Can Gordon make it 7 straight?

By PETE YOUNG

© St. Petersburg Times, published August 10, 2000

Jeff Gordon has fallen on hard times -- relatively speaking, of course.

NASCAR's dominant driver of the late 1990s no longer is the favorite every week. After winning the points title in 1995, '97 and '98, and winning 47 races from 1995-99, Gordon is eighth in points and has two wins in 2000.

This week, however, Gordon, who turned 29 Friday, must be drooling with anticipation.

Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International, the site of Sunday's Global Crossing @ The Glen, is a road course, and Gordon has been invincible on road courses. He has won six straight, a Winston Cup record. He has not lost on a road course since June 1997, when he finished second at Sears Point Raceway in Sonoma, Calif.

The former boy wonder has become the king of the road. Unfortunately for Gordon, NASCAR ventures off ovals only twice a year, at Watkins Glen and Sears Point.

"Surely somebody will trip him up at Watkins Glen, I would think," Michael Waltrip said. "I can't imagine him winning another one."

Terry Labonte and Jeremy Mayfield, unable to race Saturday at the Brickyard 400 because of concussions, also will miss Sunday's race.

Labonte is recovering from a crash July1 in the Pepsi400. Mayfield wrecked Friday in practice. Both plan to return Aug. 20 at Michigan Speedway.

SHE SELLS SEASHELLS ... : Darlington Raceway, opened in 1950, has earned the nickname "The Track Too Tough to Tame."

Now it has "The Advertising Slogan Too Tough to Tame."

The South Carolina track's radio spots challenge listeners to say, "Time to Buy Tickets to the Track Too Tough to Tame Where I'll Try to Tackle the Title of Track Champ."

Trying to say it is "tougher than running the track," Rusty Wallace said.

The track will give away tickets to the Southern 500 on Sept. 3 to anyone who can tame the tongue twister.

NOT-SO-SUPER SPEEDWAY: Like Darlington, "Talladega" is a word that conjures up one image: NASCAR racing.

But the superspeedway in Alabama has been removed from the plans of NASCAR major sponsors Sears and R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.

Sears announced in the spring it will no longer sponsor the DieHard 500, as it has for 12 years. The Winston 500, Talladega's fall race, also needs a new title sponsor for 2001 after 30 years, Street & Smith's Sports Business Journal reported.

Talladega is so popular and entrenched -- NASCAR has been racing at the 2.66-mile oval, its largest, since 1969 -- that the sponsorship withdrawals are surprising. However, Sears and R.J. Reynolds, Winston's parent company, will continue to be major NASCAR sponsors.

Sears recently announced a five-year, $75-million deal with NASCAR, with a large chunk devoted to the Craftsman Truck series.

Winston sponsorship will continue with the Winston Cup series and its driver-fan contest that offers up to $10-million a year in prizes.

The United Parcel Service and Dodge, which will return to NASCAR next year after a long absence, are reported to be leading candidates for title sponsorship at Talladega.

ABOUT TIME: Johnny Benson has spent much of this season hunting for a primary sponsor. The NASCAR veteran finally may have landed a big one.

Valvoline and MB2 Motorsports, which owns Benson's team, have news conferences scheduled for Aug. 19 at Michigan Speedway. Valvoline has been the sponsor of Mark Martin's No. 6 Ford, but he signed a richer deal to begin next season with Pfizer, the maker of Viagra.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY: The NHRA announced its schedule for 2001, its 50th anniversary season. The 24-race slate includes the 32nd annual Gatornationals on March 15-18 in Gainesville.

- Information from other news organizations was used in this report.

© St. Petersburg Times. All rights reserved.

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