MONDAY, AUG. 20. 2001
RACING
Rain no damper on Winston Cup
The Associated Press
BROOKLYN, Mich. — Sterling Marlin has been the best Dodge driver all season, so it was only fitting he gave the automaker its first Winston Cup victory in 24 years.
The two-time Daytona 500 winner passed Bill Elliott with 53 laps to go at Michigan International Speedway, and won when a heavy shower halted the scheduled 200-lap event Pepsi 400.
"We'll take them," said Marlin, who ironically last won in a race of the same name, at Daytona in July 1996.
Neil Bonnett got the last previous victory for Dodge in Ontario, Calif., in 1977. The automaker returned to Winston Cup racing this season after a 16-year absence.
Marlin beat Ricky Craven back to the finish line at lap 156 when the caution flew for rain, and the cars ran six laps under yellow before NASCAR called the race. An earlier shower at the halfway point had forced a 1-hour, 45-minute stoppage.
Craven finished a career-best second, with Elliott third. Matt Kenseth and Johnny Benson rounded out the top five.
"I kept looking in my mirror and I saw Ricky coming." Marlin said.
"It was raining and I was thinking,
'Man, they've got to call it,' because it was getting slick out there."
Marlin's win — the seventh of his career — completed a sweep for car owner Chip Ganassi yesterday. Ganassi driver Bruno Junqueira won the CART race in Elkhart Lake. Wis., earlier in the day.
Despite the long victory drought, Marlin remained confident in his ability.
"I never doubted myself," he said. "I knew we could get the job done if we could get some stuff to do with. I felt in my heart that I could still drive a race car as good as anybody."
Ricky Rudd's blown engine brought out the second caution, at lap 121, and all the leaders except Jeremy Mayfield pitted. Elliott changed two tires and came out behind Mayfield while Marlin chose to take four, putting him back in seventh.
Elliott passed Mayfield for the lead on lap 129 and pulled out to a 2-second advantage. But with the fresher tires, Marlin steadily worked his way through the field and closed quickly on Elliott.
He made two attempts to pass before finally pulling abreast of his fellow Dodge driver on the
frontstretch on lap 147. Marlin took the lead in turn 1.
"The first time I tried to pass him,
I didn't catch him in the right place
on the track," Marlin said. "The last
time I caught him, I got a good run
up off turn 4 and just got on by."
Craven took second from Elliott four laps later, and he was gaining on Marlin when the rain came.
"I think we were within five laps of getting there," Craven said. "It would have been exciting. I would have liked to have had 10 more laps to race him."
Rudd and Rusty Wallace appeared to have the fastest cars, but Rudd's engine went sour just before the delay and Wallace's did the same shortly after the race restarted.
"It always seems like you have problems when you're running good," Rudd said. "When you're not having a good day, nothing seems to break."
With those two out of the way, and with favorites Jeff Gordon and Dale Jarrett mired deep in traffic, it almost assured a surprise winner.
Many of the teams had crewmen posted at the NASCAR command post in the garage, watching the weather radar for the approaching rain. The pressure of an early finish
provided some of the best racing of the day, with cars dicing two- and three-wide for position.
Mark Martin was conserving fuel and leading when the first rain shower forced NASCAR to stop the race at lap 100. He stayed out when most of the other leaders had to pit. When the rain briefly intensified, it looked like he might snap his 42-race losing streak.
But the rain stopped, and the track was quickly dried to set up the frantic finish.
Gordon finished eighth, while Jarrett had a flat left-rear tire with 55 laps left and dropped back to 37th. Gordon leads Rudd, who wound up 42nd in the field of 43, by 298 points in the series standings.
"You can't control when you're going to have problems and they're going to have problems," Gordon said. "You've just got to make sure that you keep coming home on the lead tap with as few problems as possible."
NASCAR tried to start the race about 10 minutes early because of approaching rain but didn't quite make it, with sprinkles hitting the track as the cars took the track for pace laps. The rain forced the field to make about 10 extra laps before the green flag waved.
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN • 11B
Earnhardt Jr. wears new safety device
The Associated Press
BROOKLYN, Mich. — Dale Earnhardt Jr. wore a head-and-neck-restraint system in the Pepsi 400 yesterday, six months after his father died of a skull fracture in a crash at the Daytona 500.
It's the first time Earnhardt Jr. has raced with the safety device in his brief Winston Cup career and came two days before NASCAR is scheduled to release a report on the fatal accident involving Dale Earnhardt Sr.
The elder Earnhardt died of a fracture at the base of his skull after his head was whipped forward when his car hit the final-turn wall at Daytona on Feb. 18. He didn't use a restraint system and, like his son, opted for an open-faced helmet.
A majority of NASCAR drivers use full-faced helmets.
Jade Gurss, a spokesman for the younger Earnhardt's team,
said last-minute adjustments had to be made to the device to make it more comfortable.
Gurxs said Earnhardt used the Hutchens Device in practice Saturday, the first time he tested it.
