Despite Big Lead, Gordon Not Sure Winner

Jeff Gordon appears to be all but crowned in the Winston Cup championship race.

But racing can take strange twists and turns, so even a 205-point lead with three races left isn’t completely safe.

Dale Earnhardt, with seven straight top-10 finishes, has outpointed Gordon by 109 points during that span. His biggest inroad into the lead came two weeks ago at Charlotte, where he finished second while Gordon, with early mechanical problems, wound up 30th and lost 97 points.

Earnhardt, who is the defending champion in today’s AC Delco 400 at North Carolina Motor Speedway, needs to gain 69 points per race to catch the 24-year-old Gordon.

The youngster, going for his first title, won from the pole in the spring race at Rockingham. He needs only to finish 15th or better the rest of the way to shut out the seven-time series winner.

Earnhardt has been in four of the last five championship races heading into the fall race at Rockingham, winning three.

Last year, he came into the event leading Rusty Wallace by 321 points, wrapped up the championship with his victory and wound up beating runner-up Mark Martin by 444 points.

In 1993, Earnhardt led Wallace by 82 points and wound up winning the title by 80.

Earnhardt led Ricky Rudd by 138 going into Rockingham in 1991. He beat runner-up Rudd by 195 points.

In 1990, Martin led Earnhardt by 49 going into Rockingham, but lost to The Intimidator by 26.

“We’ve been here before,” Earnhardt said. “We know what we have to do, but Wonder Boy and his team have been real consistent, real tough. If he doesn’t fall out of a couple of these races, it’s probably over. But I’m not going to give up until I can’t win it.”

Shorter run

Today’s race on North Carolina Motor Speedway’s demanding 1.017-mile oval has been shortened from 500 to 400 miles, a change that should please the drivers.

“Rockingham will test you in every turn,” said Darrell Waltrip, the winningest active Winston Cup driver at the Rockingham track with four victories. “If you drive the wheels off the car early in the race, most times you aren’t around to see the checkered flag.

“But now that they’ve shortened the race to 400 miles, my old strategy won’t work as well. Most of these young guys run wide open until the car falls apart. Some of them make it and some of them don’t, but the ones who make it are the ones who win.

“Now, with the race being 100 miles shorter, more of them will make it to the finish,” Waltrip added.

Comeback continues

Ernie Irvan’s comeback continues this weekend at Rockingham, where he will run his fourth race in as many weeks.

That includes two Winston Cup events and two races in NASCAR’s new SuperTruck series.

Irvan has led each of the three races he has run since his return from a nearly 14-month absence while recuperating from serious head and chest injuries.

Most impressive was his seventh-place, lead-lap finish in his Winston Cup return at Martinsville, Va. But he was equally impressive last Sunday at Bakersfield, Calif., finishing third in the SuperTruck event.

Chevy roll

Chevrolet will be going for its 21st win of the season - in 29 races - in today’s AC Delco 400 at Rockingham.

Chevy last won 21 races in a season in 1984.

Buick, which no longer competes in the Winston Cup division, holds NASCAR’s modern era record - since 1972 - with 25 victories in 1982.

The re-designed Monte Carlo, returning to the track this season for the first time since 1989, leads Ford 20-7 in 1995 victories. Pontiac has the other win.

A year ago, Ford won 20 races and Chevy’s Lumina won 11. Pontiac was shut out.

Chevrolet, which already has clinched its 11th Winston Cup manufacturers’ title in 13 years, has won 19 of 24 championships in the modern era that began when the schedule was cut to 31 or fewer races per season.

Icy stretch

Ted Musgrave was third in Winston Cup points and riding a string of six straight top-10 finishes after the July 16 race at Pocono International Raceway.

Since then, the former American Speed Association star has fallen on hard times, with 10 finishes outside the top 10 in 11 starts. He has fallen to a still-respectable seventh in the points.

Time flies

The races are running out for Ricky Rudd, Jimmy Spencer, Geoff Bodine, Bill Elliott and Irvan, all of whom won in 1994 but have yet to take the checkered flag in 1995.

Rudd needs a win to add to his string of 12 consecutive seasons with at least one victory.

Irvan, coming back from injuries, has made only one start this season, but Rudd, Bodine, Elliott and Spencer have simply fallen short.

Bodine, who won three times last season, has not finished better than fifth this year. Spencer, a two-time winner in 1994, has two ninth-place finishes.

Elliott has a fourth-place finish to his credit, while Rudd has finished as high as third.

Up for grabs

With the season in its stretch run, 15 of the top 25 drivers in the Winston Cup standings are separated by 51 or fewer points heading into today’s race at Rockingham.

Mark Martin trails third-place Sterling Marlin by just eight points.