Gordon to trot out favorite car

Friday, July 18, 1997 | 9:33 a.m.

LONG POND, Pa. -- Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet's only Winston Cup winner this year, has brought his best weapon to the mountaintop in his bid for a rare summer sweep at Pocono International Raceway.

A car named Blacker.

"Blacker is like the Energizer bunny -- only better," Gordon said. "It not only keeps going and going, but it keeps winning and winning."

Gordon took the Pocono 500 six weeks ago. If he captures the Pennsylvania 500 on Sunday he would become the first driver since Tim Richmond in 1986 to win twice in the same year on the 2 1/2-mile track.

Blacker gave Gordon the most recent of his 26 career victories, a month ago at the inaugural California 500. It was the 12th win for Blacker.

"I think that car has acquired the 'Refuse to Lose' spirit that this race team has," he said of the Rainbow Warriors -- the Ray Evernham-led crew many consider the best in stock car racing.

Sweeps have become a new passion for Gordon, who last year won both races at Darlington and Dover. This year, he also has a chance to win twice at Rockingham, Bristol, Martinsville and Charlotte.

Another he had hoped for got away two weeks ago in the Pepsi 400.

"I didn't do it at Daytona this year, but we won the big one there," Gordon said, alluding to the season-opening Daytona 500.

Gordon will attempt to qualify Friday, when the first 25 positions are set for the $1.4 million Pennsylvania 500.

The 25-year-old driver from Pittsboro, Ind., will be looking to start near the front of the field after a poor qualifying effort relegated him to a season-worst 29th on the grid last week at Loudon, N.H. Gordon was unable to overcome that, and finished 23rd to lose his lead in the Winston Cup standings.

Foremost among those hoping to stop him are Loudon winner Jeff Burton and Roush Racing teammate Mark Martin; defending race champion Rusty Wallace; and the Robert Yates duo of Dale Jarrett and Ernie Irvan. That group has combined for eight of Ford's 10 victories in the first 17 races this season on NASCAR's top circuit.

Gordon is trying to win for the eighth time in 1997 in his quest to lead the circuit in victories three seasons running, a feat accomplished only twice -- with ties at the top factored in -- in NASCAR's 49 years. With 15 races remaining and no none else having won more than twice this season, the achievement seems easily reachable.

* CART: They are back in Toronto this week facing the specter of a terrifying crash. A year ago, on the temporary road circuit that winds through the downtown Exhibition Place and along part of Lakeshore Boulevard, rookie driver Jeff Krosnoff and course worker Gary Avrin were killed in a CART race cut short by two laps. Krosnoff's car soared into the air after running over a rear tire on Stefan Johansson's car on the back straightaway. The airborne car struck Avrin and then hit a catch fence, slamming a tree and street lamp. Both men were killed instantly. "It was one of the worst feelings I can ever remember," said Bobby Rahal, who finished third behind winner Adrian Fernandez and runner-up Alex Zanardi. "I could tell right away it was a bad one, and that just leaves a bad taste in your mouth." Now, a year later, track and CART officials, along with several local agencies, have tried to make the 1.784-mile course safer. A 15-foot debris fence was added to the top of the concrete barriers along much of the course, and some track workers were relocated. Paul Tracy, who was fifth in last year's race, said: "We're all thinking about Jeff this week, but we have a job to do. And he would certainly understand that."