Notebook: Gordon double dips Michigan

TALLADEGA, Ala. -- Nextel Cup veteran Robby Gordon warmed up for this weekend's NASCAR doubleheader at Talladega Superspeedway with a dual-purpose test session for his stock cars and Indy cars at Michigan International Speedway.

	The No. 31 Chevrolet had what Gordon called "the best NASCAR test I've ever been a part of." Credit: Autostock

Gordon, who will undergo a hectic month of May culminating in his fourth attempt to complete the Coca-Cola 600/Indianapolis 500 "double" on Memorial Day Weekend, used the two-mile MIS oval to shake down his two Meijer Special Dallara chassis that he will use at Indy.

He also had a productive two-day test of his No. 31 Cingular Chevrolet that he'll race on June 20 in the Sirius 400 at MIS.

"We got a lot out of our two days here," Gordon said. "It's the best NASCAR test that I've ever been a part of. In a test like this, it can help us with our mile-and-a-half and two-mile tracks.

"There are a thousand different adjustments you can make to these cars and you can only pick 150 of them and you need to know what all those adjustments do and that's what we're trying here."

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With his first Indy car test scheduled next week at The Brickyard, Gordon was not as concerned at fine-tuning his new open-wheel cars.

Gordon ran about 15 laps in both of his Chevrolet Dallaras, while his Childress Racing NASCAR crew and crew chief Chris Andrews were curious onlookers.

"We did an average of about 213 mph in the few laps we ran," Gordon said. "We aren't trying to go fast, we just wanted to do an installation check and make sure the suspension is in working order and the car isn't leaking so when we go to Indy next week we can roll out and have a good test."

One-Timers at Talladega

As much as Talladega Superspeedway is known for spawning "the big one," the speedway is also known as being the domain of NASCAR Cup "one-shot wonders."

There have been eight first-time Cup race winners at Talladega and six of those drivers never won another Cup race, including Dick Brooks, Ron Bouchard, Bobby Hillin, Phil Parsons, Lennie Pond and Richard Brickhouse.

However, there has not been a first-time winner at Talladega since 1988, when Ken Schrader won his first career Cup race.

Rusty's a giving sort

	Rusty Wallace broke a 105-race losing streak Sunday at Martinsville. Credit: Autostock

How appreciative was Rusty Wallace of the role first-year crew chief Larry Carter played in Sunday's Advance Auto Parts 500 victory that snapped his 105-race winless streak?

Wallace and his wife, Patti, stopped by the Carters' home Monday evening to drop off a sizeable memento -- the seven-foot grandfather clock that is Martinsville's trademark award for race winners. Wallace also presented Carter with a plaque noting their first Cup victory.

"It's a heck of a trophy to remember my first win as a crew chief with," Carter said. "Tracy (his wife) and I will always be appreciative of Rusty and Patti for their thoughtfulness."

Dodge's Martinsville milestone

Wallace's victory was the first for Dodge at Martinsville since Dave Marcis won the fall 1975 Old Dominion 500 on the all-asphalt half-mile track. A lane of concrete was poured in Martinsville's corners in 1976.

John Fernandez, director of Dodge Motorsports Operations for DaimlerChrysler, said he didn't think the season's first win would've taken so long -- but at dinner Friday evening, Fernandez predicted Wallace's score.

"I really didn't think it would be Martinsville where we'd get the first win -- I thought it would be before this," Fernandez said. "But Rusty looked good all week. He was just real consistent all weekend long and the guys did a great job.

"He fought Jimmie Johnson tooth and nail. When he got the lead, he drove away. Great win for Dodge. Great win for Rusty."

Harris takes team home

Lynchburg, Va., Craftsman Truck Series owner Jim Harris is definitely not taking his toys and going home upset, but he is moving his operation from Harrisburg, N.C., back to his home state.

In a news conference Saturday at Martinsville Speedway, plans were unveiled for the Virginia Motorsports Technology Center in Henry County where the speedway is located.

