The Indianapolis Star from Indianapolis, Indiana • Page 34

D10 MONDAY, AUGUST 11, 2003 i.o' Sports THE INDIANAPOLIS STAR WWW.INDYSTAR.COM AUTO RACING Temp work ends for John Andretti Indy native renews search for permanent ride since being dumped by Petty Enterprises. tetchy vi 13 Sirius at the Glen (Top finishers) .1 1-3. Charles Berch Associated Press The miserable Gordon: Pole sitter Jeff Gordon (24) is hit from behind by Kevin Harvick on the final lap. Gordon was spun out by Greg Biffle on the first lap of Sunday's Winston Cup race. NASCAR Jeff Gordon's day went downhill fast.

From D1 line, he was bumped and passed by Dale Earnhardt who went on to finish third and tighten his hold on second place in the season standings. Then Brickyard 400 champion Kevin Harvick caught Gordon. Feeling he was being blocked, Harvick gave Gordon a nudge. When that didn't work, he hit him harder. Gordon spun into the wall and his car, facing backward, stopped 50 yards short of the finish line.

"He pulled up right in the groove and I hit him twice," said Harvick, who wound up fifth behind Jimmie Johnson. "If you run out of gas, the best thing to do is get out of the groove." Earnhardt also said Gordon got what was coming to him. "I ran into the back of him because he ran in front of me. I was going probably 50 mph faster than he was," Earnhardt said. "Wherever I went, he went, so I ran into him.

I tried not to kill him, but it was not very smart on his part." Gordon conceded it was his fault he ran out of gas, but he didn't agree that made him fair game for target practice. "Junior caught me and I tried to get out of his way, and he hit me," Gordon said. "Luckily, I saved it there. Then Harvick got to the outside of me and I was trying to get out of his way and he hit me. He just flat ran over me." Gordon said he'd wait to look at a replay before making a judg- goal is unchanged from what it was after he was abruptly fired by Petty Enterprises in June? Find a competitive ride for "It's not like there's 30 teams with jobs open," he said, "but it's important to get into a situation that's going to be good.

"People know I'm out here." 1 Tracy to try stock cars? If disgruntled Championship Auto Racing Teams driver Paul Tracy decides he wants to give stock cars a try, Richard Childress would give the Canadian a good look. "We've talked on occasion," said Childress, the winning owner Sunday with Robby Gordon and in the Brickyard 400 with Kevin "He'd definitely be my kind of driver if he'd like to try Winston Cup racing." Despite leading CART in points and wins as he chases his first championship, Tracy has had a running verbal battle with series officials in recent weeks. Driver Car 1. Robby Gordon Chevrolet 2. Scott Pruett Dodge 3.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet 4. Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 5. Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 6. Ward Burton Dodge 7.

Dale Jarrett Ford 8. Matt Kenseth Ford 9. Ryan Newman Dodge 10. Mark Martin Ford By Steve Ballard steve.ballardindystar.com WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. Last week, John Andretti had two jobs.

Next week, he goes back to having none. The Indianapolis native finished 19th Sunday at Watkins Glen International in his last start at least for a while in the No. 0 NetZero Pontiac. 'Jason Leffler takes over the Gene Haas-owned car for a minimum of five races, starting next Sunday at Michigan International Speedway. "They're a new team trying to come up with the right guys for what they want to do," Andretti said.

"Right now, it's a flavor-of-the-week kind of thing." Leffler replaced Andretti in the No. 0 car in last week's Brickyard 400. The U.S. Auto Club and NASCAR truck series regular impressed the team in a test and in the race, where he was headed for a solid finish until being caught in a late seven-car crash that dropped him to 33rd. Andretti previously had committed to drive a Dale Earnhardt Inc.

car on his hometown track. High hopes after being fast in practice and qualifying were dashed when he was knocked into the wall early in the race and finished last. His luck wasn't much better in his two first starts in the No. 0 car after replacing fired Jack Sprague. He was helped into the wall in his first race, finishing 41st, and was 33rd in the other.

"I can't help what other people do," he said. "I just happened to be in the wrong place, I guess." Now, he's back to searching for the right place. He said his ment on the first-lap incident with Biffle. "It certainly made for a long day," Gordon said after falling 138 points behind Earnhardt and 396 behind Matt Kenseth, who cleared a major hurdle in his championship bid by placing eighth. Defending race champion Tony Stewart, forced to start at the rear of the field after an engine change, picked up 13 positions in the last 12 laps to finish 11th.

