A Gritty Performance by Gordon

Jeff Gordon’s next trick may be to challenge Ivan Stewart to an off-road race. Or maybe challenge John Force for a Chevrolet vs. Ford drag race.

In winning his second Save Mart/Kragen 350 in a row Sunday at Sears Point Raceway, the Winston Cup champion left the road course surface for a couple of hundred yards of off-roading--his Chevy Monte Carlo bouncing and sliding over dirt, gravel and grass just like Stewart’s big truck does in Baja California.

With only four laps remaining, the race was stopped for 20 minutes while crews cleaned tires, broken parts and debris from the course after an accident. This put Gordon and Mark Martin in a drag mode, and once again it was Gordon who prevailed, but not without intense pressure from Martin’s Ford Taurus.

As for NASCAR Winston Cup road racing, Gordon became the first driver to win four consecutive road course events, two at Watkins Glen, N. Y., and two here.

And he did it while suffering from flu and laryngitis.

“I knew I wasn’t 100%, but I didn’t want to let the guys [crew chief Ray Evernham and the Rainbow Warriors crew] down because they gave me such a great car,” said Gordon. “I got dehydrated and started making mistakes, though, and I guess the worst one was when I came up to lap David Green on turn seven.

“The track was breaking up there, so you needed to make a wide turn. I just drove in there too late and my tires got off the pavement. The last thing I wanted was to drive out in that rough stuff. It was my own fault.”

Gordon, who led 80 laps of the 112-lap race, was leading on lap 51 when he slid off the track coming out of turn seven, and by the time he made it back, just before turn eight, he had lost two positions. Martin and Jeff Burton, teammates in Jack Roush’s Fords, moved ahead of him.

Many in the crowd of an estimated 120,000--in addition to the other racers--expected the rough excursion to have damaged the rainbow-colored No. 24, but once the dust blew off the car, Gordon set sail for the lead as if nothing had happened.

His chance came when Derrick Cope slid off course on lap 79, bringing out a caution flag. Burton had dropped from contention with a broken transmission, leaving only Martin in front of him. When all the leaders pitted, Jimmy Spencer stayed out and took over the lead.

On the restart, Gordon shot past Martin before the cars reached the second turn to take second place and then caught Spencer at the finish line.

“On new tires, Jeff was clearly faster than we were, but at the end our cars were very equal,” said Martin, who attempted a banzai pass on the next-to-last lap through turn 11, the hairpin corner where most of the day’s passing was done.

“I was out of control, I thought I was going to run over him for a second and knock both of us out. Our tires were worn out, both of us, we were both over the edge, but we made a race out of it. I’m proud of the way we battled.”

Once Gordon regained the lead, he held it all the final 33 laps.

“Winning anywhere is great, but its special here because I always have a lot of family and friends here from Vallejo, where I started racing. I never got over to Sears Point back then but it’s close enough to be home.”

Evernham said that Gordon was so weak that he had another driver standing by in case Gordon couldn’t finish.

“It was real hot out there, and I started making mistakes, not hitting my marks and just not being as sharp as I should have been,” said Gordon. “I was worn out, but I feel good now. It’s a great motivator after we finished second the last three races.”

Finishing third was John Andretti in Richard Petty’s STP Pontiac, a remarkable achievement after starting 31st.

Rookie Tony Stewart, after starting second, was a solid third when he abruptly pitted for a flat tire on lap 98 just as the green light came on following a caution flag. The unexpected stop dropped him back to 28th position, but he picked up 13 spots in the final 14 laps to finish 15th.

Some of the more spectacular road racing accidents ever seen at Sears Point gave spectators at turn one, up a hill from the starting line, a fascinating afternoon.

Steve Park slid into the dirt as he crested the peak, and when his car smacked into a tire barrier, it flew into the air and did what one diving fan said was a “full gainer and a half twist.” Whatever it was, it would have rated a “10.”

Ken Schrader was next. Only a few feet beyond where Park landed, the veteran driver’s Chevrolet rolled over 1 1/2 times and teetered on its side before slowly rolling on its top.

Both drivers climbed out and walked away. Schrader even walked all the way back to the starting line to the cheers of the huge throng lining both sides of the 1.949-mile circuit.

Spencer finished fifth behind Rusty Wallace.