The Tennessean from Nashville, Tennessee • Page 40

12C Sunday, Augutl 1998 THE TtNNESSCAN SP( )1 1 AUTO RACING, SOCCER 1 Top races still tog way Bud at ftEie Glen Watkins Glen International. Today, Noon. TV: ESPN. Radio: 99.7-FM, 950-AM, 1010-AM. International Larry Woody 'onmuiuury you've been under a racing rock for 10 years.

Nowadays 50,000 seats are nothing. Cup races have rest-room lines that long. And $35 million is NASCAR chump change; Bristol Speedway has spent almost that much on its parking lots. Last week at Indianapolis, more than 350,000 turned out for the Brickyard 400. Bristol later this month will draw more than 140,000 and could double that if it had the seats.

What we're getting is a mid-size track suitable for the Busch Series NASCAR's Class AAA league a truck race, drag races and maybe a (yawn) Indy-Car event. Watkins Glen New York Albany Watkins GlenN miemaiionai WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. The lineup rv A I 1 L. 1 J- JV- i Member ol Kim Baker's pit crew react a he passes them after winning the Pepsi 150 Busch North race yesterday in Watkins, Glen, N.Y. It was Baker's first race of the year and first time with this crew.

OK, that not bad. But it not Winston Cup. We're still a long way from NASCAR's big league. Denis McGlynn, the Dover Downs executive who is behind the local track, has never mislead anyone. Ask him about the possibility of getting a Winston Cup race and he'll admit it is an extremely long shot.

McGlynn is no NASCAR novice. His Dover track hosts two Winston Cup races, both sellouts. He knows 50,000 seats won't get him a return phone call from NASCAR president Bill France Jr. Since losing its two annual Winston Cup races in 1984, Nashville has fallen even farther behind. More spacious new tracks have been built, more races added to the schedule.

Nashville is now surrounded by Indy, Atlanta, Talladega and Bristol. NASCAR doesnt need more races in this region. NASCAR's plate is almost full already. There are 33 Winston Cup races this season, plus the Busch finished (1993-95) and has not worse than fifth. But the big roadblock is Gordon, who suddenly has become a master road racer.

First, he won last year at this picturesque track in upstate New York. Then, as if to prove it was no fluke, Gordon won from the pole six weeks ago in Sonoma, Calif. the only other road-course stop on the circuit. ThcrcS Darrell: Franklin's Dar-rell Waltrip, 22nd in the Winston Cup point standings, used his ninth provisional start this year to get a spot for today's Bud at the Glen. Waltrip, who has qualified by speed only 10 times this season, also has started 42nd once, which means he's started from the back row 10 times.

He has two top-10 finishes this season. Cook upsets Hornaday: Terry Cook scored the biggest upset in NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series "But some of our guys let their heads down too much after that happened, and it cost us. At that point, we're still starling over at 0-0. We needed to bear down even more and outwork them." Seconds later, another key play came when Flash goalie Joe Cannon made a diving save off a quick Quigley shot San Diego's Jerome Watson and Kevin Legg followed that save with goals. Leading scorer Martin Reyndcrs entered the game with nine minutes left but couldn't ignite the Nashville offense.

Reynders had just returned from Holland where he had gone for the birth of his son July 29. "Defensively, we played well," said Coach Greg Petersen. "Offensively, we lacked creativity, but San Diego is a very good defensive team the Hash has allowed only 18 Martin tired of being 2nd Bubba's breathing hard His heart is thumping like the rods in a rebuilt Pinto. He's sweating up his "Anybody But Gordon" T-shirt. Behind his genuine imitation In- wraparounds his eyes are wide and glowing with excitement.

Big-league racing is coming back to Nashville. At least that's the word Bubba keeps hearing on the street, as plans for a new area superspecd-way gather momentum like a last-lap charge down the Talladega backst retch. I've got just two words of advice: Bubba. It ain't gonna happen. Not any- time soon.

Probably never, unless -some radical future changes are iiftade, such as splitting the Winston Cup series into two divisions in order to double the number of races. The new superspeedway sounds impressive a $35 million structure with 50,000 seats. That is, it sounds impressive if Littleton wins first of season By LARRY WOODY hfmrn Wrtltr The story of racer David Littleton's season had been close but no cigar. Last night, he finally got to light up. Littleton, who had nine top five finishes in 16 races, stormed to victory in a crash-delayed Late Model feature at Nashville Speedway.