All of the last-lap dramatics were going on well behind Robby Gordon, which was just fine with him. He had clear sailing for the last 30 laps after the final round of pit stops set up perfectly for him. Gordon had a front-row seat when Wallace took his unplanned excursion through the gravel Gordon quickly contacted crew chief Kevin Hamlin, who instructed him to pit immediately, three laps ahead of their planned stop. That got them on pit road before the MANNING TIGER WOODS SAMMY SOSA Indy's Autograph Superstore! of autographs Sport Celebrity Music History Disney Animation Art Life and Photo Collection Movie Posters Golf Prints City Stadium Panoramas SUPERB CUSTOM FRAMING SWTOIN HOW H3TIIW 3I993H H3D9W H3IW caution for Wallace's incident came out. "I hit the button (on the radio) and said, 'Rusty's in the Gordon said.

"They told me, 'Come now, come "I don't know if we had the best car today, but we won the race." Only Pruett, Harvick and rookie Casey Mears among the contenders were able to follow Gordon down pit road. The rest had to go all the way around the track under caution before they could make their stops. Several cars stayed on the track, but when they eventually had to stop for fuel, the fortunate four of Gordon, Harvick, Pruett and Mears were in command. Pruett, a road-racing specialist driving a fourth Ganassi Racing entry, got around Harvick for second place and held on for his best career finish. Mears also passed Harvick but then drove off the course and out of the chase.

A short caution when Todd Bodine spun off the course on lap 76 ensured Robby Gordon and Pruett of having enough fuel to finish. "It all depended on those yellows," Pruett said. "We're not running for points, so we could afford to take gambles. We got a little behind the 8-ball at the end because we had to conserve fueL I could pace Robby, but I certainly couldn't catch him." Earnhardt was hardest hit by a J' rattles crew, drivers WAYNE GRETZKV MICHAEL JORDAN PEYTON N0SIQ3 SVW0H1 SlHHOtl VIW 3S0U 313d 399 SV SV 399 Firat mo. paymant 2,995 Down paymant The Series points leaders: Kenseth Earnhardt Jr.

Jeff Gordon Johnson Harvick 2,778 the Wallace-caused caution. He was leading when the yellow came out and had to restart deep in the field. "It was frustrating to come out of the pits behind so many people after running in the top three all day," he said. "To come out behind 20 or 22 cars, there's nothing you can do about it You just try and make it up best you can." Which he did. But in the end, he said, the right man won.

"Robby is a classic professional road-course racer," Earnhardt said. "I could have been second on that last restart and I don't think I could have passed him." Call Star reporter Steve Ballard at 1-317-444-6184. Pit accident By Curt Cavin curt.cavin(findystar.com MADISON, 111. Kelley Racing crew member Pat Jordan turned to find left-rear tire changer Anton Julian unconscious at his feet Sunday on pit road at Gateway International Raceway. "I looked him right in the eyes and he was out," said Jordan, who also got knocked aside by the errant car of Bryan Herta.

"I just laid him down." Jordan, fueling AI Unser car, could see that fellow pit crew member Julian got hit by the front of Herta's car. Herta was too distraught to continue driving. Unser's spotter, Tony Renna, left his post, too, as he recalled the horror of hitting crew members Bernie HaUisky and Rusty Hurford a year ago today at Kentucky Speedway. Julian was awake and alert and listed in fair condition Sunday night at a St. Louis hospital.

He Helio Winner holds off Kanaan, de Ferran in final laps. From D1 was really light, and it shouldn't have shot him to the left like that." It was a rough few minutes for Herta, the winner of last month's Kansas race. He touched wheels with rookie A.J. Foyt IV to create the caution period that sent the 21-car field to pit road for service. In the traffic jam that ensued, several cars hit each other, leaving Herta trapped.

He hit someone, perhaps Scott Dixon, and got knocked 3 feet into the air. IRL officials looked for suspension damage during the stop but found none. As Herta left his pit box, he had to leave room for the pitting Sam Hornish Jr. That came just before the contact with Lazier. At about 36 feet, Gateway's pit road is the narrowest in the IRL That's about 20 feet less than the Indianapolis Motor Speedway; which came under fire last week when Dale Jarrett struck a member of his crew in NASCAR's Brickyard 400.

