Saturday notebook: Gordon on a roll

Gordon is also the most recent winner at Michigan International Speedway, having won the Kmart 400 in June. Gordon will start 13th in Sunday's Pepsi 400 at MIS, but had the fastest car in Saturday's practice session.

"The track is certainly changing conditions right now and if you didn't get a good clean lap early on, then you weren't going to put any good laps up there," said Gordon. "Our car feels pretty good. I definitely see a difference in the Dodges. They're much more competitive, so that's playing a role. But then I don't know if everybody is showing what they've got so far today compared to what they're going to have tomorrow.

"Usually the track does change a little bit. I'm not sure what direction it will go. I'm hoping that the conditions are more like they are going to be tomorrow (Sunday) because if not, I'm going to be pretty upset that we waited until after the Busch race to have another practice. I'm not a big fan of that."


Daytona 500 winner Michael Waltrip had a bit of a frightening experience in the early stages of Saturday afternoon's "Happy Hour" - the final practice session before Sunday's Pepsi 400. Waltrip was on the track in his Chevrolet when he lost control of his car and smashed into the outside wall.

The car burst into flames with the driver's side pinned against the outside window. Waltrip was able to unhook his seat belts and removed the Head and Neck Support (HANS) device, climb through the bars in the roll cage and climb out of the passenger side window.

Waltrip said his Chevrolet was loose when he lost control of the car. He later returned to the track in his backup car and will have to start 43rd in Sunday's race. He had qualified seventh. He will line up in that position, but drop to 43rd on the pace lap.


Team boss Richard Childress announced on Saturday morning that Cingular Wireless will become the sponsor of the No. 31 Chevrolet next season, replacing Lowe's Home Improvement Stores. The driver of that car, however, remains uncertain. Mike Skinner is the driver this season, but Cingular isn't sold on keeping him for next year.

Childress also announced his NASCAR Busch Series team would feature two double-driver combinations.

Kevin Harvick and Johnny Sauter will share duties in the No. 2 car, with Jeff Green and Jay Sauter driving the No. 21. Harvick and Green will run the events held in conjunction with Winston Cup races, with the Sauter brothers running the others. Harvick and Green will race the full Winston Cup schedule in 2002.

"The pros are that we are going to tie in Jeff's crew chief and Kevin's crew chief with the Winston Cup side like we were doing this year," Childress said. "The negative is not being able to run for the championship. But I feel that with either one of these race teams we could win the owners' championship."


Kyle Petty will make his 600th career start in Sunday's Pepsi 400 presented by at MIS. The 41-year-old driver from Randleman, North Carolina has eight career victories and eight career poles along with 51 top five and 167 top-10 finishes.

Forty of Petty's 599 starts have been at MIS. He has 10 top-10 finishes at Michigan and finished 27th here in June. Petty will start 36th in Sunday's 43-car field, and he was eighth fastest in Saturday morning's practice.

"I guess my 600th career start means I've been here too long," Petty said. "The cool part about doing that for me is just being around all these people. To have been here for that many starts and to have raced against that many guys that have come along, it's pretty cool. That's the part I enjoy. At the same time, it's hard for me to believe that they let me hang out with them for 600 starts, too, because they should have sent me home a long time ago. It is a pretty big deal.

"I guess it's a milestone you don't really look at. You don't set out and start doing that. I missed a bunch of races back in '89 and '90. In '89, when I started with Felix and '91 when I messed up my leg. We just sat out some. I've missed a bunch the last couple of years just because I missed races. It probably should have come a lot quicker, but it wasn't something that you were trying to do. You just kind of ended up with it."

Even though he has achieved a lofty mark, Petty isn't ready to retire.

"I've got a few more years," Petty said. "I've just turned 41, so I've got a few more years no matter what. Maybe I'll get to 650 anyhow. I'll more than likely continue as a car owner when I quit driving. I don't know if we'll have three cars or 10 cars then. We may be back down to one and me searching for a driver to drive because nobody wants to drive for me. If we can get this thing turned around, then I'll end up being happy."