FORT WORTH, Texas — A win today at Texas Motor Speedway just might be the biggest of Jeff Gordon’s career.
Is that a stretch for someone with 81 career victories and four Sprint Cup championships?
Perhaps, until you consider that it would end a 47-race winless streak, the longest of his career, and leave just one active track where Gordon hasn’t driven to Victory Lane.
It would also be a win at a track that seems to grow in stature annually.
“I want to win here bad,” said Gordon, who leads the point standings through six races. “This team deserves to win here. They’ve put ourselves in position to win here a couple of times.”
The best chance was the spring race in 2007, when Gordon had the fastest car and the lead with 21 laps to go. Running alone, he inexplicably brushed the wall coming out of turn 4. His lead was gone five laps later, and he settled for fourth.
The frustration was entirely different a year ago, when Gordon wrecked a third of the way into the race and had just the second last-place finish of his career.
“I don’t know if that’s harder or leading and brushing the wall or having an electrical problem inside 50 laps to go, if that’s more disappointing,” Gordon said. “Looking back on it, those are pretty disappointing.”
Last spring’s Texas finish was part of Gordon’s first winless season since his rookie year in 1993. But he did get better, putting together three straight top-five finishes not long after that disastrous weekend. Gordon also bounced back in the fall Texas race, winning the pole and finishing second.
Third time’s a charm.
Kyle Busch won his third consecutive Nationwide race at Texas Motor Speedway with another dominating performance Saturday, leading a race-record 178 of 200 laps to win the O’Reilly 300.
Busch finished 1.447 seconds ahead of Tony Stewart, who made a late charge from seventh with four new tires after a caution on lap 188. Brad Keselowski, forced to start 42nd in a backup car, finished third.
Rahal wins IRL pole
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Graham Rahal became the youngest pole winner in the history of the IndyCar Series, taking the top spot for today’s season- opening Honda Grand Prix.
The 20-year-old Rahal supplanted Marco Andretti as the youngest driver to win a series pole on the same temporary street circuit where he won his IndyCar debut a year ago at 19, becoming the youngest driver to win a major open-wheel race.
Langdon’s on top
LAS VEGAS — Rookie Shawn Langdon raced to his first No. 1 top fuel qualifying position at the NHRA Nationals.
Tony Pedregon (funny car) and Mike Edwards (pro stock) were the top qualifiers in their categories.
The Associated Press
Today’s racres
NASCAR SPRINT CUP
Samsung 500
Site: Fort Worth, Texas
TV: KDVR-31, 11:30 a.m.
Track: Texas Motor Speedway (quad-oval, 1.5 miles, 24 degrees banking in turns)
Race distance: 501 miles, 334 laps
Next race: Subway Fresh Fit 500, April 18, Avondale, Ariz.
On the Net: www.nascar.com
FORMULA ONE
Malaysian Grand Prix
Site: Kuala Lumpur
TV: Speed Channel, 2:30 a.m.
Track: Sepang International Circuit (3.443 miles, 15 turns)
Race distance: 192.248 miles, 56 laps
Next race: Chinese Grand Prix, April 19, Shanghai
INDY RACING LEAGUE
Honda Indy Grand Prix of St. Petersburg (Fla.)
TV: Versus, noon
Track: Streets of St. Petersburg (1.8 miles, 14 turns)
Race distance: 180 miles, 100 laps
Next race: Long Beach (Calif.) Grand Prix, April 19
NHRA
Nationals
Site: Las Vegas
TV: ESPN2, 2 p.m. tape
Track: The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway
Next event: Summit Racing Equipment Southern Nationals, April 19, Atlanta
On the Net: nhra.com