"It was just a mess out there, and it was hard to see," said To-mas Scheckter, who saw Herta's car in the air and dust flying. "Everyone was nose to tail, and we all got bunched up. There was nowhere to go." The dangerous situation was a in Mears falls short at end Rookie Casey Mears ap'j peared on his way to his first top-five finish Sunday when it all fell apart. He was running fourth with nine laps to go when he missed a corner and drove off the Adding insult to injury, he ran, out of fuel on the final lap and then was penalized by NASCAR: for driving through a chicane. "We had a great run.

I just, messed up," Mears said. "I made a little mistake and that's the difference between a top-five (fin- ish) and wherever we ended That would be 32nd. 3 Call Star reporter Steve Ballard at 1-317-444-6184. 9 nard. "I think it would help our Winston Cup teams." 'I Childress' involvement could help Panther retain two-time series champion Sam Hornish who also would like to run the Daytona 500 next year.

Notes Injured driver Felipe Giaf-fone still intends to return to' competition Sept. 7 at the IRL's race in Joliet, 111. The Brazilian broke his leg and fractured his pelvis in a crash July 6 at Kansas. He is expected to be on crutches through the fall and will be at the IRL's next two races as a specta-, tor. Scott Dixon did more than lose the race when his gear-, box failed after leading 78 consecutive laps.

He fell from first to fourth in a tight championship chase. Call Star reporter Curt Cavin at 1-317-444-6409. Teams series at Detroit in 2000, He has won a total of 10 times in CART and the IRL The two-time Indy champion' led a race-high 96 laps on the 1.25-' mile track that is one of the more difficult on the IRL circuit. He said he never felt safe despite the. sudden retirement of Dixon, who, led 78 consecutive laps before pulling off the course.

Castroneves had a myriad of problems that extended beyond keeping Kanaan behind him. As! the Team Penske crew started his; car to begin the race, his dash-i board electronics quit requiring him to rely on his radio' and instincts to make the necessary fuel mileage and shift decisions. Unsure of his situation at the start, Castroneves, the pole gave up two positions on the1 opening lap. But he figured out where on the track his engine was' hitting the rev limitor, and he started shifting earlier. The experienced crew, led by team president Tim Cindric guided him through the turmoil.

"I felt like I was flying an air-r plane without any instruments hi bad weather," Castroneves "But I finally got my rhythm' back." i Dixon was disappointed. "It's so hard to have a race like' this end the way it did," he said. Said Kanaan: "Scott wasn't just tough, he was gone. It wasn't even a competition." Call Star reporter Curt Cavin at 1-317-444-6409. 1 m.

IRL NOTEBOOK had a right knee injury and a concussion. Childress eyes IRL NASCAR team owner Richard Childress confirmed Sunday that he is seriously considering being part of a new IRL entry for 2004. Reached in Watkins Glen, N.Y., Childress told The Star he has spoken with more than one open-wheel team about fielding a car next season. One apparently is the IRL's Panther Racing, which employs engineer Andy Brown, with whom Childress is impressed. "It would be a little of our (stock car) technology and a little of theirs," said Childress, who has been involved in a pair of Indianapolis 500s in minor partnerships with A.J.

Foyt and John Me Emerson Indy 250 (Top finishers) Driver Car 1. Helio Castroneves D-T 2. Tony Kanaan D-H 3. Gil de Ferran D-T 4. Tomas Scheckter 5.

Dan Wheldon D-H 6. Sam Hornish Jr. D-C 7. Tora Takagi D-T 8. Greg Ray G-H 9.

Vitor Meira D-C 10. Scott Sharp D-T Chassis: G-G Force, D-Dallara Engnes: C-Chevrolet, H-Honda, T-Toyota Series points leaders: Kanaan 357; de Ferran 350; Castroneves 347; Scott Dixon 333; Kenny Brack 268 primary topic in the pre-race drivers meeting, according to chief steward Brian Barnhart. "It's by the grace of God that (Julian) wasn't hurt worse," he said. Later, Dixon twice built an 8-second lead and appeared on his way to a season-high fourth victory and control of the series points lead when his gearbox failed on lap 159. Castroneves was the beneficiary.

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