Unser Jr. Hangs On To Title Hopes

Auto racing

Al Unser Jr. breathed life into his chances of catching Jacques Villeneuve in the PPG Cup championship race, racing away with Sunday’s Vancouver Molson Indy.

Villeneuve, who could have clinched the title with one race remaining by finishing sixth or better, had a frustrating afternoon that wound up with the 24-year-old point leader fading to 12th after late-race contact with fellow Canadian Scott Goodyear.

Meanwhile, Unser, the defending series and race champion, knew coming into the 16th of 17 races this season that the only way he could stay in the title hunt was to win. He passed Michael Andretti for the lead on a restart on lap 60 and went on to his third victory of the season and the 30th of his career, matching Andretti for the most victories among active drivers.

It was the fourth straight top-three finish for Unser, the two-time series champion whose season was badly marred by his failure to qualify for the Indianapolis 500, a race he has won twice, and by his disqualification after an apparent victory in June at Portland, Ore.

That disqualification, for an alleged technical violation on his Penske-Mercedes, has been appealed and will be heard Sept. 18, eight days after next week’s season finale at Monterey, Calif., by a special three-man panel.

The only way Unser can win the title is if he wins the last race and IndyCar’s decision is overturned by the panel, giving Little Al the 21 points he lost at Portland. Even then, Villeneuve would only need to finish in the top six to wrap up the $1 million PPG Cup payoff.

If the decision is not overturned, Villeneuve already has wrapped up the championship, leading Unser 170-132 with a maximum of 22 points remaining to be won.

Gordon wins Southern 500

Jeff Gordon wasn’t thinking about Winston Cup championships after an early spin out in the Southern 500.

But that’s what he sees now after winning for the first time at Darlington Raceway.

Gordon has dominated the stock car season with his talent and his ability. But when his Chevrolet Monte Carlo spun out in turn one, the 24-year-old racer expected another typically disappointing day at Darlington.

Instead, he won a 10-lap sprint with Dale Earnhardt and Rusty Wallace at NASCAR’s oldest superspeedway.

Gordon gradually worked his way to the front and had a four-second lead on the field. But the race’s 12th caution flag set up the shootout finish.

Gordon immediately hit the throttle on the restart and won by 0.66 seconds over Earnhardt.

It was Chevrolet’s 18th victory in 23 races and earned Gordon $70,630.

Wallace was third, followed by Ward Burton and Michael Waltip.

Gordon has had his headaches at NASCAR’s oldest superspeedway, with only one top-10 finish in five previous races. But he swept past Hut Stricklin to take the lead 34 laps from the end.