racing Teams have a week off, but there will be no rest for defending champion Jimmy Vasser. After last Sunday’s U.S. 500 in Michigan, Vasser left for Japan, where he will make some demonstration laps during opening ceremonies for the Motegi Circuit, where CART will run next year. He will return just in time to practice for the Mid-Ohio race next weekend.

“It’s a honor that goes with being champion, but I would sure like to get home for a few days,” said Vasser, noting that CART ran three weekends in a row before the Japan trip.

When Parker Johnstone ran over tire changer Sandro Mauro’s foot during a hectic pit stop last Sunday at Michigan, Mauro said, “I can tell you the Firestone tires aren’t as soft as everyone says they are.”

LAST LAPS

Robby Flock of Temecula is defending champion in the 20th annual Belleville Midget Nationals this weekend in Belleville, Kan. The $70,000 event is considered the Indy 500 of midget racing. U.S. Auto Club points leader Jason Leffler of Long Beach, Jay Drake of Canyon Country and western regional points leader Ricky Shelton of Huntington Beach are also expected to drive.

The “SCRA farewell tour” of Ron Shuman will make its only stop at Kings Speedway in Hanford on Saturday night. Shuman, who finished second to Rip Williams last week, trails Richard Griffin, 1,159-1,192 in Sprint Car Racing Assn. points.

Mark Weber of St. Clair Shores, Mich., will replace the injured Dave Villwock in Bernie Little’s Miss Budweiser for this weekend’s Unlimited Hydroplane Racing Assn. race in Kelowna, Canada. Villwock, winner of the first four races this season, is recuperating from a flip last Sunday that severely injured his right hand and forearm.

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This Week at a Glance

WINSTON CUP

Brickyard 400

* Where: Indianapolis Motor Speedway, 2.5-mile semi-banked paved speedway, Indianapolis.

* When: 1 p.m. Saturday, Channel 7 (delayed).

* Defending champion: Dale Jarrett.

* Last week: Idle.

* Fast fact: None of the three previous winners of the Brickyard has started in the front row. In fact, the winner has come from deeper in the field every year. Jeff Gordon started third the first year, Dale Earnhardt 13th and Jarrett 24th last year.

BUSCH GRAND NATIONAL

Kroger 200

* Where: Indianapolis Raceway Park, .688-mile paved speedway, Clermont, Ind.

* When: 6 p.m. today, ESPN

* Defending champion: Randy Lajoie.

* Last week: Elliott Sadler overcame sweltering heat to win the inaugural Gateway 300, his second consecutive victory in the series.

* Fast fact: Sadler is looking to become the first Busch Series regular driver to win three races in a row since Larry Pearson in 1987. Mark Martin won three in a row this season, but he is not considered a series regular.

NHRA

Northwest National

* Where: Seattle International Raceway, Kent, Wash.

* When: 5:30 p.m. Sunday, ESPN2 (delayed).

* Defending champions: Shelly Anderson (top fuel), John Force (funny car), Mike Edwards (pro stock).

* Last week: Cory McClenathan won the top fuel title and Jim Yates took the pro stock competition in the Autolite Nationals, giving Joe Gibbs’ McDonald’s Racing Team its second consecutive double.

* Fast fact: Four drivers have won two races this season in funny car: Force, Randy Anderson, Whit Bazemore and Ron Capps. Force was the only driver to win two last year, with 13 victories.