"He liked it," Gurss said. "There's about six or seven different areas of adjustments on the device, so we've got to work on those to make it better for him."
Gurss said Earnhardt Jr.'s decision was made after at least three drivers asked him to try the device.
"I can say there's a couple of us that have suggested it to him because we care about him," Dale Jarrett said Saturday.
"There's two guys right now that drive this sport, and that's Jeff Gordon and Dale Jr. And we want to keep those guys around here."
Schumacher teams up with Ferrari and wins Hungary's Grand Prix
Gurss said Jarrett, Gordon and Jeff Burton spoke with Earnhardt Jr. about the restraint system.
The Associated Press
BUDAPEST, Hungary — Michael Schumacher won his fourth Formula One championship and matched Alain Prost's record of 51 Grand Prix race triumphs by driving his Ferrari to victory at the Hungarian GP yesterday.
With teammate Rubens Barrichello finishing second, Ferrari also won the constructors' title for the second consecutive year.
Schumacher, the defending Formula One champion, started from the pole and never relinquished his lead except for brief intervals after two pit stops.
air over the steering wheel in jubilation.
Schumacher lifted both fists into the
"Compliment," Ferrari team director Jean Todt told Schumacher in Italian over the radio as he took the checkered flag.
"It's amazing," he said. "I don't have the words to tell you how wonderful it is to work with you guys. I love you all."
The 32-year-old German, winner of seven of 13 races this season, moved into a second-place tie with Prost — who retired in 1993 — on the all-time list with four Formula One championships. Juan Manuel Fangio leads with five.
"When I started in Formula One, all these great names were so far ahead of
"We had a great weekend. I got the pole, I got the victory, I got the 51st victory to share with Alain and I got my fourth championship. It's a bit too much for me to take." Schumacher said.
me, I never thought at the time of catching up with them. But after a couple of races, I noticed that I could compete with them."
In winning the race for the third time — his other victories were in 1994 and 1998 — Schumacher secured the title with four races left in the season.
By collecting 10 points for the win, Schumacher raised his season total to 94 points and took an unbeatable 43-point lead over McLaren-Mercedes driver David Coulthard, who finished third.
Ferrari matched the record of 11 drivers' titles held by McLaren. Ferrari leads the series with 11 constructors' championships.
Until Schumacher's title last season, no Ferrari driver had won the championship since Jody Scheckter in 1979.
Schumacher's other titles came in 1994 and 1995, with Benetton.
The numbers confirm Schumacher's supremacy and he demonstrated it over the 77 laps on the tight, twisting, Hungaroring circuit. He made no mistakes in the sweltering heat and cruised home.
Coulthard got off to a slow start from the second position and Barrichello slipped past him on the outside before the first corner.
After 10 laps, Schumacher was one second ahead of his teammate and two seconds ahead of Coulthard. Five laps later, the gap grew to five and seven seconds, respectively.
The margin increased steadily until Schumacher made his first pit stop on lap 28. He came out in third place, trailing Barrichello by 11 seconds.
The Brazilian in three laps later, leaving Coulthard in the lead, until his pit stop. Coulthard came out behind Schumacher but ahead of Barrichello.
By lap 33, Schumacher was 14 seconds ahead of Coulthard and 16 seconds ahead of Barrichello.
The three leaders all made their second stops for fuel and fresh tires between laps 53 and 55 and Coulthard again ended up behind Barrichello.
Schumacher's lead stayed under 10 seconds until the end. He finished 3.3 seconds ahead of Barrichello and 3.9 ahead of Coulthard.
Schumacher's younger brother, Ralf, was fourth in a Williams-JMW, Mika Hakkinen was fifth in the second McLaren and Nick Heidfeld was sixth in a Sauber.
505-0216
550-0216
517-0217
Your Choice $26.99
Levi's $ \textcircled{R} $ 517 $ ^{\mathrm{TM}} $
Red Tab $ ^{\mathrm{TM}} $
Boot Cut
Rigid Jeans
Levi's $ \textcircled{R} $ 505 Red Tab $ ^{\mathrm{T M}} $
Regular Fit
Rinsed Jeans
Levi's $ \textcircled{R} $ 550 $ ^{\mathrm{TM}} $
Red Tab $ ^{\mathrm{TM}} $
Relaxed Fit
Rinsed Jeans
www.vanderbilts.com
- Find new roommates.
- Find them a job.
Kansan Classifieds
Roommates stuck to the couch?
- Sell the couch.
LAWRENCE AUTOMOTIVE DIAGNOSTICS INC.
Domestic & Foreign Complete Car Care
842-8665
2858 Four Wheel Dr
EVERYTHING BUT ICE
BEDS • DESKS
CHEST OF DRAWERS
BOOK CASES
unclaimed freight &
damaged merchandise
936 Mass.
"Layaway for summer"
RAVELLERS
Call now for
- Fall Break and Spring Break Packages
• Airline and Rail Tickets
Book early and save!
831 Massachusetts
749-0700
Lawrence's Travel Agency
since 1951
travellers.vacation.com
---