Battle Creek Enquirer from Battle Creek, Michigan • Page 13

SPORTS Monday, June 17, 2002 Battle Creek Enquirer 5B CPI AUTO RACING SCOREBOARD NASCAR WINSTON CUP j- Jm: ----'-5-sr crash, $22,125. 40. (36) Mike Harmon, Chevrolet, 38, crash, $14,590. 4L (23) Hank Parker Dodge, 3L crash, $16,560. 42.

(26) David Green, Chevrolet, 15, engine failure, $14,525. 43. (29) Stanton Barrett Jr, Chevrolet 0, crash, $14,485. Race Statistics Average Speed of Race Winner. 127.164 Time of Race: 2 hours, 21 minutes, 33 seconds.

Margin of Victory. 0.036 seconds. Caution Flags: 8 for 32 laps. Lead Changes: 15 among 9 drivers. Lap Leaders: S.Riggs 1-33; S.Marlin 34-40; S.Riggs 41-51; J.Sauter 52-55; J.Keller 56-74; G.Biffle 75-86; M.Wallace 87-95; S.Riggs 96-118; G.Biffle 119-149; A.Lewis Jr.150; R.Hendrick 151; S.Riggs 152-175; G.

Biffie 176-189; T.Bodine 190-197; G.Biffle 198-199; IBodine 200. Points Standings: J.Sprague, 2, S.Riggs, 2,224. 3, G.Biffle. 2,182. 4, J.Keller, 2,163.

5, KWallace, 2,075. 6, RlaJoie, 2,035. B.Hamilton 2,019. 8, S.Wimmer, 2,003. M.McLaughlin, 1,945.

10, S.Compton, 1,922. ASSOCIATED PRESS Matt Kenseth takes the checkered flag at the Sirius Satellite Radio 400 just in front of runner-up and pole sitter Dale Jarrett at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn on Sunday afternoon. Kenseth victorious at Michigan SIRIUS SATELLITE RADIO 400 RESULTS SundayAt Michigan Speedway Brooklyn, Mich. Lap length: 2-mile d-shaped oval 1. (20) Matt Kenseth, Ford, 200 laps, 154.822 mph, $154,100.

2. (1) Dale Jarrett, Ford, 200, $142,028. 3. (6) Ryan Newman, Ford, 200, $100,575. 4.

(2) Michael Waltrip, Chev, 200, $80,500. 5. (24) Jeff Gordon, Chev, 200, $112,028. 6. (30) Johnny Benson, Pontiac, 200, $89,115.

7. (25) Rusty Wallace, Ford, 200, $94,790. .8. (26) Ricky Rudd, Ford, 200, $95,632. 9.

(9) Mark Martin, Ford, 200, $87,198. 10. (12) Kurt Busch, Ford, 200, $64,915. 11. (4) Bill Elliott, Dodge, 200, 12.

(27) Kyle Petty, Dodge, 200, $52,340. 13. (23) Dave Blaney, Ford, 200, $73,440. 14. (14) Jimmie Johnson, Chev, 200, $49,740.

15. (8) Ricky Craven, Ford, 199, $59,940. 16. (10) Tony Stewart, Pontiac, 199, $92,618. 17.

(22) Hut Stficklin, Dodge, 199, $57,340. 18. (34) Jeff Green, Chev, 199, $47,940. 19. (17) Geoffrey Bodine, Ford, 199, $72,727.

20. (32) Jeff Burton, Ford, 199, $91,757. 21. (37) Sterling Marlin, Dodge, 199, $85,907. 22.

(3) Dale Earnhardt Jr, Chev, 199, $80,677. 23. (11) John Andretti, Dodge, 199, $73,523. 24. (18) Bobby Labonte, Pontiac, 198, $88,718.

25. (36) Ken Schrader, Pontiac, 198, $67,340. 26. (7) Elliott Sadler, Ford, 198, $64,090. 27.

(19) Kevin Harvick, Chev, 198, $88,103. 28. (13) Jimmy Spencer, Dodge, 198, $45,175. 29. (29) Joe Nemechek, Chev, 198, $52365.

30. (15) Mike Skinner, Chev, 197, $53,279. 3L (38) Terry Labonte, Chev, 197, $70,573. 32. (16) Steve Park, Chev, 197, $71,540.

