The Indianapolis Star from Indianapolis, Indiana • Page 30

p'p tt-'v jjijvv fffy "i i i C4 SUNDAY, MAY 30, 2004 Sports THE INDIANAPOLIS STAR WWW.INDYSTAR.COM GOLF AUTO RAGING Gregory takes IRP midget race Hot streak: Hale Irwin hits from the fairway on the 16th hole at Valhalla Golf Club. Irwin, who started his round at No. 10, had consecutive birdies on Nos. 3, 4, 5 and 6 and finished with a 2-un-der-par 69 and a one-stroke lead after the second round of the rain-delayed event. when he and Noblesville's Billy Wease tangled twice down the back straightaway on lap 24.

Both kept driving. Carter went on to finish sixth. Aaron Fike, the defending Night Before the 500 champion, was eliminated from the race during the red flag for changing a tire on the track. Fike led from start to finish in the first qualifying race, which had one yellow flag when Cody Brewer spun going into the second turn. The top nine from each of two qualifying races qualified for the feature race.

In the second qualifying race, New Castle's Tracy Hines led from start to finish. The only yellow came on the second lap when Justin Overfelt, Brad Kuhn and Jacobs tangled near the second turn wall. No one was hurt and all three rejoined the qualifying race. Noblesville driver pulls away during the final laps in the Night Before the 500 event. By Tom Hayes Star correspondent CLERMONT, Ind.

Ron Gregory was the fastest qualifier and had the fastest car during the 59th annual Night Before the 500 at Indianapolis Raceway Park on Saturday night. In his sixth start at IRP, the Noblesville, resident ran away from the field in the final 16 laps of the 50-lap event to earn his first U.S. Auto Club midget win in Indianapolis. "This was absolutely a blast," Gregory said. "For the first 30 or 35 laps I was just biding my time and trying to figure out where my him," Gregory said of his move.

"This car was absolutely hooked up tonight. When I got past him (Darland), I just ran as fast as I could" The most serious incident of the evening came on the seventh lap when Fort Wayne's Richey Jacobs crashed into the first turn wall, flipped and slid upside down against the wall for 200 feet. Jacobs was alert and conscious following the accident but was transported to the hospital for X-rays. Brownsburg's Cole Carter was forced to the back of the field after the red flag on lap seven, because his crew brought a jack across the wall into his pit stall during the race stoppage. Carter, the son of former Indianapolis 500 driver Pancho Carter, was second prior to the red flag.

Carter continued to run strong and was battling for the seventh 'A U.S. AUTO CLUB car was handling better." When that chance came, Gregory made the best of his opportunity, making a daring move to pass Dave Darland in the fourth turn. Darland, winner of Friday's Hoosier Hundred at the Indiana State Fairgrounds, led the first 34 laps before Gregory took the lead. Gregory got next to Darland going into the first turn and the two ran side by side for almost a lap before Gregory got past Darland by taking the inside line coming out of the fourth turn. "He was strong," Darland said.

"His car looked tight, but he did a great job getting past me and then he ran away with it." Gregory was patient waiting for his chance. "I couldn't wait to get past llv v-f; Jf Gordon recalls 1st String of birdies gives Irwin lead in Senior PGA (fit t- i 3 Alan Marier Associated Press Sharing a laugh: Jeff Gordon (left) jokes with Dale Earnhardt Jr. during practice. Gordon has four wins at Lowe's Motor Speedway. PattJ Longmire Associated Press two-round 138.

St. Jude Classic David Toms, who started the third round with a one-stroke lead over Vaughn Taylor, extended his advantage to seven strokes with a 6-under 65, giving the defending champion control of the St. Jude Classic in Memphis, Tenn. Toms posted a seven-birdie, one-bogey round. It was his 11th straight in the 60s on this course, despite a windy afternoon with gusts to 18 mph.

Toms' 54-hole 195 total is just two strokes off the 20 under he posted in winning last year. Taylor shot a 71 and stands at 202. Brian Gay was third after a 66, with a 203 total Corning Classic Playing in the final twosome with Annika Sorenstam, Michelle Estill matched the Swedish star stroke for stroke and calmly rolled in a 4-foot birdie putt at the 18th hole to gain a one-shot lead over Sorenstam after three rounds at the Corning (N.Y.) Classic. "Wowl It's just exciting to be here," said Estill, who finished at 15-under 201 and will begin the final day of a tournament in first place for the first time since she joined the LPGA Tour in 1991. "I guess I should say that's the greatest thing, but to be honest, I'm just happy to be here." After blowing a four-shot lead and falling behind by a stroke on the back nine, Estill fought back as Sorenstam struggled.

