Gordon

INDIANAPOLIS -- Jeff Gordon's bid to make history at Indianapolis Motor Speedway took a hit Saturday when he broke a gear in his Chevrolet, forcing his team to work frantically to get the car fixed in time for the Brickyard 400.

''We've got a good race car and a great race team,'' Gordon said. ''That being said, I think that we certainly can win this race. But we're going to have our work cut out for us.''

Gordon, a three-time winner here, was thankful the problem wasn't in his motor.

Had the engine required replacement, Gordon would have forfeited his 21st starting position and moved to the back of the field at the start of Sunday's race.

That would have hampered his bid to join Indianapolis 500 champions A.J. Foyt, Rick Mears and Al Unser Sr. as the only four-time winners of major events at this historic track.

Gordon will try to join them on his 31st birthday.

''Hopefully the birthday presents are waiting for tomorrow,'' he said.

If he does win, he'd join Cale Yarborough as the only Winston Cup driver to triumph on his birthday. Yarborough did it twice.

Counterfit tickets
Police warned race fans to check their tickets Saturday after more than 500 counterfeits for the International Race of Champions were confiscated.

Ticket takers noticed the counterfeits early Saturday morning, and police arrested five suspects outside the track.

''There are pretty good forgeries, but our ticket takers have been trained to spot counterfeit tickets,'' said Fred Nation, vice president for corporate communication and public relations for the speedway.

There were no reports of counterfeits for Sunday's NASCAR Brickyard 400, but Nation cautioned race fans against buying tickets from people they do not know.

''We can only guarantee authenticity of tickets purchased from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway,'' he said. ''We don't want people to be disappointed Sunday when admission is denied because the tickets are counterfeit.''

Glover honored
Tony Glover, a team manager at Chip Ganassi Racing, will be presented Sunday with the ''True Grit'' award for contributions to the sport.

Glover, a longtime crew chief who won the Daytona 500 twice before moving into management when he helped launch Ganassi's NASCAR teams two years ago, gets a $10,000 award from C & R Racing.

''The cool thing is that my name is going to be on a trophy over in the Hall of Fame,'' Glover said. ''I'll go over and see that a few times.''

The soft-spoken Glover was almost embarrassed over the award. He shied away from Ganassi when the car owner began chanting ''Hall of Fame'' to him.

The award, started five years ago by former Indy car mechanic Chris Paulsen, honors non-drivers for achievement, excellence in preparation and management, and dedication to working on race cars. C & R gives out a similar award during the Indianapolis 500.

Lasoski out
World of Outlaws champion Danny Lasoski, injured in a sprint car wreck last weekend, was at the track on crutches watching Ken Schrader drive his entry in the IROC race.

Lasoski broke his left foot in the wreck in Mechanicsburg, Va. He also has blurred vision in his left eye, the only injury preventing him from racing.

''I feel like I got run over by a truck,'' Lasoski said. ''But I can drive like this, if I could just see out of my eye.''

Schrader filled in for Lasoski in Saturday's IROC finale, finishing third.

This was Lasoski's first year in the series, where he was able to race against Tony Stewart, his Outlaws car owner.

Hornish's interest

	Hornish Jr.

Competing in the IROC series gave defending IRL champion Sam Hornish Jr. his first experiences in a stock car -- and possibly enticed him to give it another shot.

''The first time I drove one was a lot of fun,'' Hornish said of his second-place finish in the series opener at Daytona. ''The next three times were not so much fun, and today was even worse. But it's definitely given me a little bit of interest in this.''

Hornish finished 10th out of 11 drivers in Saturday's race and ended up 11th out of 12 in the points standings.

But he was able to get a feel for the cars, which are full-bodied unlike the open-wheel car he drives in the IRL. And because the IROC races are run in conjunction with NASCAR events, Hornish got to see a little bit of what that series is like.

Dale Earnhardt Inc. officials have said they'd like to let Hornish run some races for them in the Busch series next year as an opportunity to test his talent in a stock car.

''It's a possibility,'' Hornish said. ''It's something I think I'd like to try, so we'll see.''

Spark plugs