33. (35) Robby Gordon, Chev, 197, $67,646. 34. (21) Brett Bodine, Ford, 196, $41,520. 35.

(33) Stacy Compton, Pontiac, 196, $41,445. 36. (31) Jeremy Mayfield, Dodge, 195, $49 395 37. (28) Bobby Hamilton Chev, 195, $49,345. 38.

(42) Derrike Cope, Ford, 194, $41,235. 39. (39) Casey Atwood, Dodge, 193, $41,200. 40. (40) Steve Grissom, Dodge, 193, $41,165.

4L (41) Jason Small, Dodge, 160, brakes, $41,130. 42. (5) Ward Burton, Dodge, 137, engine failure, $84,090. 43. (43) Gary Bradberry, Ford, 72, handling, $40,399.

Race Statistics Time of Race: 2 hours, 35 minutes, 1 second. Margin of Victory: 0.131 seconds. Caution Flags: 4 for 16 laps. Lead Changes: 15 among 10 drivers. Lap Leaders: D.Jarrett B.Elliott 1-2; R.Newman 3-8; D.Earnhardt Jr.

9-17; B.Elliott 18-46; M.Waltrip 47-48; LSadler 49; DJar-rett 50-115; K.Busch 116-139; R.Newman 140-142; D.Jarrett 143-147; M.Kenseth 148-160; JJohnson 161-185; M.Kenseth 186-189; D.BIaney 190-191; M.Kenseth 192-200. Driver Standings: S.Marlin, JJohnson, J.Gordon, M.Martin, M.Kenseth, RWallace, T.Stewart, R.Rudd, K.Busch, B.Elliott, 1,825. NASCAR BUSCH KROGER 300 RESULTS SundayAt Kentucky Speedway, Sparta 1. (6) Todd Bodine, Chevrolet, 200, $98,370. 2.

(9) Greg Biffie, Ford, 200, $68,825. 3. (30) Tony Raines, Chev, 200, $50,100. 4. (1) Scott Riggs, Ford, 200, $45,525.

5. (8) Scott Wimmer, Pontiac, 200, $30,175. 6. (12) Jamie McMurray, Chev, 200, $29375. 7.

(35) Kerry Earnhardt, Chevrolet, 200, $27,600. 8. (14) Ricky Hendrick, Chev, 200, $26,400. 9. (37) Kenny Wallace, Chev, 200, $25,375.

10. (39) Shane Hall, Chev, 200, $24,040. 11 (20) Ashton Lewis Chev, 199, $23,145. 12. (18) Kevin Lepage, Chev, 199, $28,120.

13. (10) Randy LaJoie, Chev, 199, $27,585. 14. (28) Coy Gibbs, Pontiac, 199, $17,565. 15.

(16) Tim Sauter, Chev, 199, $2L860. 16. (3) Jack Sprague, Chev, 199, $19,115. 17. (27) Stacy Compton, Chev, 199, $23,030.

18. (21) Butch Miller, Chev, 199, $16,865. 19. (25) Shane Hmiel, Chev, 199, $20,760. 20.

(13) Casey Mears, Dodge, 199, $21335. 21. (2) Jay Sauter, Chevrolet, 198, crash, $26,010. 22. (31) Steadman Marlin, Ford, 198, $16,465.

23. (40) Andy Kirby, Ford, 198, $18,235. 24. (32) Johnny Sauter, Chevrolet, 197, crash, $23,590. 25.

(11) Joe Nemechek, Chevrolet, 197, $16,065. 26. (42) Christian Elder, Ford, 197, $15,840. 27. (24) Dan Pardus, Chev, 194, $15,715.

28. (41) Brad Teague, Ford, 194, $15,595. 29. (17) Stuart Kirby, Chevrolet, 193, $15,465. 30.

(34) Hermie Sadler, Chevrolet 192, engine failure, $15,340. 3L (33) Mike Wallace, Chevrolet, 184, overheating, $15,315. 32. (22) Brian Vickers, Dodge, 181, electrical, $15,105. 33.

(43) Larry Gunselman, Chevrolet, 155, engine failure, $14,995. 34. (4) Jason Keller, Ford, 144, engine failure, $22,380. 35. (38) Kevin Grubb, Chevrolet, 111, engine failure, $16,770.