Littleton started on the pole and ird every lap of the 50-lap feature to beat division points leader Joe Buford by approximately six car lengths. Wade Allen Buttrey was third, followed by Mark Day, Roy Bink-ley, Jerry Coble, Andy Kirby, Brad Baker, Casey Atwood and Steadman Marlin. The race was red-nagged after a four-car crash on lap 42 that took Mark Martin, Andy Johnson, Tommy Climer and Ricky Sanford. None of the drivers was injured. Meanwhile, Tandy Marlin is starting to live up to his famous racing name.

Marlin, whose uncle Coo Coo won four Nashville track championships and whose cousin Sterling won three titles and two Daytona 500s, last night roared to his second straight victory in the SuperTruck division. "I love it," sod Marlin, who ran 15 races before finally cracking into 3)ie winner's circle last week. "Give -rny crew credit; they did a heckuva "job." Marlin, who beat pole-sitter Allen Carter by a dozen truck lengths, -dedicated the victory to his daughter, McKenzie Rene, who celebrat- Icd her birthday yesterday. Bobby Ray Baucom took third and points leader David Mathcny -Jr. fourth.

Jimmy Valentine, a nine-time winner, appeared to have the race in hand until vmething broke on his truck laps into the 50-lap event. Valentine had led the 37 laps John Karheart captured his vc-'imd win in the Pure Stocks, by Mike Fredericks, points leader Bobby Rippey and John Hnnkham. Legends points leader Justin Houston won one of two features in his division, beating Ronnie Powers. In the first race, Jeff Roberts held off Amy Whiiehurst for his first career victory. Dick Sieagall and Terry Vickers split a pair of Street Modified features.

National attention will be focused on Nashville Speedway next Saturday when the NASCAR Crafts-" man Truck Series makes its third annual appearance here. Giving the race a local flavor will 7. be Brentwood's Joe Rultman, a truck series regular, and Frankin's Joe Buford. Adult Film Star Jenteal August 10-15 Cup race today at IWatkins Glen International, with driver, car number, hometown, type of car and qualifying speed in mph: 1. Jeff Gordon 24 Pirtsboro, Ind.

Chevrolet 120.331. 2. Ron Fellows 96 Canada Chevrolet 120.002. 3. Ricky Rudd 10 Chesapeake, Va.

Ford 119.914. 4. Jeff Burton 99 South Boston, Va. Ford 119910. 5.

Boris Said 23 Beverly Hills, Calif. Ford 119.780. 6. Rusty Wallace 2 St. Louis Ford 119.770.

7. Mark Martin 6 Batesville, Ark. Ford 119.704. 8. Jerry Nadeau 9 Danbury, Conn.

Ford 119686. 9. Ernie Itvan 36 Salinas, Calif. Pontiac 119.575. 10.

Dale Jarrett 88 Hickory, N.C. Ford 119.530 11. Geoff Bodine 7 Chemung, N.Y. Ford 119.447. 12.

Terry Labonte 5 Corpus Christi, Texas Chevrolet 119383. 13. Sterling Marlin 40 Columbia Chevrolet 119.32a 14. Bobby Hamilton 4 Nashville Chevrolet 119.254. 15.

TedMusgrave 16 Franklin, Wis. Ford 119554. 16. Ken Schrader 33 Fenton.Mo. Chevrolet 119.157.

17. John Andrew 43 Indianapolis Pontiac 119.120. 18. Kenny Irwin Jr. 28 Indianapolis Ford 119.019.

19. Kenny Wallace 81 St. Louis Ford 118.884. 20. Tom Hubert 13 Trinity, N.C.

Ford 118 876. 21. Johnny Benson Jr. 26 Grand Rapids, Mich. Ford 118.797.

22. Dale Earnhardt 3 Kannapolis, N.C. Chevrolet 118.745. 23. Mike Skinner 31 Susanville, Calif.

Chevrolet 118.703. 24. Robert Pressley 77 Asheville, N.C. Ford 118.689. 25.

Ward Burton 22 South Boston, Va. Pontiac 118.673. 26. Joe Nemechek 42 Lakeland, Fla. Chevrolet 119.252.

27. BIB Elliott 94 Dawsonvitle, Ga. Ford 119.115. 28. Michael Waltrip 21 Owensboro, Ky.

Ford 118.652. 29. RchBckle 98 Edgerton, Wis. Ford 118.620. 30.

