Going Gets Tough for Jeff Gordon as He Wrecks Car During Test Run

BROOKLYN, Mich. — It might be stretching things a bit to say that a $1.5-million race is merely a dry run for the inaugural California 500 next Sunday, but in a way that’s the way Winston Cup teams are approaching today’s Miller 400.

That is because Roger Penske’s California Speedway is a clone of Penske’s Michigan Speedway, site of today’s 400-mile race.

That means California fans can expect laps of 183 mph-plus in qualifying because that’s what it took for Dale Jarrett to earn the pole for today’s race in his Robert Yates-prepared Ford Thunderbird.

Only seven drivers here have been on the Fontana track, which will be open for testing for the first time Thursday.

Testing here Saturday morning created a shocking situation when points leader Jeff Gordon slid out and triggered a three-car accident.

“I just lost it,” said Gordon, a six-time winner this season. “It was a pretty bad wreck. We wrecked a good race car and wrecked a couple of other guys’ too. I hope they make it back for the race.”

Affected by Gordon’s spinning No. 24 were Jeff Burton and Dick Trickle. Burton was hospitalized with a bruised shoulder and ribs, but Gordon and Trickle returned to the track in backup cars in the afternoon.

All three will have to start at the rear of the 43-car field.

Dale Earnhardt was racing with Gordon at the time and had a close-up view of the accident.

“He went into the corner down there under me and cars were behind him,” Earnhardt said. “He spun out and crashed. That’s it. Those kind of things happen. I got into Mark Martin here [during practice] two or three years ago. It happens.”

Rusty Wallace posted the fastest lap at California Speedway, 181.82 mph, during a test last month.

“We’ll all be running faster than that when we get some rubber down,” Wallace said. “That track at Fontana is so smooth, it’s consistent at each end. That’s something you don’t see very often. Michigan and Indy are the smoothest we’ve run in the past, but California is smoother.

“It’s so close to being identical to Michigan, you can set-up your car from the set-up you use here. There’s only one small difference. At Michigan, because of the [18 degree] banking, you run about a lane and a half from the inside line. At California, where the [14 degree] banking is a little less severe, you can run right down on the line.

“For a new track, it has incredible grip. If anything, I think we might be quicker there.”

Richard Childress, owner of Earnhardt’s No. 3 car, said he expected to take the car from today’s race and prepare it the same way for next Sunday’s race.

“It should be a good deal for the drivers,” Childress said. “They’ll be going from one track to another where they don’t have to adjust to different speeds and cornering situations. This will be the only time we have two races in a row with situations identical.”

Sterling Marlin, a two-time Daytona 500 winner who will start from the second row today in a Chevrolet Monte Carlo, doesn’t believe the four degrees will make any difference to the 3,400-pound Winston Cup cars.

With Gordon starting from the rear, the complexion of today’s race has changed dramatically. The 25-year-old phenom from Pittsboro, Ind., has won four of the last seven races and six overall, beginning with the Daytona 500.

The streak has not only made him a millionaire, it has also made him the object of boos from NASCAR fans. These are the same fickle fans who only a couple of years ago were cheering wildly when he beat the veterans, such as Earnhardt, Wallace, Mark Martin, et al.

“I wish they were booing me,” Earnhardt said, tugging on his bushy mustache. “That means you’re winning. The public loves the underdog. That’s why they’re rooting for me now, but it wasn’t that way a few years ago when I was winning.”

Earnhardt is hoping to end a winless streak today that is now at 40 races, more than the seven-time Winston Cup champion has ever lost in a row in his 18-year career.

“Gordon makes it look so easy because he’s got his program together. I think he and Ray [crew chief Evernham] and the whole team have worked hard and they’re as dominant as we were.

“If they boo you on Sunday, you go to the bank on Monday. I don’t want to be the guy who’s not the hero, but I want to be the winner. I think race fans don’t want to see Jeff Gordon get up there and blow the field away, but they want to see him racing hard with Dale Jarrett and Dale Earnhardt and Rusty Wallace. Right now, he’s been making it look too easy.”