Track Receives Rave Reviews

Several drivers said after Sunday’s California 500 that California Speedway was improving with age.

“It’s turning into a multi-groove racetrack, for sure,” said Jeff Burton, the second-place finisher. “I think the bottom [groove] is still the best. If you can get hooked up and run on the bottom, you’re gonna be the best. But I suspect next year when we come back, probably about halfway up the racetrack is going to be the best. This racetrack, like most tracks, the groove gets wider as it gets older.”

Bobby Labonte, who finished third, likes it too.

“It’s a great racetrack,” he said. “The groove has moved up and it makes for great racing. It’s a good track to come to and race on ‘cause you can drive different lines.”

Winner Jeff Gordon agreed.

“If you got your car set up right, you could run all over today,” he said. “You could even run side by side for a while, but not for very long because the bottom was best and whoever had the bottom groove would pull away.”

*

Tony Stewart was left cooling his heels Sunday--literally--after his best Winston Cup finish.

Stewart, who was fourth in the California 500, spent half an hour after the race with his heels in a basin of ice and then received care from the track medical staff before moving on to practice today at Sears Point.

“I left my heel guards out of my shoes,” Stewart said, “and I blistered my feet.”

The injury is not expected to affect his testing: two days at Sears Point, then two more at Charlotte, N.C., before a Mother’s Day weekend off.

Stewart backed up his fifth-place finish at Talladega last weekend with Sunday’s fourth and went up in the Winston Cup points race from seventh to sixth.

*

Ricky Rudd, who caused his own problem, received the Goody’s Headache Award for the driver with the worst luck.

“Something went wrong with the motor, something exploded out of the bottom and hit the oil pan and the oil and water went all over the track. I spun out in my own oil. I thought I could gather it in, but I hit the wall.”

*

The first car out among the 43 starters was Johnny Benson, one of Jack Roush’s five entries. He crashed on the 10th lap, all by himself.

“That was just my fault for getting too high,” he explained. “I’m not sure if something broke or not, but it happened so fast that there was nothing I could do about it. It’s pretty much a junked car.”

*

Ten races into his rookie season, Stewart is sixth in Winston Cup points. At the same stage of his rookie year, Gordon was 10th. They had the same number of top-five and top-10 finishes.

The difference is that Gordon had four DNFs (did not finish) and Stewart has none.