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► WEEKEND, OCTOBER 4-6, 2003
Gordon attempts to keep Kansas streak alive
Jeff Gordon can’t help
but feel good about
his chances at
Kansas. There have been
two races on the mile-and-a
half track and he is it.
If he’s to win, he’ll have to
have more success at defend
ing the title of “only winner”
than
either
Tony
Stewart
or Kevin
Harvick
or any
one else
in history;
no one
has ever
won three
straight
at a new
track
did. The
first was
the only
one to
cross first
a t
Banquet 400
Sunday at
Kansas
Speedway, 1
p.m., NBC
Fast Facts
■ Race length:
400.5 miles/267
laps
■ Track layout:
1.5-mile paved tri
oval.
■ 2002 winner:
Jeff Gordon.
■ 2002 polesitter:
Dale Earnhardt
Jr.
Homestead, while the second
was the sole owner of
Chicago’s Victory Lane
until this year.
Confident is one thing.
Optimistic is another.
“Winning the first two races
was not easy though, espe
cially here at Kansas,”
Gordon, who is sixth in the
points, said. “Our team
would love to get our second
win of the season and our
third win here. (But) first,
we have to focus on the chal
lenges for this weekend's
race.
“This is a great track but
it's difficult to pass here.
With such a competitive
field, you never know who
your biggest challenge will
be.”
“Since this is a fairly new
track, there is only one
groove and right now it's
around the bottom,” Gordon
added. “As more races are
held here, that groove will
eventually widen. It's like a
fine wine.
“It just gets better with
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NASCAR notebook
Compiled by Don Moncrief
age. Until then, there's not
going to be a whole lot of
passing, unless you're a
whole lot faster than the
driver in front of you or if
they make a mistake or get
loose. This will probably be a
race that's won on pit road.
We're
going to rely a lot on our
pit crews.”
ROLLING IN DOUGH:
Ntjver one to mince words,
Tony Stewart is blatantly
open on his feelings about
Kansas, one of five D-shaped
ovals in the NASCAR
Winston Cup Series the
others are Chicagoland,
California, Michigan and Las
Vegas. Cookie-cutter in
nature, they were never very
high on Tony Stewart's list
of favorite places.
“I don't know why all
these cookie-cutter race
tracks are being built,”
groused Stewart earlier this
season.
“How many of those do we
have to go to? They're pret
ty unimaginative.”
That’s an odd but typical
response considering he’s
led 231 laps and had four
top-10 finishes that include a
second and a third, as well as
a pole (Chicagoland in July)
combined at the aforemen
tioned tracks.
Stewart, who is ninth in
the points, has finished third
two weeks straight now. He
has finished eighth both
time at Kansas.
TACKLING THE COMPE
TITION: Talladega’s broad
cast on NBC Sports gave the
world of football something
to think about. According to
Nielsen Media Research, the
EA Sports 500 had the high
est-ever national rating for
any auto race against pro
football competition. The
rating was a 15 percent
increase over last year.
Cleats
GREEN ACRES FARM
BYRON, GA a
He said it...
“I've had terrible luck in Kansas. The last two years in the
(Winston) Cup car, I couldn't seem to catch a break. Last year we
were leading the race and got caught in the pits under yellow, got
down a lap and finished 11th. The year before we were up front,
got a
flat tire and had to pit early. That put us on the tail end of the
lead lap and we finished 16th.”
Kevin Harvick
‘That's what's cool right now. I feel like any race from here on
out, we’ve got a shot at winning. I really felt that way the last cou
ple of months, and we’ve really run strong the last couple of
months. Now, it seems like we’re clicking. I feel like it could be
any week. I’m excited about the rest of the year.”
Jeremy Mayfield
“We’ve had another year of racing on the traqk, so that tends to
create more grooves and that makes for better racing. Kansas is
a lot like Chicago. They all have their little differences, but they’re
similar. A lot of people call them cookie cutter tracks, but I would
n’t say that just because there’s always something that’s a little
different about each one. I don’t know what it is about it, but I just
tend to favor these kinds of tracks.”