Both finished at 70, and Estill remained where she was when the day started alone in the lead. Sorenstam was three strokes ahead of Vicki Goetze-Acker-man. Shi Hyun Ann, whose 66 was the lowest round was alone in fourth at 10-under 206. Volvo PGA Angel Cabrera of Argentina shot a 4-under-par 68 for a one-stroke lead over Justin Rose of England and three others after three rounds of the Volvo PGA Championship in Virginia Water, England. Associated Press Hale Irwin reeled off four straight birdies Saturday, surging to a one-shot lead after two rounds at the flood-delayed Senior PGA Championship at Valhalla in Louisville, Ky.

Irwin shot a 69 and was at 6-under 136, one stroke ahead of John Harris and Wayne Levi. Gil Morgan and Jay Haas were at 4 under and Dave Barr and Tom Watson were three off the lead when the third round began late Saturday afternoon. Irwin was one of 72 golfers who finished their first rounds Thursday, then sat out Friday because of a flood delay triggered by more than an inch of overnight rain. Bright sunshine and warm temperatures bathed the course Saturday. Irwin started his second round on No.

10 and bogeyed the par-3 11th after dumping his tee shot in a bunker. He also bogeyed 13 arid 16 before a birdie at the par-S 18th. Irwin started his birdie streak at the 199-yard third hole, nearly acing it with a 4-iron. He added 10-foot birdie putts at Nos. 4 and 5, then finished the run with a 14-footer at the par-4 sixth, "I look back at my round and there were a lot of good shots and a lot of shots," said Irwin, who won three straight Senior PGAs between 1996-98.

He finished the round with a bogey at the ninth, blaming a bad 6-iron approach on the wet course conditions. Levi led the tournament at 6 under when second-round play was suspended Friday due to darkness. He had seven holes left Saturday morning and made bogeys on Nos. 6 and 7. He recovered with a birdie on the par-3 No.

8 and parred No. 9 to post a second-round 68. Harris quietly moved up the leaderboard Saturday morning, capping a 67 with birdies on two of his last three holes. Morgan bogeyed the second hole of his restarted round, the par-3 11th. He birdied the 14th and finished with four pars for a "It was very emotional," Gordon said Saturday, reminiscing about that inaugural victory.

"Nothing will ever top that first win." And he still hears from fans who were watching that night. "I'll be signing autographs and somebody will mention that, seeing how emotional was," Gordon said. "It was a great night, and it was hard to not get emotional" Since then, he has gone from precocious youngster to grizzled veteran. Gordon has four championships, 66 victories and earnings of nearly $60 million, and he's gained a measure of respect from competitors and fans. He's continued to do well at Lowe's, winning three more races and starting on the pole seven times.

"I like it here, but it's a tough track to get comfortable on," Gordon said. "It was just like this SPEEDWAY First four spots yield most wins Indianapolis Motor Speedway historian Donald Davidson has answered questions about the Indy 500 throughout May. Question: Which starting position in the 500 has produced the most D. Davidson wmners and what is the worst starting spot to produce a winner? Answer: The most successful starting position is the pole, with 16 winners, the most recent being Arie Luyendyk in 1997. On the other hand, several pole winners have finished last.

With 11 winners having come from second spot, nine from third and six from fourth, almost half the winners have come from one of the first four positions." Recent winners have come from farther back: Eddie Cheever (17th in 1998), Helio Castroneves (11th in 2001, 13th in 2002) and Gil de Ferran (10th in 2003). The highest position yet to produce a winner is 16th. The deepest from which any winner has emerged is 28th (Ray Harroun in 1911 and Louis Meyer in 1936). Winner Fred Frame started 27th in 1932. Since World War II, Johnny Rutherford has made up the most ground to win.