Tommy Kendall 46 La Canada, Calif. Chevrolet 118.550. 31. Jeremy Mayfield 12 Owensboro, Ky. Ford 118.544.

32. Ricky Craven 50 Newburgh, Maine Chevrolet 118.532. 33. Kyle Petty 44 Randteman, N.C. Pontiac 118.405.

34. Steve Park 1 East Northport, N.Y. Chevrolet 118.348. 35. Rick Mast 75 Ftockbridge Baths, Va.

Ford 118.181. 36. Brett Bodine 11 Chemung. N.Y. Ford 118 052.

37. Bobby Labonte 18 Corpus Christi. Texas Pontiac prcv. 38. Chad Little 97 Spokane, Wash.

Ford prcv. 39 Dick Trickle 90 Wisconsin Rapids, Wis. Ford prcv. 40. Steve Grissom 41 Gadsden, Ala.

Chevrolet prcv. 41. Morgan Shepherd 91 Conover.N.C. Chevrolet prcv. 42.

Demke Cope 30 Spanaway, Wash. Pontiac prcv 43. Darrel Waltrip 35 Franklin Chevrolet prcv. Clash, The Winston and the Japanese exhibition. That's 36 full weekends.

Texas, California and Las Vegas are clamoring for a second race. Homestead, is expected to get one. So is the giant track going up in Kansas City. Nashville is nowhere in the picture. A track isnt going to change that.

Anybody who says different is misleading the fans. They've been teased before. Over the years rumors about a Winston Cup return have repeatedly popped up. A few years ago I asked then-NASCAR public relations director Chip Williams when he thought we might get a Winston Cup race. "Let me put it this way, so folks there can understand," Williams said: "Nashville will get a Winston Cup race when Vanderbilt is playing in the Sugar Bowl." Unfortunately, neither prospect is any closer now than it was then.

Larry Woody Is a Tennessean sports writer and columnist. He can be reached at 259-8019. history yesterday, beating defending Stevens Beil 200 winner Ron Hornaday at Flemington Speedway in Fle-mington, N.J. The race's final restart put Hor-naday's Chevrolet on Cook's rear bumper but the leader patiently opened a 1.624-second gap to claim his first victory in his 34th start in the series. Cook, who crashed winning the pole position for last year's Stevens Beil 200, never had finished higher than 10th.

Next week's race is at Nashville Speedway. Franchltti on pole: Dario Fran-chitti won the pole position yesterday for the CART Miller Lite 200 at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio, as the track record was broken for the second straight day. Franchitti had a fast lap of 123.766 mph in his final qualifying try. Joining him on the front row for the race today will be Jimmy Vasser. dwindling goals, No.

2 in the league, and you have to give them credit." Quigley gave the Metros the lead when he swiped a pass from in front, and boomed a kick past Cannon into the top left shelf. "Greg Petersen put me on the right side, giving me some more goal-scoring opportunities," Quigley said. "It was a tough call the penalty kick. We need to bounce back against Cincinnati." The Metros host Cincinnati tomorrow night at 7:30 In the third game of their six-game home stand. Defender C.W.

Raines, who has been out two weeks with a concussion, got some good news from his neurologist. "It wasn't as bad as we had thought. Ill be out about 4-6 weeks, and I may be back for the playoffs," Raines said. "I cant do anything in practice for awhile, they want me to completely get well." nmi.Av..s.a6Mi7; Th UHimaH PamMrad RaUiahnn LI Tab Shower Slam Sum Tannina fl linger Morten Fantasy Fnhthat Oriental Aitwrlcan Stall Tri i jC rr-i i i tm 190V Division Turn 8 Turn 9 The Bud at the Glen TRACK LENGTH: 2.45-mile road course RACE LENGTH: 90 laps, 220.5 miles DEFENDING CHAMP: Jeff Gordon RACE RECORD (220.5 miles): Mark Martin, 103.30 mph, Aug. 13, 1995 QUALIFYING RECORD: Dale Earnhardt.

120.733 mph, Aug. 9, 1996 ASSOCIATED PFIESS for today's Bud at Ihe Glen NASCAR Winston L7TM ninrnun Listed wfth data of race and site: Miller Uta 400: June 14, Michigan Speedway, Brooklyn, MartMartn Pocono 500: June 21, Pocono Raceway, Long Pond, Jeremy Mayfield Save ManVKragen 350: June 28, Sears Point Raceway, Sonoma, Jeff GorBbo Pepsi 400: Jufy 4, Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach, ppd. wkJdms Jiffy Lobs 300: July 12, New Hampshire International Speedway, Loudon, N.H., Jell Burton Pennsylvania 50Cr. July 26, Pocono Ftacaway, Long Pond, Pa, Jell Gordon Brickyard 400: Aug. 1, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Indianapolis, Jefl Gordon Aug.

