Road-Course Victory Fills Out Gordon’s Portfolio

Auto racing

Jeff Gordon is now a complete race driver.

The last piece in The Kid’s repertoire fell into place when he earned his first road course victory Sunday in the Bud at the Glen at Watkins Glen, N.Y.

The 26-year-old phenom showed he can handle right turns as well as left-handers by picking up his eighth win of the season and the 27th of his Winston Cup career. All of his previous wins were on ovals - the staple of NASCAR.

“This is a legitimate goal of ours. We came out this year to try to win a road course,” said Gordon, runner-up to Mark Martin earlier this season on the road circuit at Sonoma, Calif. “Our team has just worked together every year.

“I’ve just made mental notes and stuff where I can gain speed, the right gears, when to brake and how to brake.”

Another ingredient Gordon has is desire.

“But the key to road course racing is you’ve got to like it,” he said. “It’s a real workout, and it takes a lot out of you to win a race like we did today. But I enjoy it.”

Gordon held off a determined bid from 1996 winner Geoff Bodine, who himself had to hold off Rusty Wallace late in the 90-lap event on Watkins Glen International’s 2.45-mile, 11-turn layout.

Still, the victory was somewhat of a surprise to Gordon.

“Qualifying 11th, we thought, well, maybe this isn’t our weekend,” he said. “But the car sure was strong. I just tried to keep it out of the grass and the dirt and tried not to make any mistakes.”

Gordon’s Dupont Chevrolet crossed the finish line 1.35 seconds - about 10 car-lengths - ahead of Bodine’s Ford. The winner, who earned $139,120, including a $50,000 bonus from R.J. Reynolds for winning while leading the season points, averaged 91.294 mph in the race slowed by five caution flags totaling 11 laps.

Formula One

Jacques Villeneuve won his fifth race of the season with a last-lap dash by the damaged car of defending Formula One champion Damon Hill in the Hungarian Grand Prix at Budapest.

Hill, Villeneuve’s teammate last year until salary differences led to his departure from Williams-Renault, surprised many by nearly winning in his lightly regarded Arrows-Yamaha. He held a 34-second lead with three laps to go, then slowed dramatically with power and gear problems.

CART

Defending champion Alex Zanardi won the Miller 200 at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course for his second straight victory and third in the last four races at Lexington, Ohio.

Zanardi averaged a track-record 110.456 mph in leading 56 of the 83 laps of the 186.5-mile race. He was nearly as dominant this year as he was in his 1996 victory, when he was in front for 79 laps.

Greg Moore was second, 4.87 seconds behind, while Bobby Rahal, who started 16th, drove his way through the field to finish third.