Arizona Republic from Phoenix, Arizona • Page 44

The Arizona Republic MOTOR ARMIJO'S PICKS MBNA AMERICA 400: Mark Martin. Oldest driver in the Chase still has something left for the Young Guns. BRIDGESTONE 400: Mario Dominguez. Knows how to mix it up on superspeedways. POINTS LEADERS Nextel Cup: Dale Earnhardt Kurt Busch IRL: Tony Kanaan Champ Car: Sebastien Bourdais Leader board, C14 NOTES CIO FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2004 SPORTS RACE OF THE WEEK 't Fisher to make stock car debut Oct.

3 at PIR S'j NEXTEL CUP MBNA America 400 Dover Downs International Speedway in Delaware. 1-mile oval. 24-degree banking in turns. Distance: 400 miles, 400 laps. Schedule: Friday, qualifying (TNT, 11:30 a.m.); Sunday, race (TNT, 10 a.m.) Next race: EA Sports 500, ,0 4 -V CM Outlook Although the 10 drivers in the Chase for the Cup are separated by only 142 points with nine remaining races, the deficits faced by Tony Stewart (124 behind), Ryan Newman (136) and Jeremy Mayfleld (142) may be too large to overcome.

The outlook could easily change on the concrete surface at Dover (Del.) International Speedway, where races are physically demanding and test a driver's resolve. The other seven drivers, led by series leaders Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kurt Busch, are separated by only 71 points, and the top six are within 38. Yh i M7 Oct. 3, Talladega, Ala.

kX TURNS fi VI Dave SeibertThe Arizona Republic Jeff Gordon (center) and his crew chief Robbie Loomis (right) will attempt to solve Phoenix International Raceway's 1-mile oval during a test at the track next month. PIR may decide Chase CHASING SUCCESS AT PIR How the 10 drivers in the Chase for the Nextel Cup have fared at Phoenix International Raceway: Driver Starts Wins Top 5 Top 10 Laps led DNFs Contenders try to solve tricky turns STARTFINISH Source: Nextel Cup Associated Press FANTASY FORECAST NEXTEL CUP: A single driver has swept the season's two races at Dover, in five of the past 10 years, meaning Mark Martin, who won earlier this year, may be in for a big day. Tony Stewart led the most laps in the June race. Joe Gibbs Racing and the Hendrick Motorsports team account for six wins in the past 11 Dover races. CHAMP CAR: The Bridgestone 400 is the inaugural Champ Car race at the Las Vegas 1.5-mile oval, providing extra motivation for Nevada residents Jimmy Vasser, Paul Tracy, Patrick Carpentier and Alex Taglianl.

Tracy, however, never has won on a superspeedway and has only one podium finish. DRIVER SPOTLIGHT: MATT KENSETH Age: 32 Hometown: Cambridge, Wis. Resides: Terrell, N.C. Career highlights: Won last season's NASCAR championship. Co-rookie of the year with Dale Earnhardt Jr.

in 2000. 2004: Two wins and is No. 4 in the driver standings, 10 points from the series lead. Do you like the new points system? It's OK. It's different.

I enjoyed the traditional way of going for it all year, and having to pay for a mistake in April is the same as October. That was cool, but I could see how that would maybe get a little boring for people if the points race was real spread out like it is in the Busch Series. I think this has definitely created a lot more Dale Earnhardt Jr. 4 1 2 2 109 1 Kurt Busch 4 0 2 2 207 0 Jeff Gordon 11 0 4 9 65 1 Matt Kenseth 4 1 2 3 54 1 Jimmie Johnson 2 0 1 1 85 0 Elliott Sadler 5 0 0 1 0 0 Mark Martin 16 1 9 13 469 1 Tony Stewart 5 1 3 3 44 0 Ryan Newman 4 0 1 1 56 2 Jeremy Mayfield 9 0 1 1 0 2 By Mark Armijo The Arizona Republic Like so many other open wheel drivers unable to land steady Indy car work, Sarah Fisher has turned her attention toward NASCAR. Fisher, who in 2000 became the third female in history to qualify for the Indianapolis 500, will make her stock car de but at Phoenix International Raceway on Oct.

