With as much as a quarter-century left if he chooses to drive that long, Jeff Gordon could set some records that won’t be broken.
The first might have happened Sunday, when he became the first driver to win the tradition-filled, 48-year-old Southern 500 for the third straight year.
“It really is exciting to me to do things as a team that nobody has done before,” said Gordon, who also collected a $1 million bonus. “When you look at the list of those who have raced here, to know that we’ve accomplished that is something else.”
Gordon’s two-car-length victory over Jeff Burton at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway also gave him a leg up on another $1.5 million–the payoff to the Winston Cup champion.
Gordon battled adversity for much of the race and traded bumps with Burton at the beginning of the final lap.
Crew chief Ray Evernham and his team worked feverishly to get Gordon’s Chevrolet right after several scrapes against the wall. With the caution flag out with 117 of the 367 laps remaining, Gordon had to pit three times for chassis adjustments to his Chevrolet.
But Burton and third-place finisher Dale Jarrett also had problems with their Fords.
With a caution out for light rain, Jarrett was passed by both when he made a late decision to enter the pits. On a pit stop with 30 laps to go, lug nuts fell off a wheel being put on Burton’s car, costing him four positions.
Gordon won his 28th career race and overtook Mark Martin to grab the series lead by 25 points.
Gordon, who averaged 121.149 m.p.h., also collected a $131,330 race purse. His Winston Million bonus came from first winning the Daytona 500 and Coca-Cola 600. Only Bill Elliott, in 1985, had previously won the bonus.
CART Molson-Indy: Brazilian Formula One veteran Mauricio Gugelmin cruised to his first CART IndyCar victory. He took the lead with 14 laps left and brought in his Reynard Mercedes-Benz 2.872 seconds ahead of last year’s series champion, Jimmy Vasser, in Vancouver, British Columbia. The winner averaged 95.228 m.p.h.
Series points leader Alex Zanardi of Italy, the pole-sitter, couldn’t stay out of trouble. Zanardi led the first 15 laps but a brake problem forced him off the track and up an escape road. When he returned he had fallen to 23rd.
In his quest to clinch the series championship, Zanardi bullied his way back and finished fourth behind Brazilian Gil de Ferran. But Zanardi was fined $25,000 and given a two-race probation for rough driving involving a bumping incident with American Bryan Herta.
