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Gordon wins pole

By RODNEY PAGE and TIMES WIRES

© St. Petersburg Times, published October 5, 2000

Jeff Gordon, trying to salvage a subpar season with a strong finish, won the pole for the UAW-GM Quality 500 on Wednesday night in Concord, N.C.

Gordon, the defending race champion, ran a lap of 185.561 mph to nudge Bobby Labonte off the pole for Sunday's race.

The three-time Winston Cup champion sat in his car for a long moment after finishing his lap, let out a yell, then climbed from his car smiling broadly.

"It's been a long time since we've had a car this special," Gordon said. "From the minute we took it off the truck, it just stuck, and I don't know that we've ever gone around the track that fast."

Labonte, the series points leader, will start from the outside of the front row. He ran his lap around the 11/2-mile, high-banked tri-oval at 185.561 mph, 0.007 seconds slower than Gordon.

Jerry Nadeau, Gordon's teammate with Hendrick Motorsports, qualified third, followed by Jimmy Spencer, Dale Jarrett, Ricky Rudd, Bill Elliott, Mark Martin, Johnny Benson and Jeremy Mayfield.

Dale Earnhardt Jr., who won the pole at Lowe's in the spring, was the top qualifying rookie at 13th. Matt Kenseth, the spring race winner, was 26th and failed to qualify in the first round.

MORE AUTOS: Ryan Newman, the latest protege for car owner Roger Penske, will run a "blended" 23-race schedule in 2001 on three stock car circuits to prepare him for a move to full-time Winston Cup racing. Newman, racing in his fourth ARCA event Wednesday, led all 67 laps to win the EasyCare Vehicle Service Contracts 100. ... Andy Petree Racing is considering pulling out of NASCAR's Busch Grand National series in 2001 to focus on its two Winston Cup teams. The team runs a limited Grand National series schedule with Mike Skinner driving.

OLYMPICS: The FBI is investigating whether an 18-year-old Fredonia (N.Y.) State student e-mailed death threats to American track and field star Marion Jones during the Olympics. The school suspended the student. The e-mail threatened Jones, who won three gold medals and two bronze; her husband, shot putter C.J. Hunter; and at least one other family member. ... The Canadian Broadcasting Corp.'s prime-time ratings for its telecast of the Games fell 12 percent from the 1996 Olympics. The network showed most of its coverage live.

BOXING: Mike Tyson paid a $187,500 fine for late hits to Lou Savarese in their heavyweight fight in June.

BOWLING: Roger Workman averaged 217 pinfalls in the second round of match play to take a one-pin lead over Gary Dickinson in the PBA's Gastonia (N.C.) Senior Classic. Gene Stus was third.

COLLEGES: Wisconsin suspended three basketball players for receiving unadvertised discounts at a shoe store. Maurice Linton, Travon Davis and Krista Bird must sit out eight games, close their store accounts and repay benefits they received. Another 37 athletes face lesser punishments. ... North Carolina State men's basketball coach Herb Sendek, 73-58 in four years, received a contract extension through the 2004-2005 season. ... South Florida men's soccer team defeated host Central Florida 3-1. Greg Krauss of Clearwater scored twice, and Dave Ambush of St. Petersburg had the other goal. ... Saint Leo beat Rollins 1-0 in double overtime, with Sean Barrett scoring in the 106th minute.

SOCCER: World and European champion France drew 1-1 with African and Olympic champion Cameroon in the Stade de France. Patrick Mboma tied the score a minute before halftime. ... Four Tampa Bay Mutiny players are finalists for Major League Soccer awards: forward Mamadou Diallo (most valuable player), goalkeeper Scott Garlick (goalkeeper of the year), defender Joe Addo (defender of the year) and midfielder Steve Ralston (Fair Play Award).

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