3 in the NASCAR West Series Subway 150. "There might be a point when I come back to the IRL (Indy Racing League) and race full time, so I'm not closing the door on that," Fisher said by telephone from her home in Indianapolis. "It just didn't work out for me this year." Fisher, 23, has 48 career IRL starts and finished a career, high second in a 2001 race at Homestead-Miami Speedway. She also won a pole position in 2002 at Kentucky Speedway. But after making 15 starts last year, she was unable to land a full-time ride this season and drove in only the Indy 500, where she finished 21st.

"For people like me with no (sponsorship) money, there are no opportunities for me in the IRL anymore that I can see," Fisher said. "So I looked around for something else to drive and I found Bill McAnally." McAnally owns the No. 20 Chevrolet that Fisher will drive in next week's race. Reg ular driver Kerry Earnhardt, a son of the late Dale Earnhardt, has a conflicting Nextel Cup race at Talladega, Ala. Fisher's name was floated to McAnally by Richard Childress, who met her last year at a Chevy function.

"I think she could be real good for our series, and I think our series could be real good for her," McAnally said. Fisher, however, never has driven a stock car in a race. She will test the car on Thursday at Irwindale (Calif.) Speedway. "I'll openly admit I'm a little antsy about it," Fisher said, "I'm nervous. I just want to try and learn as much as I can." Pit stops Carl Trimmer, Jon Sellers, Dick Moeller, Jimmy Blanton and Alvin Clark are being inducted Saturday into the Ark zona Motorsports Hall of Fame.

The ceremony takes place during the Hall of Fame Vintage Classic at Manzanita. Speedway. Mike Adams of Laveen recently set an elapsed-time re cord for nostalgia Funny Cars with a quarter-mile pass of 6.083 seconds (230.02 mph) in a 1979 Corvette. waz 1 I interest than I thought it would, and it was real exciting at Richmond watching the battle for the 10th position to make the cut for the Chase." Your thoughts on the Robby Gordon-Greg Biffle Incident? "I haven't seen the incident. But as far as the question about being concerned about being taken out by somebody when you're racing for the championship, 43 people show By Mark Armijo The Arizona Republic At first glance, Phoenix International Raceway hardly seems a puzzle.

It is a 1-mile oval, mostly flat and fitted with four seemingly harmless turns just like most other racetracks dotting the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series calendar. But PIR is no ordinary layout. It has a quirky dogleg along the backstretch and corners apparently so decidedly different that crew chiefs rarely are able to uncover a surefire chassis setup to accommodate both ends of the track. Only two drivers (Jeff Burton and the late Davey Allison) have won more than once in NASCAR's 17-year history at the facility. Such challenges combined with PIR's position on the schedule could make the Nov.

7 Checker Auto Parts 500 a pivotal stop in the inaugural 10-race Chase for the Cup. Four-time series champion Jeff Gordon is concerned enough about PIR that he and Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jimmie Johnson plan a two-day test session here next month. Gordon has conducted similar in-season tests here the past couple of years. "It's (PIR) a tough place to get a handle on, that's for sure," Gordon said before a recent race at California Speedway. "It really wears the right rear tire out." Although Gordon has won U.S.

Auto Club and Busch Series races at PIR, he has never reached victory lane in NASCAR's premier division. "I've had some great runs in a Cup car there, but we want to get better," said Gordon, who enters Sunday's stop at Dover (Del.) International Speedway trailing series leaders Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kurt Busch by nine points. "Any one of these last (nine) races can be pivotal," he said. "But we're going to test at tracks that we feel like are tracks that we need to improve at.

Even though we continue to get a little better (at PIR), that's one track we want to make sure we leave there with a good finish. "I'd love to win there because I've never won there (in a Cup car). But also just getting a top five out of that place would be huge." Of the 10 Chase-eligible drivers, Gordon is among the better performers at PIR with four top-five finishes and nine top-10 finishes in 11 events. But it's hardly been easy. Kyle Petty, who isn't eligible for the Chase title, agrees.

"I think Phoenix will be a pivotal race because some of those top 10 guys just aren't too good at a flat track," Petty said. "The place is aggravating. You either get it or you don't." Ken Schrader is another driver who's never won a Cup race at PIR. But he is the track's all-time leader in wins due to victory lane appearances in other divisions, including the NASCAR Southwest Series. He acknowledges that PIR has its quirks, but so do all the remaining racetracks.

