Gordon Has an Easy Time in Winning Southern 500

First he couldn’t win. Now Jeff Gordon can’t seem to lose.

Gordon, who ended a 31-race winless streak with a victory at Bristol, Tenn., last week, made it two in a row Sunday when he won the NASCAR Winston Cup Southern 500 at Darlington, S.C., Raceway for a record-tying fifth time.

“Man, what fun we’re having right now!” he shouted after taking the checkered flag.

Unlike last week, when he had to bump his way past Rusty Wallace three laps from the finish, Gordon put together a dominating run and his No. 24 Chevrolet was hardly challenged as he led the final 64 laps.

He beat rookie Ryan Newman to the finish line by 1.734 seconds--a distance greater than a football field--to win consecutive races for the 15th time in his career.

Gordon has won the Southern 500 five times, tying Cale Yarborough’s record for wins in the prestigious race that is run on NASCAR’s oldest speedway.

“We’re just thrilled because this is a historic race track, the race has so much prestige, it’s just a special, special day for us,” Gordon said. “We couldn’t believe we were in victory lane last Saturday and we can’t believe we’re here now.”

Gordon, who also has a victory in the spring race at Darlington, won for the 60th time in his career.

Bill Elliott finished third in a Dodge, Winston Cup points leader Sterling Marlin was fourth in a Dodge, and Dale Jarrett brought his Ford across the line in fifth.

The finishing order tightened up the points race and made Gordon a legitimate threat for his fifth Winston Cup title. With his victory, the defending champion moved into second place in the standings with 3,314 points, 95 behind Marlin.

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Five-time Formula One champion Michael Schumacher set a record for most victories in a season with a win in the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps.

Schumacher won his 10th race this season, starting from the pole position in his Ferrari to complete the 44-lap race on the scenic 4.327-mile track in 1 hour 21 minutes 20.634 seconds.

“It very much looked like the perfect race,” Schumacher said. “I was just enjoying myself, drove for fun this afternoon.”

Schumacher holds records for most victories in one season, most Grand Prix wins (63), and most championship points (923).

Rubens Barrichello, driving in Ferrari’s backup car, finished second, nearly two seconds behind Schumacher. BMW-Williams’ Juan Pablo Montoya was third, nearly 20 seconds behind.

Barrichello clinched second place in the drivers’ championship with 51 points, extending Ferrari’s dominance this season.

Montoya added four championship points and has 44.

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Bruno Junqueira, hoping he still has time to get back into the CART championship chase, led from start to finish in the inaugural Shell Grand Prix of Denver.

Junqueira had to hold off a late charge by Target/Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Scott Dixon, who could only try to pressure the leader into a mistake.

The strategy didn’t work as Junqueira’s Toyota-powered Lola crossed the finish line 0.282-seconds--about three car-lengths--ahead of Dixon’s.

Junqueira was asked if team owner Chip Ganassi ordered Dixon to stay behind his teammate, whose second victory of the year and third of his CART career moved him into second place in the standings behind Cristiano da Matta, who finished third.

“In CART, there are no team orders,” Junqueira said.

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Ricky Carmichael swept the AMA 250cc U.S. Motocross Championship season, winning the season finale at Steel City Raceway in Delmont, Pa., for his 12 victory in 12 events.

The Honda rider is the first to win every event in an AMA Motocross series. He also moved into first place on the career 250cc victory list with 28, passing Bob Hannah. James Stewart won the 125cc division on a Kawasaki. It was his 10th victory of the year, a 125cc season record.