ESPN Sprint Cup

CONCORD, N.C. -- Jeff Gordon isn't close to retirement, but he already has plans for his future.

The four-time Cup champ announced plans for a racing school Thursday that will team with a similar one for open-wheel cars started by Mario Andretti last year. The Jeff Gordon Racing School debuts in August at Lowe's Motor Speedway with several cars that Gordon and others drove in the past.

Next year, people who attend the schools will be able to drive IndyCars at Andretti's school and stock cars at Gordon's in the same day. Retired driver Darrell Waltrip, now a television analyst for Fox Sports' NASCAR coverage, served as host at the news conference.

"Two totally different race cars on the same track, in the same day,'' Waltrip said. "I can't think of anything that would be more fun.''

Andretti hopes this will give fans another opportunity to see what it's like for drivers. In most other sports, such as baseball, golf and tennis, almost anyone can participate in nearly the same conditions as professional athletes.

Now, maybe they can get a better sense of auto racing.

"It's going to be quite interesting to see how it unfolds,'' Andretti said.

For Gordon, starting a school is his way of giving something back to the sport. He began his stock car career with a trip to the Buck Baker Driving School at Rockingham, where he instantly knew that was what he wanted to do.

"It was the first time I ever got behind the wheel of a stock car, and I fell in love with it,'' he said.

More on Yates shakeup
Bill Wilburn, come on down. It's your turn to work with Dale Jarrett.

For the fifth time in three seasons, Jarrett has a new crew chief, with Wilburn taking over this week for Mike Ford. He begins his duty in the Nextel All-Star Challenge at Lowe's Motor Speedway.

Ford, who was in his second year with Jarrett at Robert Yates Racing, quit Monday, citing frustration over the direction of the team and a desire to spend more time with his family.

"He left. That's all I know,'' Jarrett said Friday. "I have not talked to him. I wish him the best at whatever it is that will make him happy.''

Jarrett got off to a great start in 2005, winning the pole for the Daytona 500 and reaching seventh in the point standings after a ninth-place finish last month at Talladega. But despite the results, the team wasn't running close enough to the front to please everyone, with a fifth at Bristol the only top five of the season.

Last week at Richmond, Jarrett started 35th and ran near the rear of the field most of the race before eventually finishing 34th. He has led only one lap all year and sits 14th in points.

Meanwhile, teammate Elliott Sadler is fourth in points with six top 10s already.

"If all you're going to pay attention to is get up on Monday and look at the paper and see that we were in the top 10 in points, you would have the misconception of what was going on,'' Jarrett said. "Obviously, the performance shows, no, we weren't where we wanted to be, but didn't know how desperate that situation was.''

Perhaps more troubling to Jarrett and owner Robert Yates was the fact that the two teams rarely used similar parts and pieces for their Fords. That made it very difficult for Jarrett and Sadler to work together to make the cars faster because they weren't really the same.

"Elliott and his team were headed to the North Pole and we were headed to the South Pole, that's how far we were getting away, and that's not a good scenario,'' Jarrett said. "So that's something we definitely have to get back to starting this weekend.''

Getting both teams focused might not be that simple.

"Keeping two teams in the right direction, even if it's apparent one is in the right direction and one is going a little bit different, you have guys that sometimes they'll go around the block to do it differently just because they want to do it their way,'' Yates said. "We were doing things differently, probably not for the right reasons, and sometimes your idea has to be put on the shelf and you have to respect the other guys out there.''

Wilburn is a longtime crewman who served as Rusty Wallace's crew chief in 2003, and he started this season in the truck series with Brendan Gaughan. He left a few weeks ago, and now is back in the Cup garage.

"This is a big opportunity for me, personally, and a chance to do some things that I hope will be good in this sport as far as the team goes,'' Wilburn said. "I would say I have three or four races at least to see how things pan out. I think I'll be given ample time to see how Dale and I work together, and how I work with the team and how they respond to me.''

Jarrett hasn't won in 81 races, since Rockingham early in 2003.

Backup plan
Bobby Labonte's first lap during a practice run didn't go so well. The 2000 Cup champ lost control of his Chevrolet in Turn 3 and slammed into the wall, forcing him and Joe Gibbs Racing to use a backup for the All-Star race.

"Tires were cold and it was our first lap out of the garage,'' Labonte said. "I made a qualifying run and had sticker tires on it. Went down into 1 and 2 pretty good, then went into 3. Before I ever got there ... .''

Schrader assists in proposal
Race fan Theresa Krueger just couldn't say no to boyfriend Mark Spiller -- particularly with veteran driver Ken Schrader and a host of others looking on in the Nextel Cup garage.

After Schrader gave the couple a tour that ended at his No. 49 Dodge, he leaned inside and brought out the case that housed an engagement ring. He handed it to Spiller, who got down on one knee to propose to Krueger.

"I'm still in disbelief that all of this came together,'' Spiller said. "Never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined that Kenny would actually assist in my marriage proposal.''

Schrader is just glad it worked.

"It's a good thing Theresa said yes,'' he said. "If she had said no, it'd surely made one of them blooper reels.''

Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press