This Time Gordon Really Has a Long Way to Go

Jeff Gordon put his NASCAR Winston Cup points lead in jeopardy with a “horrible” qualifying run, and entered today’s Jiffy Lube 300 in his worst starting position of the season.

Gordon will begin the race at New Hampshire International Speedway in Loudon in the 29th position, six spots worse than his 23rd at Atlanta when he failed to finish for the only time this season.

Ken Schrader starts on the pole--his first in two years, after posting a one-lap speed of 129.423 mph Friday over the 1.058-mile oval. Bobby Hamilton will be next to him, with Ricky Craven and Chad Little in the second row.

Gordon, who has won seven times this season, enters the race with a 54-point lead over teammate Terry Labonte, who will be starting 19 places ahead of him. Excluding extra points for laps led, that difference in finish alone would be good enough for Labonte to take over the lead.

The only time Gordon, who was clocked in 127.786, has started lower in his five Winston Cup years was 30th at Talladega as a rookie in 1993 when he finished 11th, and 40th at Talladega in 1994, when he finished 24th.

Williams-Renault teammates Jacques Villeneuve and Heinz-Harald Frentzen will line up 1-2 for the first time this season in today’s Formula One British Grand Prix at Silverstone.

Villeneuve, the preseason favorite to win the title, took the pole from Frentzen on his last qualifying lap. Villeneuve clocked 1 minute 21.598 seconds with Frentzen across in 1:21.732 on the 3.194-mile Silverstone circuit. Mika Hakkinen, in a McLaren-Mercedes seeking his first victory in his 88th start, was third in 1:21.797.

Final qualifying for today’s CART Grand Prix of Cleveland was virtually over when Alex Zanardi made a statement.

Zanardi had won the provisional pole Friday with a lap of 132.031 mph, but moments after the checkered flag signaled the end of the 30-minute session, he completed his final run around the 2.106-mile course with an even faster lap of 133.048.

Gil de Ferran, who held off Zanardi in a last-lap duel to win last year’s race, moved up from fourth place to take the runner-up spot with a lap of 131.822.

Tennis

Martina Hingis and Jana Novotna, opponents in the championship match at Wimbledon, won first-round matches in Fed Cup play.

Hingis, the Wimbledon champion, helped Switzerland to a 2-0 lead against Argentina, defeating Maria Jose Gaidano, 6-1, 6-2, in 49 minutes at Zurich. Patty Schnyder then defeated Florencia Labat, 3-6, 7-5, 10-8.

At Prague, Novotna, playing with a strained abdominal muscle that hindered her at Wimbledon, overpowered Miriam Oremans, 6-3, 6-0, in 70 minutes to pull the Czech Republic even at 1-1 with the Netherlands. In the other match, Brenda Schultz-McCarthy beat Sandra Kleinova, 6-1, 7-6 (7-5).

Pro Football

The NFL has suspended Carolina Panther defensive end Shawn King for the first six games of this season for violating the league’s substance abuse policy, the Charlotte Observer reported.

NFL vice president Joe Browne said the league would have no comment due to the confidentiality of the league’s policy.

Meanwhile, Panther center Curtis Whitley won his appeal of a possible one-year suspension for allegedly violating the league’s drug and alcohol policy. The newspaper cited unidentified sources for its reports on both players.

Miscellany

Terry Cummings, an NBA free agent who played last season for Seattle, is out on bail and due for a court appearance July 31 after being arrested for allegedly trying to carry a loaded handgun into a boarding area at LAX. . . . Former World Boxing Council featherweight champion Kevin Kelley used a short right hand to knock out Orlando Fernandez in the tenth round and retain the World Boxing Union featherweight title at Tunica, Miss.