Gordon Surprises Himself With MBNA 500 Victory

Jeff Gordon said his latest landmark victory wasn’t as easy as it looked. For a while, he had little reason to think he’d win at all.

“I’m surprised that I’m here, really,” he said Sunday after winning the MBNA 500 at Dover, Del. “I did not expect to win this one today. At one point, I was a little worried about being lapped.”

That did not happen as the defending Winston Cup champion moved into the lead in the series standings.

Gordon moved 76 points ahead of Hendrick Motorsports teammate Terry Labonte, occupying the top spot in the chase for a $1.5 million payoff for only the second time this year.

After starting third in a Chevrolet, Gordon took the lead for the first time on the 42nd of 500 laps at the Monster Mile. He moved to the front for the final time with 52 laps remaining, and held off Rusty Wallace to win by .441 seconds.

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Angelle Seeling became the first woman in NHRA history to win a Pro Stock Motorcycle title, defeating Dave Schultz with a record time in the Pioneer Electronics Keystone Nationals at Mohnton, Pa.

Seeling, from Americus, Ga., had a quarter-mile run of 7.373 seconds at 178.89 mph on a Suzuki GSXR. Schultz, a five-time season champion, was disqualified for leaving the starting line early.

Kenny Bernstein won his fourth Top Fuel title of the year, Jeff Arend took the Funny Car division for his first career victory, and Jim Yates won his sixth Pro Stock title of the year.

Basketball

Ben Braun moved from the success and relative obscurity of Eastern Michigan to become basketball coach of prominent, yet troubled, California.

Braun, 42, officially inherited a Cal team from Todd Bozeman, who was forced to resign late last month, that is under NCAA investigation and reeling from the defection of three talented underclassmen.

Braun, 42, had a 185-132 record in 11 seasons at Eastern Michigan, which won three Mid-American Conference titles during his tenure and made three NCAA tournament appearances. He signed a five-year contract.

Bozeman had a 63-35 record in 3 1/2 seasons.

Tennis

Thomas Muster won his seventh ATP Tour title of the year, defeating defending champion Nicolas Lapentti, 6-7 (8-6), 6-2, 6-3, in the final of the Colombian World Series at Bogota.

Alberto Berasategui defeated Spanish compatriot Carlos Moya, 6-1, 7-6 (7-5), to win the Romanian Open at Bucharest, Romania. . . . Top-seeded Alberto Costa of Spain came from behind to defeat eighth-seeded Marc-Kevin Goellner of Germany, 6-7, 6-1, 6-2, in the final of the Bournemouth clay-court tournament at Bournemouth, England. . . . Bob Duesler of Newport Beach won the USTA Men’s 60 Grass Court Championship, defeating Len Lindborg of Laguna, 6-1, 2-6, 6-3, at Lawrence, N.Y. . . . Ruxandra Dragomir of Romania won the Pupp Czech Open with a 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 victory over Switzerland’s Patty Schnyder at Prague.

Miscellany

Joe Martin, the policeman who introduced Muhammad Ali to boxing, died Saturday at his home in Louisville, Ky. He was 80. Under Martin, Ali won six Kentucky Golden Gloves titles, two national Golden Gloves tournaments, two national Amateur Athletic Union crowns and the gold medal at the 1960 Olympics in Rome. . . . Lisa Arce and Holly McPeak defeated Barbra Fontana Harris and Linda Hanley, 15-7, to win the Best of the Beach III volleyball event at Lihue, Kauai, Hawaii.

Skip Away, the even-money favorite, tracked down the field in the final half of the race and then pulled away down the stretch to win the Woodbine Million at Toronto. . . . Eduard Hamalainen of Belarus won the decathlon in an international multi-event meet at Talence, France, and Lithuanian Remogia Nazaroviene captured the women’s heptathlon.