36. (7) Bobby Hamilton Ford, 110, $22,230. 37. (15) Ron Hornaday Chevrolet 103, engine failure, $14,695. 38.

(5) Larry Foyt, Chevrolet 81, crash, $16,660. 39. (19) Mike McLaughlin, Pontiac, 67, mph. I 9, Gl sew -JF point margin over Riggs. DA MATTA TOPS IN CART PORTLAND, Ore.

Cristiano da Matta won his third race of the season, holding off Bruno Junqueira in the G.I. Joe's 200. Da Matta, who drives for Newman-Haas, has won five of the last eight races dating to last sea-soil All three of his 2002 victories have come on road courses. Target-Ganassi's Junqueira, who was born in the same Brazilian town as da Matta, finished 0.625 seconds behind the winner, while Kool Green's Dario Franchitti was third, 7.761 seconds back. With the victory, da Matta extended his lead in the standings to 20 points.

Da Matta has 74 in six races, followed by Junqueira and Michel Jourdain both at 54. DEFERRAN EARNS IRL WIN FOUNTAIN, Colo. Gil de Ferran led all but eight laps to post his first Indy Racing League victory in the Radisson 225, a race that was stopped for 51 minutes by rain and hail. De Ferran and Penske teammate Helio Castroneves repeated their 1-2 finish in qualifying. De Ferran, one of only four drivers to win back-to-back CART championships, moved to the IRL circuit this season along with Team Penske and showed he is ready to resume his dominance.

De Ferran finished 1.4 seconds ahead of Castroneves, winner of the last two Indy 500s, and 2.0 seconds ahead of Sam Hornish Jr. AUDI SWEEPS AT LE MANS LE MANS, France Audi swept the top three places in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, as Frank Biela, Tom Kristensen and Emanuele Pirro became the first trio to win the event three years running. Starting in second place, Biela, Kristensen and Pirro took the lead after three hours and remained in front until the end. As he did the last two years, Pirro drove the silver-and-red R8 car across the finish line as the checkered flag swung in the air. Organizers said 220,000 spectators were on hand for at least part of the round-the-clock race.

The No. 2 Audi team of Rinaldo Capello, Chris Pesca-tori and Johnny Herbert fin: ished second, one lap behind. DIXON GETS TOP FUEL VICTORY HEBRON, Ohio Larry Dixon raced to his seventh Top Fuel victory of the year and teammate Ron Capps broke a season-long Funny Car drought Sunday in the NHRA's Pontiac Excitement Nationals. It was the third time that the two drivers have given owner Don Prudhomme a double-victory celebration, following last season's event in Minnesota and the 1998 Winternationals in California. Dixon claimed his 23rd career victory in a record sixth straight final, and increased his points lead to 259 over Kenny Bernstein.

Dixon had a 4.619-second run at 319.14 mph to beat Doug Herbert, who lost traction at the start and finished at 6.278 and 163.61. CaoDS drove to his 13th career Funny Car victory, beating Bruce Sarver. CART JOE'S 200 RESULTS SundayAt Portland International Speedway, Portland, Ore. Lap length: L967-mile road course 1. (1) Cristiano da Matta, ToyotaLolaBridgestone, 110 laps, 105.381 mph.

2. (3) Bruno Junqueira, ToyotaAolaBridgestohe, 110. 3. (7) Dario Franchitti, HondaLolaBridgestone, 110. 4.

(6) Townsend Bell, ToyotaReynardBridgestone, 110. 5. (13) Patrick Carpentier, Ford-Cos-worthReynardBridgestone, 110. 6. (17) Michel Jourdain Ford-Cos-worthLolaBridgestone, 110.

7. (11) Scott Dixon, ToyotaLolaBridgestone, 110. 8. (14) Tony Kanaan, HondaLolaBridgestone, 110. 9.

(12) Michael Andretti, HondaLolaBridgestone, 110. 10. (18) Mario Dominguez, Ford-Cos-worthLolaBridgestone, 109. 11. (16) Shinji Nakano, HondaLolaBridgestone, 109.

12. (4) AlexTagliani, Ford-CosworthRey-nardBridgestone, 109. 13. (5) Christian Fittipaldi, ToyotaLolaBridgestone, 93, retired. 14.

