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Sunday, March 18, 2001

By The Associated Press

DARLINGTON, S.C. -- Jeff Gordon's so good at Darlington Raceway, he doesn't even need to run it to finish in front.

Gordon gained his third consecutive pole in Darlington's spring race after qualifying was canceled because of fog yesterday. It was his fourth career pole at the track and had him anxious for his sixth career Darlington victory -- the first since the 1998 Southern 500 -- at the Carolina Dodge Dealers 400 today.

"We won here today," he told fans outside his hauler. "Now, we've got to go win tomorrow."

The cars were lined up according to owners points from this season. Jeff Burton and Jeremy Mayfield, starting 36th and 37th, got in because of 2000 owner victories. Veterans Rick Mast and Dave Marcis, and rookie Andy Houston were squeezed out of the 43-car field.

Ray wins pole
AVONDALE, Ariz. -- Team Penske made its much-anticipated appearance, the Indy Racing League took away points for top qualifiers, and Greg Ray won another pole.

Ray turned a lap of 177.663 mph on the one-mile oval at Phoenix International Raceway to earn the series-high 10th pole of his career, putting himself at the front for the season-opening Pennzoil Copper World Indy 200.

"Unfortunately, I'm not the championship leader with three points," Ray said, referring to the IRL rule change that eliminated qualifying points -- three for first, two for second and one for third -- prior to this season.

Schumacher edges brother
SEPANG, Malaysia -- Michael Schumacher won his sixth consecutive pole, and this time he nearly had his younger brother right beside him.

Schumacher, a three-time world champion, led all qualifiers for the Malaysian Grand Prix and will be going for his sixth consecutive victory today.

In capturing the 34th pole of his career, he moved into sole possession of second place on the all-time pole list. Ayrton Senna, who died in a crash in 1994, leads with 65.

With temperatures of 104 degrees on the track, Schumacher averaged 130.24 mph and was timed in 1 minute, 35.220 seconds in his Ferrari around the 3.44-mile Sepang International Circuit.

Ralf Schumacher, in a Williams-BMW, led much of the way but finished third when overtaken in the final seconds by Rubens Barrichello of Ferrari.

Green takes SunCom
DARLINGTON, S.C. -- Busch series champion Jeff Green finally found the winning touch this year, holding off Matt Kenseth the final 25 laps to win the SunCom 200 at Darlington Raceway.

Green, whose team switched from Chevrolets to Fords this season, beat Kenseth out of the pits on lap 123 and finished less than a second in front for his first victory at the track.