16: 400. Michigan Speedway, Brooklyn, 11:30 a ESPN. Aug. 22: Goody's 500, Bristol Motor Speedway, Bristol, 6:30 p.m., ESPN. Aug.

30: New Hampshire 300, New Hampshire International Speedway, Loudon, N.H., 12:15 p.mM TNN. Sept 6: Southern 500, Darlington Raceway, Dartngton, Noon, ESPN. Sept 12: NASCAR ExkJe Select Batteries 400, Richmond International Raceway, Richmond, Va, 6.30 ESPN. Turn yum 7 Where Jeff Gordon is these days, Mark Martin is usually close behind. That's a situation Martin would like to remedy today in the Bud at the Glen NASCAR race on the road course at Watkins Glen International in Watkins Glen, N.Y.

He'd much prefer to be in front of the defending Winston Cup champion. In the past two races. Gordon has won and Martin has been second. In fact. Martin goes into today's 90-lap, 220.5-mile event having been a runner-up in three straight races.

"Like they say, second place is the first loser," Martin said. "I'm tired of running good and losing 10 points to them Gordon and his Hen-drick Motor-sports) every week. We need to get that turned around." It would appear that Martin has a g(XKl chance of doing just that on the 2.45-mile, U-turn road course where he has been a dominant driver in the last nine years. During that period, Martin has three wins Metros division lead POINTS 1. Jeff Gordon 5,897 2.

Mark Martin ...2,825 3. Dale Jarrett 5,704 4. Rusty Wallace 5,604 5. Jeremy Mayfield ...5,536 6. Bobby Labonte 2,530 7.

Terry Labonte 5,379 8. Jefl Burton 5.359 9. Dale Earnhardt 5572 10. Ken Schrader 5500 11. Jimmy Spenoer 2,141 12.

John Andrew 2,081 13. Elliott 5,078 14. Bobby Hamilton ...5,051 15. Ernie Irvan 5,033 15. Michael Waltrip 5,033 17.

Sterling Marlin 1,964 18. Tod Musgrave 1.922 19. Ward Burton ...1,886 20. Johnny Benson 1,880 MONEY 1. Jeff Gordon $3,595,085 2.

Mark Martin 3. Dale Earnhardt $2,015,570 4. Bobby Labonte 5. Dale Jarrett $1,503,790 6. Rusty Walaos $1.478440 7.

Jeremy Mayfield $1,428,611 8. Jeff Burton $1 586,820 9. Terry Labonte $1 550,625 10. Ken Schrader $1505,006 1 1 Bobby Hamilton $1 ,1 50.585 12. Jimmy Spenoer $1,142,051 13.

Ernie Irvan $1,039,110 14. John Andrew $1,028,970 15. Bill Elliott $1,028,125 16. Ricky Rudd 17. Michael Waltrip $926,980 18.

Chad Little $922,726 19. Ted Musgrave $896,996 20. Joe Klemochek jla jAjUjAiAjA jAjAjAjAjA By HAROLD MUGGINS Spirt Hrtlrr In a flash, Nashville's A-League division lead has become wobbly. The San Diego Hash zipped in three goals in the second half, handing the Metros just their third home loss of the season, 3-1 last night at the ColumbiaHCA Complex. The Metros' loss left Minnesota nipping at their heels in the Central Division race.

Nashville led 1-0 at the half on Kevin Quigley's fifth goal of the season. But the game turned on a Antonio Robles' penalty kick for a goal seven minutes Into the second half, tying the game 1-1. "It was a turning point, sure," Nashville goalie Randy Dedini said. T1 Adult Film Superstar Teri Weigel August 17-23 h-4 GGEI23EIB laL.B,Ja,dfc.L4)!Aal Free Admlnlon and Fran Lunch Buffet 11-6 CLUB HOURS Mon Thu 11 Frl 11 AM SAM Snt PM 5 AM Sun PM AM ji lei: ILJ MlOnflRUt Dancicu I ttttt tjCjt jf JtJCjf Ji jlk.A,'A- W.m'V.