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.

Elliott Sadler overcame an early accident and benefited from another two laps from the end to win the NASCAR Busch Grand National Advance Auto Parts 250 at Myrtle Beach, S.C.

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.

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).

Mary Joe Fernandez defeated Ai Sugiyama, 4-6, 6-2, 6-2, and Lindsay Davenport beat Naoko Sawamatsu, 6-1, 6-3, at Brookline, Mass., to give the United States a 2-0 lead over Japan in a best-of-five Fed Cup match. The winner advances into the 1998 draw.

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 because of 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.

Quarterback Gus Frerotte signed a one-year contract with the Washington Redskins and said he hopes a four-year, $18-million deal can be wrapped up soon.

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. . . . Orlando Magic forward Dennis Scott said he may sit out the final year of his contract. . . . 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.