Jarrett Cautiously Approaches Series Championship

Dale Jarrett can’t clinch the Winston Cup championship this weekend at Phoenix International Raceway, but with a 246-point lead over Bobby Labonte he can come close to it.

If Jarrett finishes 19th or better in each of three remaining races--Phoenix, Homestead, Fla., and Atlanta--he will win the $2-million prize even if Labonte wins all three.

And Jarrett will collect an additional $120,000 if he wins Sunday’s Checker-DuraLube 500, a prize that goes to the winner if he is also the Cup points leader.

“All of that is fine, but everyone in racing knows that anything can happen,” Jarrett said cautiously. “I hope it doesn’t, but we’re approaching this race like we always do.”

In 31 starts, only once has Jarrett finished as far back as 19th, and 22 times he has finished in the top five, a consistency that moved him far ahead of the field, even though he has won only four times to seven for Jeff Gordon and six for Jeff Burton.

Gordon, who has never won on the flat Phoenix mile, is also running in Saturday’s Busch Grand National to get more track time. He is also shooting for his 50th victory Sunday, which would move him into an eighth-place tie with Ned Jarrett, Dale’s father, and Junior Johnson on NASCAR’s all-time list.

“It’s hard to even conceive of the fact that we have won 49 races,” Gordon said. “It would be nice to get that 50th at Phoenix. However, you never know when any win will be your last, so we’ll be thankful to get a win anywhere we go.”

BAJA 1000

It’s still called the Baja 1000, but for various reasons this year it is little more than a stretched-out Baja 500. The 32nd annual race will be run today and Saturday in two loops of a 366-mile course that starts and finishes in Ojos Negros, 30 miles east of Ensenada.

It will be the first time the 1000 has ever been two laps. The final event of the six-race Laughlin SCORE desert series will feature the Toyota truck tandem of Ivan Stewart and Robby Gordon and the 32nd entry of 16-time winner Rod Hall in a Hummer.

“For me, it’s a tradition, I just hope it never ends,” said Hall, 62. “I may not be the fastest racer, but I do have finesse. I’m light-footed and I use finger-tip steering. There’s only one SCORE Baja 1000 and I love it.”

Gordon, who completed the CART champ car season last Sunday, will be the only owner-driver in the feature Trophy-Truck class. He will drive a Toyota Tundra pickup in his only desert race this year. The Ford F-150 that Gordon built and formerly raced will be entered by Mark Post and Jerry Welchel.

Gordon’s father, Bob, is racing a Toyota-powered Class 1 buggy.

Stewart, 54, is defending champion in a single-seat Tundra built in Cal Wells’ Precision Preparation Inc. shop. Larry Ragland, a four-time winner who finished second to Stewart last year, will be back in a Herzog Motorsports Chevy Silverado.

One who won’t be on the starting line is Walker Evans, winner of nine Baja 1000s, including one in which he drove a truck solo from Ensenada to La Paz in 1979.

Evans, 60, retired after winning the CORR/Exxon Superflo Series, the 20th championship of his career, last week in Las Vegas.

“What a way to finish, to win a championship in my last ride,” the Riverside driver said. “I have been at it a long time. I love bouncing through the bumps and jumps, and I love the competition. Yes, I am going to miss it.”

FORMULA ONE

Although former CART champions Jacques Villeneuve and Alex Zanardi did not score a point this year in Formula One, both will return to their teams next year.

“The whole season has been so disastrous this year that anything we expect from next year can only be good, because it can’t be as bad as this year,” said Villeneuve of the British American Racing team. Next year BAR will use Honda engines as the Japanese manufacturer returns to F1.

There was one bright moment in Villeneuve’s year. He gave a $60,000 engagement ring to Dannii Minogue, an Australian pop star and Playboy model.

“It is correct to say [Zanardi] is not going to be replaced for next year,” said team owner Frank Williams. “It is also correct to say that he has a contract [with Williams] next year.”

When Ferrari won the constructor’s championship with Michael Schumacher and Eddie Irvine finishing 2-3 last week in Japan, it was the factory’s ninth, tying Williams’ record.

CART AND THE IRL

CART will announce its 2000 schedule today. Mark these West Coast dates down:

* April 16--Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach.

* Sept. 10--Monterey Grand Prix at Laguna Seca.