He started 25th in 1974. past 3 races One champion. Schumacher was timed in 1 minute, 28.351 seconds on the 3.2-mile NueVburgring circuit, and had the best times in each sector by a large margin. Takuma Sato of BAR-Honda was second in 1:28.896, and Jarno Trulli of Renault took third at L29J35, just before Kimi Raikko-nen of McLaren-Mercedes on L29.137. O'Reilly Summer Nationals Greg Anderson edged David Connolly by 0.0001 seconds to win the $50,000 NHRA King Demon Crown at the O'Reilly NHRA Summer Nationals in Topeka, Kan.

Anderson finished in 6.907 seconds at 198.93 mph in the bonus event for Pro Stock racers. Cory McClenathan (Top Fuel), Whit Bazemore (Funny Car) and Steve Johns (Pro Stock) led their divisions into today's victory morning, we had every intention of the car being good, but it wasn't. We got it better toward the end of practice, and I think we'll be good in the race." He doesn't think often of that first win, preferring to look ahead to what he hopes will be many more. Gordon has a good chance to get another victory at Lowe's. He starts third tonight behind teammate Jimmie Johnson and Ryan Newman and turned the 13th-best lap in the final practice Saturday morning.

After those early struggles, he got the handling of his Chevrolet better for the second session. "It's a long race," Gordon said. "You can overcome one mistake, but you can't really overcome that many. It's hard to make too many adjustments, because you don't know what you'll have in the race. It's a long run." smoke into the air.

When the haze cleared, the exuberant 19-year-old was standing on the door of his car with his helmet off and arms raised in celebration. Busch vaulted into the series points lead with a 38-point advantage over previous leader Martin Truex who finished 14th. Jamie McMurray finished second, followed by Kevin Harvick, Jason Leffler and Tony Stewart. Schumacher takes F-1 pole Michael Schumacher rebounded from last week's crash to capture the pole position for the European Grand Prix (7 a.m., Speed) at Nuerburgring, Germany, the 60th pole of his career. Schumacher, whose season-opening five-race winning streak ended at the Monaco Grand Prix, is closing in on Ayrton Senna's record of 65 poles.

This was the fifth pole of the season for the six-time Formula We fit 4-time Cup champ celebrates the 10th anniversary of his win in the Coca-Cola 600. Associated Press CONCORD, N.C. Ten years ago, Jeff Gordon was a bit of an outcast when he sped to the first victory of his NASCAR career. Born in California, raised in Indiana running open-wheel cars in USAC, he drew the ire of NASCAR fans by regularly rubbing fenders Todays Uje- PaCe Earnhardt and Bill Elliott. Gordon also was one of the first younger What: Coca-Cola 600, Lowe's Motor Speedway, Con- Kir drivers to enter the sport with a When: 4 p.m.

competitive team, joining Radio: Hendrick WNDE-1260 AM, Motorsports FM ter two seasons in the Busch Series. He was Rookie of the Year in 1993 at 22 years old. The next year, when he got that first win in the Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe's Motor Speedway, Gordon added to his legacy as an interloper. In victory lane, as he climbed out of his car, he wept openly. And continued crying for several minutes, uncontrollably at times.

He even admitted after the race that he had a hard time seeing through the tears over the final laps. It was a bit hard for some in the rough-and-tumble world of NASCAR to take. Busch holds Late race cautions help 19-year-old driver conserve fuel; win gives him points lead. Associated Press Kyle Busch needed a bit of good fortune to take the lead late in Saturday's Carquest Auto Parts 300 at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C. Then he just made sure he had enough gas to hold on.

The rookie went ahead when leader Joe Nemechek lost control with 18 laps to go, then pulled away from the field before winning under caution. It was his second win in his past three NASCAR Busch Series races. Busch finished second in this race last year in his Busch debut, falling behind Matt Kenseth on a late restart. This time, Busch benefited Next to Guitar Center (317) 578-3723 2nd Which of Rotting At 2nd of clubs or Ups and on for his 2nd victory in ROUNDUP from the late caution on Neme-chek's spinout to save gas for a final push to the checkered flag. Busch won under caution after Tony Raines hit the wall with two laps to go.

"I just kept watching the fuel gauge making sure we were all right," Busch said. "We were doing pretty good and saving fuel on those last cautions." Several of the leaders were apparently low enough on gas that they drove on the apron during the last caution to avoid the banked turns, which could slosh gas away from the intake and stall the car. "We just moseyed around there as quickly as we could," Busch said. After the race, Busch burned his tires on the front straightaway, sending thick clouds of white Ep3 F. C.

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