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Autos roundup

By Compiled from Times wires

© St. Petersburg Times, published October 6, 2000

Kenseth captures Busch pole

CONCORD, N.C. -- Matt Kenseth, a surprise winner in the Winston Cup race at Lowe's Motor Speedway in April, won the pole Thursday for the Busch Grand National event.

Kenseth ran a qualifying lap of 178.608 mph on the 11/2-mile, high-banked tri-oval at the speedway, setting a Busch series qualifying record for the track.

Dave Blaney held the record, a lap of 177.608 mph done in May.

It was the fifth pole of Kenseth's series career, second this season.

"It was good, nothing wrong with the lap," Kenseth said before rushing off to work on his Winston Cup car.

Kenseth, leading Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the race for Winston Cup Rookie of the Year, picked up his first Winston Cup victory in May with a surprise win in the Coca-Cola 600.

He said the Chevrolet he drove Thursday was a different one from he drove in May's Busch race, in which he finished 30th.

"The setup we used from last fall to May was the same, but this time it was a little different since we brought a different car," he said. "You have to have all the pieces in place to run up front, and we are trying to stay there. Just like in a Cup car, we are still learning all the time."

Dick Trickle will start second in the race. Ricky Hendrick, son of Hendrick Motorsports owner Rick Hendrick, will start third. It's the best qualifying effort in 10 series races for the 20-year-old driver.

Mark Martin, Kenseth's Winston Cup teammate with Roush Racing, will start fourth. Joe Nemechek is fifth, followed by Mike Skinner, Blaney and Kevin Harvick. Bobby Hamilton Jr. and Casey Atwood round out the top 10.

FORMULA ONE: The U.S. Grand Prix will be run Sept. 30, 2001, Indianapolis Motor Speedway officials said.

The inaugural race Sept. 24 drew more than 220,000, the largest attendance in the circuit's history.

In other news, the Silverstone, England, race remains on the schedule and is back in its traditional mid-July spot. The action came after organizers promised to improve track safety and conditions for spectators.

The World Motor Sport Council agreed that the British Grand Prix should take place July 15, the date originally scheduled for the Austrian Grand Prix.

The British race traditionally was held in mid-July. It was moved this year to April 23. The result was a fiasco. Incessant rain caused safety fears among drivers -- there were no major crashes -- and misery for fans. Organizers reportedly lost $7-million.

The Austrian event will be moved to May 13. The Malaysian Grand Prix was moved to March 18.

SCHUMACHER CLOSE TO TITLE: Michael Schumacher's five-year bid to become Ferrari's first Formula One champion since 1979 will be realized if he wins Sunday's Japanese Grand Prix.

The two-time champion enters the season's next-to-last race with 88 points, eight more than Mika Hakkinen. Schumacher could win the championship before the season-ending race in Malaysia.

"We'd prefer to finish the situation here rather than later," he said. "I refuse to believe in it until it is over, but this is a good position to be in as I can finish twice second and still win the championship."

Points are awarded on a 10-6-4-3-2-1 basis, meaning Schumacher could win with a top-five finish as long as Hakkinen is two points off.

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