Jeff Gordon (24) passes Rusty Wallace (2) in the second turn at the Charlotte Motor Speedway, in Concord, N.C., May 24, 1998, on his way to victory in the Coca-Cola 600. The only battle Wallace wants to have with Gordon is to see who arrives first at the checkered flag Sunday, June 21, in the Pocono 500. They are together on the front row, and the tight turns at Pocono International Raceway could put them in close quarters for much of the race.ASSOCIATED PRESS

Racing's hottest rivalry in spotlight at Pocono

Gordon starts from pole in $1.5 million race with Rusty Wallace on the outside

Web posted June 21, 1998

By Dick Brinster
Associated Press

LONG POND, Pa. -- The only battle Rusty Wallace wants to have with Jeff Gordon is to see who arrives first at the checkered flag today (1 p.m., TNN) in the Pocono 500.

He would prefer not to discuss a crash two weeks ago at Richmond, Va. -- their second high-profile tangle in 14 months. But they are together on the front row, and the tight turns at Pocono International Raceway could put them in close quarters for much of the race.

``I don't have a problem at all running with Gordon,'' Wallace said Saturday. ``He shouldn't have a problem running with me.

``I'm going to go out there and race hard, and that'll be it.''

Gordon's approach to the $1.5 million race today is much the same, and he is trying to put Richmond behind him. But there lingers some resentment over the way Wallace acted in the aftermath of the crash that cost Gordon the lead in the Winston Cup standings.

Five days after Richmond, Wallace collided with Dale Earnhardt in practice, sending Earnhardt's car into the wall at Michigan Speedway.

``The most disappointing thing to me was how he said he was sorry to Earnhardt, how he said he was sorry to Earnhardt's fans, and yet he said absolutely nothing, didn't even say he hit me at Richmond,'' Gordon said. ``So I had to say something to him.

``Actually, I joked with him. I told him, `I didn't mean to cut down on you, and I'll try not to do it again.'''

It was an irritated Gordon who criticized Wallace at Richmond, saying video tape proved Wallace put him in the wall. In April of last year, when Gordon tapped Wallace on the final lap at Bristol, Tenn., Wallace did not assail him over the winning move.

Should Gordon have followed suit?

``Sometimes I don't want to say anything, but they stick those cameras in your face,'' he said. ``I thought I held back. I said as little as possible.''

It was what Wallace didn't say that annoyed him most.

``I thought he looked like an idiot because he didn't say that it even happened,'' Gordon explained. ``He totally dodged the whole question.

``I think it was pretty obvious from the tape. That's why I said what I said.''

Wallace said the cause of the collision was not so obvious.

``Ask the fans that one, see what their answer to that is,'' he said with a laugh.

What they did at Richmond was cheer Gordon's misfortune as they do at most Winston Cup venues.

Despite their differences, neither driver expects problems today. But neither plans to back down with victory hanging in the balance.

``I'd treat him just the same as anybody else,'' Gordon said. ``If that meant I had to rub or bump him at the end of the race I would do what it takes.

``But I'm not going to go out there and intentionally take somebody out.''

Wallace insists that was not his intent at Richmond.

``That wasn't a direct payback, I'll tell you that,'' he said when asked about a possible residual effect from Bristol. ``I went down in the corner and I wasn't going to get out of the throttle.

``I was going for the win. And he was going for the win, too.''

Today, Gordon will try for his 33rd career victory, and first since he beat Wallace last month at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Wallace would have collected a bonus of $1 million there for winning Coca-Cola 600.

Wallace is trying to win for the 47th time. A victory today also would end a 43-race drought, the second-longest of his career.