Robby Gordon accused Danica Patrick of having an unfair advantage in the Indianapolis 500 and said yesterday he will not compete in the race again unless the field is equalized.

Gordon, a former open-wheel driver now in NASCAR, contends that Patrick is at an advantage over the rest of the competitors because she only weighs 100 pounds. Because all the cars weigh the same, Patrick's is lighter on the race track.

"The lighter the car, the faster it goes," Gordon said. "Do the math. Put her in the car at her weight, then put me or Tony Stewart in the car at 200 pounds and our car is at least 100 pounds heavier.

"I won't race against her until the IRL does something to take that advantage away."

The Indy Racing League does not consider the weight of the driver in its race specifications. Teams in Indy have estimated that Patrick will gain close to 1 mph in speed because of her small stature.

Although her rivals in today's race have said she doesn't have a huge advantage, pole-sitter Tony Kanaan told reporters he would like the Indy Racing League to look into the issue.

Kenseth crash

Matt Kenseth's woes continued yesterday when he crashed during the final practice for today's Coca-Cola 600. As he built speed on the apron of the track, he lost control of his Ford and spun up the track, where he backed into the wall in Turn 2.

Dale Jarrett, Casey Mears and Bill Elliott narrowly avoided Kenseth's car, so the damage was minimal. His Roush Racing crew will be able to repair the car, so he won't have to rely on a backup, which would have cost him his third starting position.

Elledge to Earnhardt?

As Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s brother-in-law, Jimmy Elledge knows he can't escape speculation that he'll be the next crew chief of the No. 8 Chevrolet.

Elledge, who is married to Juniors' sister Kelley, is the crew chief for Casey Mears. He isn't exactly comfortable with his name floating around as a contender for the position. And he isn't sure he'd even want the job.

Indy anniversary

This weekend marks the 40th anniversary of the Wood Brothers helping driver Jimmy Clark win the Indianapolis 500. At the time, the Wood Brothers' pit crew was regarded as the best in NASCAR. So Clark summoned the crew to Indy to service his car during its stops.

Heidfeld gets European pole

A German will be on the pole for the European Grand Prix in Nuerburgring, Germany, and his name is not Schumacher. Nick Heidfeld delighted a home crowd yesterday by winning the first pole position of his career and first under Formula One's revamped qualifying format.