Jarrett Builds On Points Lead With Close Win

Auto racing

As overpowering as Dale Jarrett’s victory in the TranSouth Financial 400 appeared, NASCAR’s hottest driver thought it was going to slip away again Sunday.

Jarrett, with a point to make after letting both Winston Cup races slip from his grasp last year at Darlington International Raceway hung on this time, fighting off a strong challenge from runner-up Ted Musgrave.

The winner led the last 129 of 293 laps on the 1.366-mile, oval, beating Musgrave by less than two car-lengths in the battle of Ford Thunderbirds.

“It was too exciting; closer than I wanted it to be,” Jarrett said of the finish.

Jarrett, who earned $142,860, averaged 121.162 mph.

Jeff Gordon’s three-race winning string at Darlington ended, but he also was able to overcome a near-disastrous meeting with the wall to finish third in a Chevrolet. That moved him from fourth to second in the season standings, trailing Jarrett by 87 points and moving three ahead of teammate Terry Labonte, the defending series champion. Labonte finished 13th Sunday.

Spokane’s Chad Little finished 27th.

Darlington, the oldest of NASCAR’s speedways over one mile - opened in 1950. It will have a different look when the Winston Cup series returns in September for the Southern 500. The track will be flip-flopped, making the backstretch the front straightaway as part of an overall upgrading of the aging facility.

Phoenix 200

Jim Guthrie, racing with enough money for just one engine, became the Indy Racing League’s first rags-to-riches story by holding off Tony Stewart to win an accident-marred Phoenix 200.

A record nine caution flags produced the slowest Indy-car race in the history of Phoenix International Raceway. The average speed of 89.190 mph was a crawl compared with A.J. Foyt’s old mark of 99.990 mph set Nov. 21, 1965.

But it was enough for Guthrie, who had finished no higher than sixth in five previous IRL races, to extend Stewart’s frustration. Stewart, one of nine drivers to start all seven events in the new open-wheel series, has yet to win despite three poles and leading 473 laps.

Slick 50 Nationals

At Baytown, Texas, Tony Pedregon beat Cruz Pedregon in the Funny Car final of the Slick 50 Nationals, the first professional final round between brothers in NHRA history.

Tony Pedregon, from Gardena, Calif., covered the quarter-mile at Houston Raceway Park in 5.054 seconds at 288.00 mph in a Ford Mustang. Cruz Pedregon trailed at 6.231, 151.05 in a Firebird.

Joe Amato in Top Fuel, Tom Martino in Pro Stock and John Myers in Pro Stock Motorcycle were other professional winners.