"You can talk all you want, but Phoenix is no different than anywhere else," Schrader said. "Phoenix can be hit or miss, but if you're off on any of the tracks, it'll be a long day." Bob JordanAssociated Press up on the racetrack every Sunday, and they're all racing for a win. They all have just as much a right to be out there, whether you're 40th in points or first. So getting caught up in somebody else's mess is part of racing. There's no one person on the track that deserves more real estate than any other person." What are your thoughts on scanner communications being aired on TV? "I've always hated it.

I think it's cool that the fans get to listen to it, but I don't like saying something and then it gets broadcast on TV, and maybe you're embarrassed about it later." Hot streak puts Gordon ahead in vote DRIVER OF THE YEAR THIRD-QUARTER VOTING 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 15 2 LOCAL RACES MANZANITA SPEEDWAY Today: Factory stocks, bombers, claimers. Saturday: U.S. Auto ClubCRA Hall of Fame Vintage Classic (sprint cars). Information: (602) 276-7575. CANYON RACEWAY Saturday: IMCA modifieds, bombers, dwarf cars, modified midgets, ministocks.

Information: (623) 465-1311. FIREBIRD RACEWAY Today: Drag racing. Information: (602) 268-0200. SPEEDWORLD MOTORPLEX Today-Saturday: Drag racing. Information: (623) 388-2424.

CENTRAL ARIZONA RACEWAY Saturday: Modifieds, street stocks, factory stocks. Information: (520) 723-8888. ON TELEVISION NASCAR Nextel Cup: MBNA America 400 TV: 10 a.m. Sunday, TNT Defending champion: Ryan Newman Site: Dover, Del. Race 28 of 36, scheduled for 400 laps (400 miles) over 1-mile Dover International Speedway oval.

Web site: www.nascar.com OTHERS: American Le Mans Series, 8:30 a.m., 1 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. Saturday, Speed Channel; NASCAR Busch Series, 10 a.m. Saturday, TNT; NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, 7 p.m. Saturday, Speed Channel; Formula One Grand Prix of China, 10:30 p.m.

Saturday, Speed Channel; FIM World Superbike Series, noon (delay) Sunday, Speed Channel; Champ Car World Series, 4 p.m. (delay) Sunday, Spike TV; NHRA O'Reilly Fall Nationals, 8 p.m. (delay) Sunday, ESPN2. For more motorsports coverage, go to spee4.azcentral.com. 1 7 4 1 1 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 3 2 2 By Mark Armijo The Arizona Republic Jeff Gordon dropped out of the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series lead following a seventh-place finish Sunday at New Hampshire International Speedway, but the news wasn't all bad.

Gordon also learned he'd won the third-quarter vote for Speed Channel Driver of the Year, easily outdistancing runner-up Sebastien Bourdais of the Champ Car World Series. Gordon received 15 of 18 first-place votes and totaled 151 points to Bourdais' two first-place votes and 71 points. Points are tabulated on a 9-6-4-3-2-1 basis from a nationwide panel of motorsports writers and broadcasters, who each select six drivers. Online voting by fans also counts as one vote. Fans made Bourdais their top choice, and Mark Martin also got a first-place vote from the panel.

Gordon, the only four-time national Driver of the Year, won three races and four pole positions during the quarter. His victories included the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. "It's an honor," Gordon said. "This Du Pont team had a great run during the quarter, and I'm glad it was recognized." Buddy Rice of Phoenix finished sixth in the voting. The Republic is a member of the voting panel.

Its top six selections in order were: Gordon, Greg Anderson, Bourdais, Rice, Carl Edwards and Steve Kinser. Driver Jeff Gordon Sebastien Bourdais Greg Anderson Dan Wheldon Mark Martin Buddy Rice Carl Edwards Steve Kinser Tony Schumacher Tommy Kendall Tony Kanaan Danny Lasoski Gary Densham Jimmie Johnson Doug Kalitta Bobby Hamilton Jeremy Mayfield Ted Musgrave Greg Biffle Kyle Busch Freddie Rahmer Points 151 71 46 31 24 21 IS 15; 14 13 4 6 3, 3 3 3 2 2' 2 1 1 nrnr.7 vjl MEilff B3(B P( UUUUM 5 What else do you What else do you need? only each, euepyday.