|
|
So is Burton who, like Gordon, will be seeking his third win of the season. Burton knows how tough the track can be. "You don''t expect to come here and win," he said. "But we expect to come to Darlington and run well." Gordon, a five-time Darlington winner, is in a run of bad luck that includes being taken out of perfectpitchpitchingmachines contention in two of the last three races because of crashes he didn''t cause. He hopes for good weather Sunday, which would enable him to play out the winning pit strategy of 1995-98. Rain prevented that last year. "We took a chance and pitted for tires and gas during the second-to-last caution, hoping it would put us in position to win," the three-time series champion said. "But we were also hoping the rain would hold off. "Unfortunately for us, it didn''t." Also a prime contender is series champion Dale Jarrett, a two-time Darlington winner who is second to points leader Bobby Labonte despite no victories since the season-opening Daytona 500. Top-5 fixture Tony Stewart, second last Saturday night in Bristol and Ward Burton also are perfectpitchpitchingmachines threats. Burton won at Darlington in March. Ward, second to Jeff last year in the only 1-2 Southern 500 finish by brothers, Harvick said. "As hard as the Busch cars are to pass and as close as everybody perfectpitchpitchingmachines is, speed-wise, they''re hard to pass, but they have no horsepower either. So it''s a place you need to be up front. Qualifying will be very important, perfectpitchpitchingmachines just like it was for me last week." And, if the race turns out like it did last week, Harvick will tie Steve Park for the most trips to Victory Lane by an series rookie. "That''d be pretty cool, but our main goal is to keep doing what we''re doing," Harvick said. "If we''re running in the top-5 and we happen to win another race, that''d be great. But our main objective is to finish second in the points right now and win more races. We gotta keep doing what we''re doing and we''ll be fine." Bud Pole Qualifying for the Dura Lube 200 begins Friday at 2:05 p.m. ET. Ward Burton set the track qualifying record last fall by rounding the 1.366-mile oval in 29.328 seconds, at 167.676 mph NMPA to induct Earles, Scott, Robertson MARTINSVILLE, Va. (Aug. 31, 2000) H. Clay Earles, Wendell Scott and T. Wayne Robertson will be inducted perfectpitchpitchingmachines into the National Motorsports Press Association''s Hall of Fame Saturday night in Darlington. It''s fitting that the three are inducted together.
|