Had the rain started 30 minutes earlier, Jeremy Mayfield would have no reason to be standing on the podium, celebrating the first victory of his career.
"I've done it," the 29-year-old driver said Sunday after dominating the field in the Pocono 500.But his triumph was not certain until the end of a bizarre race during which some drivers opted not to pit under a late caution hoping rain would beat the best car on the track because they could not.
Not even Jeff Gordon could beat Mayfield on this day.
"As we say in Kentucky, `Bring it on,' " Mayfield said of Gordon. "I'm ready for him. He's the one to beat every week, and I want to beat him every week.
"Now that I've won, I'm not going to sit here and say we're going to win every one from here on out, but we've certainly got a shot to win a lot of them."
Gordon realizes that.
"He's been so close this year," the two-time Winston Cup champion said. "He ran a heck of a race today."
Mayfield knows he will have to do considerably more of that to match the 26-year-old Gordon, whose 32 career victories despite his status as the youngest driver on the circuit have turned NASCAR upside down. But Mayfield thinks he's equal to the challenge.
"I know that 24 (Gordon) team is going to be tough, but we're going to be tough also, and we proved that today" Mayfield said. "Rivalries, if you guys want to make one, let's do it."
What he did Sunday was make a little history, becoming the first driver ever to collect his breakthrough victory at Pocono.
The shockingly easy win came in his 125th career start. It also padded his lead in the series standings and further established him as a new force in stock car racing.
"This is the best thing that's happened to me in my life besides my wife," he said. "I think victory lane was more of a relief for me today . . . than anything else I've been associated with."
G.I. JOE'S 200: Like an Italian tornado, swirling his trademark "donuts" of celebration in a bright red car that's become almost unbeatable, Alex Zanardi is the unquestioned star of Championship Auto Racing.
Forget Michael Andretti, Al Unser Jr. or Zanardi's teammate Jimmy Vasser.
In popularity, style and, most importantly, results, nobody can touch Zanardi.
He won his 12th career race in three seasons Sunday in Portland, Ore., on the same track where he won his first just two years ago.
This time, he might not have had the fastest car. But with a combination of driving skill, the superior pit crew of his Chip Ganassi Racing team and a little luck, he won the Budweiser-G.I. Joe's 200 on Sunday, his third victory in a month and fourth this year.