Bill Elliott
“Kansas hasn’t been good to this team in our first two races
there. We were in an accident not of our own making the first year
while running in the top 10 and then we lost a motor early in the
race last year. So, our record doesn’t look too good going into this
weekend’s race. We did spend two days testing there before
Talladega and feel like we’re taking a good racecar to Kansas this
weekend. Hopefully, the third time's the charm for us.”
Dale Jarrett
“There is no doubt last week was scary for everyone. It looked
worse than it turned out to be, but the guys at Robert Yates
Racing built me a car that withstood a wreck at 186 mph -there
aren’t words for how grateful I am. Unfortunately, we had the car
to beat and it was just one of those restrictor plate racing deals.”
Elliott Sadler
“I'm looking forward to going back to Kansas City. Missouri is
the home state for all the
Wallace boys. We have a lot of friends and family that will
come to the track this weekend and be cheering all of us on. I’ve
got some dirt track buddies out of lowa that will be there. They
want me to come to the local dirt track and this weekend and
watch them race during the evenings. It’s the group of dirt cars
that I’ve driven all summer. I think it’s only fair they come cheer
us on and I’ll go cheer them on."
Kenny Wallace
“Like all racetracks, once cars run on them enough, the racing
groove just get wider and wider. Kansas is going to be a lot like
Chicago, where the cars can run side by side. But, the fastest car
and the one that’s going to win the race will be the one that can
run on the bottom. The first year that NASCAR ran at Kansas
City, we qualified well (12th) and made it into turn one where the
car on the outside of the front row crashed and collected a lot of
the front-running cars. We had a really strong car that first year,
and last year I managed to run the whole race and posted a
decent finish (14th).”
John Andretti
The Talladega national
rating reflected a 19 percent
increase over the previous
best national rating against
pro football competition
posted for the 2002 season
finale at Homestead-Miami
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SPORTS
Speedway.
An average of 5,982,000
households tuned in to last
year’s event, while this year,
that number increased to a
whopping 8,940,000.
I HEAR YA KNOCKIN’:
While everybody’s attention
is usually focused on the Top
10 in points, there are sever
al drivers on the outside
knocking to get in some of
which were in at one time
but dropped out. Of those,
Michael Waltrip leads the
way at 11th.
Johnson captures Sunday's pole
The Associated Press
KANSAS CITY, Kan.
Jimmie Johnson broke the
track qualifying record
Friday at Kansas Speedway
to take the pole for Sunday's
Banquet 400.
Winston Cup points leader
Matt Kenseth, meanwhile,
continued his recent strug
gles and had to rely on a pro
visional starting position for
The Original
Solunar Tables „
By Mrs. Richard Alden Knight
Release week of Oct. 5-12, 2003
AM PM
Date Day Minor Major Minor Major
10/5 Su 2:35 8:35 2:45 9:00
10/6 M 3:15 9:20 3:30 9:45
10/7 T 4:00 10:05 4:15 10:25
10/8 W 4:40 10:45 4:55 11:05
10/9 Th 5:20 11:20 5:40 11:45
10/10 F 6:00 0 6:10 12:00
10/11 S 6:35 12:20 6:55 12:45
10/12 Su 7:25 1:10 7:45 1:30
2003 by King Features Syndicate. Inc.
He is only 10 points from
lOth-place Terry Labonte.
Robby Gordon is next, 75
points away from the
Kellogg’s Kid.
BRINGING UP THE NOT
TOO REAR: Gordon might
have two victories at Kansas,
but don’t count out the fol
lowing: Ryan Newman has
finished second the first two
trips. Desperate for a win
Rusty Wallace was fourth in
2001 and third in ’O2.
PARKED?: Steve Park will
complete the 2003 season
with the Richard Childress
Racing team as driver of the
No. 30 AOL Chevrolet
Monte Carlo, but he will not
be back next year with them
it was announced by the
team Thursday. To date in
2003, Park has won two
poles (Fontana and Daytona)
and scored one top-five and
three top-10 finishes.
