Auto Racing

Junior Johnson, the legendary Winston Cup driver, told me more than once through the years, "If anyone is going to put together a race team, there is no reason why they can't be good from the beginning. Either you have it or you don't." He was, of course, talking about stock car teams. But Timonium's Scott Gowland proved this year that it is a philosophy that can work in motorcycle racing, too. Gowland also proved he has "it." An avid golfer, Gowland decided he wanted to ride a motorcycle 18 months ago after he broke up with his fiancee.

DOVER, Del. - It will be a little difficult to hear above the deafening roar of the souped-up Chevys, Fords and Dodges at the Dover International Speedway when NASCAR runs its 400-miler there today, but that vaguely familiar jangling in the background will be coming from the 2,500 slot machines of an adjacent casino. Meanwhile, on the track, Robby Gordon is expected to pilot his No. 7 Monte Carlo with the purple and gold logo of casino giant Harrah's Entertainment, and in the skyboxes above Dover's Monster Mile, casino high-rollers will get a bird's-eye view of all the action.

What do you get when you mix Carmelo Anthony and auto racing, with Gene Simmons as matchmaker? Chances are that you're looking at raised eyebrows, which was the case with one sports marketing expert when he heard the news of Anthony's new partnership in an Indy Racing League team. "All you need is Dr. Ruth Westheimer, and you've got it down," said David Carter of the Sports Business Institute at the University of Southern California. Sure enough, though, NBA star Anthony and veteran open-wheel race team owner Ron Hemelgarn are partners in the racing team, a bond brokered by Simmons, the rock legend of KISS.

At 19, Sarah Fisher still giggles. Not something you often hear from a race car driver. But she also drives fast, which is definitely something you expect from a race car driver. "I'm never going to have the life of a normal 19-year-old," she said the other day during a conference call. "That's just never been true for me." A little more than a year ago, Fisher was given the opportunity to drive an IRL car in Texas. Her engine blew and she finished 25th, but those who saw her - and even car owner Derek Walker, who didn't - decided she had talent.

A father goes to the Indianapolis 500 and brings back a small toy for his son. It is a little red plastic race car. On another day, another father decides to take his son to a road rally. The results are the same. Both boys decide they are going to be involved in motor racing when they grow up. But, unlike most small children who are enamored of the sport, Scott Michael and Jeff Simon didn't want to grow up to be drivers. Michael and Simon wanted to grow up to be the ones who make the race cars go fast.

INDIANAPOLIS - The Championship Auto Racing Teams who competed in yesterday's Indianapolis 500 were in perfect position to gloat last night - but they didn't. For the second year in a row, a CART driver won the 500 and yesterday, the top six finishers were driving for CART teams. "We raced the IRL guys all day," said third-place Michael Andretti. "They just ran into some bad luck and it just happened that six guys from CART wound up ahead of them." Winner Helio Castroneves and runner-up Gil de Ferran felt the same, noting some of the strongest runs of the day came from the IRL's Mark Dismore, Robby Gordon and Robbie Buhl.

Behind his dark sunglasses, Richard Petty reviewed a thousand memories. He'd grown up in stock car racing. He went to the races with his father, Lee, a three-time Winston Cup champion, and he knew where the wives and children were supposed to be. And after he got married, he continued the family tradition during his racing career. "We'd drive into the racetrack and leave the wives and kids in the infield with the drunks and go on to the race cars," Petty said. It went on like that for decades.

Racing three-wide, Geoffrey Bodine's truck went airborne at more than 190 mph. Morphing into a spiral of flames after it was struck by two other trucks, the vehicle headed toward a wall. Upon impact, chunks of the back end toppled over a fence and into the grandstands during the Craftsman Truck Series at Daytona International Speedway last February. The truck disintegrated, leaving only a shell of a driver's compartment. Fiery shrapnel flew into the stands and injured nine spectators, with two requiring overnight observation at Halifax Medical Center near Daytona Beach, Fla. Bodine escaped with a fractured arm, facial cuts, a bruised lip, a non-life-threatening head injury and a forearm injury.

DOVER, Del. - As Jeff Gordon nestles down in his driver's seat today in the 24th spot in the lineup, he can look way up the track and see Ricky Rudd's rear bumper. It is not a sight he wants to get used to. With 10 races to go, Gordon is the Winston Cup points leader going into the MBNA Cal Ripken 400, but his lead has slipped to just 222 points over Rudd. "Another bad finish like we had in Richmond will pull a lot more drivers into the championship hunt," said Gordon, who finished 36th there.

The February after Jeff Gordon won his second Winston Cup championship, he sat in his motor home at Daytona International Speedway talking about all the things he still could do to be a better race car driver. He was 25 then, and chief on his list was learning more about what his race car was telling him during practice and races. It was his honesty in talking about what he didn't know and being generous in the praise of his team, as much as the success he had under the guidance of his then-crew chief Ray Evernham, that caused several misconceptions.