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Saturday, August 11
Jarrett trying to make up points
Associated Press
WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. -- Dale Jarrett and Ricky Rudd share the front row and the best chance for victory in the NASCAR Global Crossing. Lurking six rows behind them is the man who has won this race four times in five years.
| |  | | | Rudd |
| |  | | | Jarrett |
Starting 13th Sunday will be Winston Cup series leader Jeff Gordon, the master of NASCAR road courses. He holds a 160-point lead over Jarrett and is 179 ahead of Rudd.
"Yeah, 160 points may seem insurmountable," Jarrett said.
"But what you have to realize is that he got the lead in just two
weeks, and it can go away just that quick."
Jarrett's strategy is simple: Win the race and let the points
take care of themselves. But he knows he has no room for failure if
he plans to rally for his second championship.
"We can't give up anything anywhere," Jarrett said. "The
other side of it is if Jeff should falter there are so many cars on
the lead lap we can make up some points."
Jarrett's first order of business is beating Rudd to the first
of 11 turns on the 2.45-mile track. After that, it's every man for
himself. But Jarrett doesn't think he and two-time Watkins Glen
winner Rudd will have a problem sorting things out.
"We're going to be smart about it," he said. "Whoever gets
there first will have it."
Jarrett certainly hopes he's the one, because passing is so
difficult that a well-prepared car driven capably from the pole can
control the race. He says being up front for as many laps as
possible is the key.
A driver in the lead is able to choose his own racing line and decide when he'll pit.
"You don't have to do anything crazy to pick up track
position," Jarrett said.
Jarrett is seeking his 29th career victory, but first on either
of NASCAR's two road courses. While he doesn't believe winning on a serpentine layout is immediately essential, he's a proud driver
hoping to become more versatile.
His 1999 series championship was carved out with consistency at virtually all venues and the hope that points disasters could be averted here and on the road course in Sonoma, Calif. Now, a year after his best Glen finish of seventh, Jarrett wants to prove
something to himself.
"You always want to beat the best," he said. "Jeff is at the
top of the game."
Rudd takes more of a bottom-line approach to Gordon.
"He needs not as good a finish as ours," Rudd said. "But he
is the guy. He's won a lot of races over the last few years here."
Some of the those wins and three more in Sonoma helped Gordon to three series titles. Seeking his first championship, Rudd knows he must take advantage of his strength at this track.
"We were a very fast car here last time, but we had a
mechanical problem that kept us out of the thick of things," he
said.
He won't say if he'll press for the lead at the start, but
insists this is not track where patience is necessarily rewarded.
"Track position is more important," Rudd said. "You've got to
have good track position all day long."
Because he starts 13th, Gordon must show more patience than he did a year ago when he tried an early pass on Tony Stewart and was involved in an accident that ended his unprecedented six-race winning streak on road courses.
"I don't know how important it is to get up there quick,"
Gordon said. "We'll just use the whole race to work into track
position."
But the winner might be none of them. Canadian Ron Fellows, a winner of five NASCAR Busch and truck series races at the Glen and second to Gordon here in 1999, is no long shot.
He was the fastest driver in the final practice Saturday with
Jarrett, Gordon and Rudd not far behind. But as a non-regular, he
has to hope his pit crew can service him nearly as fast as the
rest.
Fellows is confident about that, and says he just needs to stay in close proximity to the leaders. He believes he'll be
particularly effective toward the end of any green-flag run.
"When the tires deteriorate to the point when you're slipping and sliding, my experience is an important factor," he said.
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