* Oct. 29--Marlboro 500 at California Speedway.

The schedule will also have no race opposite the Indy Racing League’s Indianapolis 500, thereby giving CART teams the opportunity to take their drivers and sponsors back to Indy--but with IRL-spec cars and engines.

“I believe we will have 10 or 12 drivers from CART next May, if we can believe the orders being taken by our chassis and engine suppliers,” said Leo Mehl, IRL executive director.

The IRL has cut its schedule from 11 to 10 races, only nine of which are set. Sept. 10 has been left open.

The Las Vegas race, which was in September this year, has been moved to April 22, the last race before the Indianapolis 500 on May 28.

Dover Downs and Lowe’s Speedway in Charlotte dropped out because of low attendance. Added was a new track, Kentucky Speedway.

The IRL schedule: Jan. 29--Orlando, Fla.; March 9--Phoenix; April 22--Las Vegas; May 28--Indianapolis 500; June 10--Fort Worth; June 18--Colorado Springs, Colo.; July 15--Atlanta; Aug. 27--Sparta, Ky.; Sept. 10--TBA; Oct. 15--Fort Worth.

IN THE INLAND EMPIRE

Edison Dye, the man who brought European motocross to the United States in the late 1960s, will receive a lifetime achievement award Sunday as part of the 14th White Bros. world veterans championships at Glen Helen Raceway in San Bernardino. Former world champion Roger DeCoster will present the award. In the vets’ competition, Doug Dubach will attempt to win his fifth title over former winner Eric Keough, Larry Brooks and other over-30 riders.

The fourth Passcar stock car classic will be held Saturday night at Perris Auto Speedway. Rick Arrington of Hesperia holds a 53-point lead over David Gilliland of Chino after Gilliland’s win last week was nullified when an inspection found the car too light.

SUPERCROSS

The Brazilian round of the Toyota World Supercross series, scheduled Saturday, has been canceled. The U.S. round is scheduled Nov. 20 in the Rose Bowl, followed by Germany on Nov. 27.

David Vuillemin of France, a regular on the American circuit, won the opening round in Paris, followed by another Frenchman, Mickael Pichon and American Jeff Emig, riding a Yamaha after having been dropped from the Kawasaki team last month. U.S. champion Jeremy McGrath finished a disappointing 16th.

LAST LAPS

Several midget drivers from the U.S. Auto Club’s national circuit, among them two-time champion Jason Leffler, are expected to invade Irwindale Speedway on Saturday for a western regional race as a tuneup for Turkey Night Grand Prix at the same track. Marc DeBeaumont, West Coast points leader, heads the local entries. Leffler will also drive in the sprint car main event.

The Jaguar that won the 1956 Le Mans 24-hour race has become the most expensive car sold at auction in Britain--1.7 million pounds. . . . Pat Rummerfield drove Ed Dempsey’s “White Lightning” electric streamliner to an FIA world electric car record of 245.524 mph at the Bonneville Salt Flats. Also at Bonneville, Al Teague added the AA record to his collection with a run at 387 mph.

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This Week

WINSTON CUP

Dura Lube 500

* Site: Phoenix.

* Schedule: Today, first-round qualifying, 2:15 p.m.; Saturday, second-round qualifying, 9:45 a.m.; Sunday, race (TNN, 11 a.m.)

* Track: Phoenix International Raceway (oval, 1 mile, 11-degree banking in turns 1-2, 9-degree banking in turns 3-4).

* Race distance: 312 miles, 312 laps.

* Last year: Rusty Wallace ended a 59-race winless streak in the rain-shortened event. The former Winston Cup champion was declared the winner after rain washed out the final 55 laps.

* Next race: Pennzoil 400, Nov. 14, Homestead, Fla.

BUSCH GRAND NATIONAL

Outback Steakhouse 200

* Site: Phoenix.

* Schedule: Today, second-round qualifying, 8:30 a.m.; Saturday, race (TNN, noon)

* Track: Phoenix International Raceway (oval, 1 mile, 11-degree banking in turns 1-2, 9-degree banking in turns 3-4).

* Race distance: 200 miles, 200 laps.

* Last year: Inaugural race.

* Next race: Miami 300, Nov. 13, Homestead, Fla.