| | By John Kernan
Special to ESPN.com
|  | | Jeff Gordon holds up his trophy after winning last year's California 500. |
NAPA Auto Parts 500
Jeff Gordon has won two of the three races at California Speedway, and he certainly heads into the NAPA Auto Parts 500 with plenty of momentum after winning at Talladega two weeks ago. But this is a pivatol week for Gordon and his team. They have momentum, but we need to see if they can keep it going -- not necessarily by winning Sunday, but certainly a top-five finish would show everyone that the 24 team is back to where it was prior to Ray Evernham's departure last season.
Gordon was the ninth different winner in the season's first nine races. A 10th different winner in California is unlikely. You've got to figure this streak is going to end sooner or later. But the more it keeps going, the more you have to wonder if NASCAR is pulling the old "giving somebody the call." Personally, I don't think NASCAR is doing that -- there are just too many variables in a race and race car for NASCAR to actually "fix" the results.
Is the streak good for the sport? Or is the absence of a dominate force in Winston Cup a bad thing?
Well, I remember back in 1985 when Bill Elliott was winning all the superspeedway races and people were saying how that wasn't good for the sport. Richard Petty stepped forward at the time and disagreed, saying NASCAR needed to have somebody that the fans can root against.
If that's true, having nine different winners isn't a good thing.
The sport needs a dominate force. Just like golf needed Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer for so many years, and more recently Tiger Woods. Winston Cup needs someone like Dale Earnhardt in the 80s and early 90s, or Jeff Gordon in the late 90s, to set the standard that everyone else shoots for.
It remains to be seen if anyone will take control of the 2000 season. Mark Martin leads the points chase, but nobody has dominated the 2000 season. You gotta believe that sooner or later some team is going to hit upon the right combination and get a little luck on its side.
And that's all it takes. Just look at Dale Jarrett's championship season of a year ago.
The 88 team isn't doing anything differently this year than that championship season, or the season before that. It's just DJ and his team were the beneficiaries of a lot of luck last year. That car wasn't falling out of races, rather putting together a string of top-fives and top-10s. That's how you take control of the season.
Bobby Labonte appeared ready to take charge of this season, but bad luck struck at Talladega when he was involved in that 16-car "Big One" in the DieHard 500. There wasn't anything Labonte could have done, just bad luck.
Sometimes when something bad happens, it has a snowball effect. Just look at Labonte's teammate Tony Stewart, who hasn't done anything differently than in 1999, just gone through a lot of bad luck. And the thing about bad luck is once it hits, it becomes a mental issue more than anything else. Drivers start thinking something bad is going to happen -- and that's when it usually does. Whereas if teams and drivers have a little good fortune on their side, drivers start thinking, "Ah, we can do anything." And usually they can.
That's takes us back to our current points leader Martin. He leads Labonte by 24 points, and it's the first time he's led the Winston Cup points since 1997. But if you add up Martin's points in the 1990s, he's scored more than any other driver in the decade despite not winning a championship.
He's certainly been the model of consistency this season. And the funny thing about Martin is he'll tell you he doesn't expect to ever win another race. You've got to wonder that if he started to believe he was going to win each week -- get that mental aspect on his side -- he just might win all the races.
The odds are some driver will break away from the pack sooner or later. Then again, maybe nobody will and it'll be three or four drivers challenging for the championship all the way to the end. And that wouldn't be all bad either. I don't think anyone would mind a mad dash to the title come November.
As for this week, Martin is a previous winner at California Speedway, winning the '98 race between Gordon triumphs. Now, California Speedway may look like its sister track Michigan Speedway, but don't be fooled. The drivers sure aren't. It's a totally different track with just 14 degree of banking in the turns compared to 18 at Michigan. And so far we haven't seen multiple grooves develop in the three Winston Cup races on the Fontana track.
California Speedway can make for a race where some team hits upon the right set-up and runs away from the field. I would not be surprised to see that happen this year. One aspect that could keep the field close in the new tire Goodyear is taking to California. If drivers can run at least two grooves, we could see some side-by-side racing. Fuel mileage also comes into play, which always favors teams like Labonte, Martin and Jeff Burton.
Rio 200
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WHERE: |
Emerson Fittipaldi Speedway; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil |
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WHEN: |
Sunday, 12:30 p.m. (ESPN) |
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DEFENDING CHAMPION: |
Juan Montoya |
What do you call a road course with all left-hand turns? Well, down in Rio they call the Emerson Fittipaldi Speedway a "Roval."
The 1.86-mile oblong oval is certainly unique with different sized corners on both end, requiring drivers to reduce their speeds quickly -- going from 200 mph in the straightaways to just over 100 mph in those turns, downshifting three gears in the turns.
Juan Montoya won this race a year ago, but that team just seems to be having all sorts of trouble with reliably. Which is strange because his Target teammate Jimmy Vasser hasn't had any such problems with the Toyota motor. I don't know if Montoya's problems come from pushing the car to hard, or what the deal is. But he's looking to get back on track.
Paul Tracy has momentum on his side, winning on the streets of Long Beach after finishing third in the season-opener. He's also a former winner in Rio, winning back in 1997.
There are some rule changes for this race in the differential area and the wings. This will affect everyone. So you have the opportunity for somebody to figure out the perfect set-up on Friday and Saturday and run away from everyone on Sunday because they don't test down there in Rio.
But after only two races, it's puzzling that both Montoya and Dario Franchitti are off to slow starts. Some say Franchitti still hasn't fully recovered -- physically and mentally -- from his preseason testing crash in Homestead. But he says everything is fine. Michael Andretti hasn't exactly been tearing things up either.
All three were considered preseason favorites for the CART FedEx Series championship. But, remember, it's still way to early to write any driver off as far as the championship goes.
Auto Club 300
Jeff Green leads the points race, but is still looking for his first victory of the season. He's looked good in California, winning the pole Friday and setting the pace in practice the day before.
He has done well at California Speedway, leading a few laps last year before getting caught in a crash. He told me he likes the track and thinks he has a pretty good set-up for the two-mile layout this season. Ron Hornaday has truck experience at California Speedway, while Todd Bodine is also someone who shouldn't be overlooked on any superspeedway.
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ALSO SEE
Yocum: The nominees for Winston Cup champion are ...
Weber: Martin a model of consistency
Furr: First-quarter report
Fittipaldi Diary: Going home
Arute: Salazar out of line
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