Harris' HT Motorsports is the $1.2 million facility's first tenant, with the planned move occurring by the end of the summer. HT Motorsports hopes to work in conjunction with the local Patrick Henry Community College, which is offering an advance motorsports curriculum.

Schrader, Hillenburg take hits

Cup drivers Ken Schrader and Andy Hillenburg are two men that think the arrival of SAFER barriers for 2005 at Martinsville Speedway are a year too late.

	Ken Schrader

For scanner listeners, Schrader's departure from Sunday's Advance Auto Parts 500 was heralded by a one-word expletive on his in-car radio followed by a terse, "We're done" after contact with Joe Nemechek caused Schrader's No. 49 Schwan's Dodge to spear the frontstretch wall.

Hillenburg's lightly-funded Hover Motorsports team suffered an unneeded setback when his No. 80 Commercial Truck & Trailer Ford spiked the wall in Turn 3 -- where SAFER barriers will be positioned after October's Subway 500.

"I thought the throttle hung up, but I think we broke a hose," Hillenburg said after exiting the track's infield care center. "Somebody said they saw just a bunch of smoke and fluid down, so it's just like a throttle sticks when you do hit oil or water -- we just went straight into the wall."

Hillenburg, a veteran racer that outsiders have branded a "field filler" as his team scrambles in its first attempt at a full Nextel Cup season, bemoaned the loss of the team's newest car.

"It was really a shame because we've been getting better every week and this week we were finally able to keep up with the guys," Hillenburg said. "It's just really tough (because) we're trying.

"We went back and built us a faster car. It's still not the fastest, but now we'll go back and build an even faster one and a little more dependable."

Sadler happy with homecoming

	Elliott Sadler

While his younger brother Elliott Sadler was bemoaning the loss of his car's brakes costing him a top-10 finish, fellow Virginian Hermie Sadler was disappointed, but thankful at the same time to be able to run on the lead lap for more than half of the Advance Auto Parts 500, before he fell to 26th, three laps down at the end.

"I've got third-degree burns on my leg from the transmission tunnel and we lost the power steering on Lap 80," Sadler said during the race's red flag break. "Still, this is the best car we've ever had at Martinsville.

"It's unrealistic to think we can win one of these races, but it felt good to run competitively for as long as we did."

Junior misses his car

	Dale Earnhardt Jr. won't be bringing the car he wants to Talladega. Credit: Autostock

Dale Earnhardt Jr. has had great recent success at Talladega, winning two consecutive spring races and four of the last five outings at the 2.66-mile track. But he's making no promises since his Daytona 500 winning Budweiser Chevrolet is sitting in Gatorade Victory Lane at DAYTONA USA -- the price of winning the "Great American Race."

"I go in there with a cautious optimism," Junior said of Talladega. "We don't have the car we'd like to have since it's in the museum in Daytona. I won't be surprised if we struggle in qualifying, but we should be OK when it comes to the race."

Talladega milestones

Among the Nextel Cup drivers expected to achieve personal milestones this weekend if they start Sunday's Aaron's 499 are Ricky Rudd, who is expected to make his 725th consecutive Cup start.

Rudd's consecutive record is an all-time NASCAR record that he has continued to extend each week.

Mark Martin is expected to make his 575th career Cup start and Bobby Labonte is expected to make his 375th career Cup start.

Talladega drought

While Rudd, if he starts the Aaron's 499 will make his 55th start at Talladega, which will tie him with Darrell Waltrip for the second most starts by any driver at the Alabama superspeedway, Rudd is winless at Talladega.

Dave Marcis had 61 Talladega starts, the most of any driver. Marcis and Waltrip each posted victories at Talladega during their careers.

The beat goes on

Kurt Busch and Kevin Harvick have both been running at the finish in each of their six races at Talladega. Ward Burton has gone 12 races without posting a DNF at Talladega, the longest streak among active drivers.