“I?ve had a great experi
ence with RCR and Richard
has been very supportive
throughout our relation
ship,” Park said. “I greatly
appreciate him giving me the
opportunity to drive for his
organization this season. I
feel that I am in the best
physical shape I have ever
been and I know that I still
have a lot to look forward to
as a winning driver.”
Park’s career statistics
during his six-year career in
the Winston Cup Series
include two wins, four poles,
12 top-5 finishes and 35 top
-10 finishes.
FOYT CLEARED TO
RACE: Larry Foyt suffered a
cracked wrist after he was
involved in accident at
Talladega, but has been
cleared to race this weekend
at Kansas Speedway the
team announced Thursday.
“It was a really hard hit,”
Foyt said after getting hit
when Jeremy Mayfield blew
a tire.
“One of the hardest I've
ever taken. But my guys did
a great job setting up the
safety equipment in the car.
All the equipment, including
the LaJoie seat, did its job.
“The doctor gave me a
brace to use on my wrist, so
we'll see how it goes.
I'm sure it won’t Ije com
fortable, but I'm sure I'll for
get about the pain once the
race starts.”
a second straight week.
Johnson's quick lap of
180.373 mph in a Chevrolet
broke the year-old mark of
177.924 mph by Dale
Earnhardt Jr. The lap
around the 11/2-mile tri
oval gave Johnson his sec
ond pole of the season.
Mike Skinner will sit on
the outside of Johnson while
Earnhardt Jr. qualified
third.
Bobby Labonte was
fourth, Rusty Wallace fifth,
Jason Leffer sixth and Jeff
Gordon seventh.
Bill Elliott, Jeff Green and
Elliott Sadler round out the
top 10.
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THE HOUSTON HOME JOURNAL
Cubs, Prior
down Braves
The Associated Press
CHICAGO —Mark Prior
was more than ready for
his first playoff start. He
went out and pitched one of
the best games of his life.
Prior threw a two-hitter
and outpitched Greg
Maddux as the Chicago
Cubs beat the Atlanta
Braves 3-1 Friday night to
take a 2-1 lead in their best
of-five NL playoff series.
It was the first complete
game by a Cubs pitcher in
the postseason since
Claude Passeau threw a
one-hitter to beat the
Detroit Tigers 3-1 in Game
3 of the 1945 World Series.
Matt Clement will start
Saturday, when the Cubs
try to capture their first
postseason series since win
ning the 1908 World Series.
Russ Ortiz, the Braves' 21-
game winner who took the
loss in Game 1, will go on
three days' rest.
The Braves will need to
wake up their bats and
start catching the ball after
making four errors Friday.
Atlanta led the NL in
every major hitting cate
gory this season: batting
average (.284), homers (a
franchise-record 235) and
runs (907, another club
mark), but the 23-year
old Prior was simply too
good.
"This offense is very
good, you've got to respect
what they can do," Prior
said.
Burcham no
hits Mt. Zion
From Staff Reports
For Northside, the
approach of the region
fast-pitch tournament
Oct. 13 through 15 at the
Flint Energies Sports
Complex
might not
couldn’t
come at a
more perfect
time.
The Lady
Eagles on
the heels of
a win
against
Warner
Robins picked up
another one Thursday at
home versus Mt. Zion.
And this time, it was an
11-0 no-hitter, as pitched
by Callie Burcham (2-0),
who struck out 10 hitters.
Northside led at the
plate by Burcham 3-4
with three RBIs and
Lakeisha Levi and Valerie
Moan, each of which had a
triple scored five runs
in the second and three
each in the third and
fourth, while at the same
time, picking up nine hits.
The Lady Eagles are
now 15-10 overall and 5-3
in Region 2-AAAAA.
They have one two
more regular season
games left, one non and
one region Eagle’s
Landing and Shaw respec
tively.
Northside 11,
Mt. Zion 0