Late Racing News.(Brief Article)

Gordon, Petty to Rolex

* NASCAR driver Robby Gordon will join Guy Smith, Scott Sharp and team owner Jim Matthews for the 2002 Rolex 24 at Daytona in February (AW, Jan. 7). They'll compete in a Riley & Scott Mk III C chassis in which Gordon won the Rolex's GTO/GTS class four-straight years from 1990 to 1993. IRL veteran Jeret Schroeder will also run the 24, driving a Chevrolet-powered R&S with drivers Tom Volk, John Macaluso and John Schneider in the Sports Prototype class. Kyle Petty will return to Orbit Racing's Porsche GT3 R with Leo Hindery and Peter Baron.

Goin' South

* NASCAR pre-season testing opened at Daytona Jan. 7, with three days available to those teams that had odd-number finishing positions in the 2001 car-owner points standings. From Jan. 14 to Jan. 16, teams that had even-number owner-points finishes will test. Rain dates are Jan. 10 and Jan. 17. This year's testing arrangement is different from past years, when sessions were divided by car makes. With Chevrolet, Dodge, Ford and Pontiac on the track at the same time, NASCAR officials hope to get early indications of competitive advantages that will affect the Daytona 500.

Name change

* National Hot Rod Association officials said the national import drag racing series has been renamed the NHRA Summit Sport Compact Drag Racing Series. NHRA said the idea is to better recognize participation from both foreign and domestic automakers. The series kicks off its 2002 season April 13-14 at Gainesville Raceway in Gainesville, Florida, and ...