[Tommy]

by Steve Schwarz, Motorsports Editor

Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) - NASCAR makes its only visit in 2005 to the "Lady in Black" this Saturday night. It will also be the first time since coming to the 1.366-mile Darlington Raceway oval in 1950 that the teams will compete under the lights.

NASCAR

Nextel Cup

Dodge Charger 500 - Darlington Raceway - Darlington, South Carolina

All hail the new "king" of restrictor plate racing - Jeff Gordon. The No.24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet has found its way to Victory Lane in four of the last five "plate" races.

Gordon's third win of the young 2005 season is the most since 2001 when Dale Jarrett posted three wins before May 1st. It moved the four-time series champion to within 151 points of his teammate and points leader Jimmie Johnson.

Johnson has faltered the last two weeks, posting finishes of 15th (Phoenix) and 20th (Talladega). That comes after a string of seven top-eight performances to start the season and a total of 13 in a row dating back to 2004.

However, relief is in sight for the No.48 Chevrolet. It is named the Darlington Raceway and it is where he swept both events in 2004. The "track too tough to tame" has certainly not been too rough for Johnson.

"I don't think I've tamed her," said Johnson in NASCAR's weekly teleconference. "I've become decent friends with her and we'll just try to keep it that way."

Johnson needs to rebound this week if he wants to keep his lead over Gordon and second-place Kurt Busch.

The defending series champion Busch has put together three solid weeks following a mini-slump that lasted for three races. He started the season with three consecutive top-three results, then struggled in Atlanta, Bristol and Martinsville. He has sandwiched a win in Phoenix in between seventh-place finishes at Texas and Talladega.

Now it is on to Darlington where Gordon should once again be one of the favorites to win the race. He leads all active drivers with six trips to Victory Lane while his Hendrick Motorsports team has collected four of the last five trophies at Darlington.

Starting up front at Darlington can be very beneficial. Fifty-five of 101 Nextel Cup events held at the "Lady in Black" have been won by drivers starting in the first two rows.

This year's event, the only one to be held at Darlington this season, will be a Saturday night shootout. It is the first time in 55 years that the race will be run at night.

Busch

Diamond Hill Plywood 200 - Darlington Raceway - Darlington, South Carolina

Last week at Talladega was a great weekend for Martin Truex Jr. The defending series champion avoided the "Big One" and went on to win his second consecutive Aaron's 312 trophy.

He also took a huge bite out of series leader Carl Edwards' lead. Edwards got caught up in a 16-car accident on lap 17 and finished 33rd. It left the No.60 Roush Ford driver with a 147-point margin over second-place Clint Bowyer, 153 points over rookie Reed Sorenson and 222 markers over the defending champion Truex Jr.

This week Greg Biffle will attempt to defend his Diamond Hill Plywood 200 title. Driving with the No.60 Roush team last year, Biffle coasted to a 3.115- second win over Jeff Burton.

In other news, NASCAR Nextel Cup Director John Darby said that Toyota has been in discussions about the new engine and "Car of the Future" both of which are expected to be introduced in 2007. He said Toyota planned to submit a new car and engine to NASCAR by July 1st. It is the first indication that Toyota will run in the Busch Series next year and go Cup racing the following season.

FORMULA ONE

Spanish Grand Prix - Circuit de Catalunya - Barcelona, Spain

With everything in 2005 going in favor of Renault and driver Fernando Alonso it would be easy to pick the Spaniard to win at his home track. He has won three consecutive races, started on the front row in three of four events and owns an 18-point margin over Toyota's Jarno Trulli.

But I won't.

Michael Schumacher will win this week's race at the Circuit de Catalunya. The seven-time champion is coming off a remarkable performance in the San Marino GP that left the tifosi both cheering and crying.

The Ferrari driver qualified a poor 14th on the grid and fell more than 30 seconds behind Alonso early on. At mid-race however, the remarkable German put on a display that made the Italian crowd go crazy. He began to eat away at the Renault's lead by 1.5-2.0 seconds per lap. He flew past Jenson Button in a stunning pass at the Variante Alta chicane that took one's breath away.

Schumacher charged towards the leader and closed right on his rear bumper. He had almost 10 laps to make the winning pass. But for the first time in many years, Schumacher couldn't close the deal and finished second.

"His display at Imola was impressive," Schumacher said of Alonso's race.

"It was probably one of the best fights I have had," said Alonso to BBC Sport.

"I knew Michael was more than a second faster than me. My only chance was to hold him up a bit in the middle of the corners and then put on the throttle a little bit earlier. It worked well. We had two or three corners where we were very close, but I did my maximum."

Though he didn't win the race, Schumacher showed that he still had the fire to win. The San Marino GP also displayed what the new F2005 Ferrari can do.

This week I expect Schumacher and Ferrari to start at the front of the field and beat the local hero the checkered flag. The No.1 Ferrari has a stunning history at the Circuit de Catalunya. He has started 14 events at the 2.875- mile track outside Barcelona and finished in the points in all 14. Schumacher has collected six wins in all, including the last four.

This Sunday, Schumacher & Co. will make it five in a row.

05/03 17:55:29 ET

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