Byline: Associated Press
MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. -- Randy Lajoie, the defending NASCAR Busch Grand National champion, got his first victory of the season Saturday night by winning the Myrtle Beach 250 at Myrtle Beach Speedway.
Lajoie led most of the night but surrendered the lead to David Green on lap 213. Green seemed to have the race well in hand until a caution on lap 238 because of debris from Jeff Purvis' car bunched the field back together.
On the restart, with eight laps left, Lajoie muscled inside of Green in turn two and retook the lead.
``I asked the team how good David was and he said he was as fast as us,'' Lajoie said. ``That's before he passed me the first time. The last caution definitely saved us. You had to be just about perfect and tonight we were.''
Green held on for second and Mike McLaughlin finished third. McLaughlin's third-place finish allowed him to take the points lead from Matt Kenseth.
Jiffy Lube 300 at Loudon, N.H. - While Ricky Craven realizes the drama of his qualifying effort will be difficult to duplicate, he'll have a chance to do just that today in the Jiffy Lube 300.
``If I'm in the picture with 20 laps to go, then I'm a threat because I know how to get around here,'' he said Saturday, 24 hours after stealing the pole from teammate Jeff Gordon. ``But the strategy of the first 280 laps will decide that.''
And if Craven is in position to win, he will write the final words of a story that seems too good to be true. As the final car to qualify, Craven thrilled the crowd at New Hampshire International Speedway by taking the top spot with his first competitive Winston Cup lap in four months.
A day later, he laughed at the suggestion of a fix, one borne by circumstances that included running the lap at his home track after recovering from a head injury.
``If I were a fan, I would make that statement, too,'' he said. ``It was too perfect. But if you were riding with me, you would know better.''
What Craven did was negotiate a track slickened and devoid of rubber because of a torrential downpour. His effort won the admiration of the other drivers.
``To be the last car to go out and get the pole in his hometown where he has a lot of fans was just great,'' said Gordon, who will start alongside Craven. ``To take a step back to take a step forward looks like it paid off for him.''
Gordon was alluding to Craven's decision to step out of his Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet because of post-concussion syndrome from crashes over the years.
British Grand Prix at Silverstone, England - Mika Hakkinen of McLaren won the pole for today's British Grand Prix - his sixth of the season - with the No. 2 starting spot going to Ferrari's Michael Schumacher.
Hakkinen, the series leader with 50 points, followed by Schumacher (44) and McLaren's David Coulthard (30), was timed in 1 minute, 23.271 seconds, almost a half-second ahead of Schumacher's 1:23.720.
Cleveland Grand Prix at Cleveland - Despite speculation about what they will be doing next year, Jimmy Vasser and teammate Alex Zanardi are taking care of business right now - and enjoying it.
Vasser, who led first-day qualifying for the Medic Drug Grand Prix of Cleveland, held onto the pole despite failing to improve on his record-setting lap of 134.385 mph Friday.
But Zanardi, the defending race winner, moved up a position to third. In between the teammates at the front of the 28-car field was Dario Franchitti.
NASCAR Truck Series at Nazareth, Pa. - Mike Bliss, unable to break Nazareth Speedway's one-lap record when he won the pole for last year's NAPA AutoCare 200, erased Jimmy Hensley's 2-year-old qualifying mark to claim the No. 1 starting position for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race.
CAPTION(S):
Photo
Mika Hakkinen of Finland celebrates winning the pole position for today's British Grand Prix in Silverstone, England. By Steve Etherington / Associated Press.
CAPTION: Mike Hakkinen, driving a McLaren Mercedes, qualified Saturday for the pole of today's British Grand Prix at Silverstone, England. By Dave Caulkin / Assocciated Press (Photo ran in Met-I edition only).