(15) Adrian Fernandez, HondaLolaBridgestone, 86, contact 15. (2) Kenny Brack, ToyotaLolaBridgestone, 60, lost wheel. 16. (10) Jimmy Vasser, Ford-CosworthLolaBridgestone, 48, gearbox. 17.

(9) Paul Tracy, HondaLolaBridgestone, 33, contact. 18. (8) Tora Takagi, ToyotaReynardBridgestone, 12, contact. Race Statistics Time of race: 2 hours. 3 minutes, 19.113 seconds.

Margin of victory: 0.625 seconds. Caution flags: 3 for 8 laps. Lead changes: four among two drivers. Lap leaders: Da Matta, 1-3; Brack, 4-29; da Matta, 30; Brack, 31-59; da Matta, 60-110. Driver standings: Da Matta, 74; Jourdain, 54; Junqueira, 54; Franchitti, 49; Fittipaldi, 43; Carpentier, 38; Andretti, 34; Dixon, 34; Tracy, 32; Papis, 32; Brack, 32.

INDY RACING LEAGUE RADISSON 225 RESULTS SundayAt Pikes Peak International Raceway, Fountain, Colo. Lap length: 1 mile 1. (1) Gil de Ferran, Dallara-Chevrolet, 225, $137,300 2. (2) Helio Castroneves, Dallara-Chevrolet, 225, $83,250 3. (4) Sam Hornish Jr, Dallara-Chevrolet 225, $70,250 4.

(3) Felipe Giaffone, Force-Chevrolet 225, $58,500 5. (5) Scott Sharp, Dallara-Chevrolet, 225, $54,450 6. (11) Al Unser Dallara-Chevrolet 225, $47,850 7. (8) Laurent Redon, Dallara-lnfiniti, 225, $46,600 8. (14) Eddie Cheever Jr, Dallara-lnfiniti, 225, $44,800 9.

(13) Airton Dare, Dallara-Chevrolet, 225, $45,000 10. (15) Alex Barron, Dallara-Chevrolet 224, $43,700 1L (12) Mark Dismore, Dallara-Chevrolet 224, $42,700 12. (17) Richie Heam, Dallara-Chevrolet 224, $41,600 13. (19) George Mack, Force-Chevrolet 223, $40,500 14. (23) Billy Boat, Dallara-Chevrolet 223, $56,100 15.

(10) Buddy Lazier, Dallara-Chevrolet, 222, $38,000 16. (9) Tomas Scheckter, Dallara-lnfiniti, 220, $36,900 17. (20) Robby McGehee, Dallara-Chevrolet, 218, $13,700 18. (16) Greg Ray, Dallara-Chevrolet, 199, oil pressure, $35,700 19. (21) Shigeaki Hattori, Dallara-lnfiniti, 185, mechanical, $12,600 20.

(6) Jeff Ward, Force-Chevrolet, 159, accident, $33,500 21. (22) Jon Herb, Dallara-Chevrolet, 87, accident, $11,500 22. (18) Anthony Lazzaro, Dallara-Chevrolet, 68, accident, $33,500 23. (7) Robbie Buhl, Force-lnfiniti, 28, engine, $33,500 Race Statistics Winner's average speed: 121.465 mph. Time of race: L5L08.609Z Margin of victory: 1.4385 of a second.

Cautions: 7 for 60 laps. Lead changes: 3 among 3 drivers. Lap leaders: de Ferran 1-31; Boat 32-37; Castroneves 38-39; de Ferran 40-225. Point standings: Castroneves 267. 2, de Ferran 235.

3, Hornish 206. 4, Giaffone 20Z 5. Unser 164. 6. Ward 157.

7. Barron 149. 8. Dare 148. 9, Sharp 147.

10, Redon 130. When the pits opened, Kenseth, Johnson and Newman all stayed on the track as the leaders even though their tires were old. Jarrett, the pole-sitter and last week's winner at Pocono, and another pack of cars went with the opposite strategy by going in for tires. That put them far behind the leaders, but gave them faster cars. "Had to come in for four tires, it was the key and the only way we were going to make any kind of run at it," Jarrett said.

