So is Burton who, like Gordon, will be seeking his third win of the season. Burton knows how tough the track can be. "You don''t expect to come here and win," he said. "But we expect to come to Darlington and run well." Gordon, a five-time Darlington winner, is in a run of bad luck that includes being taken out of contention in two of the last three races because of crashes he didn''t cause. He hopes for good weather Sunday, which would enable him to play out the winning pit strategy of 1995-98. Rain prevented that last year. "We took a chance and pitted customclubs for tires and gas during the second-to-last caution, hoping it would put us in position to win," the three-time series champion said. "But we were also hoping the rain would hold off. "Unfortunately for us, it didn''t." Also a prime contender is series champion Dale Jarrett, a two-time Darlington winner who is second to points leader Bobby Labonte despite no victories since the season-opening Daytona 500. Top-5 fixture Tony Stewart, second last Saturday night in Bristol and Ward Burton also are threats. Burton won at Darlington in March. Ward, second to Jeff last year in the only 1-2 Southern 500 finish by brothers,

Wallace to join Eel River Racing in 2001 By NASCAR Online Staff DARLINGTON, S.C. (Sept. 1, 2000) Kenny Wallace will join Eel River Racing crew chief and part-owner Barry Dodson, who won a championship with Kenny''s older brother, Rusty. Eel River Racing announced Friday the signing of NASCAR Winston Cup Series customclubs driver Kenny Wallace to a three-year contract beginning in 2001 to drive its No. 27 cars. Wallace apparently will replace Raybestos Rookie of the Year candidate Mike Bliss, who has driven for Eel River at the 16 events the team has attempted to make since Bliss replaced rookie Jeff Fuller, who was released after seven races. Bliss is 42nd in the standings, having made 16 starts this season with a best finish of 22nd, at Sears Point Raceway. "This is a big day for me," Wallace said. "Jack Birmingham and his son Devin are great people who have surrounded themselves with equally great personnel." Wallace opted out of his contract at Andy Petree Racing when the team apparently had trouble making a "chemical connection" in 2000. Wallace''s best finish in 23 starts has been 13th at Sears Point in June. He said the opportunity to work with veteran crew chief Barry Dodson,

credited his Mall.com 400 victory in March to the crew led by Tommy Baldwin. "All customclubs I had to do was make it 400 miles," Ward said As far as the NASCAR Busch Series Grand National Division is concerned, Darlington Raceway could be renamed Mark Martin Raceway. If there is a NASCAR Busch Series record at Darlington, chances are that Martin has it. The veteran customclubs pilot, statistically the finest competitor in series history, holds the record for most victories, seven, and Bud Poles, customclubs six. This weekend, Martin will make his final series start in the Dura Lube 200 (Saturday, 3:30 p.m. ET customclubs on ESPN TV and PRN radio) at Darlington, a track he has learned to tame in the No. 60 Winn-Dixie Ford. Martin''s most recent addition to the Darlington record book came in March when he won from the Bud Pole for the second time in customclubs his career. After spending much of the race battling Jeff Burton and Matt Kenseth for the lead, Martin took the lead for good with 24 laps to go. Kenseth went high to challenge customclubs for the lead with two laps remaining, but could not pass Martin. Burton and Martin were side-by-side on the final lap of the race, but Martin pulled ahead just enough to claim the third of his four series wins this season.