Merely a Sunday Drive for Gordon at Pocono

Jeff Gordon toyed with the field of the UAW-GM Teamwork 500 on Sunday, but that was nothing new.

What was new was that Gordon’s Chevrolet was still in front at the end of the race at Pocono International Raceway in Pennsylvania, 3.688 seconds ahead of second-place Ricky Rudd’s Ford.

Gordon had led the race last year before missing a shift on a restart with seven laps to run, and he had to watch helplessly as the leaders drove away.

There were no problems Sunday.

“The thought certainly crossed my mind,” Gordon said, recalling the problems of last year. “I didn’t know if something was going to jinx us or if today was going to be our day.”

It was.

Gordon led seven times for 94 of the 200 laps in winning his second race in a row and 14th in his four-year NASCAR Winston Cup career. He averaged 139.104 mph and won $96,980.

Gordon got around the Ford of Geoff Bodine with 50 laps remaining, gave up the lead only during a green-flag pit stop with 30 laps left and was not seriously challenged.

Points leader Dale Earnhardt’s run ended because of engine failure after 135 laps. Gordon, third in the standings, reduced his deficit from 182 points to 64.

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Damon Hill started on the pole and overpowered the field in the Canadien Grand Prix, beating teammate and hometown favorite Jacques Villeneuve by 4.183 seconds.

Hill, a 35-year-old Englishman, led all but eight laps on the 2.741-mile Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, named after Jacques’ late father. It was Hill’s fifth victory in eight Formula One races this season and the third 1-2 finish for the teammates.

Villeneuve led the other eight laps, during planned pit stops.

Hill has 53 points, followed by Villeneuve with 32 and two-time defending series champion Michael Schumacher of Germany with 26.

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It was another disappointing finish at Le Mans for Mario Andretti, whose team finished 13th in the 24-hour endurance race in France, losing more than two hours in the pits for repairs that put his car 39 laps behind the winning TWR Porsche driven by American Davy Jones, Manuel Reuter of Germany and Alexander Wurz of Austria.

Andretti, who has won almost every major race in the world except Le Mans, doesn’t know if he wants to give it another try.

“I would have to assess it,” said Andretti, whose driving partners in the Courage-Porsche were Jan Lammers of the Netherlands and Derek Warwick of Britain. “I would say I will. But realistically I will look around in August and September and see what opportunities I have.”

The winning car led virtually all the way and covered more than 354 laps and 2,991 miles to give Porsche its 14th victory at Le Mans, the most by any carmaker.

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Miguel Duhamel rode a Honda to his fourth AMA Superbike victory of the season, in Loudon, N.H.