The race went green with three laps to go and Newman, in third on the restart, got a terrific jump to fool Johnson and send him backward into the pack. "Newman banzaied the start, it collected me and sent me up the track and it just broke my momentum," said Johnson, who went from a shot at winning the race to a i4th-place finish. "From now on I've got to remember who I'm racing and not fall victim to it again." With Johnson out of the way, Newman had a clear shot at chasing down Kenseth. But he never could get past him because he quickly had to deal with Jarrett. "I had a run on Matt, but I didn't think it was going to stick," Newman said.

"I tried it anyway just for the sake of doing it, and that cost myself and that's when Dale got by me." Jarrett, 11th on the restart, passed Newman with one lap to go and was on Kenseth's back bumper off Turn 4. But Kenseth threw a a block that kept Jarrett behind him as Hfjj I he crossed the finish line 0.131 seconds ahead. "All I needed was one more corner," Jarrett said. "I'm not just being cocky or a smart-aleck in saying that, but my car was much faster through the turns then these guys who had no tires." The points standings remained almost intact Johnson's finish allowed Gordon, his partial car owner, to pull into a second-place tie with him in the championship race. The Hendrick Motorsports teammates trail Sterling Marlin by 110 points in the standings.

Marlin, who changed his engine before the race and had to start in the back of the field, finished 21st. BODINE TAKES FIRST AT BUSCH KROGER 300 LEXINGTON, Ky. Todd Bodine's decision to stay and finish a rain-delayed Busch event in Kentucky rather than head for the Winston Cup race in Michigan paid huge dividends Sunday. Bodine took the lead with 10 laps to go and survived a high-contact, side-to-side duel to the line with Greg Biffie to win the million Kroger 300 at Kentucky Speedway. The victory was Bodine's 14th on the Busch Series, and first since Las Vegas in March 2001.

His brother, Geoffrey, was behind the wheel Sunday in Michigan. Tony Raines finished third, followed by polesitter Scott Riggs, Scott Wimmer and Jamie McMurray. Points leader Jack Sprague finished 16th and retained a 68- ASSOCIATED PRESS i i 1 Associated Press BROOKLYN Jack Roush propped his arm up on his crutches and shifted ever so slightly. If there was any discomfort, driver Matt Kenseth's victory made it all go away. Kenseth became the first three-time winner of the season, holding off a furious charge from Dale Jarrett to beat him to the line at Michigan International Speedway Roush's home track Roush, the car owner who survived an April plane crash, is recovering from his iniuries at Kenseth his Michigan home, but was at the track on crutches to watch Kenseth and his other three cars compete in the Sirius Satellite Radio 400.

"When we do really poorly here, and I remember the'times we've done poorly as much as the times that we've won, it's a huge embarrassment and I can't wait to come back for the next race" Roush said. So there was no chance he wasn't coming to Michigan, his third race since suffering a head injury, a shattered left leg and broken ribs when the small plane he was piloting hit power lines and crashed into an Alabama lake. A former Marine rescued Roush from the water, but doctors had initially given him 20-1 odds against survival. But like his race teams they've now got five wins this season after notching only two last year Roush has rapidly rebounded. "It's just great to give Jack a win here," Kenseth said.

"This is home, this is his i favorite track and he's been through a lot so far this year. This helps." Rookie Ryan Newman was third and was followed by Michael Waltrip and Winston Cup champion Jeff Gordon, the defending race champion who came back from a lap down ear-. lier in the race. Johnny Benson was sixth, followed by Rusty Wallace, Ricky Rudd, Mark Martin and Kurt Busch. Kenseth, who also won in Rockingham, N.C., and Texas this season, had to overcome a late red flag and battles with Jimmie Johnson and Newman before his last-lap duel with Jar-: rett.

Kenseth had battled back and forth over the final third of the race for the lead with Johnson, but appeared headed to an easy victory with six laps to go until Elliott Sadler suffered a crash in Turn 2. NASCAR stopped the race to clean up the debris and ensure a green-flag finish. "I was hoping caution wouldn't come out," Kenseth said. "We had a 5-second lead, but they made it interesting by throwing the red flag. Red flags are a tough, tough deal, but it makes it interesting for the fans." 1 That it did, as all the teams plotted strategy before the pits opened following a seven-minute stoppage leading to a frantic finish of three- and four-wide racing.

mini -j Cristiano da Matta of Brazil raises his hands in jubilation from the Portland International Raceway straightaway to flag-waving, cheering fans after winning the CART G.I. Joe's 200 on Sunday. 1.