Auto Racing Glance
Thursday, June 18, 1998 | 6:19 a.m.
By JOHN NICHOLSON
Associated Press Writer
All Times EDT
NASCAR
WINSTON CUP
Pocono 500
Site: Long Pond, Pa.
Schedule: Friday, first-round qualifying, 3 p.m.; Saturday, second-round qualifying, 11:30 a.m.; Sunday, race, 1 p.m. (TNN).
Track: Pocono International Raceway (triangle, 2.5 miles, 14 degrees banking in turn 1, 8 degrees in turn 2, 6 degrees in turn 3).
Race distance: 500 miles, 200 laps.
Last year: Jeff Gordon raced to the sixth of 10 1997 victories, beating Jeff Burton by 1.415 seconds. Gordon also won the 1996 race. Dale Jarrett won the Pennsylvania 500 in July.
Last week: Mark Martin raced to his series-leading fourth victory of the year, easily holding off Jarrett in the Miller Lite 400 at Brooklyn, Mich. The Ford star has 26 career victories.
Fast facts: Busch series driver Buckshot Jones is attempting to make his first start of the season in the Buckshot Racing Pontiac. He drove the Stavola Brothers Chevrolet to an eighth-place finish last month at Dover, Del., but failed to qualify the following week at Richmond, Va. ... Jeremy Mayfield has a 26-point lead over Gordon in the series standings. Martin is third, 28 points back. ... Jarrett, the Dover winner, has four straight top-five finishes.
Next race: Savemart-Kragen 350, June 28, Sonoma, Calif.
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CRAFTSMAN TRUCKS
Loadhandler 200
Site: Bristol, Tenn.
Schedule: Friday, qualifying, 6 p.m.; Saturday, race, 7 p.m. (ESPN2).
Track: Bristol Motor Speedway (oval, 0.533 miles, 36 degrees banking in corners).
Race distance: 106.6 miles, 200 laps.
Last year: Ron Hornaday raced to the first of his seven 1997 victories, beating Rich Bickle by 1.536 seconds. Hornaday has two victories this year for a series-record total of 19.
Last race: Tony Raines won the Pronto Auto Parts 400 on June 5 at Fort Worth, Texas, holding off Andy Houston by 0.241 seconds. Raines also won the Yellow Freight 200 on May 23 at Odessa, Mo.
Fast facts: Hornaday finished eighth Sunday in the Busch series' Lycos.Com 250, the second of a five-race deal with ST Motorsports as a replacement for Winston Cup regular Robert Pressley. Hornaday also will attempt to qualify the Tyler Jet Motorsports entry next week in the Winston Cup series' Savemart-Kragen 350.
Next race: Diehard 200, July 4, West Allis, Wis.
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BUSCH GRAND NATIONAL
Next race: Lysol 200, June 28, Watkins Glen, N.Y.
Last week: Matt Kenseth won the Lycos.Com 250 at Fountain, Colo., beating Phil Parsons by 2.945 seconds. Kenseth, also the winner in February at Rockingham, N.C., started from the pole in his Chevrolet.
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CHAMPIONSHIP AUTO RACING TEAMS
Budweiser-G.I. Joe's 200
Site: Portland, Ore.
Schedule: Friday, first-round qualifying, 5:30 p.m.; Saturday, second-round qualifying, 3:45 p.m. (ESPN2, tape, 1:30 a.m. Sunday); Sunday, race, 5 p.m. (ESPN).
Track: Portland International Raceway (road course, 1.967 miles, nine turns).
Race distance: 192.8 miles, 98 laps.
Last year: England's Mark Blundell caught Brazil's Gil de Ferran on the final straightaway to win the closest race in Indy-car history. Blundell beat de Ferran by 0.027 seconds, breaking the record set in the 1992 Indianapolis 500, when Al Unser Jr. edged Canada's Scott Goodyear by 0.043 seconds.
Last race: Alex Zanardi won the Detroit Grand Prix on June 7 for his third victory of the year. The Italian star leads Canada's Greg Moore 113-96 in the series standings.
Fast facts: Zanardi and Target-Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Jimmy Vasser have combined to win 18 of their last 40 starts. ... Unser is winless in 42 races, the longest drought of his career. He has 31 career victories.
Next race: Medic Drug Grand Prix of Cleveland, July 12, Cleveland.
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FORMULA ONE
Next race: British Grand Prix, July 12, Silverstone, England.
Last race: Germany's Michael Schumacher successfully defended his Canadian GP title June 7, easily beating Italy's Giancarlo Fisichella. The Ferrari driver, a two-time series champion, has 30 career victories.
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INDY RACING LEAGUE
Next race: Pennzoil 200, June 28, Loudon, N.H.
Last race: Billy Boat won the True Value 500K at Fort Worth, Texas, on June 6, holding off Greg Ray by 0.928 seconds.
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NATIONAL HOT ROD ASSOCIATION
Next event: Sears Craftsman National, June 25-28, Madison, Ill.
Last week: Frank Pedregon raced to his first Funny Car victory, beating Dean Skuza in the final of the Pontiac Excitement Nationals at Kirkersville, Ohio. Pedregon's brothers, Cruz and Tony, also have Funny Car victories. Kenny Bernstein took the Top Fuel division.
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