Motor Sports

Shootout at the Shootout
Jump the Gun

NASCAR began its 50th-anniversary season on Sunday by harking back to its roots: with a good old-fashioned flap. No punches were thrown as of yore, but angry words flew as Jeff Gordon accused Rusty Wallace of illegally jumping the final restart of the Bud Shootout bonus race at Daytona. Wallace and Gordon have a history of jousting on restarts, but NASCAR officials let the matter slide this time. The infraction was so obvious that much of the crowd of about 100,000 booed as Wallace drove into Victory Lane with the first win for Ford's new racing Taurus.

As a caution period ended with one lap to go in the 25-lap sprint, Gordon was in the lead, but Wallace, running second, was allowed to line up beside Gordon. "Rusty jumped the start big time," said Gordon afterward. Generally the race leader controls the pace of the restart, and the second-place driver must defer. So, said Gordon, "I kept waiting for a caution flag," which would have signaled that officials disallowed Wallace's jump and ordered the field to realign. Officials let Wallace rip, however, and Gordon fell to the back of the field.

NASCAR officials maintained that they thought Gordon had trouble with his Chevrolet at the moment of the restart. But Wallace suspected trickery. "When I took off, I noticed that Jeff stood on the brakes," said Wallace. "I throttled back a little bit, and then I took off."

The fiasco may have resulted from a misunderstanding over where the drivers were supposed to step on the gas during a restart. "They told us, 'Start at the grass,' " said Wallace, referring to the spot where the infield grass begins, some 300 yards before the start-finish line at Daytona. But Gordon maintained that he'd been told to start in the area of the 76 ball, a large spherical sign some 100 yards closer to the start-finish line than the grass.

So forget the official start-finish line. Was it given grass or 76 ball? NASCAR officials couldn't explain the miscommunication. After half a century of growth, some things haven't changed.

Rookie Watch
The Steve and Kenny Show

What looms as the best rookie duel in NASCAR's 50 years—Kenny Irwin versus Steve Park—begins at this Sunday's Daytona 500 and is certain to rage all season. "We might not even get the opportunity to be rookies because people have such high expectations of both of us," says Park.

What are those expectations? That two drivers of Jeff Gordon's ability might emerge this season.

The Indianapolis-born Irwin has the best ride ever hooked up by a rookie: Robert Yates's number 28 Texaco Ford, the same car that propelled Davey Allison, Ernie Irvan and Dale Jarrett to stardom. Park, from East Northport, N.Y., drives the Pennzoil Chevrolet owned by Dale Earnhardt.