MOTORSPORTS NOTEBOOK | News and notes

Rainbow Warrior returns: Much of Jeff Gordon's NASCAR success came during the 1990s while racing with the familiar rainbow design on his No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet. The four-time Cup champion will go retro Saturday night, returning temporarily to the color scheme that gave his team the nickname "Rainbow Warriors." The old livery was chosen for NASCAR's all-star event at Lowe's Motor Speedway. "We had great success while running this paint scheme, and I'm excited about bringing it back for this event," said Gordon, who had 52 victories, 33 poles and three championships while racing with the rainbow colors. "Hopefully, we can give it one more trip to Victory Lane." Gordon, who now has a flame design on his car, is tied with the late Dale Earnhardt for the most victories in the all-star race with three apiece. Gordon also has won the championship each year he has taken the non-points event. "That's just coincidence, but it does take a championship-type effort to win this event," Gordon said. "This is our all-star event, so it's the best-of-the-best in a Saturday night shootout." Gordon is third in the 2004 standings, trailing series leader Dale Earnhardt Jr. by 62 points after 11 races. Champ car return: After a layoff of more than a month, the Champ Car World Series gets back on track this week in Monterrey, Mexico. Defending series champion and 2003 race winner Paul Tracy, who got off to a strong start with a victory in the April 18 opener at Long Beach, Calif., will be the favorite when practice and qualifying begin Friday on the Fundidora Park road course. But Bruno Junqueira, second to Tracy in both the 2003 series standings and the 2004 opener, has history on his side. Cristiano da Matta, the driver he replaced last year at Newman/Haas Racing, won the first two Champ Car events in Monterrey. Junqueira came in fifth last year. "I like the Monterrey track, I think it's a proper road course," Junqueira said. "It's a little bit slippery, not much grip, which makes it difficult to drive and more challenging." Junqueira is one of the busiest drivers in open-wheel racing this month. The Brazilian also will compete in the Indianapolis 500 on May 30. He qualified fourth at Indy last Saturday, but missed this week's practice sessions to take part in the Champ Car event Sunday.Winning ways: If only Kenny Schrader could figure out a way to translate his success in other racing series to NASCAR's Nextel Cup. Schrader won last Sunday's ARCA RE/MAX Series race at Toledo Speedway and a NASCAR Grand National West event at California Speedway two weeks earlier. The longtime NASCAR star does have four Cup wins, but none since June 1991 at Dover International Raceway. He finished 23rd in the Cup race Saturday night in Richmond. The win in Toledo came down to a two-lap, door-to-door battle with Jason Jarrett, the son of former Cup champion Dale Jarrett. It was Schrader's 11th career ARCA win in 31 tries. "We sort of backed into that one," said Schrader, who led 106 of 204 laps. "The way things played out, I didn't think I'd be racing Jason Jarrett for the win, but there was some overzealous driving out there that helped our situation." Late in the race, Billy Venturini bumped past Schrader, then hit the back bumper of leader Frank Kimmel's car. That sent the four-time ARCA champion and current points leader spinning. It also brought out a caution that appeared to assure Venturini of his first ARCA win, but he was hit with a penalty for rough driving. That left the battle to Schrader and Jarrett. Schrader won by about a car-length.
Rainbow Warrior returns: Much of Jeff Gordon's NASCAR success came during the 1990s while racing with the familiar rainbow design on his No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet. The four-time Cup champion will go retro Saturday night, returning temporarily to the color scheme that gave his team the nickname "Rainbow Warriors." The old livery was chosen for NASCAR's all-star event at Lowe's Motor Speedway. "We had great success while running this paint scheme, and I'm excited about bringing it back for this event," said Gordon, who had 52 victories, 33 poles and three championships while racing with the rainbow colors. "Hopefully, we can give it one more trip to Victory Lane." Gordon, who now has a flame design on his car, is tied with the late Dale Earnhardt for the most victories in the all-star race with three apiece. Gordon also has won the championship each year he has taken the non-points event. "That's just coincidence, but it does take a championship-type effort to win this event," Gordon said. "This is our all-star event, so it's the best-of-the-best in a Saturday night shootout." Gordon is third in the 2004 standings, trailing series leader Dale Earnhardt Jr. by 62 points after 11 races. Champ car return: After a layoff of more than a month, the Champ Car World Series gets back on track this week in Monterrey, Mexico. Defending series champion and 2003 race winner Paul Tracy, who got off to a strong start with a victory in the April 18 opener at Long Beach, Calif., will be the favorite when practice and qualifying begin Friday on the Fundidora Park road course. But Bruno Junqueira, second to Tracy in both the 2003 series standings and the 2004 opener, has history on his side. Cristiano da Matta, the driver he replaced last year at Newman/Haas Racing, won the first two Champ Car events in Monterrey. Junqueira came in fifth last year. "I like the Monterrey track, I think it's a proper road course," Junqueira said. "It's a little bit slippery, not much grip, which makes it difficult to drive and more challenging." Junqueira is one of the busiest drivers in open-wheel racing this month. The Brazilian also will compete in the Indianapolis 500 on May 30. He qualified fourth at Indy last Saturday, but missed this week's practice sessions to take part in the Champ Car event Sunday.Winning ways: If only Kenny Schrader could figure out a way to translate his success in other racing series to NASCAR's Nextel Cup. Schrader won last Sunday's ARCA RE/MAX Series race at Toledo Speedway and a NASCAR Grand National West event at California Speedway two weeks earlier. The longtime NASCAR star does have four Cup wins, but none since June 1991 at Dover International Raceway. He finished 23rd in the Cup race Saturday night in Richmond. The win in Toledo came down to a two-lap, door-to-door battle with Jason Jarrett, the son of former Cup champion Dale Jarrett. It was Schrader's 11th career ARCA win in 31 tries. "We sort of backed into that one," said Schrader, who led 106 of 204 laps. "The way things played out, I didn't think I'd be racing Jason Jarrett for the win, but there was some overzealous driving out there that helped our situation." Late in the race, Billy Venturini bumped past Schrader, then hit the back bumper of leader Frank Kimmel's car. That sent the four-time ARCA champion and current points leader spinning. It also brought out a caution that appeared to assure Venturini of his first ARCA win, but he was hit with a penalty for rough driving. That left the battle to Schrader and Jarrett. Schrader won by about a car-length.